It’s the image at the top of the ad here on craigslist that will draw you in. There, you’ll see a menacing burgundy-red 1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass sitting low to the pavement, sporting a super-wide set of tires on what look like Buick rims (actually Keystone Klassics, according to the ad). Tony Primo is responsible for this find, which is in Clinton, MA, and if you want to make it yours, gather together the asking price of $23,500 and head on up there. Or find a way to negotiate the current owner to a more likeable number.
Beautiful car. Two problems for me. One is, as I’ve detailed before, I live “somewhere out west” (OK, California), and this being a 1977 model, I’d have to smog it. I don’t object on principle, only when some fiddly, finicky 1970s proto-anti-pollution equipment causes a hassle on an every-second-year basis. If that’s this car, and I bought it, I’d be wishing it were a 1975 soon enough. The second issue is the price. The Barn Finds community, it appears, has come around to the idea that the $5,000 creampuff is long gone. Even ten grand these days doesn’t buy you what it used to. In fact, it’s more like an entry point, especially for a car that can be used on day one. But that’s for recognized collectibles. Is a 1977 Cutlass in that category? I’m not saying I wouldn’t love to be this car’s next caretaker, just that near the mid-20-thousand-dollar mark, there are still some tasty choices out there.
This car, though, sports a long list of virtues. For one thing, it has a claimed 34,096 miles, which is backed up by what the seller calls “all original paperwork since new.” The car runs on a 350-CID V8 with an automatic, which will be no surprise to anyone who loves 1970s GM cars. And if you’re into super-originality (guilty), the factory wheel treatment comes with the deal. The AC has been converted and functions well, and the car is loaded with options and sports factory bucket seats and a console. What a fun car to drive and use, as long as you didn’t mind driving miles onto the odometer.
On the downside, the paint is not original, though it is the original Firemist Red Metallic color. There is no mention of bodywork done due to accidents or rust, and it feels like this would be disclosed, but the car got painted for some reason, and with that few miles, you should inquire as to the need for the respray. Should you be satisfied that this is the car for you, you’ll be its fifth owner, most of which time was with the original buyer and his wife and grandson. It’s hard to imagine that you wouldn’t be delighted with your purchase, but at this price? Let’s hear from you in the comments.
One of my all time fav cutlass. Bring the price down I would love it
Repaint is likely due to problems with uv on the red of the era
Not worth more than 16K.the market is starting to level off some cars even going down
its going down because in 100% condition they arent worth anymore then 10 grand
I order the same color car back in 77 red car, red interior and red vinyl top and the rally wheels to match the red paint. Great car except it leaked water in the trunk. After several trips to the dealer to fix the water leak were unsuccessful so I traded it in a yr later
Number one selling car right there. Everybody had one or knew someone who did. Firethorn/firemist was a great color on everything. I think the Chevette and Corvette were the only cars it wasn’t offered on. Keystones could make a bad car look good.
Actually, my Dad ordered a new 1977 Chevette in Firethorn Red metallic for my Mom.
Learned to drive on a 76 Malibu Classic (4 door, heavy duty suspension, cooling) Great steering feel, Rear anti roll bar kept her flat in curves, 350 LM1 with a 4 barrel, unfortunately bought new in California, when we moved out of state the Catalytic Converters got the Deep 6, ran alot better, was my moms car until 1/2 way through Med School, she got an 86 Pontiac 6000, I got the Malibu, put a Sun Tach on the Column, Shift Kit, Glass Packs, Window Tint, was pretty mean for a 4 door, would do a true 120mph with a tail wind (had to time it with mile posts, Speedo only went to 100) got her nearly to 200,000 before she literally broke in 1/2 (California cars can rust, especially if you move to Florida) sold her for $200 to a Corpsman who had welding skills and needed a beater for his Tree Service job.
I had a chance to buy a metallic green 1977 Cutlass on Keystone rims in 1997 from some crazy cat lady that claimed she would race people with it. I ended up owning a 1976 Cutlass Salon T top in 1996 for 3 months until the engine started knocking.
Nice Cutlass ✂️ from the good Dr. 👍
It’s funny the author mentioned the $5,000 cream puff. My first thought on this beautiful Cutlass was “my god I can’t believe that asking price, somewhere over the course of my life I remember this being a $5k car.”
Times have changed but maybe I haven’t. I like this one a lot but would probably rather spend half the ask on a nice mid 80’s Cutlass.
My old Skylark once had Keystone Klassics and they were beautiful until rust took them. Another commenter said it right “Keystones can make an ugly car look good”
Beautiful looking paint and Keystone rims set up looks great. I feel $19,500 is a fair price for it. I love to own it if I had the room. If I did I would put dual exhaust and change those hi-way gears to 3:55. That would help going over the hills a lot easier. And it would improve the gas mileage since won’t be into pedal much climbing those hills where I live. Overwise leave it alone and enjoy it at many car cruises in my area. Good luck to the next owner.🐻🇺🇸
We had a 75 Cutlass almost like this when I took drivers ed in 74. It had the bench and column shift instead of the buckets. I still remember how well that 350 Olds ran and how well the car handled. Olds furnished the drivers ed cars that year, we got to keep one a semester, then they brought a new one. In 75, the contract was rebid and the next 2 years they got AMC Hornets, the first one was a 3 on the tree manual, wasn’t but one or two students could even drive it at first! Even the instructor couldn’t drive it!
Price on this one seems high, but someone who really wants it will pay it.
I don’t recall when GM moved away from laquer based paint. Oldsmobiles looked like they put too much on their cars and would check and fade bad. It didn’t take much sun to start the problem. Not to mention 46 years. My brother had an all black/ black one like this with loose coustion split front seat. Beautiful, elegant ride. The rumble of an Oldsmobile exhaust at idle was priceless
Love it! Although, I’m probably in the the minority, I don’t care for the Keystones. I am a stock kind of person, and would much rather see it with the original rims. Other than that, it’s beautiful. GLWTS.
It’s a beautiful car, and was insanely popular back then. Should be a bunch of 50-70 year olds who would like to relive this era. But more at $17500 than $23500. Lots of styling shared with my 69 Cutlass, console, shifter, dash, taillights, and of course the split grille. But even with 57k and comparable condition Id be lucky to get $25k for my 69, with a high compression 350. No market for this at that price.
2.41 gears and choked 4bbl mean slow off the line, but would highway cruise all day. And get fair mileage. It is a beautiful car.
Oldsmobiles grand slam. Mid 70s Cutlasses were all home runs. If you didn’t have one, you wanted one. The Keystones were popular on the colonnade cars. The had big wheel wells. You could put a 255/60 R15 tire on an 8 inch reversed Keystone and really fill up those wheel wells and put some good meat on the ground. It
After my first car, a ‘77 VW Rabbit expired, I bought an off lease ‘77 Cutlass Salon coupe from a leasing company I’d worked for. Dark green with the buckskin landau top and tan vinyl buckets. Great looking car, even better once I put some Goodyear GT Radials, GR60-14 on those Olds Rally wheels. At the same time on went some Gabriel HD shocks and a good alignment. The car drove like new despite 60k miles and handled very nicely. Olds 350 with a THM350, not fast off the line but had a sweet kick down at about 30 mph that made it feel faster than it was. Loved that Cutlass but a Trans Am stole my soul and the Olds had to go. Nice cars and this one’s a beauty with those wheels.
Buckets and floor shifter make this one worth more for sure. 350 is another positive. Transmission is probably 350 THM, another plus. Repaint, some discount but would be a positive for me, as I am not into patina and I would repaint anyway. Of course, I don’t know who painted it and that’s a bit of a gamble. Interior and body condition are big concerns on this year, as restoration parts are not readily available as they are for 72 and older, and becoming more available for 78-88. I was fortunate to get my 79 Cutlass with 39k miles for under $7k a couple years ago. It was a diesel, so that did discount value (I was engine swapping anyway, so didn’t matter to me.) If I was looking for a 77, this one would be highly desirable… maybe $15k or a bit more if the paint work looked good on personal inspection. If you bought one needing paint and interior clean up for $7k, you’d be over $15k very quickly with good paint & body work, carpet and upholstery.
What did you replace the oil burner with?
6.0 liter GM LQ9 block, Holley Terminator X fuel injection & ECM, 4L80E transmission
Beautiful car. Brings me back to the early 80s when these were all over. Had a friend that put his lime green 74 in a demo derby even. Sad because it really wasn’t in very bad shape. I prefer cragars over the Keystones. Deep dish on the back with 50s and a slight jacked up look with air shocks made any car of that era look good. I would love to own this but not for that price. I’m thinking more like 14K.
It’s gorgeous with all the nice options, I wish I could buy it.
With the Keystones on in my book 100% period correct! Beautiful!
I feel if any of us owned a classic car in that type of shape with good documents and upkeep, what would we need to get paid to let it go? I won’t toss a number, and aside from that respray question, it’s something you can enjoy now. I wonder if it had the delamination or paint fade issues? Many factory cars from all makes in some runs could experience paint defects up to late 90’s really. Or if it had a large enough ding that the paint couldn’t get matched or blended where it may have fell in relation to body lines. All that questioning on the paint resolved, you update it with fuel injection and CDI ignition, and tinker with timing with a flushed engine full of high temp synthetic oil, I wonder how close it gets to testing regarding smog regs for the year. Addressing the PCV and everything else, granted difficult in a large motor, but Toyota has a low emission 1.1 3 cylinder ICE I believe putting out around 110hp and low emissions without traditional catalytic converter. Granted not fully translatable. But by mapping fuel injection duration in unison with ignition properly retarded and proper spark duration and amplitude, small amount of fuel fully combusted = Top Fuel Economy + Lowest Emissions. I’m not a guru on mapping and experimenting, but the good thing is this 350 has probably been documented already for optimal updates. And yes it probably is more horsepower when you ask for it when control module is mapped properly. I myself am still ok on small engines and carb adjustments, but it’s imperfect and it changes with use. No biggie in small efficient cars and motorcycles. But carbs on big motors are really all about dumping more gas than necessary then adjusting backwards to get as lean as possible. Problems arise with change in seasons and fuel quality you can misinterpret as a tuning problem when it’s something else. And you go back to dumping more gas than you really need. That’s why if you want to keep enjoying old cars with carbs, the bigger the motor, the more hassles as variables occur. Unless you’re running on the rich side, affecting lubrication and of course: emitting more emissions.
Great car to focus on that momentum shift of fuel injection and CDI ignition. But do find out about the respray. If the metal got Bondo, the price is high. But if it wasn’t structural, I wouldn’t shy away from it. We used to use a strong magnet wrapped tightly in soft felt to feel along the body, sliding along, slight pulling back. If it pulls away, tap there, then another place the magnet sticks. The sound can give a clue how thick that Bondo is, but it takes time and a little experience. But anyone with common sense can get the knack fast. The best thing? While you’re doing it, the seller will sometimes confess. And if they don’t confess but you found a big spot, just walk away. Don’t deal with dishonest sellers. It’s not good for you and rewarding their dishonesty won’t change their ways.
Best looking car of the late 70s in my opinion. Best proportions and very clean design. Just couldn’t live with the inefficient drivetrain though. Would have to upgrade it with a more modern GM powerplant and transmission. 400+ HP with some suspension and brake upgrades would make it a unique and cool car.
I’m a Mopar freak, however I do like and appreciate vehicles from all the American car manufacturers. $23,500 is too steep for a common malaise Era automobile. Cutlasses were made by the tens of thousands. There really is nothing all that special about this car, accept the stated low mileage and overall condition. I think $10K is a more reasonable figure. Even the collector car market seems to have been hit hard by inflation created by Sleepy Joe’s administration.
Have a good weekend.
I’m a Mopar guy as well but unfortunately the prices on them have ruled them out completely for me. My boss had one of these cars , chocolate brown, tan landau vinyl top, buckets and console. A beautiful ride that he let me drive a couple of times. He had the oil changed every 2k miles at the local Goodyear shop. You are very limited these days on what you can get for 20K. I used to drive Mopars on minimum wage and always wanted a Vette. Now I have a Vette (under 20K) cause I couldn’t afford the Mopar! The market is very frustrating.
Beautiful beautiful car, especially like the keystone’s. But even if it had t-tops I think the price is a little steep….. someone will pay the price though…. GLWTS… Beautiful….
I used to get these at auto auctions for 500 to 2000 . It is a gas guzzler . 12500 maybe tops
I’d absolutely love to have this, I was 7 when my parents bought their new 77 Cutlass Supreme, we had it til I was 17 when I bought my own 1972 Cutlass Supreme, alot of good memories in that car.
My dad bought a 76 “the initial style for the 77” .One of the best cars he ever owned. A trouble free dependable ride. Royal blue landau wt. vnl. 350,4bbl rocket Olds full power,a beauty. It was mom’s ride. Traded it in on a new 83 Delta Royale. He went from a Ford man T-Bird, to strictly Olds. Liked his smooth riding wheels.
My first car my Dad bought me was a 75 Cutlass supreme and later he has purchased a 77 both very good cars ,I would love to own this car but only for cruise nights and some weekends to keep the miles low as possible.
This is a beautiful car. My wife has an 08 Cadillac CTS in the same color and we both just love the color. I’ve always liked this style of Cutlass and I especially like it because as I’ve said before I like the bucket seats and the center console with the floor shift. I’ve also had a thing always for Keystone classic Wheels. They are by far my all-time favorites unless you’re going with say a 70 Camaro or 69 Chevelle. Something like that then they need the Cragar SS Wheels but with the Keystone Classics this car is beautiful. Like I’ve said in the past add some horsepower and the right gears in the rear end and drive it just like it is. STUNNING!!!
Beware the bubbles under the vinyl roof, visible on the driver’s side shot…this means the roof is Swiss cheese underneath.
Beautiful looking car. Although I was way too young at the time to drive a car, I was born in 1973, this is a 1977 car, I remember cars like this. I had a neighbour who drove one like this. IMHO, 1977 produced the best looking car of the Colonnade era.
I had one very similar in around 1987 that I think I paid about $750 for. What sets this one apart from most of the ones you will see are the bucket seats and console, not to mention the power windows. Most of these cars had a bench seat, column shifter, and crank windows.
This might be the cheapskate in me, and I love the collonade Cutlasses, but this is way more than twice the $ that I think this car is worth. He’s into the cost of a driver quality roadrunner or Monte Carlo or Grand Prix. I can see paying maybe 8-10k for this car. If you ask me, (and nobody did), this guy is trying to get more than double, or close to triple this car’s value