General Motors began a “rightsizing” (aka downsizing) campaign in 1977 to field more fuel-efficient automobiles. The full-size models came first, and the mid-size A-bodies the following year. This included the 1978-79 Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon, which was a two and four-door sedan with fastback styling. The seller has a ’79 edition that needs mechanical work, so it has been priced in “cheap wheels” territory to make it (hopefully) quickly disappear. Located in Warsaw, Indiana, this multi-door project is available here on Facebook Marketplace for just $2,000. Our thanks to Barn Finder “Sam61” for the GM tip!
While the Salon name had been used before the 1978 Cutlass downsizing (these were gas-sipping times), the moniker was now applied to a fastback body. Sales of the Salon and the upscale Salon Brougham were no doubt underwhelming because of awkward styling, so Olds dropped the Salon in 1980. The seller appears to have a “standard” model which, in 4-door form, attracted 29,509 buyers in ’78 and just 20,266 more in 1979. In the meantime, the Cutlass Supreme continued to flourish and would do so well into the 1980s.
The seller’s Salon seems to be in decent shape cosmetically, though the not-so-great photos do show some rust that started where some paint chipped off. The interior seems to be okay for the car’s reported 73,000 miles. The Cutlass has some mechanical issues, starting with the turn signals and ending with the alternator. We’re told it will run, but we don’t know if it will drive.
Once you get these issues sorted out, maybe it’s a decent second or third car. The seller doesn’t tell us what’s under the hood, but Oldsmobile’s sluggish 231 cubic inch V6 would be a good guess. Also, put a new set of tires in the budget, too. Bring cash and a trailer as the seller “needs it gone ASAP.”
I’m looking at that engine photo. I’m wondering if its the Olds 260 V8. ( not much quicker than the Buick 3.8) The oil fill tube is in front and the distributor is in the back. If bought right, you could possibly get an inexpensive older car to have some fun with. Just touch up the rusty spots and clean it up and enjoy it.
Well-said. Not everyone wants a first-gen Camaro or one of however hundred auction show darling. I wonder why some people even click on listings for cars that are so beneath them.
It’s definitely a v8 Oldsmobile. Rear distributor, oil fill tube in front.
So what is that to the right (car’s left) of the radiator hose that has what appears to be spark
plug wires?
Hey Nevadahalfrack, this looks like your Mom’s old car except hers was silver. The one that 5 of us took to Disneyland. 5 adults, luggage, a wheelchair and climbing mountians in the Monmouth area was an exercise in patience!
LS Swap it
If ya got a couple of brain cells here is a better option for swap. Go to the junk yard and find a 350 OLDS core and rebuild it to W31 SPECS?
IT shouldn’t be that tough to find parts? When the w31 was a primo OLDS PERFORMANCE ENGINE THEY WERE A REAL FIRE BREATHER and add in some modern performance parts and you really got something
Didn’t Olds use this body style for the 442 in ’79?
I daily a ’79 Cutlass Supreme 2door. T-tops, bucket seats, gauge package, cruise, rear defogger, tilt, clock, cornering lights, and a 305 Chevy engine. Still going.
Bought it in 1999 for $500. Planned to drop a ’73 455 Olds engine in it. It ran so well, I ended up putting the 455 engine in a ’78 TA. Changed that cars whole outlook on life!! Passed everything but the gas station. 🙂😁😋
Rusty, not drivable, needs tires and a lot of small things fixed for only $2,000. It’s not even a desirable model. There aren’t a lot of reasons to pursue this one, it might make a decent winter beater, but don’t they typically sell for less than what it will take to make this reliable?
Steve R
I agree with driveinstyle. The oil fill tube is an Olds exclusive and likely a 260V8. Smooth and economical. A great daily driver.
I believe Olds made a diesel version of that engine as a smaller counterpart to their 350 V8 diesel.
I believe you’re right, they made the 260 V8 Diesel for one year only in ’79. Now, can you believe this???? It actually had less horsepower and was actually slower 0 to 60 than the gas version of the 260 V8!!! I read it was around 19.5 seconds 0 to 60. Which was just dangerously too slow, even for ’79 standards.
Gotta give it credit. It’s not a $20k rust bucket Mopar with a stuck engine and a missing title. These used to be fairly common, now you almost never see one. I believe Buick and possibly Pontiac shared this body style too. Though not popular now, they may become desirable some time down the road. If one were so inclined, it would be a cheap purchase, then they could clean up the rust, give it a paint job and straighten out the mechanicals. Then keep it in a garage. Who knows, collectors may suddenly want these.
The Buick version was the Century. Buick and Oldsmobile shared this body style in 78, 79 and 80. Buick offered a 3.8-liter V-6 turbo in the Century in 79 and 80. Pontiac didn’t have this body style.
Yes, it’s very likely a 260 as it clearly is an Oldsmobile V-8. I’m not a big fan of these tiny V-8s from this era but everybody was doing them. Ford had the 255, Olds had the 260, Pontiac a 265, Cadillac the infamous HT4100, and Chevy a 267. Buick didn’t have a sub-300 cid V-8 but their 252 V-6 basically served the same purpose.
It was a way to power bigger cars smoothly while getting better fuel economy and lower emissions, as automakers tried to navigate emission and CAFE requirements as technology was developing. So I understand why they exist. I just wouldn’t want to own one today.
I see the site going through its “monthlys” again( error 403, no tums up, etc), I had a car like this for a short time, another in the long list of beaters I had. Got it cheap, a V8, like I think this is, a 260 was the standard motor. It wasn’t running 100%, so I figured a set of plugs was in order. Got them all except #8, under the heater. It was INACCESSIBLE. I tried every swivel and extension I had, finally got it out,,,IT HAD NO ELECTRODE! Not sure how it fired at all. The plug was all dirty, clearly the original nobody could get out.
Sorry to keep bolstering my position, but “needs work” killed the interest right there. Their loss, simple fix, to us, but just no experience with this sort of thing. Garages all across this country are filled with these. Nobody wants them.
I had forgotten how ugly these were – the perfect car for those who hate cars and hate themselves for needing a car.
Excellent car for a demolition derby but I wouldn’t be caught dead driving one. I had the Pontiac equivalent a 1980 Pontiac Phoenix hatchback and unlike its name, it should never have been raised from the dead. Just despised that car.
These were ugly when new. Time has not changed that.
GM scored when they introduced the right sized B/C-bodies for ’77. IMO these were victims of early aerodynamics, angular styling and other GM missteps, i.e. fixed rear glass. Are they as “pretty” as the Collonade cars? No, but they have a handsomeness in their own right. Any could make a seldom seen entry into the hobby or a reasonable daily/winter ride.
yeah, it has the pig 260 v8. cheap enough if you need a hooptie. put some ss2 wheels on to at least church it up a bit
I bought one of these back in 1986. I bought it with 37k mileage. Paid about $3900. Mine was Red Metallic with Red Cloth interior. Had the fancy Slotted wheels. Mine had the underpowered small V8. In the short ownership about 2.5 years. I had to have a Freeze Plug replaced, Put on a pair of heavy duty rear shocks. Upgraded the radio with the OEM Am/Fm, installed rear speakers, added a trailer hitch. Had a complete Zeibart treatment done. It was a ok car that served my needs at the time. Sold it for $2k as I got transferred overseas.
My former ’79 Olds Cutlass Salon. In 1986.
Alas GM thought the fastback styling looked chic and smart, practical, as well as I did also, but the public preferred the notch back. Who would have known? They still went on with the Cadillac Seville fastback, which again, some people hate, and others dearly love.
I liked the sloped roof line, though I would have preferred a hatchback. It was certainly underpowered for a V8 IMO. In hindsight a well appointed Pickup would have been a better choice.
I believe these are still the 5 digit odometer so I think it’s rolled at least once, price isn’t horrible have a good winter beater hopefully with a heater but I’m also the type of person who if I was going to buy it I would drive it away and fix it later
The only decent thing to do with this car is to just take it to the wrecking yard and let it Rust In Peace.
My mom had the Buick like this, it was plain silver. She took it in to have some paint work done. The guy painting it convinced her to add some maroon painted graphics. It actually made the car look 1000% better as two tone silver and maroon. My mom loved that car. It had the V6 and was super reliable.
My parents had one of these. It was a nightmare to own. Kept it just over a year. Constant problems. Theirs was the upper trim, maybe Salon trim? I remember it was loaded with about every option except, oddly, power windows. Power locks, yes, but crank windows. I know theirs had a V8, just not sure which one.
My Uncle and Aunt had one of these Salons in burgandy however it was a Diesel, which GM was trying to get use as you got better mileage on the diesels. It seemed to have lots of problems so they only kept it for 3 years and traded it back in on a newer Oldsmobile.