(first posted 3/24/2011) 1970 marks a turning point in so many ways, especially for GM cars and the Olds Cutlass. The last year for high compression engines, it also marked the end of the dominance of the mid-size sporty coupe. This Cutlass S Coupe epitomizes all that perfectly, so let’s consider this a farewell to the carefree sixties, before the coming dullness would be masked by the Novocain of “luxury” that The Great Brougham Epoch offered as a substitute. The rise of the Cutlass Supreme was at hand; the sporty Cutlass would soon be a distant memory.
The real (turbo) thrust of the of the CC Complete Cutlass Chronicles is to document the rise of the Cutlass Supreme Coupe to the top of the sales charts. This started with the first distinct Supreme Coupe in 1970 (see related post). But first it had to overtake this sporty Cutlass S Coupe, which had been the top seller in the F-85/Cutlass line ever since its arrival in 1962. Olds had successfully tapped into the shift away from sedans to sporty coupes, and would then lead the charge again with “formal” (Supreme) coupes. In 1970, this sporty Cutlass S coupe was enjoying its final year at the top of the Cutlass sales charts, so let’s give it its last hurrahs.
I’m obviously getting rusty on the grille details of vintage Cutlasses, because this particular car confused me briefly. Problem solved: it’s a 1970 Cutlass S coupe sporting a 442 grille insert and a W-30/W-31 hood with ram air intakes; a 442 wanna-be. Ok; not uncommon for cars of this vintage to sport a bit of confusing mix-and-match body parts.
This body generation started in 1968, with a rather different front end, as seen on this ’68 Cutlass S coupe.
This one here is a genuine 442, a former CC centerfold.
Starting with 1969, Olds cultivated a new front end style that was only very slightly modified through 1972, and can be a bit of a pain to decipher.
The 1970 through 1972 coupes also got some cosmetic surgery to freshen the look, including that little hump over the rear wheel opening, which I’m not too wild about. The unbroken rear quarter without any break into the roof was of course a gift from the ’66 Toronado, but it never seemed to go over that well, because Olds quickly found ways to break it up. Not enough visual interest, again.
These 1968 -1972 GM A Bodies were quite a departure from the norm, with the coupes now having their own 112″ wheelbase versus the sedans’ 116 inches. It was in the zeitgeist of that sporty coupe heyday, and certainly gave them a highly distinct profile and differentiation from the sedans, which had seemed to be trying just a wee bit too hard to look like a coupe. Ahead of their times, in that way.
No wonder the coupes sold so much better; no longer were they just a slightly glorified two door sedan/coupe. More than ever, the American sedan was being relegated to dull old-folks status. Ironic, since the soon-to-be most emulated car in America would be the Mercedes sedan. Figure it.
In 1970, Cutlasses still had a very healthy palette of engine choices, in that last year of high compression (in 1971, all engines had to be able to run on low-octane unleaded regular). You could get a 155 hp 250 CID Chevy six in your Cutlass S Holiday coupe, but only 729 buyers chose that combination in 1970. The standard V8 engine was the 260 hp two-barrel 350, but 310 and 325 hp versions were available too. And you could even order a 320 hp 455 in a non-442 Cutlass. The 442 had 365 hp and 375 hp (W-30) 455s on tap. A very formidable lineup indeed.
And the dull Jetaway two-speed automatic was now gone too, supplanted by the ubiquitous THM 350 (THM 400 with the 455). 1970 was the last year of unbridled cheap power, and a 3500 lb Cutlass felt pretty lively, as long as it wasn’t one of those 729 sixes.
1970 was one of those high-water years, especially for GM. The 1971 full sized cars were morbidly obese, and the combination of the reasonable sized cars of 1970 with their superbly smooth and crisp power trains (thanks to the THM and unsmogged motors) made any of these cars, no matter how equipped, anything from a pleasant to very entertaining experience. The quality was still decent to passable, the looks were timelessly good, and their steering and handling was now the best (or as good as any) in the (domestic) land, especially with one cheap little tick or two on the option sheet.
The handing over of the baton to the seventies’ Cutlass Supreme is hardly a moment of automotive glory; but then one tends to relate very heavily to the decade of one’s youth. I’d like to chalk it up to that, but I’m not finding a whole lot of conviction in that. So I’ll just try to pretend I was born ten years later, and muster some Supreme enthusiasm. I know plenty of you will, when we get to them.
I’ve always wondered what really happened in 1970/71.
1. Oil prices
2. EPA
3. no leaded fuel?
4. car safety
5. CAFE
1971: The year Detroit died?
It’s a question that isn’t perfectly easy to answer in a short comment, and will be a continuous thread here with the CCCCC and other posts (tomorrow). Oil prices was not yet a reality.
In terms of true performance cars, insurance rates skyrocketed, and the gov.t was talking tough. Yes, the 1971 mandate to be able to burn regular unleaded took off the edge, as well as ever tightening emission standards.
It may have been more too: a cultural shift. The unbridled optimism of the sixties was killed by Vietnam, Watergate, etc… The shift to luxury cars was a reflection of a larger shift. Isolating oneself in a “luxury” car was a way to escape the many pains and uncertainties of the seventies; among other things.
Stay tuned; it’s a theme we’ll touch on repeatedly here.
Thanks for the feedback.
Am i right in saying gas prices were increasing but we didn’t get into the shortage until 1973? I know on the supply side there were increases in price but perhaps they got overshadowed after the boycott. Rather like 2004-2008 in the US, where gas prices crept upwards but didn’t shock anyone.
The insurance thing is new to me.
Baby boomers aging. Hmm. How many were buying cars? Was it actual behavior or that the marketing machinery only understood one thing — like the automatics of that era (sorry, slam)? I’m a little dubious there.
NASCAR and street cars: Sounds like the leaded gas thing may have been a bigger thing (compression).
I tend to blame everything on Nixon and the gold standard — which might have started to destroy everyone’s earning power — but clearly there is a lag there which you don’t see in car design.
Correct on all those points. Regular leaded was 29.9 a gallon in the spring of ’73. And lead was just for the octane . It did more to burn valves and gum up rings . I have used unleaded for 35+
years in my 63 Buick with 10.25 C.R and the valves are fine.
it was mostly insurance issues, and a bit due to the prices creeping up. look at what sold the most as the muscle car era wound down…first, the road runner which was designed to keep the price down while keeping the power, and then the duster 340, Nova ss, and such that still went but the insurance companies saw as compacts. unlike today’s mustang and challenger, the muscle cars sold to young people, and when your insurance payment is as much as your car payment, it tends to make you look at other options.
Chrysler managed to push it out to 1972 (1971 was the last year for the 426 Hemi and 440-6pack) but basically I’ve noticed the same thing. I think you can blame all of the above, plus:
– Insurance companies were jacking up rates for young drivers and powerful cars.
– NASCAR banned the Hemi, which killed any incentive for Chrysler to keep selling a streetable version of it, and stopped R&D of comparable engines at F and GM.
– NASCAR and NHRA were both getting away from running modified factory cars and towards special purpose-built vehicles, so there was less incentive to offer streetable performance cars.
– In 1970 the earliest boomers would be turning 24, and starting to think more of family and career. There are endless stories of guys that sold their muscle car to pay for their wedding, mortgage down-payment, etc. or just to buy a more family-oriented vehicle.
snabster,
oil prices didn’t skyrocket until Fall ’73. The EPA was new in 1970, and the first Earth Day was 1970 as well. I remember a newspaper headline stating “we’ll run out of oxygen by 1990” and my science teacher sermonizing “this is not the age of Aquarius (that 5th Dimension song was released a year earlier), it’s the age of mud, slime and crap”. In all fairness, there was a lot of industrial pollution but a few tweaks had cut auto emissions 80% per car from a comparable 1960 model (IIRC).
However the leaded fuel fraud was coming unraveled and somewhere in this time period it was announced that catalytic converters would be required on cars beginning in 1975.
Here’s a link to some articles about leaded gasoline:
http://www.radford.edu/~wkovarik/ethylwar/#nation
The figure I’d heard for a properly tuned car of that era with a catalytic converter was 99% cleaner than 1960.
There were legitimate health reasons for banning leaded gas, the whole thing was a fraud to begin with if the research at the link is believable. Apparently GM and Esso (Exxon) knew the stuff fouled spark plugs while it sickened anyone who inhaled too much of it.
CAFE standards came into play later in the decade.
The public was becoming more car safety conscious (Ralph Nader’s “Unsafe At Any Speed” helped raise awareness), more suspicious of corporate America, and insurance companies were making muscle car ownership (or as they were called back then, “supercars”) prohibitive.
Plus as Paul notes, the optimism of the 50’s and 60’s was well and truly over by 1970, and the muscle cars’ target age group was getting married and starting families. Call all this a perfect storm.
In addition, many new auto designs came out in ’71, and (IMO) they weren’t superior to the models they replaced. New full-size GM & Ford cars were bloated and poorly built, Mopar overhauled their mid-size line and GM & Ford had come out with “import-fighting” small cars – Vega and Pinto. The Pinto was crap on wheels but outstanding compared to the Vega – Paul has those stories well documented elsewhere on this site.
So for these and other reasons I’ve forgotten, 1971 was a turning point for Detroit. The only winners in this era were imports, and their long rise to dominance began at this point.
A footnote here is that the GM mid-size cars described here were all-new in ’68 and carried on thru the ’72 model year. They were good cars then and good cars now, as were the GM compacts, also new for ’68. These lines didn’t become craptastic until ’73 and later.
@chas108:
I’ll admit that I haven’t followed your link to leaded gas articles, but the reason lead was originally added to gas was the coat the exhaust valves so they would last longer. Then it was found to behave as an octane modifier, so higher compression engines were feasible. With the removal of lead, high octane gas was not available for awhile.
The chemicals that were eventually used to replace lead have their own disadvantages, both in terms of health and pollution. Also the lead coating on piston crowns and combustion chambers would flake off after it reached a thickness of about 1/16″. The newer chemicals will build-up in the combustion chamber over time, eventually causing hot spots and higher CR that will lead to destructive detonation in older engines.
Not exactly. Lead was added to boost octane rating, not coat or lubricate valves. As compression ratios went up so did risk of detonation. By 1958 some oil companies were formulating 100+ octane auto gasoline from what was used to make 115 octane aviation gasoline, alkylates and lots of lead. This allowed detroit to sell cars with 10:1 and higher compression ratios.
GM, being biggest and under attack, decided to lower compression ratios and promote unleaded fuel first, as a sop to environmentalists. I found rebuilding engines run on unleaded did not have excessive valve wear and were much cleaner internally. Lead deposits sometimes caused exhaust valves to stick open and burn.
100 octane leaded aviation gasoline is still made, but maybe not much longer. A true substitute has yet to be developed.
Jimandmandy – this is interesting. What I do not understand is this: I own two 1960’s Mercedes’ with two entirely different engine – one is a 280 SE six and the other a 280 SE 3.5 Coupe with the V8. They are both 1969/70 cars.
When leaded was still available here (Australia) I used it, then had to switch to ULP and I had to put in an additive (to replace the lead?). Then my mechanic said not to bother with the additive and just use Premium ULP, which I have been doing ever since. Several years down the track and there has been no problem at all. So my question is this: how come these engines ran fine on leaded Super, then standard ULP with an additive and now Premium ULP? I have never noticed any difference in power or performance and they are both running sweetly. How can they run on three different fuel types, without any modifications?
I wouldn’t exactly call GM’s move to adopt unleaded “a sop to environmentalists”. Lead from gas and other sources was one of the greatest health scourges of the modern time, and should never have been allowed in the first place. But it was high time to get rid of it, and the health benefits have been huge.
There would inevitably have been a deluge of class-action law suits and such if it hadn’t. It was an absolute inevitability.
Ashey: Why not? As long as the octane is sufficient, an engine doesn’t really care if the gas is leaded or not. Some major brands never were leaded in the US; Amoco Premium was always unleaded. There may have been others.
Ashley: I don’t know about Australia, but in the USA the octane ratings in the Sixties were based on research numbers that are about 10 points higher than the motor numbers. So, todays octane ratings are an average of the two, so 100 octane premium in the “good old days” would be equivalent to 95 octane in todays numbers. So if your premium is 92 octane, this could be very close to what is needed then. Today fuels are somewhat different and may work just as well as the older higher octane fuels.
After browsing the Automobile Catalog website I think that I found the two engines that a 69/70 280 SE might have had. Compression ratios are less than 10:1 at 9.5:1 which probably required less than 100 octane fuels in the late sixties, say 97 octane, now equivalent to 92 octane.
I recently pulled a 60s engine apart it was still a runner but knocking and zero compression its been on unleaded fuel since leaded became obsolete, sitting the head upside down and filling the chambers with fuel got 7 wet ports so all the valves had begun leaking, a spare head was rebuilt stock and another shortblock reconditioned, Hopefully some upper cyl lube will keep it alive for my time with it, the next guy can do what they like.
Ok, a common misconception by young car fans is that the Oil Crisis/CAFE/High gas prices started in 1970, NO! Not until 1973, when OPEC cut off supply. This was when the 1974 cars came out and far from the muscle car era.
Pollution controls and saftey were prime reasons for end of super cars. Unleaded gas was also part of Clean Air Act.
CAFE was not enacted until 1975, starting with 1978 model year.
Late to the lead party here, but initially the main reason lead was removed was that it chokes up the catalytic converters.
It was known to cause all sorts of nasty problems for human health from at least the 1920s, but with realitively low use until the 1950s it was not seen as a general public health issue.
When we went to unleaded in the second half of the ’80s there was a big emphasis on the effects of the lead as justification for the change, and of course the buff books bitched about it.
Working at the time in the lead industry, I knew about the negative health effects, and started to develop a distinct contempt for the buff books as a result.
Interestingly the guys with the highest lead in blood n/mol levels were those working in the radiator repair, muffler and exhaust repair, brake repair and metal polishing industries, soaking up the lead solder fume and the dry lead dust particulates. These guys would invariably exhibit a grotty temperament, sallow faces, broken capillaries, purplish lips and reddish eyes and ‘onion’ breath. They suffered bad stomachs and inflamed bowels, general muscular weakness and joint pain, and a pervading lack of energy and vigor for life ..all fairly standard symptoms of chronic heavy metal poisoning (considerably worsened if they were heavy smokers to boot)
Makes sense, it’s awful stuff.
All of the above.
During the era of 1970-71 the EPA warned the auto industry that lead would soon be banned from fuel due to the health risks. As a result, in 1971, corporate GM ordered a drop in all compression ratios for all engines across all divisions, Since lead was used in fuels to reduce detonation, the easiest solution was to drop compressions to ensure it’s engines would run well on new low lead and low octane fuel. GM lead the way in this regard while Ford and Chrysler still made some high compression engines in 1971, but they eventually followed suit.
Since the late 1960’s, manufacturers had to start meeting federal emission standards. These standards started to increase significantly in 1971-72. As a result, manufacturers had to change camshaft profiles, lean out carburetors, use less aggressive ignition advance curves. and started to introduce some rudimentary emissions devices. Even in 1972, most cars didn’t have much in the way of emission devices, other than things that reduced ignition advance in lower gears, collect fuel vapours from the fuel tank, dual diaphragm distributors that retarded ignition timing under deceleration for reduced hydrocarbons, etc. None of these devices had much effect on overall power, but they did drastically worsen the driveability of the engines of this era, making them feel significantly more sluggish while fuel consumption increased. This combination of low duration cams, lower compression ratios and leaner carburetors resulted in a power being reduced overall.
It wasn’t until GM invented the catalytic convertor, that driveability significantly improved, since they could run richer running carburetors. This device which was eventually mandated for all cars also spelled the requirement for unleaded fuel since leaded fuel was not compatible with the catalytic convertors.
Increased in insurance rates for high-performance cars resulted in the reduced popularity of “super-cars.” This is why vehicles like the Pontiac T-37 or the Heavy Chevy were made, but the public didn’t seem to like them. There were several Hi-Po engines that met new emission standards, such as the 1971-72 Chevy LT1, 1972 Ford 351 HO, the 1971-74 Ford 351 CJ, the 1971-72 Pontiac 455 HO, 1973-74 Pontiac 455 SD. However, the lack of popularity for high performance cars caused the demand for these engines to dwindle until they were cancelled.
I’ve posted the follow before but it was a 1972 Cutlass that inspired my own personal “car craziness.”
First memory is of my father’s 1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme coupe, it was 1979 I was about 2 years old. My father had just finished washing and polishing it in our two car garage. Someone had carelessly failed to fasten the screen door between the house and the attached garage and I pushed my way through, clad only in a diaper. The summer sun was strong, the floor was wet, the sun hit the puddles on the concrete and lit up that silver metalic paint until the car (litterally to my young eyes) “glowed.” From that day forward I was sold on the version of the “American Dream” that Detroit was selling. I would fondly think of that day when 16 years later toiling in that same garage washing, waxing, chrome polishing the 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Brougham sedan that my father had passed down to me. Some of my classmates didn’t understand why I put a chrome tip on the exhaust pipe, why I would sit and listen to the 307V8 idle, blip the throtle to hear the Quadrajet almost “giggle” or why I cared that it had a posi-trac, but I knew and that was all that mattered. I’m still trying to get back to that place.
My first Cutlass (my 2nd car)? Looked like this. But it brought my V8 RWD chrome dripping dreams to life.
Dan, you’re going to want to repost this in about an hour or so…
That’s ok, everybody will see it anyway. I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that your site traffic is up greatly the last few weeks.
Dan, I meant in terms of the next CCCCC post, which will be up in an hour or so. I’m doing a CC double bill today.
I knew what you meant Paul. I just meant it was ok for it to only be here. I’ll talk more about my 1987 when you post that generation.
And I’ll be right there with you waxing nostalgic over my old ’87 Cutlass Supreme Brougham too…
And here’s my old `71 Cutlass S.
In addition to the `71, I have owned an `80 Cutlass LS 4D; `81 Cutlass Calais; `87 Cutlass Supreme Brougham 4D; `83 Custom Cruiser; and a `84 Delta 88 Royale.
My father had a 2 door Cutlass (possibly with the 455??) when I was a tiny kid. All I remember about it was the dark vinyl interior and how it kept overheating on trips to the point where it was traded for a metallic gold Plymouth Fury after less than a year. The only thing Mom remembered is that a mechanic told her it was the biggest engine available for that car.
1970? I feel that the 1972 models were the last – at least in pillarless hardtop coupes. I never understood the faux-luxury then coming into fashion. Was it because the hardtops were going away and the OEM’s knew that a pillared sedan would never be accepted as “sporty”? Personally, my last favorite GM of that ilk was the 1972 “Heavy Chevy” option on the Chevelle. I never cared much for all the horsepower, as I was/am too cheap to want to feed it, so I didn’t care about the de-tuned, smog-choked engines. With the pre-1973 models, you could have a “dog”, performance-wise, but who cared? It looked sporty! That’s all I cared about, too. Always have been just a “cruiser”. Nice to comment about a CAR!
For the GM A-Bodies, strictly speaking, yes. It’s hard to pinpoint the exact turning point for the whole industry, but then 1970 was the last year of the sixties decade, if one is counting properly, that is.
I was a kid in the early 1970s, but, as I remember it, the old muscle cars didn’t have the best image by that time. Yes, they were fast, but many “respectable” (read – young marrieds with children, or middle-age middle-class and upper-middle class people) didn’t want any association with the “greasy juvenile racer” image, or stigma, that these cars carried. The “faux luxury” image gave middle-class folks the chance to buy something that was distinctive and “respectable” and not overly expensive.
GM and Ford also played up the association of their intermediates with the Eldorado and Continental Mark III and IV. These cars were still viewed as prestigious in many areas, while not being as stuffy and formal as a regular Cadillac or Lincoln.
My parents and the parents of my friends were all solidly middle class…none of them would have been caught dead in a Road Runner or a GTO by 1971, but a Grand Prix, Monte Carlo or Cutlass Supreme would have been looked upon with envy.
If you bought a personal luxury car in the 1970s, it showed that you had some dash and flair, as you placed as much importance on style as function.
After 1972, my parents bought a succession of Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight sedans as the “family car.” The family up the street bought a brand-new 1978 Thunderbird. My father carpooled with the father in that family.
When I said how much I liked the Thunderbird, and wished that we could have a snazzy coupe, I remember my dad answering, “Why would we buy a car like that? The car costs as much as our Olds, but the back seat has much less room! And the trunk is so small! What is the point of that car?”
I tried to explain…but he never understood!
Until 2000, I had a 1972 Cutlass Supreme Holiday coupe. It was a dark green, with a light green vinyl top, and a 350 V-8 (dual exhaust, four-barrel carb). That car was very handsome, and the Rocket V-8 had that distinctive Olds rumble, although the “handling” (if that is the proper word) suggested that all of roads in Michigan were die-straight interstate highways. It was one tough car – the drivetrain was one of the best of that era.
According to John DeLorean’s book, the rot had set in at GM before 1971. Several ominous trends that had been in place since the late 1950s really began to manifest themselves in the product by the early 1970s.
GM’s relations with the UAW had never been good, but there was a very nasty and long UAW strike in the fall of 1970. GM ultimately gave in to several of the UAW demands that would prove to be unsustainable over the long haul. The strike left many of the workers very bitter, as the rhetoric was quite heated (which is ironic, considering the bruising that the union would take after 1979). Several road testers of that era commented that the build quality of GM cars suffered in the wake of the strike (particularly the Cadillacs).
It could also be said that, by 1970, GM had been so successful, for so long, that management really did believe Americans would buy whatever GM produced, no matter how poor the build quality, or how many corners were cut (the Vega would soon prove that one – it was initially a successful car in terms of sales). It didn’t help that, by the early 1970s, Chrysler offered no real competition, AMC was too small to present any threat, and Ford had become much more conservative in its product development efforts.
The dominance of the finance men at the top also had an effect. It was in the late 1950s that finance men began dominating GM top management, and by 1971, the unfortunate results were becoming all-too-apparent. Bunkie Knudsen had said that, in the late 1950s, he became alarmed when GM’s top management said that the goal of the corporation was to keep up the price of GM’s stock. To Knudsen, this was backwards – if the corporation built great cars, the stock price would take care of itself. He was, of course, ultimately proven correct. GM was on the way to discovering this for itself in 1971. It would take 30+ years for GM – and the nation – to realize that Knudsen was correct.
I worked for my father in his one-horse body shop from about 1973 until 1983, so I got to see a lot of cars from that era up close and personal. There was a considerable difference between these cars and the Colonnades that replaced them. Not so much in mechanicals, since the suspensions and drivetrains were mostly carryover, but in body integrity and materials. These older cars rusted less, and the plastics and adhesives used were higher quality. Most telling is longevity. I have a couple of these in my neighborhood that are daily drivers; there is one Colonnade that is a rusting driveway queen. Reading the other posts here, it seems that there’s a fair consensus that GM invented “decontenting”, if not actually the term, in these years.
That’s also my memory from when I was growing up in Israel in the 70s: the Colonnades became dowdy very quickly when compared with the older cars; this was the time when US-made cars started to lose the air of holy robustness they had about them, and it was no coincidence.
Wasn’t the start of all this when Ford hired the “Whiz kids” after WWll? All beancounters and efficiency experts, essentially. I worked for a company who’s sole objective was to keep the stock price up and provide a return on investment. How did they do it? By selling off the company divisions and assets piece-by-piece, until our division was sold to another company who was drowning in debt. Follow the money. I have stated in previous comments on TTAC that, culturally speaking, the 1960’s really ended with American combat involvement in Vietnam in 1972, which coincided with the changes in auto design for the 1973 models, and definitely by March 1973 when the first oil shock hit and gas jumped 7 cents per gallon. Shocking, indeed. I was in the service and I noticed, felt, whatever, some sort of major change occurring in the US, definitely in the air force for the reason above. The military was rapidly changing, too, and wasn’t the service I had joined in 1969. Truly the end of an era and so true it took all those years to do in the domestic auto industry. I do remember that strike Geeber mentioned and what a game-changer that was. It lasted three months, I believe. Geeber, I always appreciate your contributions of historical knowledge! I know just enough to be dangerous!
Thank you for this – very interesting. Similar thing happened in Europe I believe (even though it might have started in 1968 with the student riots). 1973 was of course a traumatic year for us in Israel – the belief in the wisdom of our leaders was totally shaken, what with the way in which they caused the IDF to be caught with its pants down and almost lose the war before it turned things round. As in the US, it started a process whose end is not yet in sight.
How could the IDF be caught with it’s pants down when Israel started the war, and then got caught up in a situation with them on the losing end – requiring them to beg the United States to save their you know what…resulting in the American Taxpayer’s paying for the funding of two countries and gas prices that if not for the actions of Israel and their dragging of the United States into it their problems, would probably still be below a $1.00 a gallon (based upon the cost of gas from the turn of the century up to the fall of 1973).
Rinse and repeat, it happened again, and the neighbours are getting sick of the noise and the uninvited people,
My car has a use Europa oil on the oil cap all NZ Rootes cars had it, Europa was the Brand name imported Russian fuel and oil was sold as, imported by the same Todd family who assembled Rootes and Chrysler cars, A four wheeler Europa tanker used to back down our driveway to fill the diesel central heating tank, nobody else did that and diesel central heating disappeared when the imports stopped, Try buying actual dinosaur oil today, I did recommended by the engine rebuilder use Mineral not Synthetic, OK,
I almost spewed my very late nite snack when I opened this page, the 70 in the photos is very similar to my 72 442. It was the same exterior color (Aztec Gold), and the same interior color scheme, but I had the bucket seats and the console like the Cutty Supreme in the next post. Mine had the 325 HP 350, along with the THM 350 an absolutely excellent drivetrain. Once I got the cheapsh*t tires off of the car, the front and rear sway bar equipped suspension handled like a dream. Weird thing on my car; front drum brakes. I bought mine used in 1982, I kept the car for three years, alongside my POS 81 Mercury Capri RS Turbo and then my POS 84 Pontiac Trans Am. The 1972 car had the reliability, space and speed the other two cars did not. I sold the car after my out of warranty T/A drove me to the brink of insolvency and additionally getting a job 35 miles from home. 12 MPG city and maybe 20 on the freeway weren’t getting it done. I have never had another car that I felt so confident in.When people say that they don’t build them like they used to, generally I agree that it’s a good thing. But if GM could build cars like this again, they’d own the world.
I can definitely attest to the quality of the 1970 GM lineup compared to what came later. We had a 1970 Buick Estate Wagon that my dad purchased as a demo just as the ’71 models came out. He took the ’70 because it was well-equipped (first car we had with A/C, power windows and power seat) and because he felt it was a nicer car offered at a good price. Right on all counts, as we kept that car nearly 20 years with all six children learning how to drive in it. As the youngest, I retired it when rust caught up with it.
Later, he acquired a ’70 Chevy Malibu 307/Powerglide hardtop with its nose smashed in, hoping to change the front clip and get a cheap 35,000-mile car. Unfortunately we had to switch out a bent frame as well with one from a ’68, and that was what did it in, as that frame rusted out while the body remained solid.
The doors thunked, frameless glass and all. Much better than the ’77 Pontiac LeMans 301 we bought new, and the handling was comparable, though the tall rear end and 350 tranny on the Pontiac gave better gas mileage. Build quality on those ’73-77 cars certainly sucked, but enough goodness from the previous models carried over that all of them were the hot tip for cheap transportation well into the late 1980’s, especially as gas prices dipped as low as 68 cents per gallon from a high of $1.15 or so. Keep in mind I was making about 4-5 bucks an hour at various part-time jobs while in college, so being able to fill a tank on two hours’ pay was nice. Costs me that right now.
One weak link, maybe due to our own neglect, or maybe due to the lack of separate coolers, was that the cars ate transmissions, be they Powerglide, THM 350 or 400. Each went through at least a couple, but we rebuilt them ourselves. Easy in, easy out.
The Pontiac immolated itself at 231,000 miles after a fuel pump leak caused an engine fire. And yes, we seriously considered rebuilding it from the wealth of cheap parts out there.
The author says he can hardly tell the model years apart from 68-72, but I can in a blink of an eye.
Fastback coupes were fading in the early 70’s and one reason was visibility. Also, many CS coupe sold to former big car buyers who didnt want the flashy fastbacks.
And yeah, GM quality took a hit. My Grandma loved her ’69 Electra, but her ’73 C body rattled and dripped parts. Also, she said the ’69 “jumped like a bunny” from a stoplight. My then teen uncle loved to borrow the ’69, but he called the 73 a ‘plastic fantastic’.
I also miss my parents 1970 Monte Carlo, was solid tank compared to later mid sized cars.
I said the ’70 – ’72 can be a bit hard to tell apart for me. The ’68 and ’69 are quite distinctive.
I am probably about ten years younger than Paul, and still see his worldview on this pretty similarly. I’m more comfortable with some cars of the ’70s and ’80s than he as that was what was new and shiny at the time. But, it was hardly lost on me that that many ’60 cars were modern, competent, comfortable and wore timeless styling that periodically resurfaces in whole or in part on cars that are in today’s showrooms. Take the best features of all ’60 cars, put them on one vehicle, and you have a modern car, short of a few microprocessors and airbags.
As the ’70s wore on, we heard endless news about “driveability” problems brought on by pollution controls, a loss of horsepower due to the same, the use of large displacement engines to give us at least enough torque to move the cars, but also awful gas mileage worsened by regulations and consumer tastes that made cars ever heavier. Then came downsizing, that I mostly didn’t care for, but the second wave of downsizing made the first wave look like the good old days. Cars kept shrinking, getting more expensive, and offered very few things that excited me. Things didn’t start really turning around until the late ’80s, and it was a slow climb back up.
But, not everything about the ’70s Cutlass was pure doom and gloom. The increasing luxury did coddle, formerly rare features like AC, tilt, pwr windows, stereo, and more became common. The 350 engine dominated through 1977, and was one of the most likable powerplants of the ’70s. The eventual V-6 and 307 cars worked well in the late ’70s. The cars were also notably safer due largely to the installation of at least two (still modern style) 3 point belts in every car by 1973, and crash standards that came on line in the late ’60s and were enhanced as the ’70s went by.
The Cutlass nameplate handled change in the ’70s as good or better than almost anything, and the sales figures are there to back that assertion.
Seatbelts for every occupant arrived here in 71 by default ADR regs crossed the Tasman along with the cars my Dads new 71 HQ Holden wagon came equipped that way and all local assembly followed suit, a boon for the seatbelt manufacturing industry whose output was exported to OZ, leaded gas stayed on the menu until this century in OZ though it was removed earlier in NZ with many strange brews being touted to save your valves none of which worked or were necessary regular 91 octane is higher than what most old classics needed as high octane anyway.
And I could be wrong as the head from my old car had a rebuild once before and 7 of 8 valves leak on the backyard test, stuck another stock head on and will use the valve treatment stuff or just throw a head on it every 50k or so, time will tell.
I can almost feel the rumble of the engine, smell the exhaust from the duals, & hear tracks from Sticky Fingers as I go cruising. Love these cars!
Here in New Orleans, the 1968-72 Oldsmobile Cutlass has always been a crowd pleasing favorite.
For several college years I earned most (if not all) of my tuition off these Cutlass models.
I’d find a decent one from a private owner, change out the weak fan clutch, install new points & plugs, add a can (or 2) of 99 cent Freon to the A/C, wash & wax it and turn it over for a profit.
Secretaries and career girls in particular loved these cars in the late 70’s/early 80’s.
Gold body, black vinyl top and black interior was a “sure thing” for a quick turnover. The burnt orange color, with white interior, moved quickly. Also the melted butter yellow color with black interior.
“…Problem solved: it’s a 1070 Cutlass S coupe…”
THAT old???
Poor Tommy Ramone just died- this is the sort of car I always kind of imagined the Ramones driving, a bit battered and rusty, but goes hard ( and LOUD) when you hit the accelerator….
RIP Tommy you’ll be missed.
I don’t know if it was actually him, but I could have sworn I saw Tommy Ramone driving a 2nd gen Honda Civic on the parkway once about 10 years ago. It was pretty clapped out, but I could see him having bought that car when it was new and never finding any good reason to replace it.
Can’t believe all of the original Ramones are now dead. So depressing 🙁
” The unbridled optimism of the sixties was killed by Vietnam, Watergate, etc…”
That’s what I miss the most about that era, that unbridled optimism. I don’t think we can ever get it back.
They can keep it and all the whizkid hubris too.
Agree about the whiz kids, but hubris and optimism are different things. I’m talking about ordinary people.
Agreed, as are cynicism and pessimism. Something ordinary people can’t seem to tell the difference between lately.
They are very different things, that’s why I didn’t conflate the two. That optimism from the 60s led to seeing too many things through rose colored glasses that should have been seen through something a little more critical.
Dibs on the black one
It was the end of an era for American cars,in 1971 some backward styling steps were taken.The bloated Mopar B bodies,the Mustang and AMC Javelin are some of the worst examples of a new car being not as nice as the previous model.In the following few years there would be horsepower sapping emission equipment,convertibles killed off,5 mph bumpers and questionable styling.
I’ve always thought the golden age of American cars was between 1955 and 1971.
In terms of performance the golden age is now. My grandmothers V6 Camry SE will keep right up with most late 60s early 70s muscle cars. We’re living in an era when past muscle car performance is available in family sedans with smaller engines, better gas mileage, and lower emissions.
There’s one key difference –new cars are HIDEOUS!
Says an old man always. Other old men said that in 1960 because 30s cars were true beauty and in 2050 they’ll say that the 2020 models were real beauty.
I’m not a GM guy but I do like that Olds 442 from the 1960s.
Back in 1972 I was riding with a friend that had a 69 442. some kid with a jacked up Chevelle stopped next to us a the light and immediately challenged my friend. When the light turned green all the kid saw was smoke and taillights.
Like I said I’m not a GM fan but I was impressed with That GM car.
One of my brother’s rugby mates gave me a lift in his brown 442.He scared the life out of me when he floored it,I thought my head was going to be torn off.
My folks bought a 3YO ’71 Supreme 350v4 in a medium metallic blue with a navy vinyl roof, bought after mom wrapped her ’68 Impala around a tree after she got ‘swiped.
That car wanted to be more than it was, but it got me through HS with very little trouble. Except for that which I caused.
And it was REAL easy to tell the vintage diffs – in tailights – 68 horiz, 69 vert, 70 vert on new body, 71 one over one, 72 3 over 3. Unless somebody swapped bumpers.
Tailights at night were the Rosetta Stone; maybe they still are and I just don’t seem to care.
Great memories of my 71 Cutlass S I bought in 1981-light metallic brown with a brown interior–350 2bbl auto. Its still the car I wish I had not sold–back then I wished it was a 442 but now I’d love to cruise in it. The interior quality was so good, It started and ran fine–damnit I’m going to check Hemmings right now
We all have our own taste, and I admit to favoring the Chevrolet designs on this platform.
That said, I must admit that I like driving the Buick/Olds/Pontiac version better. I know that it is sacrilege to negatively compare a SBC to BOP engines, but I always appreciated the smoother exhaust note and torquey nature of the BOP engines.
–The huge fan base for SBCs, in my opinion, results from their vast numbers, (and subsequent cheapness) not their quality.
(burning in H_ll now)
“The huge fan base for SBCs, in my opinion, results from their vast numbers, (and subsequent cheapness) not their quality.”
If you are burning in H_ll for that, I will, too. Sheer numbers and the accompanying cheapness and availability of aftermarket parts were what the SBC Chevrolet had in its favor. I am the former owner of one, and it did not show any great advantage in durability, smoothness and performance, in stock form. I still own one now, and it’s more because of the car it is in, than due to any advantage of the small-block Chevrolet engine.
But maybe instead of my burning in H_ll, now I’ll see my SBC throw a rod…
Here’s my 1970 Cutlass S, all original except for the racing stripes (that hood was begging for them). I bought it from the original owner three years ago, literally a little old lady. It had just under 100k miles on it. 350 2bbl, auto.
The reduction in the compression ratio in 1971 for unleaded fuel (catalytic converters) definitely took the edge off performance. I remember reading in the car mags of that period there was a great deal of crying and wailing that high performance cars were dead and gone. Then there was the OPEC oil embargo of 1973-74, followed by the 55 mph speed limit and then of course the CAFE standards that followed.
After the 1960s, the 1970s were the automotive equivalent of a bad hangover after a really wild party. With all the federal mandates placed on the automobile industry during the 1970s, it’s not much of an exaggeration to say automobiles were being built primarily to suit federal mandates and not customer preferences.
We were an “Olds Family”, at least my mom, sister, and I were. My dad had Olds and Cadillacs. The first car I actually drove, at 13, was a ’69 Hurst Olds that was a loaner we got while my sister’s ’68 Cutlass S was being fixed for (I think) a jammed power driver’s seat that burned out the motor that moved it. That Cutlass of my sister’s rusted amazingly quickly, and by ’71, had holes in both doors and the trunk lid was starting to bubble up on the back end of it. Off it went, and a ’71 Cutlass S replaced it, in almost exactly the same color, with the same options. It was better in every way, and soon I was told that when I got my license, the Cutlass would be mine. In ’72, my mom bought a ’72 Supreme, red with a white vinyl top (Why were these popular?) and black interior, which I fought hard for. To this day, I hate colored interiors and want it as black as I can get it. The ’71 was great, when I got close to getting my license, my dad and sister went to the dealer and ordered her ’73 Cutlass, which was just an awful car, both in color, a weird bronzish orange, white vinyl top, and white interior. It ran worse than any previous Olds we had, and had electrical problems until ’79, when my sister traded it for the car that ended her Olds odyessy, the last Cutlass, turd brown over a almost turd brown, a truly awful car. About 2 weeks after I got the Cutlass to be my own driver, it was totalled and I ended up with the ’72, which had it’s share of problems. Mom got a loaded to the max ’73 Supreme that while ugly as hell, IMHO, was a really great car. That it was built about the same day as my sister’s car showed how much a “luck of the draw” thing quality was. By early ’75, my sister’s was the last Cutlass in our family. Olds had lost us and we would never be back.