Oldsmobile’s Cutlass shuttled countless families and white and blue collar workers around for decades, and at one time you couldn’t swing a dead cat without hitting one that looked like this 1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme in Brea, California. The formal roof brings a classy flair to the sporty two-door. This one seeks a new owner here on eBay where the listing describes a southern California classic that enjoyed one owner since 1980! Purchased in rough shape, the Olds was restored to factory perfection in 1982, a remarkable feat for what would have been a rather ordinary used car. As the auction nears its close, at least 10 bidders salivate over the double-green driver, bumping the market value beyond $12,000 so far.
Dealer-installed air conditioning bolted beneath the dashboard usually garners an eye-roll from those who owned these units in the past. Evidence of a spill or two separates the upholstery from perfection, and the add-on speakers may draw the ire of purists, but otherwise there’s little to complain about inside. The imitation wood grain looks great!
In the days when Buick, Chevrolet, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac all developed their own 350 cid (5.7L) V8s, this Oldsmobile 350 motivated countless similar cars. Model year 1970 often rates the highest power numbers, striking just before emissions requirements drove compression ratios downward and the ratings change from SAE gross to net erased some paper ponies as well.
I almost bought a ’70 Cutlass like this in the mid-80s, a super-clean and shiny white Supreme with a black vinyl top, black interior, and these hub-caps. Instead I bought a five-speed ’76 Buick Skyhawk for the stick-shift. Both were the same price, $1250. Years later I learned that the ’70 Supreme came standard with the 350 Rocket four-barrel making 310 HP and 390 lb-ft of torque, almost triple the Buick 231 cid (3.8L) V6’s horsepower. Thanks to lov2xlr8 for some details. Do you like the all-stock look on this 350-powered Supreme?
Really nice looking “Plain Jane” Cutlass. I like it, but proceed with caution, as it has a Salvage Title. Good luck.
I think what is scarier is the repair bill for the damage…front clip, frame straightening, windshield, a/c compressor…that thing hit something hard…and even scarier is the rust bubbling under the vinyl roof…
Appears to have the original ‘flat’ fender lips versus the replacement ones with the crumple zone dimples. Not sure it was ever hit in the front. When purchased in 1980 this was probably a $1000 car if that. A caved in door could have totalled it, or it could have just had a bad engine or transmission and was taken to the junkyard for scrap and they re-sold it with a salvage title. Agree that it would be nice to know the background of the car.
Always like the chiseled lines versus the swooping quarter panels.
I’m still trying to figure out what the contraption attached to the rear bumper is…
I think it is some sort of stabilizer bar attachment…
It’s a clamp on bumper hitch. My ’70 convertible was subjected to the same torture and it left 4 dimples in the bumper and spliced wiring in the trunk. Can’t imagine towing anything very heavy with that setup without buckling the bumper.
A smart seller would have deep-sixed that first. A dealer I used to work for always removed trailer hitches from their used cars.
There is a bolt on trailer hitch, the other brackets may be for a removable bicycle rack as it is clearly not strong enough to hold and substantial weight. It’s a shame that there is so much damage under that vinyl top. The original owner clearly loved her car!
Me too PaulG.
This looks like the somewhat typical senior’s car. I knew a cop that was a huge Cutlass 442 fan. He loved low-mileage cars like this one.
One of his favourite ways to acquire them was to watch for seniors driving them to mandatory driving tests at the DMV building next to the police station.
If an Olds owner failed their driving test, the “nice policeman” would drive them home, and offer to take the car off their hands. He scored a nice Chevelle that way too.
My first car was a ’70 Supreme hardtop – triple gold. As with my car, this appears to be a 2bbl car so 250 HP but with only 9.0:1 compression, so you don’t need premium gas. Still very torquey engines down low where you feel it. Great throttle response even with the likely 2.56:1 rear end. Looks like a disc brake car, too. Grilles are for a Cutlass S and not correct for a Supreme but replacements are readily available if desired. Nice to see some of these still around in generally unmolested condition.
The hood is missing the center chrome strip also. Either replaced it with a Vista Cruiser hood or deleted the molding and filled the holes. Good center trim pieces are hard to find (but were still available NOS in 1980). If any of the front end sheet metal was replaced they did a good job. The fender/hood/door alignment looks pretty factory correct to me.
Trailer hitch may come in handy. I love how dr. Olds offered so many rear gear possibilities for the buyers. So many options and configurations available for the owners when ordering was a lot of fun.
This olds is makeshift and worth around $900.00. Be careful
$900? Seriously? The front fenders alone are worth more than that.
huh?????
I would walk away .The roof under that vinyl is pure rust , and filler in the right rear quarter is rough ,over laps the bumper. Thanks but no thanks.
drop a rocket 455 in that baby set of old school rims with moon caps and your rolling
Reminds me of my grandmothers car. But hers did not have the vinyl top. Had the same green interior though. And in the early 80’s she was afraid of a ticket for not wearing her seatbelt so rather than wear it the shoulder belt was routed under the headrest. Lol the things you remember
I bought a 70 GTO in southern CA in 1986. It had very minor rust under the vinyl roof even then. The more these cars say outside and it were washed, the more rust, even in sunny CA.
My dad had a 1970 Toronado in something close to that color of green – kinda cool.
Someone commented about throttle response, and I can attest to that in my mom’s (then sister’s) 1972 Cutlass with the 350. Took my driver’s test in it and the guy said I had “a little bit of a lead foot”, but that’s how it was – wanted to jump off the mark, lol.
Sold for $13,500! Pretty reasonable compared to the other cars that are similar on eBay. Much easier to drive a $13,000 car that is not perfect then a $40,000 plus car that is! I prefer four Doors, so I probably would not actually buy this one.
Here I was thinking that the buyer got a decent car for $13,500 (compared to what that gets you nowadays. But some of the comments here have me second guessing that.
Glad to see that the seller wasn’t shooting for the moon on their selling price.
I think the buyer got a decent car. That rust under the vinyl top probably hasn’t progressed in the past decade. I’ve had my ’70 for more than 30s year and the rust bubbles in the fender heels still look the same as when I bought it. Keep it out of the rain and don’t wash it with a hose and this car will look this way in 2035.