1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon 5-speed

Rare I will certainly concede!

https://knoxville.craigslist.org/cto/d/greenback-1978-oldsmobile-rare-5-speed/6897545754.html

 

man that is red!!

 

Bucket seats in a 4-door car was unusual.
Did they really get good fuel milage, as claimed?

 

I kinda Like it in an odd way, It would look great with the optional 79/80 Hurst Olds style wheels.

 

There was a 442 version of those, and a set of those H/O wheels would be excellent on one.

 

That wasn't Olds's most popular body style. But, one can't really complain about that interior

 

This Cutlass is one odd duck to say the least.

 

[QUOTE="Poison_Ivy,
Did they really get good fuel milage, as claimed?[/QUOTE]

As for the MPG these small V8's of the era got? In my experience if you drove them like the your great Grand Parents, and never exceeded 1/4 throttle they actually got around 1 to 2 MPG better than a 350 powered example. But in reality you had to push the gas pedal to the floor every time you wanted to accelerate even a little. And they usually got the same or worse MPG than the larger engined models. But just cruising at around 55-60mph they did get the claimed mpg.

But I never drove a small V8 (Chevy 262, Olds 260, or Pontiac 265) powered car with a manual trans, only the 3-speed automatic, with the then common 2.42-2.73 rear gears. They were about as slow as a Compression Ignition Chevette.

 

Fuel milage, as well as horsepower, are taxed quite heavilly, in an automatic transmission. The torque converter swallows up the lion's share, producing heat, and the pump needed to send oil to the radiator and operate clutches and bands take up the rest. I could imagine, despite an eight cylinder's higher rate of friction, that a manual transmission would make quite a bit of difference. Especially, if it had more than 4 speeds.
The aerodynamics of this car doesen't seem bad, from here. Likely better driving backwards, even.
The nice thing about having a homely car with a nice interior is that it's undesirable to thieves. This one reminds me of having nice furniture in a housing project apartment. Viewing it from without is an eyesore. But, looking out of the window towards the sky or mountain scenery from one's sofa has the opposite effect

 

Like I said before I kinda like this car. Just needs a different set of rims, I hope it finds a good home and doesn't end up raised with a set of 22" or larger wheels on it.

 

After going to who knows how many shows and cars and coffee over the years I have come to love the off-beat. This Olds fits that definition.

 

Definitely different and clearly well kept. Most of those late '70s GM red plastic interiors have turned to chalk and dust by now.

 

Agreed, it must have been stored inside, the red plastic did not like to be exposed to sunlight, as you said it would have turned to dust 20 years ago.

 

I'm wondering if these are old pix. It says its from TN, but the plates are FL and MJC Classic Cars, probably where he bought it.

 

Good point. We have our usual crew here who'll get to the bottom of this scam