As a child of the 1980s, I am very familiar with the GM A-bodies, and Cutlass Cieras in particular. They were everywhere at the time, and there were at least two of them on my block. They were as common on the streets as Camrys and Accords are today. Arguably, the most famous Cutlass Ciera was the tan 1988 Cutlass Ciera that Jerry Lundegaard gave the hit men as partial payment in the classic 1996 film, Fargo. Unlike Jerry Lundegaard, the Ciera was a solid hit.
the south side
The Cutlass Ciera was introduced in the fall of 1981 as a 1982 model. It had some very big shoes to fill. The Cutlass nameplate was Oldsmobile’s most successful in the 1970s, and the Cutlass Supreme in particular was the undisputed best selling model in the lineup. The first downsizing came in 1978, followed by a more aerodynamic restyling in 1981. Building on that success came the Ciera, the first time the Cutlass nameplate was applied to more than one car line.
the north side
The 1982 Cutlass Ciera was a response to the recent Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. As a result of this legislation, vehicle lineups had to be more fuel efficient. You could still build full-size cars like the Delta 88 and Ninety Eight Regency, but it had to be balanced by the addition of smaller, lighter and more efficient vehicles to the lineup. As a result, the Ciera had front wheel drive, unit construction and no V8 option. The standard engine was a 2.5L 4 cylinder, with a 2.8L V6, 3.0L V6, and 4.3L diesel V6 engines standard or optional, depending on the model. It was initially offered as a two-door or four-door sedan in base, LS and top-of-the line Brougham models. For 1983 an ES option was added, with blacked out trim, sporty wheel covers, a console and full instrumentation.
The rear-wheel drive Cutlass Supreme remained in production, so the Cutlass Cruiser station wagon remained on the Supreme platform for 1982 and 1983. Finally, in 1984, the front wheel drive Cruiser was introduced. It was immediately popular with first year production of 41, 816, nearly double that of the 1983 rear-drive version. It certainly didn’t hurt that the Cutlass name still had quite a bit of cachet with buyers. Ultimately, the Cutlass Ciera was a great success, and wound up being the most popular Oldsmobile of the 1980s. The choice of a Cutlass Ciera as the car the hit men drive in Fargo was perfect. If you wanted to blend into the background in Minnesota in the late ’80s, this was the car to drive.
These cars were extremely popular in my part of the country. They were so common as be, for all intents and purposes, invisible. One of our neighbors across the street, an older lady, had a copper colored Brougham sedan, probably an ’84. Our next door neighbor’s daughter, Jeannie, had a cream colored ’84 Cutlass Cruiser with a brown interior and her husband had a full size Custom Cruiser. One of our grade school teachers had a burgundy ’85 Ciera sedan that was a little worse for the wear by the time he was driving it in the early ’90s. My driver’s ed car was a navy blue ’96 Ciera with a blue interior. When I started working part-time at an insurance company during high school and college, the underwriting manager had a gunmetal gray ’91 or ’92 sedan. Those are just the ones I remember. Yes, Northwest Illinois really liked their Oldsmobiles, the Ciera in particular.
However, with success can come complacency. The Ciera was a very comfortable, efficient, state of the art car – in 1982. The problem was, there were no significant updates to the car, save a redesigned roofline for the coupe in mid-1986 and the sedan in 1989. Some slight changes were made to the grille and taillights, usually every couple of years, and a driver’s side airbag was added. Yet despite the lack of changes they kept selling. As the years went by, the most desirable options such as full gauges, super stock wheels and leather upholstery went away. On the plus side, the longer they were made, the better they were built. By the early 1990s these cars and their A-body cousins were some of the most trouble free cars available.
But eventually, it was finally time to retire them, and along with its remaining A-body cousin, the Buick Century, they were put out to pasture in 1996. The coupe had been discontinued after the 1991 model year, but the sedan and wagon made it all the way to the end. At the time, I recall reading an article where Oldsmobile made 1982 and 1996 model Cieras available to the press to commemorate all the years of production. One wag claimed he couldn’t tell which was which. And so ended fifteen years of production. A ‘new’ Cutlass came out in 1997, but it was clearly a badge-engineered version of the 1997 Chevy Malibu, and it tanked. Oldsmobile never really got a replacement that was a volume seller, and Oldsmobile Division came to the end of the road after a very short run of 2004 models.
What prompted this article? A couple weeks ago, I spotted this Cutlass Cruiser (above) on a side street. I still see sedans all the time, but the wagons are rare enough today that I had to go around the block and get a photo. Today, even in my rust-prone region of the country, these cars are a common sight, a testament to their popularity and durability.
Cutlass Cruiser woodie wagon photos by PN
Supporting Tom’s observations, these were rugged, and long-lived. And highly practical in station wagon form. Rationalizing their popularity. Wagons were popular with contractors. Wagons and sedans, popular as taxis.
GM suffered severe self-inflicted wounds, due to the X-Cars. The 1982 A-Bodies were a solid hit, and a genuinely redeeming lineup.
The A-body wagons were, in many ways, the American Volvo 245. I was living in West Michigan at the time, and it felt like half the passenger cars on the road were A-bodies. Contractors and handymen loved the wagons as “sedan deliveries”. They would last and last, and when fixing your current A-body became untenable, you’d just go out and spend $1000 on another one.
Yep ;
Not my cuppa tea but sturdy, good looking, reliable and cheap to operate and maintain cars .
-Nate
I guess the sun shone on the south side of the car.
GM should have updated the sheet metal a bit, kept the 3800 engine and its smaller V6 cousin, and left it production. There is always a market for a durable and reliable, albeit not car-nut inspiring, car like this, Older people have money and are a good-sized and loyal market. The follow-up models in ’97 were not what they were looking for, a huge and ultimately terminal mistake that did in poor Oldsmobile, our oldest US make.
When I returned to Canada in 2004 after a dozen years in Asia I needed a car and fast. I was close to flat broke at the time but I specifically wanted a Ciera wagon. I looked all over and found several. The problem was I was on a beater budget and Ciera wagons were very popular. The cheapest ones were pushing $3000 and I had a $1000 budget. As much as I wanted the Ciera wagon, I couldn’t afford one. Instead, I bought a $700 Dodge Caravan. Although not as nice as the Ciera it did schlep all kinds of furniture and home accoutrements, The car after the van (which had a failing transmission, bit surprise) was a Ciera four door sedan. With FE3 and 3300 V-6 it handled and went very well.
“The A-body wagons were, in many ways, the American Volvo 245.”
I wanted to write this independently of your post, but you were quicker.
From my European perspective, these always were the American interpretation of the Volvo 740/940 station wagons. I always wondered—and still wonder today—if there were cross-shoppers between Cutlass Cruiser wagon buyers and Volvo wagon buyers in the US, or if we see two completely different demographics.
I too wanted to emphasize Evan’s comment. I definitely agree.
I think that the key phrase here is “different demographics”. In their time, the cars were appealing for similar reasons, to vastly different demographics.
I picked the 245 intentionally. Although the 745 looked more like the A-wagons, currency differences forced the 745 into the luxury car realm.
1985 base Cutlass Cruiser (2.5L Iron Duke, automatic trans standard equipment): $9858
1985 Volvo 245 (2.3L “redblock”, with optional automatic trans): $13,810
1985 Volvo 745 (2.3L “redblock”, with optional automatic trans): $19,795(!!)
So I doubt may people were cross-shopping the Cutlass Cruiser with a car that literally cost twice as much!
There was a pretty significant gap between them in price. The Cutlass Cruiser started at about $9,800 in 1985, whereas the cheapest U.S. Volvo 240 DL wagon was $13,415, with a GL automatic wagon almost $17,000. That was a big jump, and you could probably have gotten a well-equipped V-6 Cruiser for less than a more basic 240 DL.
The more space-efficient FWD platform allowed the Ciera wagon to offer a rear-facing third row seat, which the ’78-82 RWD Cutlass wagon didn’t have room for. All 3-row A-body wagons had those little flip-open vent windows just ahead of the D pillar. The bronze wagon in the brochure shot doesn’t have them so it’s a two-row car. The featured car does have them, but their presence doesn’t indicate a third row seat as the vent windows were optional in two-row wagons. There’s a reason I still remember trivia about A-body rear vent windows: I did quite a bit of time as a child in the “way back” of the two-generations-previous Colonade wagons, which had the same setup. Someone had a two-seat wagon, no vent window, and I had to sit cross-legged on the carpet. Someone else had a three-row wagon, which afforded me the “luxuries” of a real place to sit, seat belts, and a little window I could open. And an ashtray, because ’70s.
These were undeniably a good value. For a few years during their run, you could get an Accord or Camry wagon, but both of those would have a four-cylinder and crank windows for more than a Ciera wagon with V6, power windows/locks/seat, nice stereo, tilt, cruise, etc. The Taurus wagon likely cost more at real transaction prices, and though a more modern design, was less reliable.
Yep. 88 Buick Century Wagon here. 2 tone silver & charcoal. Jump seat in the back. Loved that lil wagon. Unfortunately daughter was driving it, looked down to change the radio and looked up too late for the stopped car in front. Slow speed, no one was hurt but miss that car. Replacement was a Celebrity. Good solid slow cars
Credit to GM for offering a third seat option, that could genuinely comfortably accommodate two full-sized adults. Combined with the cargo area mini pop-out windows, it was not an unpleasant place to spend time.
You really need that True Coat or you’ll get oxidation, darn tootin!
See, they install that True Coat at the factory, there’s… nothin we can do.
I really wish they’d ban SUVs and start making station wagons again.
Automakers used advertising to move consumers into SUVs because they are BIGGER and COST MORE and, as ‘trucks’, they get around Govt regulations on cars…
For many people’s needs, a Reliant or Aries wagon would have delivered significantly better mileage, and five person seating not much less than the spacious Aspen/Volare wagon interiors. And equipped with the 2.2 litre four, and a turbo, better performance. Or the Mitsu 2.5 litre, if turbos weren’t an option.
Unless you really needed that extra cargo space for a small business, or regularly hauling stuff, a K-Car wagon might have been more practical for some folks. Cheaper to run, if someone wanted an alternative wagon choice.
Nice find! I have always had a soft spot for fake wood, be it inside the car or outside. I’ve had had two wagons with wood. The decals on one were already dead when I bought it and on the other they were quite good. I was always acutely aware of how fragile that stuff is. When I got my current 96 Roadmaster Estate, I purposely chose one with wood delete so as not to have to worry about it.
I absolutely love these cars! I have owned 4 Cieras and 5 Centurys, and not a bad one in the bunch. I currently still have my 96 Century which now has 99,000 miles and still runs and looks almost new. I’ve had this one for 10 years and haven’t had any problems with it. All of the ones I’ve owned were 6 cylinder models, so I don’t know how the 4 cyl. cars were.
I had a 93 Century wagon with the excellent 3300 V6 and I still regret to this day that I didn’t keep it. It was 12 years old when I bought it, and had about 90,000 miles. It was in great condition, except the former owner was a smoker, so it stank to high heaven. I only had it about 9 months and then foolishly traded it for a 96 Ciera sedan. What a dumb idea that was! These wagons are SO rare now, and I haven’t seen one in many years. I would give anything to have another one, but chances of that are about zero. Oh well, I’ll just enjoy my Century for now and dream about finding another wagon.
“Arguably, the most famous Cutlass Ciera was the tan 1988 Cutlass Ciera that Jerry Lundegaard gave the hit men…” So, yah, that Ciera he gave to those fellas was burnt umber, not tan.
If you like Coen Brothers movies or are a fan of dark humor do yourself a favor and watch the movie Fargo. You can watch it with ads for free on Youtube. As a midwesterner that grew up in the same area that much of the film was shot I can tell you it’s pretty spot on. Yes we do have that funny sounding Scandinavian influenced accent with our hyper accentuated vowels. It’s a great spoof about us and quite frankly if a person can’t laugh at themselves then they have some issues.
These Oldsmobile wagons once ruled the roads here but have pretty much gone extinct. I haven’t seen one for well over 10 years. New Volvo wagons (and yes SUVs) are still extremely popular in Minnesota. Some classic Volvos are left but they only come out of hibernation until after all the snow melts.
Does Volvo sell better in Minnesota than in the rest of the Midwest because of the Swedish connection?
My first car ride was in white on red 1984 Ciera with the Iron Duke so naturally I have a soft spot for these. I prefer the more traditional styling of these and the larger H Bodies to the Taurus. And long term they were more durable. GM would probably have been better off giving these a real update in 1990 or so vs wasting money on the Ill fated and too close to H Body size GM10s. Even in the NYC area these were the top selling car in 85/86.
Is there any relatively popular car somewhat unchanged since 2011 like these were in 96? I suppose the Charger sort of qualifies.
You know I don’t know the numbers and if they do or not due to claimed or actual Scandinavian heritage. All I know is that they sell lots of them and many Polestars to boot. On a side note I just talked with a one year owner of a Polestar and he loves it but….. Due to our very cold and lengthy winters he is very tired of one hour charging times. Bottom line is his perspective on BEV’s in the land of ice and snow that all batteries deserve much better thermal insulation.