There’s a new sweet spot in car collecting, and it’s of vehicles that span rides we used to blithely dismiss as coming from the “malaise” era. That is the post-1972 pinnacle of muscle car production which gave birth to cars with lower compression (and thus horsepower) plus increasingly complicated snakes’ nests of smog tubing under the hood. What we seem to have forgotten is that there were some darned handsome body styles produced in this 1972-75 era. Why use 1975 as a cutoff? Because that’s the final year of exemption from smog testing in my state (and some of yours). This 1975 Cutlass S two-door, seen here on ebay, is thus a car that might be worth considering, especially at an asking price of $5,500. It’s in Peyton, Colorado if you’re interested.
Should you be interested? This is used-car pricing, not collector-car pricing, and that’s only the asking price. So what would make you pull the trigger on this claimed rust-free, original-paint Coupe? The car has the standard 350-CID V8, this one having churned over 135,000 miles. That leaves useable life, as these regularly go 150,000 and more, though that depends on how they’re cared for, of course, and there’s no promises made about maintenance history or stacks of receipts. The car has AC, which is nice, and the system is intact, but there’s no word as to it being ready to cool you, and let’s be real, in a car that has been sitting for many years, as this one has, it’s going to need a full recommissioning.
However, the car does run, and the brakes are good, so your prospects of getting it on and off a trailer are hopeful. When you get it home, where do you start? With the fuel, cooling, and braking systems—anywhere you see a rubber part or hose. Then attack the body, which gets more rough the more you look at the photos. There’s a crease in one front fender, and an odd rust pattern on the deck lid and roof. Those shots of the rear fenders—are they supposed to show that there’s no rust/bodywork? Nightmare visions of filler-packed lower regions hit you, but maybe this is only true if you grew up in a rusty-car state (or province) like I did.
The interior is a mix of preservation and demanded restoration. You’ll have to reskin the seats and hope to find some other interior parts new-old-stock, like the door pull panels. And you’d better hope what’s not here—a photo of the engine compartment with the hood open—is not pointing in a direction that would hurt you. Still, if you can satisfy some of these curiosities, you might have something worth having, expecially if you’re handy with a paint gun.
I really never understood the Term Malaise, but the automobiles supposedly referred to were for the most part large, luxurious, and designed to appeal to those like me who lived for that OTT LAND YACHT luxury. Of course we all have our own thoughts on what makes a car appealing. I appreciated the traditional senior Oldsmobiles until the 85 Downsizing. But this Cutlass is a CUT LESS than I like. Still GLWTS.
I’m with you, Rick. It seems every 1973-1980 car here that ever shows up always has to be qualified as a “malaise” era car. Please…It’s old already.
Plenty to like about the cars of the era. Generally better handling, riding, more luxurious than anything that came about before 1973.
And unlike 1980s cars that were loaded with computer systems that did nothing to improve drivability and performance until better FI, multi-valve setups and variable valve timing came out in the late ‘80s – early ‘90s, the ‘70s cars are easily modifiable to make more power, and no you don’t need 10:1 compression or better to do it. Plenty of 8.5:1 compression engines run strong when set up properly. The entire key to why some ‘70s cars ran poorly compared to some of their earlier brethren has mostly to do with the lean carburetors they ran. Run a richer curve, then you can tune them with better exhaust, healthy timing, etc. and they run as good as any FI car l, with equally good drivability.
Proud owner of two “malaise” era cars and wouldn’t trade them for ‘70 Chevelle SS if you paid me.
Thank you both for speaking up about malaise era vehicles. These are what many of us or our families owned and we got them either new or used. To me the ability to buy pump gas of any grade is an attraction. Performance is what it is. And give the whole bumper thing a rest, too.
As for the car, it looks complete tho weathered. Good luck to the next owner.
To both! You know what they say about GREAT minds! Somehow, I come up with off the wall thoughts! Here’s one. MAYONNAISE adds the perfect taste to a sandwich. Maybe we should refer to these cars as MAYOLLAISE since they’ve so tasty 😋.
Bread and butter model “s” Cutlass.
The good Dr Olds sold alot of these in the 70s.
custom deck lid rust: the old, “I was too long to fit all the way under the carport” pattern. You pay extra for that in a lot of patina circles
Appears to have dual exhaust… Interested to see chassis photos. This one will require a bit of effort to make usable.
It has Pontiac and Olds rims on it!
I’m happy to see that these cars are being taken seriously. Now, the aftermarket needs to start coming up with sheet metal for them.
One of the biggest problems with the 73-77 GM A bodies is windshield leaks. They all did have them, and if not fixed, was the major cause of floorboard rot. That can also apply to the rear window.
the S makes it much more appealing to me, fast back roof.
Id rather weathered and original to shiney and mystery body work.
Its got a 350, its a 2 door, its straight, nice bumpers and solid American muscle for $5000 !?.
thats a good deal.
if it had power windows id be tempted.
Im holding out for a 76-77 S
Thank You Jason V , now i dont have to ;)