Cutlass | Collecting Model Cars

Oldsmobile Cutlass

The Cutlass began in 1954 as kind of an experimental sports coupe with a stock V8 Oldsmobile engine. The Oldsmobile Cutlass introduced as a unibody car in 1961 by General Motors. Early on the Cutlass name achieved brand equity and became very popular. Later on the bean counters kind of created a lot of confusion in the marketplace by using the Cutlass name on so many different vehicles. With all these cars baring the name; Cutlass Calais compact, Cutlass Ciera midsize, Cutlass Cruiser station-wagon and the Cutlass Supreme personal luxury car.

1961 the first year started with F-85 as a two door sedan and a four door sedan in deluxe or the base trim packages. Also a four door station-wagon but sales were disappointing. By May Oldsmobile introduced the Cutlass sports coupe sporting unique trim. Bucket seats with center console a four barrel carburetor and V8 with 185 hp. The engine was also an option along with the 4 speed transmission on the F-85s.

With the introduction of the Cutlass sales jumped to 97,382 in 1962 with a convertible added to the line-up.

The existing F-85 models returned in 1962, and a convertible was added to the line-up in September, available in both standard and Cutlass versions. Overall F-85 sales rose to 97,382, with the Cutlass displacing the four-door Deluxe sedan as the top-selling model. With more exciting news the Jetfire Cutlass with a hardtop was introduced with a turbocharged V8 at 215 hp. The Jetfire was not well received because of its higher cost, soft suspension and poor instrumentation.

Second generation intermediate with a production run from 1964-1967 the new intermediate F-85 now rode a conventional chassis body-on-frame. Wheelbase stretched from 115 inches, overall length to 203 inches, and adding weight by more than 300 pounds. Its aluminum V8 and the Roto-Hydramatic were discontinued in favor of a new cast-iron small-block V8 of 330 cubic inch V8 and an optional two-speed Jetaway automatic transmission.

With the demise of Oldsmobile and many really great years of quality cars have created some very fine collectables models and real cars. For the model car collector finding them can be a real task. We have provided a what we could find here but they are going fast.