While the Cutlass went on to be one of the most successful GM intermediates during the seventies, it started out as an entry-level compact in the Oldsmobile lineup, though it still offered a sporty appearance and some great-looking lines going down the sides. Introduced in 1961, the car was still in its infancy when this ‘62 model was produced, so if you’re looking for an early example that’s ready to cruise, this one may be worth checking out. This 1962 Oldsmobile F-85 Cutlass can be seen here on Facebook Marketplace in Columbus, Ohio, and sounds somewhat reasonably priced at $6,500. Barn Finds reader Ted spotted this one, and we’d like to thank him for sending in the fun tip here!
Some history we get here is that the Olds once belonged to the U.S. Department of Defense, although no details are revealed as to what official duties the car provided during this time. There’s also no word on how old the paint is, but with the fading and amount of patina, some of it could possibly be original, and there is still a vintage metal dealer tag on the trunk lid. The sheet metal seems to remain straight, and the panel fit appears snug overall, with no obvious signs of corrosion or body issues anywhere.
Under the hood is the original numbers-matching engine, a 215 cubic-inch V8 constructed from aluminum. The seller mentions that recent attention includes a complete tune-up, with new spark plugs, wires, and a new coil. There’s also a freshly rebuilt generator, plus a new Edelbrock 600 CFM carburetor, with the original unit also included in the sale. It’s not stated if the engine has ever gotten an entire rebuild, but the mileage is listed as only 74,607. If that’s actual, maybe this one’s just been well-maintained through the years.
The condition inside appears to be decent enough for a driver, and I like the speedometer placement just sitting on top of the dash. It looks like the factory radio is still in place, but an aftermarket unit of some sort has also been added underneath, housed in what looks like a custom-made component. The owner states his Olds is ready to cruise as-is, but it also seems like a good candidate to repaint and take the exterior level up a couple of notches. What would you do here?
Pull the homemade radio cabinet out and give it a respray. Drive and enjoy!
Like a two hour drive for me. I liked these and that aluminum V8 but I wonder if it had the rubber band drive shaft the Pontiac Tempest sported.
It did. I had a 4 door version of this car. Great car but a cold starter in the wintertime (Iowa). The drive shaft would rattle upon quick acceleration. Never should have sold it. Beige bottom with light brown top – pretty car.
Uh, no it didn’t. Only the Pontiac had the “rope drive”, since the Pontiac Tempest was the only GM “Y-Body” to have a rear-mounted transaxle. All of the other 1961-63 Y-Bodies, the Buick Special and the Olds F-85 used an utterly conventional engine-mounted transmission, albeit with a two-piece driveshaft with a center support bearing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_Y_platform
It had a conventional driveshaft. The aluminum block V8 was a smooth motor but contemporary metallurgy allowed some internal wear problems and there were blow-by issues. My first car was a 1962 Cutlass convertible. Wish I still had it.
For a good explanation of the Tempest drive train see:
https://www.macsmotorcitygarage.com/secrets-of-the-1961-pontiac-tempest-rope-drive/
Regular driveshaft.
No. I have one, the convertible and it is a standard 2 piece driveshaft
I always thought it was interesting how GM took a different approach to theri “small” cars. Buick developed an Aluminum V8 and also in ’62 ( I think) their V6, Oldsmobile I believe used the aluminum V8 from Buick, but designed different heads and you could get it with an optional turbo charger (again if I’m remembering wrong please correct me). Pontiac lopped off half a 389 to create a still rather large displacement 4 cylinder with the rope shaft and a rear transaxle. And look at the Corvair, totally different with an air cooled flat six in the rear. It was a different time back then. And whats something is all the divisions sold cars. I’d personally love to see this Cutlass repainted. Beautiful color combination on it.
You’re right about the Olds 215 being available with a turbo. My brother owned one, and the dealers supplied you with ‘Rocket Fuel’ which I think was a methanol mix. You poured it into a cannister under the hood, and it was metered out automatically as required.
A 600 cfm carb sounds awfully big.
Had one, sold it here. They don’t mention uses Leaded Premium, and the car likes to drink it. Over $5/Gal in Pa. Never minded spending $ on a classic, but not every week.
Had one, sold it here. They don’t mention uses Leaded Premium, and the car likes to drink it. Over $5/Gal in Pa. Never minded spending $ on a classic, but not every week.
Repaint. I’d keep it the same color but paint the top white. Interior looks good nothing a good detailer couldn’t make shine.
https://www.streetsideclassics.com/vehicles/7765-cha/1962-oldsmobile-cutlass-f85
I’m surprised it uses so much gas , being such a light car.
My Dad bought a’62 but only had it for one year.
He did not like such a light car , said it blew around in the wind.
He was coming off of a ‘58 Olds 88 , so quite a difference. He traded the F85 for a ‘ 63 Impala. Back to a more substantial vehicle.
I remember the word going around at the time, F85’s were popular getaway cars for bank robbers and such .
Quick and nimble.
Rear valance has rust hole near left rear 1/4 panel. My second car in high school was a 62 cutlass that my grandmother bought new. That rear panel was the first to rust.
I owned one of these back in 60’s. I have a love-hate relationship with the early Cutlass. I think it is one of the most beautiful cars ever built and it went “like a scared cat”. But, I learned about something called a “helicoil” to repair damaged spark plug holes (you could NOT pull plugs on a warm engine). Then there was the “Roto-hydraumatic”, a 25,000 mile transmission. Expensive to repair back then and today parts are no longer available (ANYWHERE). It is widely considered GM’s worst automatic. While I would love to buy that car, my better judgement says no.
Cuter than a new born baby rattlesnake with the bite to match.
God Bless America
Oldsmobile’s F-85 came also in wagon form. One night, at about 2:40 A.M., I was jolted awake by a very BOOMing BANG. “WHAT was THAT??”, I asked within myself, as I got up out of bed and hastily dressed, that benighted morning in 1976. I lived on a north-south side-street, and as soon as I stepped out my front door, the entire southern vista was glowing a flickering red, and as I ventured farther in that direction, I saw the flames shooting up into the sky. I got quickly to the corner, and the sirens began in the distance. A newish Ford pick-up had rammed the back of our neighbour’s Oldsmobile F-85 in the rear, from the side, and its gas-tank had exploded. This F-85 had been immaculately kept, and it looked far less damaged than the truck, with its rear tailgate area and tail-lights still intact. An F-85 station wagon was already an unusual sight in the mid-seventies. But it now was hopeless, being consumed by an aggressive ball of flames shooting high into the sky, baking us in its intense heat. The truck’s driver was staggering-drunk. He had run the red light, clipped the nose off a 1971 FORD L.T.D., then jumped the curb, and blasted into the rear of this F-85 minding it’s own business in its own driveway. All three vehicles were totalled, but nobody was injured, except for one cut on the truck’s driver’s face. The driver of the truck had no insurance and had had his driver’s licence revoked recently for about his fifth drunk-driving arrest. He was bleeding on his face, and he turned belligerent when the police arrived and went to put him under arrest. He would have time to think-over the several charges he was facing, when he would awake from his stupour in a jail-cell by daylight later that morning. I felt so sorry about the near-mint F-85, especially since its 78-year-old lady-owner had been so meticulously careful with it. She was crying in her pygamas and bathrobe and slippers as the Fire Department put its flames out, that she had saved every single one of its “papers” since the day she had bought it. She was a retired school-teacher, living in a small house, and that car had been her pride and joy. Whenever I see an Olds F-85 (which isn’t often these days — TRUST me!), I am taken right back to that night, and that collision. She would have been 100 in 1998, so I can trust that she is no longer with us. I don’t know about the drunk driver or the man behind the wheel of the L.T.D.. SOME memories just stay WITH you, and quietly haunt you.
The first castings of these 215 alum. V-8s , as I recall, had a slight porosity problem, letting coolant leach into the valley area . This was not discovered until the first cars were delivered. Oldsmobile re discovered the miracle of finely ground walnut shells, which they mixed with ginger and would not wash out with permanent anti-freeze. It worked so well, after the cars coolant was treated with it,the cars could stay in service. The Olds dealers, I think, didn’t advertise it, and you had to ask the parts man if he had some in the back somewhere. I found some years ago and it stopped all the freeze damaged cracked blocks I tried it on. The finely ground shell powder ,when flowing through a crack, keeps expanding until the crack is sealed, and again, it works with antifreeze. You can now buy it in pellet form from G.M. dealers or Amazon. Best leak stopper I’ve found.
Hello, Chris! Thank you for this tip! My 1988 Mercury Grand Marquis, with 390,000+ miles gradually loses anti-freeze, though a pressure-test shows no leak. I suspect that it is leaching into the combustion-chambers, and I am burning minute amounts of it. This car is no longer worth the expense of a new head-gasket: would this solution potentially help me? — and how much would I need to drop into the radiator?
Hello, Chris! Thank you for this tip! My 1988 Mercury Grand Marquis, with 390,000+ miles gradually loses anti-freeze, though a pressure-test shows no leak. I suspect that it is leaching into the combustion-chambers, and I am burning minute amounts of it. This car is no longer worth the expense of a new head-gasket: would this solution potentially help me? — and how much would I need to drop into the radiator?
Hello, Chris! Thank you for this tip! My 1988 Mercury Grand Marquis, with 390,000+ miles gradually loses anti-freeze, though a pressure-test shows no leak. I suspect that it is leaching into the combustion-chambers, and I am burning minute amounts of it. This car is no longer worth the expense of a new head-gasket: would this solution potentially help me? — and how much would I need to drop into the radiator? Thanks in advance for your kind advice!
Harrison, you should definitely give it a try! It’s called AC Delco Cooling System Sealant Tabs. You get five dry cakes in a package , which you break up and drop into the radiator with the engine running, and just drive around or idle awhile until it stops your leak-then you’re done. The last time I used it on a cracked block it sealed any coolant leakage for years-in fact until I sold the car. The package tells you how many to use, and now not only G.M. dealers often have it somewhere in the parts dept–but take the part no. when you ask, plus, and it’s about time- Amazon, e-bay, and Walmart handle it. One package is more than enough for a large v-8 cooling system.Gm part no. 12378255
These were nice!!! but I always wanted the 63 model
Chris, thank you so much! I’ll get ON it!
Mom had a 1961 Buick Special, bought as a “leftover” at the start of the 1962 model year, with the 215 V8, but only with a two-barrel carb and the two-speed “Dual Path” Turbine Drive automatic transmission. The Olds version got an extra bolt in each cylinder head and better lubrication, which helps them last longer. Edelbrock makes a four-barrel intake for the 215 V8, for those so inclined.