Classic station wagons are continuing to grow in popularity, and when you see the potential locked away in this 1971 Oldsmobile Cutlass S Wagon, you can understand why this is happening. They offer a reasonable level of performance, they’re comfortable, and they’re practical. The owner of this Cutlass has decided to sell it, and with an opening bid set at $4,800, and a BIN price of $6,500, it is certainly worth a bit of a look. Located in Redmond, Oregon, you will find the Wagon listed for sale here on eBay.
The Cutlass has a great sense of style about it, and it manages to be a large wagon without looking cumbersome and heavy. The body has been prepared and primed, ready for a repaint at some point. It’s a bit hard to tell because of the primer, but the body looks to be straight and free of major rust. There have been some rust repairs performed under the rear of the car, and while some of the patches look acceptable, there is one large patch that I would be inclined to take a look at because it does look pretty ordinary. It’s a bit hard to be sure due to the light, but it looks like the Cutlass started life finished in Venetian Red Iridescent, and while there is an opportunity to undertake a color change with the car in its current state, I can’t help but think that it would look quite classy if it were to be refinished in that color.
The interior of the Cutlass also looks quite good. Both the front and rear seats have recently received new covers, while the floor has received new carpet. The dash looks fairly good and original, while the pad is free of cracks. There are few things that will need to be attended to in order to finish it off, the worst of these being wear on the steering column and the top of the driver’s door trim. Still, it looks pretty good for a 48-year-old family wagon.
Under the hood is a 350ci V8, an automatic transmission, power steering, and power brakes. Under the hood looks quite good for a daily driver of this age, and the owner says that this car has been a daily driver until very recently. He does say that the car runs and drives superbly and that it has recently been fitted with new tires. It also looks like the exhaust might be fairly new, which is a bit of a plus. So, it looks like there’s not going to be much mechanical work to undertake before this one hits the road.
There is certainly plenty of promise in this Cutlass S Wagon, although I will temper that by saying that I’d want to have a close look at those rust repairs to get a better idea of how well they’ve been performed. That would also make me want to check the rest of the vehicle pretty closely to ensure that any other repairs are of a high standard. If it all checks out, then it is definitely worth considering. With good examples selling for around $16,000 and potentially pushing up as high as $31,000, there does seem to be a bit of room to move on this one.
They say they put new carpeting in – apparently there was no brown to match the door panels and the rest of the interior ; maroon carpeting on brown looks odd
I guess you paint the exterior the same color as the carpet to assemble some type of sense to it all? Maroon’s and saddle browns can work well together, this would be just a new twist on that !
I will challenge the aforementioned 16K-31K selling range with the inclusion that those numbers were probably for Vista Cruisers with the elevated rear roof line and skylight glass. Not sure if I have seen a really nice non-Vista Cruiser sell, period.
I think Oregon bodes good things for the car being somewhat solid. I agree with wondering about the quality of the rust repair and how well it was done. Fresh primer is very scary.
This should make someone a real nice cruiser or hot rod. This gen Cutlass was simply a great looking car in all forms. Particularly the coupe and wagon. I agree about sticking with the original color. Maybe add some silver or gold accents/stripes. With the tan interior I’d be tempted to go with gold lower paint and possibly hood stripes with gold Olds rallye wheels on some wider RWL tires. Perhaps some gold in the grille as well. The 350 with an intake/4bbl and headers and duals would push it around just fine as a cruiser. Lots of potential in this old beast.
No A/C car.
That’s the kiss of death for a family cruiser!
Exactly the type of classics we park in our garage. We’ve also parted more than a few a.c. cars to save non a.c. cars. When these cars were new, a.c. was the exception, not the rule.
I’m glad that wagons are “gaining in popularity” but it bugs me no end that they ever fell out of favor. In Europe and Asia they got all kinds of sport and diesel wagons that never came here. I guess it’s part of the ‘Murican culture that a practical vehicle is a threat to one’s manhood, so to keep up airs ya go get a big burly SUV. Give me a wagon any day – handles and gets mpg like a car but carries a lot more. What’s not to love?
How about one of these new Buicks?
Sorry, in my option it doesn’t meet the criteria for a wagon. It is to narrow, to small, not only missing the third seat but also missing the area that is in a station wagon. It’s a SUV. It’s also identical to the Dodge Magnum sold as a station wagon some years ago.
Back in the 80’s we bought wagons that looked just as good as this for demo derbies. We would get them for $50.00 or less . I look back and wish I could have saved some of the parts we ruined, but most would have ended up in the junkyard whether we wrecked them or not ; nobody wanted gas hog wagons at that time !
44,000 miles? Nope. No chance. Terrible rust repairs, this car has been sitting in or on water for an extended period. Probable floor rust under that mis-matched carpet. Door panels shot, possible dashboard vinyl repairs. Ready for paint? Hardly. Get a PPI on this before you commit, this car is misrepresented in the eBay listing.
Check out the steering column paint wear below the ignition switch. My 100K+ mile Cutlass doesn’t have nearly this much paint loss. Maybe the original owner was a custodian or made a key chain fob out of brick.
How much? Lol
No A/C no love, sorry
Cars like this scare me. Who knows the quality of the work that went into this.
You might have to redo everything that was done.
I will stick to my newer Buick wagon with A.C. Bruce.