We’ve gone Cutlass crazy here at Barn Finds lately, and here’s another nice-looking example of what was one of the most popular American cars at one time. As a period Oldsmobile brochure said, “Cutlass Supreme. Even more of luxury limousine than last year.” The seller has this 1973 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Brougham listed here on eBay in one of the great cities of America: San Antonio, Texas. They have a suggested opening bid price of $10,000 listed, but even at that price, the reserve won’t be met.
That brochure line is a bit different, shouldn’t it be, “Even more luxury limousine” or, “Even more of a luxury limousine…”? Who am I to question the writing skills of GM’s advertising department? (insert comments about my writing “skills”, or lack thereof, here) This Cutlass looks a little higher in the rear than it would have been from the factory but the seller doesn’t mention any leaf spring tricks or any other modifications, other than having new springs and shocks all the way around. The seller has provided a few videos here on YouTube.
Olds referred to this two-door as a hardtop coupe. I think of a hardtop as involving more than just one door, but that was their term for this model. The black vinyl top is a nice touch with the side rear opera windows. The rear window trim looks a bit faded and the seller mentions some rust in the doors and the left rear upper fender well, but I don’t see anything in the photos. The front bumper, as with many cars in this era, has a hydraulic system for low-speed impacts, and the grill inserts are hinged, which Oldsmobile called their “Swing-away grille.”
The vinyl seats and roll-your-own windows were more common than not, even on a higher trim level car such as this Cutlass Supreme. The high-back bucket seats look perfect both front and rear and the embossed graphic is a nice touch. The fourth-generation Cutlass was made between 1973 through 1977 with GM’s new A-body Colonnade platform. This example has some accessory gauges mounted to the top of the dash, which is unusual, and this car has had a ton of maintenance work. Please see the seller’s eBay listing to see everything that has been done.
The engine could have benefited from a bath and good detailing, that would have made a huge difference and wouldn’t have taken that long. I can’t complain since a lot of sellers don’t even bother to show the engine anymore. Is that a big dent on the right inner fender well? This is a 350-cu.in. OHV V8, which by 1973 would have had 180 horsepower and this one has a new carb along with other new parts, and this whole car has had a lot of replacement or upgraded parts, according to the seller. Hagerty is at $11,900 for a #3 good car and $8,100 for a #4 fair car, what’s your top offer for this Cutlass Supreme?
I recently appraised a similar Cutlass and was impressed how comfortable and well designed it was. No wonder the Cutlass sold so well for many years. My father bought two; a 70 Cutlass Supreme 4 door hardtop and an 80 LS Sedan.
Looks to be in nice shape with options, hopefully they got the AC working, the ad says the compressor is installed. The factory gauges are a nice option, but likely don’t work since there’s also aftermarket gauges. This is not a desirable year, though. I hope it finds a good home.
Both the speedometer and gauge pack in this car appear to be out of a ’74-’77 Cutlass. ’73 rallye pack was a one-year-only style that looked more similar to the 70-72 style (but was different). The speedo cluster in 1973 was also a little different than on this car and still went to 120 mph.
I’ve never seen one with a lift kit. This line of GM cars were good ones. Not very powerful, varied designs, and didn’t cost a fortune.
the Rocket 350 in these cars still had plenty of power – not compared to the ealier 442s , but these cars could light up the rear tires with ease
My second car …. a black on black with black bucket interior ’73 Cutlass Supreme. Raised a couple inches front and rear to fit fat tires on Cragar deep dish mags Cruised every main drag in Dallas/Ft Worth with the Craig Power Play cranked UP. Sold it to a coworker in ’79 and saw it in the junkyard a couple years later.
Had one with a factory four speed
Scotty, to my knowledge a hardtop is a car without a B post or door frames.
You would think that an automotive “journalist” would know the difference between a hardtop and a coupe…just sayin’.
Michael, you’re really hitting this one hard, sorry I disappointed you so much. Maybe you could/should send in your application to write for Barn Finds and see what it’s like rather than just jumping on the existing writers.
Michael:
Just curious to hear your answer to this question: Is a ’70-’81’ F-body (Camaro/Firebird) a hardtop or a coupe?
Thanks, Boatman, both for the info and for being so darn polite as always.
Scotty:
I actually consider these cars “hardtop coupes” like you stated. They are sort of a hybrid since they don’t have window frames, but have a fixed B-pillar. Since the rear qtr. windows don’t roll down, you have no choice but having a fixed B-pillar. GM designers had a choice of framing the window glass and chose not to. When I open the door to a car and there is no window frame getting in my face, I consider that a hardtop. The later G-body Cutlasses are definitely coupes, these IMO are “hardtop coupes” but not a pure “hardtop.” Keep up the good work and try to ignore the immature commenters.
Furthermore, YOU didn’t call this a hardtop coupe, you stated that “Olds referred to this two-door as a hardtop coupe,” which I believe to be an appropriate designation for the reasons stated above.
We’re not sure why they referred it as such, it’s not a hardtop… with so-called GM Colonade styling. Rear springs are coil, not leaf. The “dent” in the right inner fender is where what looks like the A/C receiver/dryer nestles.
A big dent, lol? Oy vey. That’s a factory indentation for the path of the A/C lines.
Thanks, PL and Michael. Hey, we don’t know every single thing about every single vehicle ever made, nobody does. Thanks for the info.
I sure hope it didn’t get any leaf spring tricks done to it; these cars all had rear coil springs!