My much older, successful early-career sister bought as a gift to our mother a ‘76 Cutlass Supreme coupe, in buttercreme with the landau roof. It was stunning. My mother had just returned to the workforce as a realtor (what else?) and her rust bucket ‘66 LeSabre wasn’t going to cut it. The car was to be a Christmas surprise and we’d even had it stored in a neighbors garage until the big reveal. Sadly, mom died of ovarian cancer four days before Christmas. Karen had special ordered the Cutlass back in August - alas mom was diagnosed on Halloween and in seven short weeks she was gone. She never got to drive or be seen in that fantastic automobile. She absolutely would have loved it.
Wow, what a sad story. So sorry about your mother. God must have wanted her for something more important. Did your sister still buy the car? Seems like it would have a somber reminder of your mom.
@@61rampy65 Thanks. Sorry to bring down the room like that. No, Karen got the dealer to take it back since the title paperwork hadn’t been submitted by the dealer until mom was to have signed for the tags. My sister already had a company car with Eastman Kodak so we had to say goodbye to Gerry’s (Geraldine was my mom’s name) Buttercreme Cutlass.
@@huntermalone3449 oh lord she would have treasured that thing. She was big into beautiful cars (though I can’t possibly explain the dirt brown ‘66 LeSabre). She once convinced dad to buy her a new 1958 Oldsmobile convertible in white with a navy top. That monster was the size of a Nimitz-class warship - such a practical choice for upstate New York at the time. She would have driven that Cutlass with the window down, her Salem cigarette just far enough into the slipstream so as to take away the ash, and Gerry looking out over her sunglasses nodding to the ladies in our neighborhood. Yeah she had just a tinge of OG now that I think of it. She liked having style….
I love the description of how your mom with the OG vibe smoked as she was driving. I’m getting the image of Angelica Huston in The Grifters, as she lights up.
Nice! I learned to drive on my mother's 1974 Cutlass Salon. White with blue top and interior. A classy car, indeed. Loved how the grille hinged backward in case there was a frontal impact.
My grand aunt had a 1976 Cutlass Supreme 2 door hardtop with a 350 engine. This was the first year of the quad square headlights and the smoothed off lower body panels. I remembered the very first day she got it from the car dealership. I thought if was the most luxurious cars ever, compared to my dad's 1972 Ford Gran Torino at that time. One of the rare features it had were power windows and the "Tempmatic" air conditioning. I had a pleasure of driving the car once I got my driver's licence and it was a dream to drive. Unfortunately the harsh weather up here in Canada was not kind to the body panels and underside which deteriorated badly, which was ashamed as I rally liked that car! One of Oldsmobile's finest!
I was a high school freshman when the Cutlass Salon premiered for the 1973 model year. To me, the Salon was simply a trim option until one of my favorite teachers bought one. She gave me a ride home and I'd never experienced a front seat sooo comfortable! The smooth quiet ride and that amazing front seat - I was impressed. Two months later, the 1973 Oldsmobile Cutlass was taking over the teacher's parking lot. I was seeing the first stages of a phenomenon that was sweeping the country - CutlassMania!
I have a soft spot for the Colonnades. You saw them everywhere in the mid 1970's - the two door Cutlass Supreme was an incredible sales success. My high school had a fleet of Supremes for driver's education in 1974 and I remember them very well.
I have long forgotten that "international" plate that Oldsmobile used for several years. Indeed that is a very rare car. Normally consoles were for the more sporty 2-door. I was very surprised to see that in a four-door. Thanks for covering a car I did not know existed.
Wow Adam! Thank you for another wonderful Memory Lane! Dad came home with a new '75 Cutlass Salon, nearly identical to this sample, except it was gorgeous and sharp.. as ours was a beautiful celery green with matching wheel covers and celery corduroy interior, with a white vinyl roof.. the combination was stunning, with those large emblems rotating on the hubcap centers. Color makes all the difference! First yr with the catalytic converter! And our first car with power windows and cruise control!..even though dad had traded in a beautiful '71 Ford LTD Brougham coupe with the soft nylon fabric flight back seats. (I still can't believe in '73-5 I drove my dream car back and forth to college in TX from CA, my 1966 Toronado! ~like I won the lottery)
Back in the day my mom was out car shopping with us kids and my eye caught a gold with beige 71 and I couldn't help but point it out to her, as she was just overwhelmed with the sea of vehicles. She was usually pretty skeptical, but with one quick walk-around, she anxiously summoned for a test drive and the rest is history. She and that car were a pair, bold, beautiful and broke all the rules!
That "all the performance you'd expect from a car named Cutlass" line in the promo film lands differently once one has experienced the magnificence of the 1980s' expertly detuned 307. Someone in my hometown used to have an '85 Cutlass Supreme with the vanity license plate GUTLESS. :)
I remember back in day I was in high school and everybody loved this car, anyone whose parents bought one as soon as they could convince their parents to let them drive it we all had a great time trying it out.
I grew up in a small Colorado town during the hippy years. The local hardware store owner passed away and his elderly wife quickly traded their 1966 Olds Dynamic 88 with dog dish wheel covers for a flashy cranberry and white 1973 Olds Cutlass Salon. Just as quickly, she backed the car into a concrete wall and her kids took her license away. Undeterred, the elderly woman hired a young hippy guy to be her driver and they made an interesting couple. I guess you might say our Miss Daisy and Hoke.
Enjoyable commentary on the 73 Salon option package (Y-78). In 1974 the Salon option cost $361. In 1975 the Salon received its own model “number” CSA. (Cutlass Supreme was CSU) This was an interesting time when GM A-body customers had choices of styling personalities. Chevys Monte Carlo, Buicks Century/Regal and the Pontiac Grand Prix. The Cutlass Supreme with the Salon option or designation was a solid choice exemplifying the customers personality.
Good episode! I was a teenager when these appeared, and I loved the body styling. Still do, actually. Interesting to learn that they were nice to drive as well.
As a silver sneakers Gen Xer....this was the staple car for many families of my generation....especially the wagon version with the lift up rear hatch. My favorite memory is our neighbor...his son in law had a white 1977 Cutlass Supreme with T-Tops....and that was his summer car and was extremely well taken care of....I believe he still might have it. In 1983, I found a similar 77 Cutlass Supreme coupe for sale, silver with a red interior...and it was pretty much used up...sagging doors..they were heavy and plastics cracking on the interior....if not taken care of, these malaise era cars wore out quickly. Our family about a 79 Cutlass Salon Brougham...the aeroback....and it had the international flags on the nameplates...and the Olds Rallye wheels which were body color with chrome trim rings and center caps. Later, during my early career, I worked for a large rental car agency that had the W Body Cutlass Supreme International Series as a premium car in our fleet....while my car was being repaired, I used my employee discount to take one for a week...comfortable....with a ton of gimmicks for seat adjustments and dash displays. Unfortunately, in winter road salt country, the Colonnade GM cars rusted quickly. I recall my Dad's coworker having this era of Cutlass and while the car was five years old or so, the fenders and doors had perforations, especially since the body design seemed to attract rock chips.
I'm with you. If you were fairly knowledgeable about car maintenance, you could keep these cars on the roads. You had to be consistent (and not wait until things devolved) and rust-proofing warranty. It amazes me by the mid-80s, that they were completely gone from the road. The only car I truly love from this era is the 1978 Pontiac Trans Am. And they're gone too.
@@griffonclaw Here in the non salted Gulf South u saw these Collonades well into the Nineties. Esp out and away from the big city as i drove a route truck in those days all over.
My parents bought a 75 Cutlass Salon coupe brand new. What a fantastic car that was. Baby blue with white half vinyl top. Blue interior with velour bucket seats and console T shifter. Man that was a fine looking car. The 350 with the quadrajet would move on out. We marveled at the column mounted headlamp dimmer and the reclining front bucket seats.
We moved to Phoenix in 1980. I distinctly remember the neighbor with the flared pants who had one of these. He had that pre-disco look that fit with the car well.
It’s just so odd now looking at cars in car shows that we’re just ‘daily drivers’ back in the day. I almost bought one back in 1985 for $750 from a service station. Unfortunately I was a day late with the money and it got away. Thanks for the memories. 🙂
I bought a 1973 cutlass s two door. I loved that car. Drove it all over the country. Only problem was the rust. I should have had it Zebart. Almost 300,000 miles on it when I finally sold it. I miss it to this day
My father had a '74 that I drove in college, it was definitely a decent car, but had it's 70s issues. Had the dual exhaust that bumped the HP to about 200 I believe, but made it almost impossible to keep mufflers on the car, since they continually rusted out. Points tended to freeze up at random times, killing the engine with no warning. Dad made me a special tool so that I could open the view port on the side of the distributor and pull the points apart. Had the red interior, which I loved, but the dashboard top surface deteriorated into a sticky glue after a few years in the sun.
In September 1973 the local dealer had two 1973 Cutlass Supreme coupes left , a dark red and a silver blue one. Both had full white vinyl tops and white bucket seat interiors with out consoles so were column shift. The 1974's were starting to come in and I didn't care for the front and rear styling with the heavier bumpers. My fiancee wanted the blue 73 so that's what I bought. Really enjoyed that car and had very few issues with it. Would buy another 73 Supreme coupe if I could find a mint low mileage one in "Adam" condition!
The 1973 Colonnades aged very well.Going into the 1980's they seemed very overwrought. In 2022, they seem very elegant, particularly compared to new vehicle's rather busy and fussy styling. Although I almost did a spittake when the training film said "you might mistake the Salon for a european touring car." If you were visually impaired or had never seen a european sedan before. Nonetheless, this car, along with the early Vega, Camaro and 2nd Generation Corvair did have european styling influences.
Great comment. Yeah, you might mistake it for a European touring car…if you’ve never actually seen a real European touring car. I guess it’s not just me in that I don’t think of anything European when I see the inside or outside of one of these. I like how it looks, but it looks completely American.
Adam, it occurred to me that a good design feature video would be GM's Swivel Bucket seats. I remember that the seats were one-piece in the sense that they didn't recline or fold in any way. One of my friends in high school had a '75 Supreme Coupe, in triple black, with the Swivel Buckets and console, and the Olds Super Stock 'Ralley' wheels. LOVED that car!
I missed the car show! Bummer. My first car was a 1975 Cutlass Supreme coupe; White with burgundy vinyl top. I drove it from Arkansas to Michigan in 1984.
2:53 The international flag badge was controversial when it was first used, as GM had not included the Canadian flag. Canada was the 2nd largest market for these cars, and indeed, GM changed the badge putting the Canadian flag adjacent to the American flag.
These Cutlass’ were so popular back in the 70’s and 80’s that I still can’t quite wrap my brain around the idea that Oldsmobile is no longer with us……..🤔
@@mikemiller659 I was there , and I can tell you Pontiac couldn't sell cars to anyone. For some reason nobody cared about the new redesigned Bonneville, 400 horses. Maybe because it was front wheel drive? They couldn't sell an over priced TA, it left the younger buyers behind and 40 year old's spending that kind of money were going to buy BMWs not a Pontiac, they had no prestige by 2005. Then they made the GTO which they certainly should have built excitement into that car , ugly car for to much money. although the GTO can keep up with new muscle to this day nobody cared.
The Cutlass Salon had several iterations throughout the 1970s and 1980s. In 1973 it was the top of the line with a console, buckets etc. however by the late 1970s the Salon was the terrible slant back coupe and sedan that was canceled after only two model years 1978-79. The Cutlass Supreme four door was redesigned with a notchback (Seville-like) roofline for 1980. The Salon name came back in 1985 when Olds gave the Calais name to the top of the line 2 door Cutlass with full instrumentation, console, blacked out grill, and bucket seats. From 1978 to 1984 the Cutlass Calais was what the Salon was in 1973 and again starting in 1985. However you said the Cutlass was canceled after 1988. While I agree that the rear wheel drive was canceled. The front wheel drive Cutlass Supreme continued through 1997. And then the ill fated last Cutlass in 1998 that was nothing more than a rebadged Malibu.
I had a burgundy Olds Cutlass Supreme, bucket seats and console shift. 350 4bbl dual exhaust. The coolest car i wish i had kept! I sold it and got a 1977 Olds Cutlass Supreme which was a rust bucket. The freezer plugs in the engine block went out one at a time -- lol it was so frustrating. I saw this Oldsmobile when you were doing the Cadillac video and hoped you did a video on it. Thanks!
I owned a 73 Cutlass Salon in chamois gold with the 455. I drove it for three years and about 38,000 miles and traded it for a SAAB 99 when the gas crisis increased fuel costs. I previously had a 70 Cutlass SX which I think was a better car overall. Both handled very well. Thanks for sharing info on the 73 Cutlass Salon and the memories.
I should add that my 73 Salon had a radio failure and blew a radiator hose, failures not expected in a two year old car. GM was already beginning to slip in quality.
I remember when these were introduced. I always loved the front seats. This was not a very common vehicle. In 1974 when the two door was introduced the four door pretty much faded away in the sales arena. Adam if you had driven a Cutlass with the lower skeg line as a daily driver you would have learned just how impractical it was. Within 10,000 miles the paint was all chipped off the bottom.
@@jeffmiller3150 I worked at a Buick/Oldsmobile dealership back then and they had a lot of unhappy customers because their cars were rusting in two years due to the design.
Dang, you've covered another car near & dear as my great aunt Lela , when she passed, her baby blue 'S' coupe went on to my 18 y.o.sis! No vinyl roof but my sis dated a body painter and he gave it bold stripes and two tone effect of like a gray and black! Looked bad ass in coupe form and I was sorta jealous ( but I had mom's old '71 98 so who could complain!). I never got the meaning of colonnade roof until you mentioned and now I see it! Wow! We had some fun times scooping da loop out at nearby lake. Adam mentioned dash was boring but I dug the airplane like vents and the controls were a step up from her previous car, a late Sixties orange VW Karmann wagon!Of course my sis had a bad ass stereo w/ cassette & whoofer speakers ( what better way to jam to Led Zep & see the lake peeps? Great times!
My mother bought a ‘73 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme 2 door new. Midnight blue, white vinyl top and white guts with the 350 4bbl. I was a sophomore in high school and borrowing that car to cruise for chicks was not a handicap. Sweet looking machine and a sweet ride.
My first car was a Blue 1974 Cutlass Salon with Blue High back buckets. It was a great car and those seats were so comfortable.....I drove nearly all of the time - 4 doors, great stereo.
I love Oldsmobile. When I was a kid, my dad raced several of the downsized 1978 and newer Cutlasses. My first nice car after I graduated high school was a 1999 Aurora. Man, I miss that car...
The narrow C pillar was very European. Many domestic cars of the day had those thick C pillars, that caused a huge blind spot. This one is an excellent original looking example - that show offered some really nice cars.
To me, regarding the colonnade styled GM mid-sized cars, there are the 1973's and then there are the rest of the later models produced from '74-77. The '73's look so much better because they do not have the larger bumpers, and the rear bumper is integrated. They look as the stylist originally conceived them. The 1973 Cutlass Salon, along with the Pontiac Grand Am and Chevrolet Malibu Laguna, had special touches which made them somewhat unique among the colonnade cars. I remember when these cars came out and they were a dramatic departure from their coke bottle shaped predecessors. And, they were completely different in concept from competitive cars like the Ford Torino and Plymouth Satellite, which still had the big C pillar look popularized in the late 1960's.
Very interesting Adam. I recall this Cutlass. Well put together video. Those seats were interesting. Then the swivel buckets followed. Oldsmobile did take off during that time. If GM had kept investing in the brand and kept all of its brands on track who knows where we would be today?
My Dad had a 74, first car I rode in coming home from the hospital. What a funny thought right, reclining seats a big deal, and they really were a big deal!
My second was a 70 cutlass 442, First car was a 67 Camaro SS. It was stolen from the Sears parking lot where I was working. There so damn Easy to steal ! Un-screw the Key Lock's retaining ring and the Whole key-lock can be reached by hand..Un-plugg from the wire harness. then plug in the lock U prepaired previously. A Total loss. Earned by working @ $1.60 an hour. The 442 had the Key lock on the steering column.
I bought a new 1973 Olds Cutlass S. Really wanted a Supreme but this was July 73 and they didn't have any Supreme's left. It had the new recirculating pump smog control on it so the idle was rough. Even on my aunt's 1973 98 Regency had a rough idle.
@@rightlanehog3151 I didn't choose a color. I bought the last S on the lot with exception to another S that was a real base model that to my understanding was a Driver's Ed vehicle. It had a vinyl floor as opposed to carpet Mine was a light blue with a white top and blue cloth interior. Usual equipment with am radio. Eight years later I would buy a 1973 Buick Century for $300 after I sold my 1978 GMC pickup for $300 less than I paid for it new. We had high inflation back then but not as bad as today. Betty the Buick was one of the best used cars I've ever owned. She was already named when I bought her. She had a dent in the front fender so that's why she was so cheap. I had a few beaters in my life.
@@robertpace901 Nice! I will guess you had the 350. According to the listings, there were two shades of light blue in 73 . Wedgewood Blue and Zodiac Blue. I hope you chose Wedgeood because Zodiac scares me a little (a lot) . 😁
I owned a new ‘73 Chevelle SS that was the same color as the Salon in this video without the vinyl top. Being a new generation, it was completely different than the ‘72. The thing I most remember were the swivel bucket seats to ease entry and exit.
Where I grew up it took about five years or so and these cars would have some serious rust. I remember it was the beginning of rustproofing and a family friend had his car Zeibarted and under the hood looking like an oil slick.
Adam, thanks for reviewing the Cutlass Salon. I remember when these came out and they very nice for the time. Always wanted one, but I don’t think I ever even saw one. Keep up the good work 👍
I think it’s fascinating that Olds was positioning this series as an import competitor. I never realized that was their marketing strategy. When I was a teenager in the 80’s, I always looked at these as another conventional GM car with all of the customary attributes.
The Cutlass is nostalgic for me. I never thought I'd see another 70's 4 door Cutlass in decent shape ever again. I figured by now they'd all been crushed. However, now I've seen 2. This one and yours. I wonder how many are left in good condition. Even the other yellow(ish) one in this video (7:00) had a big rust hole like many I remember seeing. People hung on to them though because, well, they ran just fine.
My Grandmother had a 72 green paint and green interior. just like in that add that you played cutlass 2door coupe. W/ the 350 Rocket Engine . it was a smooth riding and had plenty of power. miss that car grandma totaled it in a accident 30yrs ago low miles and was going to be handed down to me.
The '73 Cutlass Supreme coupe was a hot item when it came out. The 4 doors never interested me, but I knew someone who had a '75 salon. I don't recall ever seeing this color in the wild back then. I like it! You got a lot of mileage out of this car show.
I just checked, there were SIXTEEN paint color choices for the 1973 Cutlass. I believe this one is called 'Moss Gold'. I don't think there are 16 colors of car paint in the world anymore. 🤨
A 1974 Oldsmobile Cutlass sedan was the car used in my Driver's Ed training in high school. It was brand new and for many years I based my opinion on any other car by comparing it to the Cutlass. It is amazing how many details I remember about the cars that were around me while growing up, and I wonder if others share similar thoughts. Thanks, Adam, for sharing another very nostalgic video about this great era of automobiles.
We had the same cars for our drivers ed, as well, that same year 1974. It was the first time that I saw one. It was parked in the high school lunch area so the students could see the new drivers ed cars. This was in the San Fernando Valley, LA Unified school district. The year after that they switched to Plymouth Valiants, probably because of the fuel price increase!
It was a "European-style" car for people who have never actually driven a European car. The Mercedes 450SE had unibody construction, an overhead-cam engine, electronic fuel injection, four-wheel disc brakes, and four-wheel independent suspension -- features many Oldsmobiles didn't have even 20 years later.
Yeah and the Mercedes was twice the price. not many people could afford that or the repair bills. These were American cars with European flair. I don't see an issue
@@maxsinger3526 I don't even see the "European flair", except for the bucket seats and console shifter -- I guess after 30 years of bench seats and column shifters being the norm on American cars, that alone was enough to convince some people.
@@vwestlife It was one of many crass attempts and insecurities from Detroit (I'm pretty sure Ford was watching how this played out before making the truly goofy Mercedes comparisons with the Granada two years later). Yes all it amounts to is aping European Velour interiors (that ironically Benz rarely gave American customers) and color keyed wheelcovers like Benz did in the 60's. But for what it's worth, these Cutlasses were pretty good with what they used for daily ownership experience for middle class American buyers. The Olds Rocket V8 had a sterling reputation, as did the Turbo-Hydramatic's shift quality (how long did it take Benz to smooth out their shift quality?) Nevermind Benz HVAC systems that were woeful way into the W124 series. And like said above, for such a beastly car that is considered an "intermediate," GM really was on their suspension geometry game in the late 60's onwards even if they were still doing simple control arms up front and live axles out back. Having grown up in these Cutlasses (we had a '75 Salon for 24 years, it ended up being my first car) and having owned 4 different Benzes, there's decidedly bonuses to both schools of thought when day to day driving is concerned.
@@larsupreme people need to start thinking like you. Not everyone had a lot of money and having a nice car with an engine known for its power and reliability was enough for some people. I'm just happy to have wheels. Imagine how those people felt to get a brand new car. Times were different
I loved them Olds and I had three of them all used. First was a 1975 Supreme 4dr and looked alot like that one, 350 4bl and built like a tank and loved it. 2nd one: 1976 2dr Salon 350 4bl and was a real cruiser, loved it. 3rd one: 1986 Cutlass Supreme 2dr sedan was a cool car too.
A good number of Oldsmobile's from this era outlasted many of their competitors. They were easy to repair and parts were inexpensive. Excellent reliability.
Your Cutlass looks very nice. My parents had a loaded white 2 door 73 Cutlass Supreme with light blue vinyl top and interior with the 455 engine. Loved that car and that year of Cutlass.
Every time I see a 73-77 Cutlass…I think about the first time I saw one when I was 11 years old in the fall of ‘72 drive by our house in Shaftsburg near Lansing Michigan, the home of Olds !
Cool , I had one in the early 1980s . Two door, what a fine ride it was! The interior was incredible , It had captains chairs which was really unique. Smokers back in the day enjoyed that idea.
1973 was a strange year for cars. I'm sure the designers hated the front "5 mph bumper" only. They did some pretty decent work on some cars and terrible on others. It was the first year of the smog cars with an air pump and exhaust injectors and lower compression. So power was down quite a bit in one year, but still adequate as opposed to 1975 when they choked those big beautiful V-8s with catalytic converters and even lower compression. I believe that 1973 was the last year of standard points and condenser ignition distributors on all GM cars. My 1973 Corvette distributor connects directly to the tachometer by a metal encased "speedometer-style" cable. Driven directly off of the distributor shaft by a 90 degree metal gearbox. I've owned a 1973 Monte Carlo and still own a 1973 Corvette. The new front bumper on the 1973 Corvette made its profile much better while allowing the rear of the car to remain the same, dare I say, sensually svelte appeal. The rear end bumper from 1974 onwards on the Corvettes was a travesty. To quote a song I despise. "I like Big Butts...". 1973 is definitely my favorite of the C-3s. Unfortunately the "soft plastic" cover the original front bumpers deteriorated and the paint faded quickly primarily from Solar UV exposure. Everyone I've seen, whether restored or not has a full fiberglass front end. All of these beautiful cars including a Cutlass I almost bought seemed to be 1973. I love round headlights whether single or double. Even when they first came out in 1976, my High School Bi-Centennial graduation year, at age 17. I hated the rectangular dual versions whether vertical or horizontal. Beautifully sculpted cars with rectangular headlights clashed. I think it probably led to the more boxy car designs through the 1980s. Just a guess. Maybe you can ask the actual designers how much incorporating those headlights changed their design process. Thanks for these videos.
One of my best friend's parents back in the day had a maroon 73 Vega and his mom had a blue 73 Cutlass salon and they were both terrible cars. lol.. The Vega is to be expected to be terrible but the the Cutlass had all sorts of electrical issues and was constantly leaving them stranded... We would carpool in the Cutlass and to me it was like a Cadillac because my mom had a 72 Maverick.. The Maverick was a red two door with a 302 and air conditioning but it never broke except for a master cylinder.. It got hit by a JC Penny truck in 1984 and that ended it..
Terrible???? I have never seen one of these that was terrible, and the electrical system wasn’t that complicated back then, to where it would have a lot of problems.
@@patrickflohe7427 I don't know what to tell you but it was a lemon. It happened back then too and that's what Jeff's mom called it..... That was probably the first time I'd heard the term lemon..
Love that color! (only in the 70's?) Makes me wish I had grown up in the 70's instead of the 80's. I remember my aunt still had a '70 Caprice back then, there was no comparison to the newer X and A bodies that she bought later....
I checked earlier today to confirm there were 16 exterior paint choices for the Cutlass in 1973. I did not delve into interior options but there must have been at least a half dozen hues.
I can’t agree that it’s handsome. The greenhouse ruins it for me, anyway. Below the beltline, it’s great. True for my taste, across the GM midsize lineup during those years. Thanks for bringing the history of so many cars back to mind, Adam!
Adam, the base Cutlass for 1973 was just named "Cutlass". The Cutlass S was the sporty 2 door colonnade coupe, and also on the Cutlass S one could order the 442 package.
Dear Dr. Rare Classics, I have this condition, had it since '73 -- I absolutely love the 2 door Cutlass, drool worthy in 442 trim and only the '73, yet absolutely abhor the hit-with-the-fugly-stick four door, yet it's the same car - what the heck is wrong with me? If you can solve this then I'll move onto my other condition of adressing regular guys as Dr. Thanks,
Adam, Without a cute reference to the Rocket V8, this could still be called the "Launchpad Edition" because Cutlass sales were just about to go into orbit! 😁 The stick shift 1:55 in a 4 door sedan was quite a surprise. I am straining to think of another American 4 door of the era to offer the same feature.🤔
Possibly the mid '70s Grand Am, which was available in a four door. The early Laguna could be had as a four door as well. Colonnades have their own special problems not shared by their A body predecessors, but I still love them just as much. And as a 16 year old, I would've had a hard time choosing between a '60s Chevelle SS 396 and a '73-'75 Cutlass Supreme with the Swivel Buckets and a good color combo - I figured you can pretty easily build up the Olds engine to come at least real close to the bona fide musclecar's performance, without hurting drivability too much. A high school teacher of mine had a '78 or '79 Grand Prix, with the V6 and three speed manual on the floor!
I had a 76 2 door Salon I bought in 77. The daughter of a Doctor who was ridding in my car said it rode just like her father's Mercedes. It was a great, comfortable car, that handled exceptionally well. Mine was silver with the silver landau roof and T-tops with a deep red interior. I only kept it a year or so, trading it for a 78 Cutlass Calais, which had replaced the Salon as the Cutlass road car. The 78 handled even better, probably because of the smaller size, but the quality of the interior fabric was disappointing.
my father bought a white one in 73-74 with a red top. It was the first car I remember. I was driven to grade 1 a few times in it. My father claimed he hated it and got a Mercedes instead. I remember it came with an Oldsmobile 8 track tape of selected hit songs of the time. I loved those songs on the way to school. Wish I could remember the list. Have not been able to find it on the internet. Although I am not sure if it was a cutlass or a Delta 88.
Like you said, Cutlasses were everywhere during the mid-seventies. In our neighborhood in the mid-seventies, virtually every other house had one, including ours with both a '73 and a '77. You rarely saw Cutlass Salons, though. What you'd see most often were Cutlass Supreme coupes and Cutlass wagons, including Cutlass Vista Cruiser wagons. I think the best-looking model years of that 1973-77 period were the '73s and the '75s.
I had two Salons back in the day. The first was a ‘76 2-door coupe in a beautiful gold with matching vinyl reclining seats and the optional road wheels and trim rings. It also had a full matching vinyl roof. Unfortunately, no power seat or tilt wheel. Getting in and out at 6’2” was difficult. Next was my ‘77 2-door coupe in a dark green which had the slimline Astro style buckets. Also reclining but not anywhere near as comfortable. It had the color keyed hubcaps and a half tan vinyl roof. It did have the tilt wheel but also no power seat. Both great cars but the ‘76 was my favorite of the two.
I believed Olds called those wheels "Super Stocks." Maybe they are Super Stock II, with the SS I being the Magnum 500s which Olds used in the mid '60s?
@@DanEBoyd Not sure, Dan. They were steel color coded painted wheels with a stainless trim ring. Beautiful wheels that really made the look of the car.
Oh, yes. These were introduced when Cutlass was riding high. They certainly fit the times. Good-looking cars, and a solid value. Those were the days, my friend! And, indeed, we thought they'd never end. But they did. It strikes me that the overall styling cliches are really similar to the Chrysler New Yorker Salon Edition of 1963
A very nice and sympathetic review of the Cutlass Salon. 1973 was perhaps my favorite year design of any Cutlass, save the 1972 model. I definitely like the coupe styling better, but the four door styling isn’t bad.
In my parents' experience: Those sculpted lower body sides would be struck by stones that quickly chipped the paint! Good styling, perhaps, but GM should have coated that area with their later Plastisol.
Of the 73-77 Cutlass era, I like the grille (with small 5 mph bumper) and the rear end (pre 74 5 mph bumper) of the 73's the best. However the 73-75 Cutlass' had the sharp flares on the lower body panels (if you lived on gravel roads) that got a lot of paint knocked off and rusted in those areas (as did the full size Oldsmobile of that era). The 76-77 cars did not have those flare outs and because of that I prefer the 76-77 cars overall during those years.
I was surprised but pleased to see this video, having had no idea you were doing it (whoever you are!). You did a very nice job. I’ve also owned several of these cars over the years, starting with a brand new 73 in Chestnut with Palomino upholstery.
@@RareClassicCars Yes that’s right! I’ve had it since 2015. I enjoy the looks and finger pointing I get when I take it out on Woodward Avenue here in suburban Detroit.
I always loved the tail lights on the '73 Cutlass
me too
My much older, successful early-career sister bought as a gift to our mother a ‘76 Cutlass Supreme coupe, in buttercreme with the landau roof. It was stunning. My mother had just returned to the workforce as a realtor (what else?) and her rust bucket ‘66 LeSabre wasn’t going to cut it. The car was to be a Christmas surprise and we’d even had it stored in a neighbors garage until the big reveal. Sadly, mom died of ovarian cancer four days before Christmas. Karen had special ordered the Cutlass back in August - alas mom was diagnosed on Halloween and in seven short weeks she was gone. She never got to drive or be seen in that fantastic automobile. She absolutely would have loved it.
I’m so sorry to hear that your mom passed away like that. I’m sure your mom would have loved her Cutlass.
Wow, what a sad story. So sorry about your mother. God must have wanted her for something more important. Did your sister still buy the car? Seems like it would have a somber reminder of your mom.
@@61rampy65 Thanks. Sorry to bring down the room like that. No, Karen got the dealer to take it back since the title paperwork hadn’t been submitted by the dealer until mom was to have signed for the tags. My sister already had a company car with Eastman Kodak so we had to say goodbye to Gerry’s (Geraldine was my mom’s name) Buttercreme Cutlass.
@@huntermalone3449 oh lord she would have treasured that thing. She was big into beautiful cars (though I can’t possibly explain the dirt brown ‘66 LeSabre). She once convinced dad to buy her a new 1958 Oldsmobile convertible in white with a navy top. That monster was the size of a Nimitz-class warship - such a practical choice for upstate New York at the time. She would have driven that Cutlass with the window down, her Salem cigarette just far enough into the slipstream so as to take away the ash, and Gerry looking out over her sunglasses nodding to the ladies in our neighborhood. Yeah she had just a tinge of OG now that I think of it. She liked having style….
I love the description of how your mom with the OG vibe smoked as she was driving. I’m getting the image of Angelica Huston in The Grifters, as she lights up.
Nice! I learned to drive on my mother's 1974 Cutlass Salon. White with blue top and interior. A classy car, indeed. Loved how the grille hinged backward in case there was a frontal impact.
My grand aunt had a 1976 Cutlass Supreme 2 door hardtop with a 350 engine. This was the first year of the quad square headlights and the smoothed off lower body panels. I remembered the very first day she got it from the car dealership. I thought if was the most luxurious cars ever, compared to my dad's 1972 Ford Gran Torino at that time. One of the rare features it had were power windows and the "Tempmatic" air conditioning. I had a pleasure of driving the car once I got my driver's licence and it was a dream to drive. Unfortunately the harsh weather up here in Canada was not kind to the body panels and underside which deteriorated badly, which was ashamed as I rally liked that car! One of Oldsmobile's finest!
I was a high school freshman when the Cutlass Salon premiered for the 1973 model year. To me, the Salon was simply a trim option until one of my favorite teachers bought one. She gave me a ride home and I'd never experienced a front seat sooo comfortable! The smooth quiet ride and that amazing front seat - I was impressed. Two months later, the 1973 Oldsmobile Cutlass was taking over the teacher's parking lot. I was seeing the first stages of a phenomenon that was sweeping the country - CutlassMania!
I would estimate they had a higher total market share than today's F-Series.
I have a soft spot for the Colonnades. You saw them everywhere in the mid 1970's - the two door Cutlass Supreme was an incredible sales success. My high school had a fleet of Supremes for driver's education in 1974 and I remember them very well.
I remember that one of my dad's work friends had one of these cars. His actually had the 442 trim on it. It was really very cool.
I have long forgotten that "international" plate that Oldsmobile used for several years. Indeed that is a very rare car. Normally consoles were for the more sporty 2-door. I was very surprised to see that in a four-door. Thanks for covering a car I did not know existed.
Wow Adam! Thank you for another wonderful Memory Lane! Dad came home with a new '75 Cutlass Salon, nearly identical to this sample, except it was gorgeous and sharp.. as ours was a beautiful celery green with matching wheel covers and celery corduroy interior, with a white vinyl roof.. the combination was stunning, with those large emblems rotating on the hubcap centers. Color makes all the difference! First yr with the catalytic converter! And our first car with power windows and cruise control!..even though dad had traded in a beautiful '71 Ford LTD Brougham coupe with the soft nylon fabric flight back seats. (I still can't believe in '73-5 I drove my dream car back and forth to college in TX from CA, my 1966 Toronado! ~like I won the lottery)
Back in the day my mom was out car shopping with us kids and my eye caught a gold with beige 71 and I couldn't help but point it out to her, as she was just overwhelmed with the sea of vehicles. She was usually pretty skeptical, but with one quick walk-around, she anxiously summoned for a test drive and the rest is history. She and that car were a pair, bold, beautiful and broke all the rules!
Cute story, but how does an Olds Cutlass "brake all the rules". Just bustin yer balls :-)
That "all the performance you'd expect from a car named Cutlass" line in the promo film lands differently once one has experienced the magnificence of the 1980s' expertly detuned 307. Someone in my hometown used to have an '85 Cutlass Supreme with the vanity license plate GUTLESS. :)
I remember back in day I was in high school and everybody loved this car, anyone whose parents bought one as soon as they could convince their parents to let them drive it we all had a great time trying it out.
I grew up in a small Colorado town during the hippy years. The local hardware store owner passed away and his elderly wife quickly traded their 1966 Olds Dynamic 88 with dog dish wheel covers for a flashy cranberry and white 1973 Olds Cutlass Salon. Just as quickly, she backed the car into a concrete wall and her kids took her license away. Undeterred, the elderly woman hired a young hippy guy to be her driver and they made an interesting couple. I guess you might say our Miss Daisy and Hoke.
Next door neighbor had new 73 Supreme in a bright green metallic and white interior. Nice car, and the 350 sounded great and distinctly Olds.
Enjoyable commentary on the 73 Salon option package (Y-78).
In 1974 the Salon option cost $361.
In 1975 the Salon received its own model “number” CSA.
(Cutlass Supreme was CSU)
This was an interesting time when GM A-body customers
had choices of styling personalities.
Chevys Monte Carlo, Buicks Century/Regal and
the Pontiac Grand Prix.
The Cutlass Supreme with the Salon option or designation
was a solid choice exemplifying the customers personality.
That Old training video had a fly on the screen, it tripped me out, I am watching it on my 55" tv in my room. 🤣😂
Good episode! I was a teenager when these appeared, and I loved the body styling. Still do, actually. Interesting to learn that they were nice to drive as well.
As a silver sneakers Gen Xer....this was the staple car for many families of my generation....especially the wagon version with the lift up rear hatch. My favorite memory is our neighbor...his son in law had a white 1977 Cutlass Supreme with T-Tops....and that was his summer car and was extremely well taken care of....I believe he still might have it. In 1983, I found a similar 77 Cutlass Supreme coupe for sale, silver with a red interior...and it was pretty much used up...sagging doors..they were heavy and plastics cracking on the interior....if not taken care of, these malaise era cars wore out quickly.
Our family about a 79 Cutlass Salon Brougham...the aeroback....and it had the international flags on the nameplates...and the Olds Rallye wheels which were body color with chrome trim rings and center caps. Later, during my early career, I worked for a large rental car agency that had the W Body Cutlass Supreme International Series as a premium car in our fleet....while my car was being repaired, I used my employee discount to take one for a week...comfortable....with a ton of gimmicks for seat adjustments and dash displays.
Unfortunately, in winter road salt country, the Colonnade GM cars rusted quickly. I recall my Dad's coworker having this era of Cutlass and while the car was five years old or so, the fenders and doors had perforations, especially since the body design seemed to attract rock chips.
I'm with you. If you were fairly knowledgeable about car maintenance, you could keep these cars on the roads. You had to be consistent (and not wait until things devolved) and rust-proofing warranty. It amazes me by the mid-80s, that they were completely gone from the road. The only car I truly love from this era is the 1978 Pontiac Trans Am. And they're gone too.
@@griffonclaw Here in the non salted Gulf South u saw these Collonades well into the Nineties. Esp out and away from the big city as i drove a route truck in those days all over.
My parents bought a 75 Cutlass Salon coupe brand new. What a fantastic car that was. Baby blue with white half vinyl top. Blue interior with velour bucket seats and console T shifter. Man that was a fine looking car. The 350 with the quadrajet would move on out. We marveled at the column mounted headlamp dimmer and the reclining front bucket seats.
We moved to Phoenix in 1980. I distinctly remember the neighbor with the flared pants who had one of these. He had that pre-disco look that fit with the car well.
Really like the 73 "one year only" rear taillights and bumper. Thanks a too Rare Classic Cars for posting......
It’s just so odd now looking at cars in car shows that we’re just ‘daily drivers’ back in the day. I almost bought one back in 1985 for $750 from a service station. Unfortunately I was a day late with the money and it got away.
Thanks for the memories. 🙂
Cars like this were ubiquitous when I was a kid. Thanks for helping me appreciate them!
At its peak, the Cutlass had a higher market share than the F150 has today.
That silver 98 next to it is awesome! The early 70's full sized were just great
I bought a 1973 cutlass s two door. I loved that car. Drove it all over the country. Only problem was the rust. I should have had it Zebart. Almost 300,000 miles on it when I finally sold it. I miss it to this day
My father had a '74 that I drove in college, it was definitely a decent car, but had it's 70s issues. Had the dual exhaust that bumped the HP to about 200 I believe, but made it almost impossible to keep mufflers on the car, since they continually rusted out. Points tended to freeze up at random times, killing the engine with no warning. Dad made me a special tool so that I could open the view port on the side of the distributor and pull the points apart. Had the red interior, which I loved, but the dashboard top surface deteriorated into a sticky glue after a few years in the sun.
In September 1973 the local dealer had two 1973 Cutlass Supreme coupes left , a dark red and a silver blue one. Both had full white vinyl tops and white bucket seat interiors with out consoles so were column shift.
The 1974's were starting to come in and I didn't care for the front and rear styling with the heavier bumpers. My fiancee wanted the blue 73 so that's what I bought. Really enjoyed that car and had very few issues with it. Would buy another 73 Supreme coupe if I could find a mint low mileage one in "Adam" condition!
I imagine the coupes are very tough to find in top condition but the sedan in this video has a 'For Sale' sign in the rear window.
The 1973 Colonnades aged very well.Going into the 1980's they seemed very overwrought. In 2022, they seem very elegant, particularly compared to new vehicle's rather busy and fussy styling. Although I almost did a spittake when the training film said "you might mistake the Salon for a european touring car." If you were visually impaired or had never seen a european sedan before. Nonetheless, this car, along with the early Vega, Camaro and 2nd Generation Corvair did have european styling influences.
Liked 💯👍
Great comment. Yeah, you might mistake it for a European touring car…if you’ve never actually seen a real European touring car. I guess it’s not just me in that I don’t think of anything European when I see the inside or outside of one of these. I like how it looks, but it looks completely American.
Adam, it occurred to me that a good design feature video would be GM's Swivel Bucket seats. I remember that the seats were one-piece in the sense that they didn't recline or fold in any way.
One of my friends in high school had a '75 Supreme Coupe, in triple black, with the Swivel Buckets and console, and the Olds Super Stock 'Ralley' wheels. LOVED that car!
I missed the car show! Bummer. My first car was a 1975 Cutlass Supreme coupe; White with burgundy vinyl top. I drove it from Arkansas to Michigan in 1984.
2:53 The international flag badge was controversial when it was first used, as GM had not included the Canadian flag. Canada was the 2nd largest market for these cars, and indeed, GM changed the badge putting the Canadian flag adjacent to the American flag.
These Cutlass’ were so popular back in the 70’s and 80’s that I still can’t quite wrap my brain around the idea that Oldsmobile is no longer with us……..🤔
Such a shame , my family loved the Oldsmobile product, dating waaaaaaaaaaay back.
Then it was good bye.
I still cant believe they dumped Olds in favor of _Buick_
@@Paul1958R Me either. or Pontiac
@@mikemiller659
I was there , and I can tell you Pontiac couldn't sell cars to anyone.
For some reason nobody cared about the new redesigned Bonneville, 400 horses. Maybe because it was front wheel drive?
They couldn't sell an over priced TA, it left the younger buyers behind and 40 year old's spending that kind of money were going to buy BMWs not a Pontiac, they had no prestige by 2005.
Then they made the GTO which they certainly should have built excitement into that car , ugly car for to much money.
although the GTO can keep up with new muscle to this day nobody cared.
The Cutlass Salon had several iterations throughout the 1970s and 1980s. In 1973 it was the top of the line with a console, buckets etc. however by the late 1970s the Salon was the terrible slant back coupe and sedan that was canceled after only two model years 1978-79. The Cutlass Supreme four door was redesigned with a notchback (Seville-like) roofline for 1980. The Salon name came back in 1985 when Olds gave the Calais name to the top of the line 2 door Cutlass with full instrumentation, console, blacked out grill, and bucket seats. From 1978 to 1984 the Cutlass Calais was what the Salon was in 1973 and again starting in 1985.
However you said the Cutlass was canceled after 1988. While I agree that the rear wheel drive was canceled. The front wheel drive Cutlass Supreme continued through 1997. And then the ill fated last Cutlass in 1998 that was nothing more than a rebadged Malibu.
My family had a '74 Vista Cruiser, that was the wagon version of this car. Great car. We took many family vacations in that thing.
I had a burgundy Olds Cutlass Supreme, bucket seats and console shift. 350 4bbl dual exhaust. The coolest car i wish i had kept! I sold it and got a 1977 Olds Cutlass Supreme which was a rust bucket. The freezer plugs in the engine block went out one at a time -- lol it was so frustrating. I saw this Oldsmobile when you were doing the Cadillac video and hoped you did a video on it. Thanks!
I owned a 73 Cutlass Salon in chamois gold with the 455. I drove it for three years and about 38,000 miles and traded it for a SAAB 99 when the gas crisis increased fuel costs. I previously had a 70 Cutlass SX which I think was a better car overall. Both handled very well. Thanks for sharing info on the 73 Cutlass Salon and the memories.
I should add that my 73 Salon had a radio failure and blew a radiator hose, failures not expected in a two year old car. GM was already beginning to slip in quality.
I always wondered if any Salons made it out the door with a 455 instead of a 350. Now I know lol
Ah, my favorite color of 1973 GM paint!
I remember when these were introduced. I always loved the front seats. This was not a very common vehicle. In 1974 when the two door was introduced the four door pretty much faded away in the sales arena. Adam if you had driven a Cutlass with the lower skeg line as a daily driver you would have learned just how impractical it was. Within 10,000 miles the paint was all chipped off the bottom.
Designed that way to increase the rusting!
@@jeffmiller3150
I worked at a Buick/Oldsmobile dealership back then and they had a lot of unhappy customers because their cars were rusting in two years due to the design.
My father owned a Cutlass from this time and he complained of the same issue. Chipping paint and how dirt collected regularly.
The 2 door was around in 73- next door neighbor had one.
@@VAspeed3
I don’t recall ever seeing a ‘73 Salon coupe. Anything is possible.
Very nice to see such a good example in a terrific colour. I have a metallic blue 74 Olds Cutlass coupe. Nice car.
Dang, you've covered another car near & dear as my great aunt Lela , when she passed, her baby blue 'S' coupe went on to my 18 y.o.sis! No vinyl roof but my sis dated a body painter and he gave it bold stripes and two tone effect of like a gray and black! Looked bad ass in coupe form and I was sorta jealous ( but I had mom's old '71 98 so who could complain!).
I never got the meaning of colonnade roof until you mentioned and now I see it! Wow! We had some fun times scooping da loop out at nearby lake. Adam mentioned dash was boring but I dug the airplane like vents and the controls were a step up from her previous car, a late Sixties orange VW Karmann wagon!Of course my sis had a bad ass stereo w/ cassette & whoofer speakers ( what better way to jam to Led Zep & see the lake peeps? Great times!
My mother bought a ‘73 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme 2 door new. Midnight blue, white vinyl top and white guts with the 350 4bbl. I was a sophomore in high school and borrowing that car to cruise for chicks was not a handicap. Sweet looking machine and a sweet ride.
My first car was a Blue 1974 Cutlass Salon with Blue High back buckets. It was a great car and those seats were so comfortable.....I drove nearly all of the time - 4 doors, great stereo.
I love Oldsmobile. When I was a kid, my dad raced several of the downsized 1978 and newer Cutlasses. My first nice car after I graduated high school was a 1999 Aurora. Man, I miss that car...
The narrow C pillar was very European. Many domestic cars of the day had those thick C pillars, that caused a huge blind spot. This one is an excellent original looking example - that show offered some really nice cars.
Love this Cutlass. As I said in another one of your vids, my mom’s ‘74 Salon with the buckets was awesome.
To me, regarding the colonnade styled GM mid-sized cars, there are the 1973's and then there are the rest of the later models produced from '74-77. The '73's look so much better because they do not have the larger bumpers, and the rear bumper is integrated. They look as the stylist originally conceived them.
The 1973 Cutlass Salon, along with the Pontiac Grand Am and Chevrolet Malibu Laguna, had special touches which made them somewhat unique among the colonnade cars.
I remember when these cars came out and they were a dramatic departure from their coke bottle shaped predecessors. And, they were completely different in concept from competitive cars like the Ford Torino and Plymouth Satellite, which still had the big C pillar look popularized in the late 1960's.
Always liked these. I bet some of the footage in the dealer guide was Lakeshore Drive.
I had a 1975 cutlass salon sedan. Great car!
Very interesting Adam. I recall this Cutlass. Well put together video. Those seats were interesting. Then the swivel buckets followed. Oldsmobile did take off during that time. If GM had kept investing in the brand and kept all of its brands on track who knows where we would be today?
Good question.
My Dad had a 74, first car I rode in coming home from the hospital. What a funny thought right, reclining seats a big deal, and they really were a big deal!
My first car was a 69 Oldsmobile Cutlass S convertible, cherry red/black interior, buckets and console, Rocket V-8 350. Great car.
My second was a 70 cutlass 442, First car was a 67 Camaro SS. It was stolen from the Sears parking lot where I was working. There so damn Easy to steal ! Un-screw the Key Lock's retaining ring and the Whole key-lock can be reached by hand..Un-plugg from the wire harness. then plug in the lock U prepaired previously. A Total loss. Earned by working @ $1.60 an hour. The 442 had the Key lock on the steering column.
I bought a new 1973 Olds Cutlass S. Really wanted a Supreme but this was July 73 and they didn't have any Supreme's left. It had the new recirculating pump smog control on it so the idle was rough. Even on my aunt's 1973 98 Regency had a rough idle.
Which one of the 16 available colors did you choose for your '73 Cutlass?
@@rightlanehog3151 I didn't choose a color. I bought the last S on the lot with exception to another S that was a real base model that to my understanding was a Driver's Ed vehicle. It had a vinyl floor as opposed to carpet Mine was a light blue with a white top and blue cloth interior. Usual equipment with am radio. Eight years later I would buy a 1973 Buick Century for $300 after I sold my 1978 GMC pickup for $300 less than I paid for it new. We had high inflation back then but not as bad as today. Betty the Buick was one of the best used cars I've ever owned. She was already named when I bought her. She had a dent in the front fender so that's why she was so cheap. I had a few beaters in my life.
@@robertpace901 Nice! I will guess you had the 350. According to the listings, there were two shades of light blue in 73 . Wedgewood Blue and Zodiac Blue. I hope you chose Wedgeood because Zodiac scares me a little (a lot) . 😁
As an owner of 60's olds... I must say the 73 was actually very nice looking... Especially the front end
I owned a new ‘73 Chevelle SS that was the same color as the Salon in this video without the vinyl top. Being a new generation, it was completely different than the ‘72. The thing I most remember were the swivel bucket seats to ease entry and exit.
Where I grew up it took about five years or so and these cars would have some serious rust. I remember it was the beginning of rustproofing and a family friend had his car Zeibarted and under the hood looking like an oil slick.
Adam, thanks for reviewing the Cutlass Salon. I remember when these came out and they very nice for the time. Always wanted one, but I don’t think I ever even saw one. Keep up the good work 👍
I think it’s fascinating that Olds was positioning this series as an import competitor. I never realized that was their marketing strategy. When I was a teenager in the 80’s, I always looked at these as another conventional GM car with all of the customary attributes.
The Cutlass is nostalgic for me. I never thought I'd see another 70's 4 door Cutlass in decent shape ever again. I figured by now they'd all been crushed. However, now I've seen 2. This one and yours. I wonder how many are left in good condition. Even the other yellow(ish) one in this video (7:00) had a big rust hole like many I remember seeing. People hung on to them though because, well, they ran just fine.
A true 4 door with front bucket seat and console interior! Freaking amazing
My Grandmother had a 72 green paint and green interior. just like in that add that you played cutlass 2door coupe. W/ the 350 Rocket Engine . it was a smooth riding and had plenty of power. miss that car grandma totaled it in a accident 30yrs ago low miles and was going to be handed down to me.
The '73 Cutlass Supreme coupe was a hot item when it came out. The 4 doors never interested me, but I knew someone who had a '75 salon. I don't recall ever seeing this color in the wild back then. I like it! You got a lot of mileage out of this car show.
I just checked, there were SIXTEEN paint color choices for the 1973 Cutlass. I believe this one is called 'Moss Gold'. I don't think there are 16 colors of car paint in the
world anymore. 🤨
Friends of mine, in New Orleans, had a 73 Cutlass Cruiser in that exact same color scheme. Sans vinyl roof, of course.
@@rightlanehog3151 It is in fact Mayan Gold Poly
My neighbor had the 2 door version. It was beautiful but a pain to clean in Minnesota winters.
I didn't know the cutlass salon had a different grill from the other cutlasses. Now I do.
My dad used own one like that, bought it new back in 1973. These were rare cars in Belgium in those days. Fond memories!
A 1974 Oldsmobile Cutlass sedan was the car used in my Driver's Ed training in high school. It was brand new and for many years I based my opinion on any other car by comparing it to the Cutlass. It is amazing how many details I remember about the cars that were around me while growing up, and I wonder if others share similar thoughts. Thanks, Adam, for sharing another very nostalgic video about this great era of automobiles.
We had the same cars for our drivers ed, as well, that same year 1974. It was the first time that I saw one. It was parked in the high school lunch area so the students could see the new drivers ed cars. This was in the San Fernando Valley, LA Unified school district. The year after that they switched to Plymouth Valiants, probably because of the fuel price increase!
I am overwhelmed with envy, I did driver's ed in a 1980 Dodge Aspen coupe.
@@rightlanehog3151 Volare Sedan for us. Downsized from caprice estate wagons in the 70's
@@anthonym.cardali1875 Our family had a 1973 Caprice Estate.
The Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham-like roof treatment around the "B" pillar was it's most distinctive feature.
It was a "European-style" car for people who have never actually driven a European car. The Mercedes 450SE had unibody construction, an overhead-cam engine, electronic fuel injection, four-wheel disc brakes, and four-wheel independent suspension -- features many Oldsmobiles didn't have even 20 years later.
Yeah and the Mercedes was twice the price. not many people could afford that or the repair bills. These were American cars with European flair. I don't see an issue
@@maxsinger3526 I don't even see the "European flair", except for the bucket seats and console shifter -- I guess after 30 years of bench seats and column shifters being the norm on American cars, that alone was enough to convince some people.
@@vwestlife It was one of many crass attempts and insecurities from Detroit (I'm pretty sure Ford was watching how this played out before making the truly goofy Mercedes comparisons with the Granada two years later). Yes all it amounts to is aping European Velour interiors (that ironically Benz rarely gave American customers) and color keyed wheelcovers like Benz did in the 60's.
But for what it's worth, these Cutlasses were pretty good with what they used for daily ownership experience for middle class American buyers. The Olds Rocket V8 had a sterling reputation, as did the Turbo-Hydramatic's shift quality (how long did it take Benz to smooth out their shift quality?) Nevermind Benz HVAC systems that were woeful way into the W124 series. And like said above, for such a beastly car that is considered an "intermediate," GM really was on their suspension geometry game in the late 60's onwards even if they were still doing simple control arms up front and live axles out back.
Having grown up in these Cutlasses (we had a '75 Salon for 24 years, it ended up being my first car) and having owned 4 different Benzes, there's decidedly bonuses to both schools of thought when day to day driving is concerned.
@@larsupreme people need to start thinking like you. Not everyone had a lot of money and having a nice car with an engine known for its power and reliability was enough for some people. I'm just happy to have wheels. Imagine how those people felt to get a brand new car. Times were different
@@vwestlife Buckets and floor shifters did exist before on American cars. But not on four doors.
I loved them Olds and I had three of them all used. First was a 1975 Supreme 4dr and looked alot like that one, 350 4bl and built like a tank and loved it. 2nd one: 1976 2dr Salon 350 4bl and was a real cruiser, loved it. 3rd one: 1986 Cutlass Supreme 2dr sedan was a cool car too.
A good number of Oldsmobile's from this era outlasted many of their competitors. They were easy to repair and parts were inexpensive. Excellent reliability.
Your Cutlass looks very nice. My parents had a loaded white 2 door 73 Cutlass Supreme with light blue vinyl top and interior with the 455 engine. Loved that car and that year of Cutlass.
Every time I see a 73-77 Cutlass…I think about the first time I saw one when I was 11 years old in the fall of ‘72 drive by our house in Shaftsburg near Lansing Michigan, the home of Olds !
First time i saw a 77 Cuttlas was at Shephard Mall in OKC. It was parked there in the walk way. It reminded me of a giant ele. razor. Beautiful brown
I have one of these beauties, mine is Sage Green though instead of yellow. It drives really nice.
👍
These are nice looking cars.
Cool , I had one in the early 1980s . Two door, what a fine ride it was!
The interior was incredible , It had captains chairs which was really unique. Smokers back in the day enjoyed that idea.
1973 was a strange year for cars. I'm sure the designers hated the front "5 mph bumper" only. They did some pretty decent work on some cars and terrible on others.
It was the first year of the smog cars with an air pump and exhaust injectors and lower compression. So power was down quite a bit in one year, but still adequate as opposed to 1975 when they choked those big beautiful V-8s with catalytic converters and even lower compression. I believe that 1973 was the last year of standard points and condenser ignition distributors on all GM cars. My 1973 Corvette distributor connects directly to the tachometer by a metal encased "speedometer-style" cable. Driven directly off of the distributor shaft by a 90 degree metal gearbox.
I've owned a 1973 Monte Carlo and still own a 1973 Corvette. The new front bumper on the 1973 Corvette made its profile much better while allowing the rear of the car to remain the same, dare I say, sensually svelte appeal. The rear end bumper from 1974 onwards on the Corvettes was a travesty. To quote a song I despise. "I like Big Butts...".
1973 is definitely my favorite of the C-3s. Unfortunately the "soft plastic" cover the original front bumpers deteriorated and the paint faded quickly primarily from Solar UV exposure. Everyone I've seen, whether restored or not has a full fiberglass front end.
All of these beautiful cars including a Cutlass I almost bought seemed to be 1973.
I love round headlights whether single or double. Even when they first came out in 1976, my High School Bi-Centennial graduation year, at age 17. I hated the rectangular dual versions whether vertical or horizontal.
Beautifully sculpted cars with rectangular headlights clashed. I think it probably led to the more boxy car designs through the 1980s. Just a guess. Maybe you can ask the actual designers how much incorporating those headlights changed their design process.
Thanks for these videos.
One of my best friend's parents back in the day had a maroon 73 Vega and his mom had a blue 73 Cutlass salon and they were both terrible cars. lol..
The Vega is to be expected to be terrible but the the Cutlass had all sorts of electrical issues and was constantly leaving them stranded...
We would carpool in the Cutlass and to me it was like a Cadillac because my mom had a 72 Maverick..
The Maverick was a red two door with a 302 and air conditioning but it never broke except for a master cylinder..
It got hit by a JC Penny truck in 1984 and that ended it..
Terrible????
I have never seen one of these that was terrible, and the electrical system wasn’t that complicated back then, to where it would have a lot of problems.
@@patrickflohe7427 I don't know what to tell you but it was a lemon.
It happened back then too and that's what Jeff's mom called it.....
That was probably the first time I'd heard the term lemon..
The Salon in the Dealer's Training Guide may be the only one that I have ever seen that didn't have a vinyl roof.
Love that color! (only in the 70's?) Makes me wish I had grown up in the 70's instead of the 80's. I remember my aunt still had a '70 Caprice back then, there was no comparison to the newer X and A bodies that she bought later....
I checked earlier today to confirm there were 16 exterior paint choices for the Cutlass in 1973. I did not delve into interior options but there must have been at least a half dozen hues.
I can’t agree that it’s handsome. The greenhouse ruins it for me, anyway. Below the beltline, it’s great. True for my taste, across the GM midsize lineup during those years.
Thanks for bringing the history of so many cars back to mind, Adam!
I used to have one but mine was a two door I really enjoyed that car
Millions and millions of people bought them so it is good to hear at least a few of you enjoyed them. 😉
Adam, the base Cutlass for 1973 was just named "Cutlass". The Cutlass S was the sporty 2 door colonnade coupe, and also on the Cutlass S one could order the 442 package.
Dear Dr. Rare Classics, I have this condition, had it since '73 -- I absolutely love the 2 door Cutlass, drool worthy in 442 trim and only the '73, yet absolutely abhor the hit-with-the-fugly-stick four door, yet it's the same car - what the heck is wrong with me?
If you can solve this then I'll move onto my other condition of adressing regular guys as Dr.
Thanks,
Adam, Without a cute reference to the Rocket V8, this could still be called the "Launchpad Edition" because Cutlass sales were just about to go into orbit! 😁 The stick shift 1:55 in a 4 door sedan was quite a surprise. I am straining to think of another American 4 door of the era to offer the same feature.🤔
Grand Am 6.6!
Possibly the mid '70s Grand Am, which was available in a four door. The early Laguna could be had as a four door as well.
Colonnades have their own special problems not shared by their A body predecessors, but I still love them just as much. And as a 16 year old, I would've had a hard time choosing between a '60s Chevelle SS 396 and a '73-'75 Cutlass Supreme with the Swivel Buckets and a good color combo - I figured you can pretty easily build up the Olds engine to come at least real close to the bona fide musclecar's performance, without hurting drivability too much.
A high school teacher of mine had a '78 or '79 Grand Prix, with the V6 and three speed manual on the floor!
@@joeseeking3572 Thanks. I only learned recently that they made a Grand Am sedan in those days.
skylark s/r
@@rightlanehog3151 You could even get the Grand Am 4 door with 6.6 V8 and a 4 speed manual ! That would be crazy rare.
I had a 76 2 door Salon I bought in 77. The daughter of a Doctor who was ridding in my car said it rode just like her father's Mercedes. It was a great, comfortable car, that handled exceptionally well. Mine was silver with the silver landau roof and T-tops with a deep red interior. I only kept it a year or so, trading it for a 78 Cutlass Calais, which had replaced the Salon as the Cutlass road car. The 78 handled even better, probably because of the smaller size, but the quality of the interior fabric was disappointing.
my father bought a white one in 73-74 with a red top. It was the first car I remember. I was driven to grade 1 a few times in it. My father claimed he hated it and got a Mercedes instead. I remember it came with an Oldsmobile 8 track tape of selected hit songs of the time. I loved those songs on the way to school. Wish I could remember the list. Have not been able to find it on the internet. Although I am not sure if it was a cutlass or a Delta 88.
Like you said, Cutlasses were everywhere during the mid-seventies. In our neighborhood in the mid-seventies, virtually every other house had one, including ours with both a '73 and a '77. You rarely saw Cutlass Salons, though. What you'd see most often were Cutlass Supreme coupes and Cutlass wagons, including Cutlass Vista Cruiser wagons. I think the best-looking model years of that 1973-77 period were the '73s and the '75s.
Indeed. If you did not know anyone with a Cutlass in the 70s, you did not know anyone.
I had two Salons back in the day. The first was a ‘76 2-door coupe in a beautiful gold with matching vinyl reclining seats and the optional road wheels and trim rings. It also had a full matching vinyl roof. Unfortunately, no power seat or tilt wheel. Getting in and out at 6’2” was difficult. Next was my ‘77 2-door coupe in a dark green which had the slimline Astro style buckets. Also reclining but not anywhere near as comfortable. It had the color keyed hubcaps and a half tan vinyl roof. It did have the tilt wheel but also no power seat. Both great cars but the ‘76 was my favorite of the two.
I believed Olds called those wheels "Super Stocks." Maybe they are Super Stock II, with the SS I being the Magnum 500s which Olds used in the mid '60s?
@@DanEBoyd Not sure, Dan. They were steel color coded painted wheels with a stainless trim ring. Beautiful wheels that really made the look of the car.
Hey Dan, you were right! They were called Super Stocks, RPO code P05 and they cost a whopping $104.79. You know your shit!
@@michaellindquist31 And they also had those cool little stainless trim rings around the openings in the wheel too.
@@DanEBoyd and with the center caps, one of the best looking wheels of the time.
Thanks ! Straight Ahead ✌😎
Oh, yes. These were introduced when Cutlass was riding high. They certainly fit the times. Good-looking cars, and a solid value. Those were the days, my friend! And, indeed, we thought they'd never end. But they did. It strikes me that the overall styling cliches are really similar to the Chrysler New Yorker Salon Edition of 1963
My dad's 73 Lemans was that color
A very nice and sympathetic review of the Cutlass Salon. 1973 was perhaps my favorite year design of any Cutlass, save the 1972 model. I definitely like the coupe styling better, but the four door styling isn’t bad.
In my parents' experience: Those sculpted lower body sides would be struck by stones that quickly chipped the paint! Good styling, perhaps, but GM should have coated that area with their later Plastisol.
Love it.
trying to wipe out that bug off my PC screen hehe
That Dealer Training Guide was done by the Tom Thomas Organization.
hee.
Of the 73-77 Cutlass era, I like the grille (with small 5 mph bumper) and the rear end (pre 74 5 mph bumper) of the 73's the best. However the 73-75 Cutlass' had the sharp flares on the lower body panels (if you lived on gravel roads) that got a lot of paint knocked off and rusted in those areas (as did the full size Oldsmobile of that era). The 76-77 cars did not have those flare outs and because of that I prefer the 76-77 cars overall during those years.
We had a 1975 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme.
I was surprised but pleased to see this video, having had no idea you were doing it (whoever you are!). You did a very nice job. I’ve also owned several of these cars over the years, starting with a brand new 73 in Chestnut with Palomino upholstery.
I take it you’re the owner. Thx!
@@RareClassicCars Yes that’s right! I’ve had it since 2015. I enjoy the looks and finger pointing I get when I take it out on Woodward Avenue here in suburban Detroit.
I’m planning to sell this car in the next year or so. If you know anyone who’s interested, I’d be obliged if you let me know.
This was Olds answer to the all new Pontiac Grand AM !!!! yeah
I owned one. Yellow with a brown roof. 73 4 door salon. Bucket seats console and floor shifter
From the era of supreme GM timeless superior to all styling .