I don’t usually think of France when I think of Oldsmobiles but car companies have always used exotic names (at least exotic for those of us who don’t live there) for their vehicles. This 1985 Oldsmobile Calais isn’t exotic but it looks great. The seller has it posted here on craigslist in Eugene, Oregon and they’re asking $5,000. Cash talks, as they say, so feel free to make a reasonable offer. Thanks to Matt H. for sending in this tip!
The seller gives the good, the bad, and the ugly points about this N-Body Olds Calais and I can’t see much wrong with it, at least cosmetically. They say that it’s possibly the most well-known Calais on the internet due to being a part of a couple of articles by our friends at CurbsideClassic.com. It’s also basically rust-free which is nothing to sneeze at either. Actually, I’d rather have a rust-free car than one that has been featured in online articles.
The Calais was made for a short half-dozen years, for model years 1985 to 1991, and was renamed the Cutlass Calais in 1988. More than a few folks thought that the N-body cars were a little awkward in design but looking back at them now, I don’t see any glaring design issues. How about you? Short deck, longish hood, what’s not to like?
For being such an internet star of a car, there sure aren’t many photos of anything other than the exterior, unfortunately. There is no photo showing even a glimpse of the back seat which is disappointing and you probably can already guess that there isn’t even one engine photo. There are several duplicate photos in the listing but not one engine photo. 2021, you’re killin’ me. The seats appear to be a little dirty here and the seller says that they need to be cleaned. This one has GM’s Turbo-Hydramatic 125 automatic transmission.
Here’s a photo of the engine, disguised as a left-rear quarter photo. We have seen quite a few 1985 Calais Indy Pace Car replicas here on Barn Finds and it’s nice to see a normal/regular Calais for a change. This one has the top engine, a 3.0L Buick V6 with 125 horsepower and there’s a slight exhaust leak, the AC isn’t working, and the check engine light keeps coming back on even after changing the EGR valve, so there’s work to do. This is a great-looking car in my opinion and Pontiac and Buick also had versions of the N-body. Have any of you owned an Olds Calais?
I worked for GM when these were new, and they are basically Ho-Hum, Blah-Blah simple transportation from point A to point B. Nothing more, nothing less. The price seems fair I guess, if this type of car is you cup of tea. Since it has the V6 and not the Quad 4, reliability should not be much of a concern. For me though, I would pass.
With the prices of used cars skyrocketing, this might be a great buy….at 3K…you are looking at 1500 clams to get the a/c working…
Stubby little Cutty all stuffed with fluff
I always thought these looked very stubby. The 4-doors look more proportioned than the coupe, and the 1989 IS body cladding helped.
That’s because even though the coupes were first to market, they actually designed the four-door version first, then derived the coupe design from that — which nearly always works out better than the other way around.
Owned a Red over Silver 91 Calais SL 4 dr with the quad 4 and auto trans and at the same time bought a Light Blue over silver coupe with auto trans for my girlfriend and had zero issues out of either of them. Both cars had the trip computers in front of the shifter and funny thing was hers had the round speedo and tach and mine had only the sweeping speedo. Both cars were grest cars would buy both back today if I could.
Subgothius,
I’m not sure that’s right. In GM’s early 80’s rush to all FWD and transverse-mounted engines with smaller exterior footprints, the N-bodies were originally supposed to replace the A-Specials which were all coupes. At Pontiac, that meant the N would be the new Grand Prix, at Oldsmobile, it would be the new Cutlass Supreme, and for Buick, the N formed the new Regal. These were all personal luxury coupes. However between original planning and launch, gasoline prices had dropped, supply had stabilized, and the Reagan administration had rolled-back CAFE requirements that’d made a diminutive Grand Prix, Cutlass Supreme, and Regal necessary.
As a result of these marketplace and regulatory changes, GM elected to keep many older RWD models in production including the still strong-selling A-Specials. Since the N cars were ready to go, they were launched to supplement the larger cars instead of replacing them. The planned N body Grand Prix coupe became the Grand Am, the Cutlass Supreme became the Calais Supreme and the Regal became the Somerset Regal.
As all this was occurring, the X cars which were GMs mainstream compacts had developed a bad reputation and sales had slowed substantially so it was decided to build sedan versions of the N-car for 1986 and reposition them not as distinct personal luxury coupes but as a more mainstream product to serve as X-body replacements.
Looking at the design of the three N cars and in consideration of the styling of the 1981 redesign of the A-Specials, it’s clear the N-bodies were meant to succeed those cars for the 1985 model year and be sold as personal coupes.
I have a friend who owns a dealership. I asked him what was the most cringeworthy trade in to show up. He said “a tan Buick”. This would be second…
Why? I guess because no one wants to buy them?
This car is uglier than my wife.
Wow.
If you’re both an N-body fan and into low production numbers, then the Calais is the car for you. Pontiac generally accounted for something over 50% of N-body production, due to the popularity of the Grand Am, the Buick Somerset/Regal/Skylark accounted for the lion’s share of the rest, and the Oldsmobile Calais got what was left
The most honest and accurate name for that color is “Persnickety”
I bought one of these around 15 years ago for a “daily”. The only reason I bought it was because it was a no option car with manual everything. And best of all, it had a 5spd! It had the Iron Douche motor, so it was actually a reliable and comfortable beater for a while. (Driving 100 miles round trip to work) Then someone else wanted it more than me and offered me twice what I paid for it. See yaa! lol
Parents had a lite blue one, quad4
( not the high output version ) automatic coupe.
Went over 500000km totally reliable, zero major repairs.
I personally like the styling of the exterior and bucket seat interior of the Calais. The 6 cylinder should be smooth and the automatic transmission checks the right box for easy daily driving on nice weather days, car cruises and commuting to stationary old car meets. The compact size of the car means it will fit in modern parking spaces and won’t guzzle fuel like a 455 V8 full size Olds of earlier model years. It is far from perfect with the lack of functioning air conditioning and the risks associated with a 30 year old used car but it offers something unique for the entry level collector.
As the owner of this car I’d like to thank you for such an extremely honest and accurate comment :)
I was a single mom back in 1986 when I met my husband on a blind date. At that time I drove a Bobcat- run down with no a/c or heater. It was good enough to get me to work and school at night. My husband was the Service Manager of a huge Oldsmobile dealership back then and he personally owned a 1986 Olds Calais. He had it dropped off at my house saying that “I had the keys to his heart so here are the keys to his car”. The best car I ever owned. I’m still married to my “blind date” 35 years later and he has always spoiled me with the best cars through out our marriage. I now drive a Lincoln, but have a special place in my heart for the Olds Calais.
We had one of these in the late ’80s – bought a company car from work – and my wife really liked it. Felt pretty compact, but not tiny, and moderately “sporty” for an Oldsmobile, with the bucket seats and console kind of snugging you in. Ours was grey inside & out; think I’d have a hard time living with shade of tan – should be called something like “Almost Fleshtone”.
i bought my x a 80-sumthin buick and grand am… kinda the same car, i think, anyway, both were junk… the buick i dont even remember how i dumped it… maybe traded for the grand am… ??? it was purdy and had a cool little rumble for whatever the engine was, anyway it started getting oil water mixed together so i changed the oil to look purdy and added 7 bux worth of green food coloring to the radiator and off-loaded it to some poor fool… dont hate… i wasnt rich…
Why is it that every survivor car is either , tan or brown or a 4 door ?
“Most famous one left?” Hahaha. You guys need some new headline writers…
My wife received one of these a graduation present from her parents. Hers was a nice blue with a matching blue interior. Did what it needed to do for several years. You could get the Tech 4 engine in them too. Hers had the V6.
This car pretty much is just transportation. But then so are Hondas And Toyotas, and lots of people buy those.
I had an 86 Quad 4, auto trans. The car ran well. Great on the freeway and great winter traction. My 6’3″ frame fit into it comfortably.
A caddy totaled it during an ice storm when it was 9 years old. Biggest problem was vacuum issues. I replaced a lot of rubber lines.
This would be nice to own, but is over priced.
Quad 4 didn’t come out till ’88. That was the Tech 4. AKA Iron Duke.
As i was flipping through the pictures, I was really hoping the final one would be a picture of this car in a fireball down at the base of the valley…
Hey that’s my car! :)
Thank you for the lovely article. I would just like to point a few things out.
I mention it’s the “most famous” lightheartedly due to how many articles it’s been featured in compared to other N-Bodies and how it is the most well known N-Body in the N-Body Facebook group and in other related Facebook groups such as Malaise Motors.
Terribly sorry about not uploading engine or backseat pictures. I simply forgot to include them, so that is totally my fault. I just went ahead and added them.
I had the pleasure of driving this car last weekend on a visit to the Malaise Car Show in Eugene…have to say, this is a great car and his description is accurate. Couple things to work on, but not sure you can find a nicer one.
Still have the 86 I bought in 1994 with 21,000 miles on it. It went from me, to my parents to my little brother and back to me four years ago.
A couple of years back we did an 1800 mile round trip to Salt Lake and back. Effortlessly, though cutting the AC to climb hills helps the Tech 4 2.5 cope.
Quiet, roomy, comfortable, the right size.
It may be ’80s GM Retro Tripping to Salt Lake this October.
And in it’s first car show in November.
I see one lonely 88 Grand Am in town on a regular basis.
Rare on the ground, these N Bodies.