While its odometer may give away the game on today’s Nice Price or No Dice Olds Cutlass, the rest of the car doesn’t show the heavy miles, and the seller says it still runs strong. Let’s see if this trooper comes with a price that keeps it in the running.
On his 1982 album 1999, Prince (alternatively, the artist formerly known as Prince) urged listeners of the album’s titular song to “party like it’s 1999.” According to the song, the very next year might bring Judgment Day; hence, we should shake our collective tail feathers while we still have the chance. Wise words at any time and prescient considering that no one at the time was predicting the Y2K scare that would consume much of the media once 1999 arrived.
A similar thought of living for the moment surrounded the wickedly cool but likely very expensive-to-maintain 2006 Audi A8L W12 Quattro we considered on Wednesday. As many of you pointed out in the comments, while tempting, the car’s $13,998 asking price would likely be only the tip of an otherwise very big iceberg when it comes to keeping its four rings flying. As few of us enjoy the resources of the Prince estate (R.I.P., Prince Rogers Nelson), the Audi’s allure couldn’t quite overcome its potential for future wallet-shredding disaster. As a result, and wishing not to live in the moment, you all voted it down in a narrow but decisive 55% ‘No Dice’ loss.
Cuts like a knife
While yesterday’s Audi might be as complicated and hence as daunting as a Terminator T-1000 to own, not all cars are so imbued with the threat of roadside stranding and financial ruin. Take, for example, this 1995 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme SL. Not only is this car based on the GM10 W-Body platform, one of the most long-lived and ubiquitous in General Motors’ history, but it’s also unshackled of any major complicating aspects.
Rather than focus on what it hasn’t got, let’s consider for a moment what it does. Power for this still-handsome sedan comes from a Gen III 3.1-liter L82 V6. Still a tried-and-true OHV design, these engines enjoy a reputation for reliability and fuss-free operation. With 160 horsepower at its beck and call, along with a solid 185 pound-feet of torque, it’s not wanting for output either. Nestled next to that is a four-speed overdrive automatic operated via a column shifter. According to the ad, the engine runs “excellent,” while the transmission “shifts smoothly.” What more could you want?
Living in a fishbowl
Like the Mercury Sable of a decade earlier, this version of the Cutlass Supreme offers wrap-around windows, including rear glass featuring clever complex curves that still impress. Along with that comes clean, slab-side styling and a grille-less nose bracketed by wide, flush headlamps.
Based on the pictures, all that appears well-kept and doesn’t show the car’s reported 214,000 miles. Yes, that’s a lot of miles, and you would be excused in expecting the Olds to be in far worse condition because of that odious odometer tattle.
Instead, the exterior appears free from marring or age-related wear, right down to its full-wheel hubcaps. One complaint that can be raised—and it’s not the car’s fault, it was the bean counters at GM—is that those wheel covers are unidirectional but not side-specific. That means they face forward on the passenger side and rearward on the driver’s. That’s a nit to pick, for sure, but boy, once it’s been pointed out to you, it’s something that will grate on you no end.
A solid citizen
There’s nothing better than a color-keyed interior, and this Cutlass comes through on that account. It also has wonderful ’80s mouse-fur upholstery on its American-butt-wide, likely very softly padded, seats. Here, we do see some discoloration on the armrest and a not-so-appealing steering wheel cover, but it otherwise appears clean and comfortable. Also, doesn’t the weird pattern on the rubber floor mat on the passenger side look like the old Saturn Motors logo? Neat!
The ad touts that everything—right down to the A/C and heat—works as it should. There’s the added upgrade of a Bluetooth-enabled stereo and a hump-mounted coin, cassette, and cup holder. Boy, is that thing a throwback or what? As far as safety goes, this Olds is a recent-enough car to have a driver’s-side airbag, although old enough that everybody else in the car is SOL, save for the seatbelts.
On the plus side, a clean title and a passing grade from the state safety inspector make this, in the seller’s words, a “turnkey car.”
Cheap enough?
To turn that key means paying that seller some cash. They aren’t just giving these things away, after all. According to the seller, this Cutlass has class and can be driven anywhere. They also claim that the value will continue to climb due to the model’s current rarity, driven by attrition.
Regardless of what the future might hold (remember Prince’s admonition to live in the moment), the current price of this Cutlass is $2,700. That’s chicken feed, and if you have chickens, you should go and feed them, because they are hungry. Should you be an empty-nester when it comes to backyard fowls, then let’s consider spending that cash on this car.
What’s your take on this Olds at that price? Does the high mileage hurt its chances? Or is this a simple-enough car to make that not matter at such a price?
You decide!
Norfolk, Virginia, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
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