It's just a Cutlass...
 

After selling my '67 GTO survivor last fall, I wanted something within my budget (cheap!) to play with. Some photos of this '71 Cutlass Supreme survivor popped up in a Facebook group taken by a member that was at a Goodguys car show in Loveland, CO this past September. The owner selling the car had bought it from the estate of whom she thought was original owner (more on that later). So I called the number posted in the photo of the for sale sign and spoke with her and she sent me some additional photos. After viewing them, I decided to pass on it as she was firm on her price at that time. She told me that if it didn't sell at her price, she would then list the car on Bring a Trailer. I kept in contact with her as I was still interested in the car and planned to bid on it when it did finally list on BAT. It just happened to be the week of MCACN and was ending on that Saturday of the show which I attended. I got the 30 minute notice from BAT that it was ending soon right in the middle of bullshitting with my Pontiac buddies and I almost missed it! I had to step away and sit down to bid with minutes left to go and ended up winning the auction. I ended up paying less than what she wanted initially which turned out to be the reserve after BAT kicking in $500 to make the sale, I had no idea they even did that. Anyway, I was happy and got myself a nice 32K mile Cutlass Supreme at a fair price. I'll attach several photos here showing the car being delivered and how untouched this car is under the hood with almost all of it's original components still in place. And also some photos during my cleanup process. Of course you can go to BAT and look at the seller's photos there as well. I have much more that I want to clean up on the car, but that will come later with warmer weather on the way.

WOW, congrats...super clean appearing car !!!

Build sheet and dealer history...
 

This car is an early build (08C) out of the Fremont Plant and after finding two build sheets in the car, one that I could remove easily, it shows to have originally been delivered to Olds Motor Division in Denver, CO. So this is where part of it's history during the first year is unclear. The long time owner in Fort Collins leased the vehicle in Oct of 1971 from Dellenbach Chevrolet, this is over a year after the car was originally delivered to Olds Mtr Div in Denver. He then purchased it outright in 1976, I'm assuming this was the lease buyout price shown on the invoice? With some research, I found that the Olds dealership that originally inventoried the car was Poudre Valley Motors "PVM" which was later bought out by Dellenbach Chevrolet in the spring of 1971 and then later moved to a new larger facility. The original lease document shows them as the leasing and selling dealer in Oct of 1971 and May of 1976. The car has a "PVM" dealer nameplate on the deck lid, so it could have been a demo during that first year of use, I'm not sure?

Original underhood components...
 

Probably my favorite thing about this car.

Paint cleanup...
 

Initially after just a good washing, the car looked much better and had a nice shine to it. After hitting it with a buffer along with my first time using this mild Meguiar's compound that I read good things about online, the paint really came back to life.

Trunk compartment cleanup...
 

Original dual stripe spare and very nice original weatherstrip.

Engine, trans & rear axle stampings...
 

Car was equipped with the optional 3.08 rear gear, much nicer than the standard 2.56. It still has the original single exhaust, including the muffler.

Wow not sure you could find a cleaner car than that. Very nice.

Wow......that's a great find Grant! I was hoping you or Chris would buy a car and document the process sometime soon. Ironically, just a few days ago I was revisiting the thread on your 67 and Chris's 65. I just love the eye for detail!

With the Meguiars compound, is that a traditional buffer or a DA type polisher?

Tim

Cars like this make me happy...Congrats on the find!!

Wow!!
That's cool!!

Exceptional!

Hi Tim... I use an old Makita DA type polisher with a foam pad. This compound is very easy to use, even by hand it worked well around deck lid letters and other areas.

What a great find, it looks like a bucket seat and console car, too. It brings back memories or our orange 1972 442 my mom bought new. I like your car.

Some new photos today...
 

Finally had a nice sunny day here today and went for a drive. I had a few of these cars back in the early 80's to early 90's. They are nice driving cars and could easily be daily driven today. I decided to go with some modern radial whitewall tires, the old General Jumbo bias ply tires that were on the car were very old.

Mr. Baber,

This recent minty find should not surprise as you definitely have a knack for “sifting” out Factory Original automobiles. After all, you do live in the Gold Rush country.

I lost count on all the cool cars you have owned over the decades.
This ‘71 Oldsmobile C/S in the striking BitterSWEET color is another gem.

You have taken a well cared for Unrestored Survivor to another level and how enjoyable it is to witness.

Thank you, 60sStuff

What a sweetheart of a car. Enjoy!

Amazing car!!

Thank you, my friend. I appreciate the kind words!

----You've done it again, Grant! What a gem. These Cutlass Supremes really are super drivers. I know because I bought a 71 for a winter beater back in the late 70's. It had well over 100,000 miles and looked like hell, but had never had one thing touched under the hood except a hose or 2 and the battery. It was so reliable that I kept it around for over a year. True story,,,The blue fabric interior was so dirty it akmost looked black. I took all the seats out and pressure washed them. Took a week for them to dry out, LOL!

Thanks, Bill! They are smooth driving cars for sure. Lol... those seats were like a big sponge!

This is NOT Just a Cutlass! Congratulations, Beautiful Car that will last forever with regular maintenance, bullet proof drive line. Bill

Rotated and cleaned.

Thank you, Chris! Much better.

Pretty awesome car. Great job with the detailing. Love the spare!

super survivor. great car. Would it be possible for you to post some pictures of the seat belt and shoulder belt labels. Thank you

Helluva car! I doubt I could’ve passed on it the first time!!! Great score…

I got what I could for you. The rear "female/buckle" belt tags are beyond the rear seat bottom lip so I couldn't get to those easily. Keep in mind that these are the optional "deluxe belts", not standard. Hope this helps.

thank you for the tag information

Amazing how well preserved this car is. Looks like a 3 year old car. Super nice job on cleaning it up.

Nice Cutlass. What is the name of that color? Emberglow or something like that?

Bittersweet

My father-in-law has a 1971 Cutlass S ragtop in the same color! It belonged to his brother prior to him getting it.

What a cool car, and a great find. Congratulations.

----I had a pretty decent 71 442 Bittersweet with matching interior for a year or two as a daily driver in fair to good weather. It had AC but little else so over a period of time I added a bunch of options. Guage package, ram air hood, 8-track and stereo, correct optional wheels, 4-spoke steering wheel and tilt column. Back then you could find most of that stuff all at one trip to Peotone. Loved that color combo, still do!....Bill S

Any updates?

No, I haven't touched it. Need to get back on it though and get the a/c charged now that the weather switch has flipped to hot!

Beautiful cutlass supreme!!
I had a bittersweet 71 bench seat b matching interior
I bought it from a buddy back in the 80s
It was hit by a truck when parked (before I bought it )
I drove it as a winter beater for a few years always
Started right up..drivers side looked great and passenger side was a wreck.hahahhh

Thanks!
Well, at least you got to see the good side when driving it!
This is my 5th '70 to '72 Cutlass/442. They are nice driving cars.
Here's my first one from 1983-84, I bought it from a used car lot.

----Grant,,,The front bumper has the very typical bottom center pushed up. being form salt states I always thought that was from hitting snow banks. Seen this probably a thousand times!....Bill S