1971 Olds Cutlass Supreme Convertible
 

I am officially listing it here, now for $35,000 after posting so many updates in the "Olds" section as we were arranging to get the car.

This car belonged to my father-in-law, Wayne. He is a Viet Nam vet who is now dealing with the Agent Orange-related health effects due to his service as a helicopter mechanic at various air bases in country. We are selling his pride and joy to fund his medical care in upstate NY.

This 1971 Cutlass Supreme convertible belonged to his late brother up until 2002 when Wayne inherited it from him after his brother's passing. It was sold new at Tunmore Oldsmobile in Buffalo, New York in the late summer of 1970. (I can just imagine the TV commercials now: "We sell a Ton More Olds's than anyone else" LOL

It was strangely optioned as it has the 350 2bbl engine instead of the standard 350 4bbl, resulting in a $33.70 credit on the window sticker. It has the deluxe steering wheel, bucket seats, an automatic transmission on the column, 2.56 rear diff, power steering, power disc brakes, AM radio with the optional "biphonic" dual rear speakers, painted sport mirrors, and the factory painted sport wheels. It is the rare code 62 Bittersweet orange color with a black interior.

The engine and transmission are the born-with units the car came from the assembly line with. Both are stamped with the car's VIN.

The body is amazingly straight and rust free. It seems that everyone who owned it previously drove it in summers only and then stored it away. The underside is covered from end-to-end in the factory undercoating as well as extra dealer-applied undercoating and rust proofing. All the body seams and pinchwelds are straight and crisp with zero swelling or corrosion. All the sheetmetal looks to be original to the car.

The odometer reads 96,500 miles, which I believe is 196,500 given that the NJ DMV said their records show it was registered in 1994 with 147,000 miles during an inspection. (So DMVs do actually retain old records!!!.:mad2:)

We have all sorts of prior owner paperwork from NY State which documents the mileage via annual vehicle inspections tracking the mileage from (1)39,000 in 1981 to the present day. Wayne got the car from his brother in 2022 at around (1)59,000 miles and put 37,000 miles on it in 20 years, which works out to around 1,600 miles every summer. And in the Buffalo area, summer is about one month long! The car is an effortless cruiser and he really took advantage of that fact over the years. He'd drive it all over NY state to cruise nights and car shows, collecting all sorts of trophies along the way.

I changed the oil and filter and then performed a compression check on the engine and the cylinders all ranged from 130 to 140 psi. I put in a new set of AC plugs. The old plugs looked nicely worn with a good burn pattern after those 37,000 miles. I also sent an oil sample out for an analysis with Blackstone and I am awaiting the results. I pulled the rear diff cover and drained the fluid and refilled with new 75-90. The magnetic drain plug was clean. When I got it, the gas gauge was not working due to a bad sending unit, so I pulled the tank, replaced the sending unit and now it works again and is accurate.

I have posted some videos on youtube and have a ton of lower detail photos that show the bottoms of the fenders and trunk drop offs etc. They are posted here: https://www.yenko.net/forum/showthre...39#post1676939

The car is now fully registered and titled in NJ, in my name. We had to transfer it from my father-in-law because it was registered in New York and they don't have titles for pre-1972 cars up there: only transferable registrations that some other states won't accept.

I appreciate everyone's input in the other threads on helping me offer the car for sale. This is a hard time for the family but the money is going for a good cause: to keep him comfortable in his remaining time left.

$35,000 or best offer.

Thank you, Steve
nk15268 at h0t mail d0t c0m

More photos. I installed a new master cylinder and completely double-flushed the brake system using 2 quarts of new brake fluid.

Here's the youtube video links:

----Just my thought, but the posted price is very fair. Especially with Steve's very through okedokey. Some one will have a great summer cruiser!....Bill S

P.S. My family is heading back to to the in-law's house next week and if they find any other parts (like the original valve covers or air cleaner), they will, of course, go with the car.

"okedokey" is a great way to refer to my obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). I'm totally gonna steal that from you. :beers:

Steve, take a look at the price shown on the lead-in picture....it shows $33. That's because the software (or whatever) finds the first listed price in the ad wording, which in the case of your ad, is the $33.70 credit for the 350-2 engine. I found that out a few days ago when listing my brother-in-law's Fairlane here.

Damn robots!

(I fixed it)

Looks like a nice car for the money. If I had room I would be interested in it.

I know a lot of good construction people who could build you a bigger garage! :laugh:

In your other thread, you were told the NJ DMV did an inspection and the odometer read 147K. Unless the owner, at the time, indicated it had turned over, the odometer has 5 digits, not 6 and would not have a space for the 1. The condition that car is in makes me doubt the 196K mileage and am willing to believe it is actually 96K.
I agree with Bill, you have a very reasonable price for it's condition.

Yeah, it was an interesting interaction at the DMV, She obviously was looking directly at confidential info on her computer that had a name, date, address, and title info (but she couldn't give it to me under the privacy laws).

Anyway, the very first people that came by this morning have put a deposit on the car, at the asking price. They're a great couple from the next town over, so we may continue to see it happily cruising around the area.

----Great, Stve! I knew it would go quick, and with the stuff you did the new owners will have a great cruiser....Bill S

I appreciate all the great input from you guys.

I also sold my son's 2011 Toxic Orange Challenger R/T 6-speed yesterday (he wants to find a 5th Gen Camaro SS 6-speed to replace it).

So I guess I'm on a roll, selling orange cars at the moment. Must be my lucky, 1971 vintage, orange, used-car-salesman, bell bottom, corduroys!

Congrats on the sale. As Bill said, all it was going to take is the right people to know what they were looking at and it seems the first couple did...:smile:
I hope the rest of the in-laws appreciate what all you did to make the car so presentable.
The Orange corduroy pants are bright, but I'd take them over the 60's/70's wild striped ones behind them....:biggthumpup:
Congrats on selling your Son's car too. Now you get to help him pick out a nice Camaro.

Those are my Dad's pants from the early 1970's They certainly won't fit me but they would fit my son with his frikken 6% body fat. (Yeah, I'm jealous). Hey, I should make him wear those pants when we go look at a the next Camaro. Just for punishment.

BTW, Anyone know of any decent unmolested 5th gen stick cars around?

That's a real early car, built in August 70. Do you have a picture of the trim tag?
Interesting that they would downgrade the engine in the Deluxe package. That defeats the whole point of a package...

Here's the trim tag: 08C build date. I hadn't thought about it but I guess it is the 191st car built for 1971.

If it is the 191st car off that line, it may well have been built the first day...:eek2:

Steve congratulation on the sale an hope the proceeds help with the medical bills. Alway appreciate you posts and your way of telling a story and humor!!

Thank you Steve and everyone else that assisted. The wife and kids are heading up to Rochester this weekend to bring the checks. (I also bought the in-law's 2019 Honda for our daughter).