I had this exact car but a 1981 version with the base 3.8 V6. It served me quite well for many years and when I traded it in had 152K miles on it. It was very comfortable, quiet riding and peppier than my previous car, a 1979 Ford Fairmont with the wheezy 85 HP 200 six. It also got better mileage despite weighting 500 LBS more which always surprised me. The 4.3 liter 260 V8 mentioned here was a tractor like motor making the majority of its meager 105 horses at a low 3600 rpms. It was quite responsive around town but had literally no passing power on the open road.
I remember my grandfather's car, 1981 buick century, same color as this oldsmobile and I've gotta say that the a/c was simply bone chilling cold!! no matter what fan it was on, and no matter how hot it was outside 90 degrees was only but a joke back then, that a/c would steem the vents it was so cold,, R12 can't be beat!! I just wish ours had v8 or the chevy 4.3 as n opinion,, that 231 v6 just wasn't good enough, cool video!
WOW , Great review !! he really liked this one. The best selling car in 1980 , 2 door and 4 door, wagon. I had a 1987 Cutlass Supreme coupe , bought new and it was a great car..very stylish and sporty.
Really enjoying these car reviews. I write for a site that celebrates these older cars when they still serve on the roads (www.curbsideclassic.com) and sometimes we look at them through rose-colored glasses. Hearing and seeing how these cars were built and how they performed is amusing and interesting.
Thanks, Jim. I'm a collector of 'classic' cars myself, mainly cars from the 50's through the 70's. When people say 'they don't make em like they used to' they are right... but not in the way they mean. I think the 1970's and '80's American cars were among the worse ever built.
I remember. I grew up largely in the 1970s. Cars of the era were championship rusters, too. I don't miss any of it. Cars today are better built, seldom rust, and are far more reliable. And they're safer in a crash.
Love Oldsmobile and this is one of my favorite cars. Id love to own me one. The 260 was a bit small for the full size models but was very well suited for the tiny cars.
Oh man the sound of the rear vent windows..... when I was very young we had an Old 98. I remember playing with the window to stick my fingers out, and mom thought I was just opening it and closed the window on my hand. That hurt!
Talk about a popular car! Oldsmobile sold millions of these. For those of you who haven't driven one, these were very nice, very comfortable cars. And QUIET. At idle you could hardly hear the engine running. And they were elegant cars. They did have the 3.8 V6 by this point as an option. Of course there had to be some disadvantage somewhere. Yeah the rear window thing was kind of dumb - they should have had them just roll down part way at least - but it was the recessed rear door armrest/handle that obstructed the placement for a window mechanism. They did that so you could fit 6 passengers comfortably back there. It may have also been a cost cutting measure - but keep in mind how bad inflation was in the late 70s. People often forget about that. If they sold millions of cars they saved millions of dollars leaving something out. Not saying it's ok, but it makes sense why they'd do something like that.
1979 sales data. Cutlass sold over 500,000 cars..vs Citation 308,000. In 1980 Cutlass sold 460,000 vs Citation 375,000. So over a 2 yr span Cutlass was clearly the best selling car line in the USA.
The rear windows do not go down, "as with all GM mid-size cars". Who on Earth found that acceptable? I guess this was GM's way of saving on manufacturing costs by removing rear window regulators. I would've hated to be a passenger in the back seat if it was 90 degrees out and the A/C was broke.
Nope, I have an 89 Ford, back windows do NOT go down all the way. So that kind of issue is not exclusive to GM. Well, one of them doesn't go down at all, but that's 80s quality for ya. :)
It was just the GM cars of this style and body, like the period Malibu, that had the prison windows that didn’t roll. They were really hammered for it by their rivals too, especially Ford (although I recall the rear windows on the Fairmont only went down partially, but at least they went down.) The lack of quality is just how domestic cars were back then, which is one major reason why Japanese cars continued to grow in popularity throughout the 1970s and 80s.
Those Cutlass sedans and coupes were among the best cars of the era. The bar was set low back then but at least Olds tried. Most midsize Big 3 cars of that era were so pathetic. The Olds looked halfway decent and rode and drove pretty nicely. Unfortunately the Japanese and European cars were busy stealing our lunch money!
I could sit down right down to write a novel, & it STILL would come even remotely close to describing my love for the Cutlass!!!! Yes, there WERE cars that were in production at that time that were more modern in their designs & more reliable, but the Cutlass has a certain charm that I believe can only be matched by 2 other cars, the Golf & the Mustang. That charm of which I speak is the quintessential everyman's charm. The Cutlass was truly one of those cars that could be all things to all people. A stylish grocery getter, a luxurious touring car, a down-to-earth luxury car, a fire breathing muscle car.........the Cutlass did it all.
Oldsmobile dealers must have been relieved when this car replaced the hideous fake-hatchback styling of the '78 and '79 Cutlass. Triangular cars were more common in these years (eg. TR7, Dodge Omni 024, '79 Mustang, Pinto, etc.) but the '78 Century and Cutlass must have left the dealers gasping. The X cars had a somewhat softened version of that shape, but at least they made use of the extra space. Sadly, 15 years later, GM repeated the same mistake with the Pontiac Aztec.
Anthony Dixon because GM engineered built-in armrests into the rear doors when the cars were downsized, leaving no room for window regulators. It was also a cost-cutting measure
Not a bad looking car for the era. As posted, the lack of roll-down rear door windows was a ridiculous cost cutting measure. When the AC fails (and it usually failed after 4-5 years) the back seat was an oven. GM learned the lesson and after this model was out of production the next generation had roll-down rear door windows.
I've always thought that if the whole window slid back from the front and out in the back, to let air in as well as out, the setup would have worked well, but those little vent windows seem to be designed just to exhaust the air, so unless the front windows were also opened, they'd be useless. Reminds me a little of the flip-out rear windows in my father's VW squareback. They did free up an extra few inches of elbow room, though.
0:30 the paint stripes are fine. Just that trunk is bent. Must’ve been replaced before you guys got the car. They didn’t even finish the coating process for that part. The trunk. Typical raggedy American cars 🚘!
>It's Ders Mane: My childhood neighbor had an 87 4door cutlass. Looked almost identical to this one except quad headlights and bumper mounted front turn signals.
@@judethaddaeus9742 The best selling car was the Cutlass and Cutlass Supreme 2 door and 4 door ...in 1976, 1979, 1980 etc. The Citation for 1980 came out early in spring 79.. those 80 Citations were counted in 1979. The 80 Chevette and Citation were 2nd and 3 rd place in 1980 after the Cutlass/Cutlass Supreme models
And todays cars look ridiculous slammed so close to the ground scraping curbs and waterways entering a shopping plaza. The old cars never did that and were better in the snow sitting up higher. I never saw paint striping that was so far out of alignment like this on any new car even back then so that might indicate this car was in some kind of accident before being tested. It was certainly not typical. The paint quality issues were common even on Asian cars especially when aluminum or plastic was being used in place of steel. You could literally see the difference between hoods and trunk lids due to the differing metals used to save weight. 1980 was an indifferent year for the car industry as a whole with varying quality control. Things improved noticeably as the 1980's wore on!
Tesla level quality control decades before it’s time.
Bob, had the best job possible! And loved it.👍
'The new Oldsmobiles are in early this year!' - Elwood Blues
Gotta love the physical weather map at the end!
I had this exact car but a 1981 version with the base 3.8 V6. It served me quite well for many years and when I traded it in had 152K miles on it. It was very comfortable, quiet riding and peppier than my previous car, a 1979 Ford Fairmont with the wheezy 85 HP 200 six. It also got better mileage despite weighting 500 LBS more which always surprised me. The 4.3 liter 260 V8 mentioned here was a tractor like motor making the majority of its meager 105 horses at a low 3600 rpms. It was quite responsive around town but had literally no passing power on the open road.
I remember my grandfather's car, 1981 buick century, same color as this oldsmobile and I've gotta say that the a/c was simply bone chilling cold!! no matter what fan it was on, and no matter how hot it was outside 90 degrees was only but a joke back then, that a/c would steem the vents it was so cold,, R12 can't be beat!! I just wish ours had v8 or the chevy 4.3 as n opinion,, that 231 v6 just wasn't good enough, cool video!
WOW , Great review !! he really liked this one. The best selling car in 1980 , 2 door and 4 door, wagon. I had a 1987 Cutlass Supreme coupe , bought new and it was a great car..very stylish and sporty.
Really enjoying these car reviews. I write for a site that celebrates these older cars when they still serve on the roads (www.curbsideclassic.com) and sometimes we look at them through rose-colored glasses. Hearing and seeing how these cars were built and how they performed is amusing and interesting.
Thanks, Jim. I'm a collector of 'classic' cars myself, mainly cars from the 50's through the 70's. When people say 'they don't make em like they used to' they are right... but not in the way they mean. I think the 1970's and '80's American cars were among the worse ever built.
I remember. I grew up largely in the 1970s. Cars of the era were championship rusters, too. I don't miss any of it. Cars today are better built, seldom rust, and are far more reliable. And they're safer in a crash.
Right on all counts, Jim. Check out this story on Ford Rust Lawsuit. Predictions came true!
th-cam.com/video/o4bUxfyYXYA/w-d-xo.html
I'd love a car with the 70's styling and metal thickness, but using today's metallurgy and paint quality.
Curbside classic, its been on my bookmark for years now!
Love Oldsmobile and this is one of my favorite cars. Id love to own me one. The 260 was a bit small for the full size models but was very well suited for the tiny cars.
A 260 v8 is just a little larger than the 3.8 liter v6. I think these cars got the 3.8 in 1982.
Oh man the sound of the rear vent windows..... when I was very young we had an Old 98. I remember playing with the window to stick my fingers out, and mom thought I was just opening it and closed the window on my hand. That hurt!
Same happened to me as a kid - it sure did hurt!
Talk about a popular car! Oldsmobile sold millions of these. For those of you who haven't driven one, these were very nice, very comfortable cars. And QUIET. At idle you could hardly hear the engine running. And they were elegant cars. They did have the 3.8 V6 by this point as an option. Of course there had to be some disadvantage somewhere. Yeah the rear window thing was kind of dumb - they should have had them just roll down part way at least - but it was the recessed rear door armrest/handle that obstructed the placement for a window mechanism. They did that so you could fit 6 passengers comfortably back there. It may have also been a cost cutting measure - but keep in mind how bad inflation was in the late 70s. People often forget about that. If they sold millions of cars they saved millions of dollars leaving something out. Not saying it's ok, but it makes sense why they'd do something like that.
1979 sales data. Cutlass sold over 500,000 cars..vs Citation 308,000. In 1980 Cutlass sold 460,000 vs Citation 375,000. So over a 2 yr span Cutlass was clearly the best selling car line in the USA.
An engineer came up with the idea of not rolling the rear windows down 😂
A very forgiving review. There were some pretty important problems and they were not a big deal to the customer.
Adjusted for Inflation for September 2018.: Base Price $7138 = $24,434.80; As Tested $9410 = $32,212.32
I prefer the 1980 front end over the 1981-87 front end's as I thought the single headlights looked better.
People still complain about the rear windows that dont roll down 45 yrs later🤦🏻♂️I never roll my rear windows down😊
The rear windows do not go down, "as with all GM mid-size cars". Who on Earth found that acceptable? I guess this was GM's way of saving on manufacturing costs by removing rear window regulators. I would've hated to be a passenger in the back seat if it was 90 degrees out and the A/C was broke.
With how shitty their window regulators were it may of been a blessing
I think it was done to increase sales of the profitable air conditioning option to offset the loss that GM probably took on each G-body they sold.
Lol .. I said the same thing. That's just stupid.
Nope, I have an 89 Ford, back windows do NOT go down all the way. So that kind of issue is not exclusive to GM. Well, one of them doesn't go down at all, but that's 80s quality for ya. :)
It was just the GM cars of this style and body, like the period Malibu, that had the prison windows that didn’t roll. They were really hammered for it by their rivals too, especially Ford (although I recall the rear windows on the Fairmont only went down partially, but at least they went down.) The lack of quality is just how domestic cars were back then, which is one major reason why Japanese cars continued to grow in popularity throughout the 1970s and 80s.
Is this a GM a or g platform?
Those Cutlass sedans and coupes were among the best cars of the era. The bar was set low back then but at least Olds tried. Most midsize Big 3 cars of that era were so pathetic. The Olds looked halfway decent and rode and drove pretty nicely. Unfortunately the Japanese and European cars were busy stealing our lunch money!
Man, how bad were cars made by all American automakers in the 70s
I could sit down right down to write a novel, & it STILL would come even remotely close to describing my love for the Cutlass!!!! Yes, there WERE cars that were in production at that time that were more modern in their designs & more reliable, but the Cutlass has a certain charm that I believe can only be matched by 2 other cars, the Golf & the Mustang. That charm of which I speak is the quintessential everyman's charm. The Cutlass was truly one of those cars that could be all things to all people. A stylish grocery getter, a luxurious touring car, a down-to-earth luxury car, a fire breathing muscle car.........the Cutlass did it all.
Whatever happened to Bob Mayer?
Still in Miami, still playing with cars and sleeping late!
I thought that 260 V-8 was really a weak option.....you could still get the gas 305, I thought...?
You can for 1980 and possibly the 1981 model year.
Oldsmobile dealers must have been relieved when this car replaced the hideous fake-hatchback styling of the '78 and '79 Cutlass. Triangular cars were more common in these years (eg. TR7, Dodge Omni 024, '79 Mustang, Pinto, etc.) but the '78 Century and Cutlass must have left the dealers gasping. The X cars had a somewhat softened version of that shape, but at least they made use of the extra space. Sadly, 15 years later, GM repeated the same mistake with the Pontiac Aztec.
Olds dealers were very busy in 78 and 79, selling one million cars per yr. Big cars and cutlass Supreme coupe were super hot.
Why don't the rear windows go down?
Anthony Dixon because GM engineered built-in armrests into the rear doors when the cars were downsized, leaving no room for window regulators. It was also a cost-cutting measure
Because CEO Roger Smith is the child of Satan.
Too bad the 260 V-8 only had about 130 horsepower! LOL!
More like 100-110. Still managed to get 15mpg in city traffic with A/C on full time. Quite good for a carbureted V8.
😂🤣😂 oh man… even new american cars had flaws back then (after seeing that fiat review) 😳
That FIAT was one of the worst cars EVER!!
Nice car but that quality issue on the trunk is breathtakingly awful lol
Sorry Bob give me a 77 colonnade.
Yep, agreed!
Not a bad looking car for the era. As posted, the lack of roll-down rear door windows was a ridiculous cost cutting measure. When the AC fails (and it usually failed after 4-5 years) the back seat was an oven. GM learned the lesson and after this model was out of production the next generation had roll-down rear door windows.
I've always thought that if the whole window slid back from the front and out in the back, to let air in as well as out, the setup would have worked well, but those little vent windows seem to be designed just to exhaust the air, so unless the front windows were also opened, they'd be useless. Reminds me a little of the flip-out rear windows in my father's VW squareback. They did free up an extra few inches of elbow room, though.
0:30 the paint stripes are fine. Just that trunk is bent. Must’ve been replaced before you guys got the car. They didn’t even finish the coating process for that part. The trunk.
Typical raggedy American cars 🚘!
The most sold car of 1980!
GM really digged their own grave when they stopped making them in '82
>It's Ders Mane: My childhood neighbor had an 87 4door cutlass. Looked almost identical to this one except quad headlights and bumper mounted front turn signals.
@@TeeroyHammermill I didn't knew they made 4 doors G bodies that far honestly
I thought they ended it with the Bonneville in '86
Thanks for sharing!
They made the same design through 1987.3.8 V6 or 5.0 V8.
Nope. The best selling car of 1980 was the Chevy Citation. And this body style was built until 1987 at Oldsmobile.
@@judethaddaeus9742 The best selling car was the Cutlass and Cutlass Supreme 2 door and 4 door ...in 1976, 1979, 1980 etc. The Citation for 1980 came out early in spring 79.. those 80 Citations were counted in 1979. The 80 Chevette and Citation were 2nd and 3 rd place in 1980 after the Cutlass/Cutlass Supreme models
GM garbage days... they never really recovered their reputation and that was 40 years ago.
Wait.....What? The rear windows don't go down??? WTF?? Really?
Yeah, it was claustrophobic.
Man early 80s American cars were such a pile of crap it's no wonder the Japanese overtook american cars.
Many foreign cars had problems during this era also. The foreign manufactures didn't have any larger cars in this.price range to compete.
Absolutely atrocious quality. And the body is sitting too high on the springs. It looks ridiculous.
And todays cars look ridiculous slammed so close to the ground scraping curbs and waterways entering a shopping plaza. The old cars never did that and were better in the snow sitting up higher. I never saw paint striping that was so far out of alignment like this on any new car even back then so that might indicate this car was in some kind of accident before being tested. It was certainly not typical. The paint quality issues were common even on Asian cars especially when aluminum or plastic was being used in place of steel. You could literally see the difference between hoods and trunk lids due to the differing metals used to save weight. 1980 was an indifferent year for the car industry as a whole with varying quality control. Things improved noticeably as the 1980's wore on!