15K Miles! 1973 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme
Four doors or not, it’s hard to dispute that this 1973 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme is in amazing condition, and it only has 15,691 miles on it! It can be found here on craigslist in Superior, Wisconsin and the seller is asking $6,000 for it.
1970s vehicles in this shade of green sometimes get a lukewarm reception here in the hallowed halls of One Barn Finds Tower. I, for one, love this color, it brings me right back to this era. The seller says that this car is rust-free and that’s amazing to hear for a car in the upper-Midwest. I grew up in Duluth, MN, right across the tip of Lake Superior from Superior, WI, and there was no such thing as a rust-free car back then unless it was new or had never been driven in the winter.
This was the first year for the third-generation Olds Cutlass and by 1974, the Cutlass accounted for over 40% of Oldsmobile’s sales. This example almost looks like it just rolled out of the factory. The seller says that it was in storage for years before they bought it and they put a lot of work into it in deferred maintenance items and it works like a million bucks now, from what they say. It sure looks great.
These brocade seats are as good as it gets in my world. I know, get a life, Scotty G. I love this fabric, we had a couple of cars with similar fabric when I was growing up, including a 1970 Olds 98, and I’ve always loved this fabric. The backseat is a thing of wonder, especially with that graceful curve. Beautiful.
I’m not surprised to see a lack of AC here. Growing up in Duluth, there weren’t many of us who really needed air-conditioning in our cars or houses more than maybe a few weeks a year if even that, which meant that not many of us had it at all. The 180-hp 350 cubic-inch V8 looks clean and relatively rust-free other than light surface rust from sitting. The seller has done a lot of work in replacing wear items and this car looks and sounds ready for the next few decades. Are there any fans of the third-generation Cutlass out there?
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Comments
1973 was the best looking year for this generation Cutlass IMO. Although the front already went to the 5 mph bumpers, the back didn’t until the following year. Four door or not, I love it.
Sedan or no, THIS is one you won’t find just anywhere. What beautiful shape; even rides on the factory dog-dishes you never see anymore. I bet it’s sold within the week.
No AC? 😟
Fla boy here…
MIDWESTERNERS are notoriously cheap. I was at harry Truman’s House in Independence Missouri, there was a hole in the linoleum floor of the kitchen. Mr. Truman had tacked down around the hole,rather than replace a $20 piece of linoleum… Now that is cheap, after being President of the United States!
Yeah, we take our A/C pretty seriously here in the Sunshine State.
90% of all vehicles, new or used all have working A/C….otherwise this car would be a fantastic buy.
Cool car, although I prefer the non-Supreme nose..almost if not all of these cars were 4bbl, and some could really move. My buddy had a brown stripper sedan that was faster than it had a right to be. If you’ve gotta have a sedan, this is a great choice.
My first car handed down to me to drive in the early ’80s was one of these. I liked the car and learned how to drive and maintain it. They added 500 lbs from the ’68-’72 era, so “really move” was not how I would describe the performance of that 350. Looking back with what I know now, I suspect the initial timing was retarded for one reason or another, which could have accounted for its sluggishness. All I know is that I sold it and bought a ’70 2-door Supreme with a 350-2bbl. That car would run circles around my ’73
I wonder what the ’68-72 Cutlass, Chevelle, Lemans, Sklylark body styles would look like if they continued that body style thru ’77 WITH insanely heavy 5mph bumpers added front & back.
My old ’71 Skylark 350 /2bbl would run circles around this…..
Definitely a stop and look at vehicle. $6k just might be the right amount for this “Time Capsule” With 2 less doors, that number would probably be triple that or more.
In 73, I had a friend order his Cutlass from the dealer. I remember waiting for its arrival. It was pretty amazing car, with white bucket seats, console, pretty sure it had the color keyed factory mag style wheels. When it finally arrived, he came by to give me a ride, and I was stoked to be in this beauty. As we pulled out, I noticed he was fighting the steering wheel. “Tommy, what’s going on with the steering? ” Tommy says, “I didn’t know power steering was an option”
Apparently the salesman didn’t know either. He kept it like that and obviously got used to it. Tommy’ s car was probably the only one ever without power steering.
I bought a used one in 1977 for $1500 …. lovely car to drive, nice lines, but a horrible rust bucket …. I loved it!
In ’73, Oldsmobile had so much prestige, especially for the “Rocket” V-8 engines, that folks would rather own a stripped-out Cutlass than a loaded-up Malibu for the same money.
Man, does this bring back memories! My first car was a Cutlass Supreme 2-dr, same color. White seats with a vinyl landau top to match. My buddies to this very day, 40 years post high school, tease me about that color. The ‘frog’ as it was derisively called. And of the 50 or so cars I’ve ever owned, to be honest it was probably the worst of the bunch. When I sold it and bought a VW GTI, my eyes were opened to performance, handling, braking, ergonomics, etc. I’ve never looked back, buying GTIs once again 10 years ago. For the money it’s just about the perfect automobile.
Lovely looking 1973 Oldsmobile Cutlass. It’s nice to see a Colonnade era Oldsmobile in immaculate condition. Given its condition and age, I’d say $6,000 is a good asking price. If I were in the market for a car, and wanted something of this vintage, however collectible it may be, this is how much I’d be willing to pay for the car.
Nice mismatched painted on the front clip, the paint is lighter than the rest of the car. I will say though it’s in good shape. I too love that seventies green.
I wondered the same thing at first, but maybe it’s just reflections?
@Keith, I think that might just be a trick of the camera with the amount of gloss and sunlight. Seems unlikely the front clip would have been repainted but I suppose it could happen in that short amount of drive-time. Seems more pronounced on the passenger side than the drivers.
@ Little_Cars: Yeah you might be right on the paint but that was my first impression when I looked at the car. Why in the world would someone park this average four door sedan with only 15k miles and not drive it? There were tons of these four door sedans driving around back in the day! Lastly that cannot be original paint looks too good.
For the condition, the miles and the maintenance work and repairs done so far, the car is a steal at $6k, even without A/C. Not many of these left in this shape.
Nice car. I love to see basic family cars which have survived. Terrific period-correct green. The upholstery is great. Looks okay with the base hub caps. Even has that period-correct, and very common, laced-on steering wheel rim cover. The first thing I would do would take 15 seconds: ditch the fuzzy dice, which actually is not very period-correct.
It would be interesting to learn the history of a car like this. Maybe: owner was not necessarily a car person, but did take care of their stuff. Probably had a middle class suburban house, with the house and yard being immaculate. The car was so nice they did not use it except for special occasions, assuming the weather was good. Stored in the family garage. Floor mats on top of the floor mats. And, years later it still looks good.
I ordered a 73 2 door …350 auto with lots of options,,,I ordered it with the Salon handling package ..on the 4 door you got a small row of flags under the Cutlass name plate on the front fenders ..but.not on a 2 door with that package. I bought them over the counter and added them…I delete ordered the rubber bumperstrips so it would fit in my garage . Color combo..Dark blue with red interior and a white vinyl roof ..we loved that car …sold it to my fahter-in-law 3 years later and with no garge for him it became a rust bucket …
You had me at green…what a beautiful family cruiser this would be. It’s nice to see colours like this are making a comeback with some manufacturers.
That is a hell of a lot of car for $6k.
I am not a fan of this shade of green, & I am such a slob (not on purpose) that the white cloth would look black after a week. But I would love to own it anyhow.
My Dad, for a short period of time, had a 1973 Malibu with the Laguna package, 4 door, similar shade of green (a bit darker on his), white vinyl bench, painted white roof, puppy pan hub caps like this, & no a/c. He lived in Florida @ the time. This Cutlass strongly reminds me of that car. I would buy this in a heartbeat but I need to unload some of my vehicles as it is. Buying another car is not in the cards at this point of time.
First-gen Cutlass: midyear 1961
Second-gen Cutlass: 1964
Third-gen Cutlass: 1968
Fourth-gen Cutlass: 1973
I am doing a paint correction on this vehicle this week. Sitting at 16,XXX miles now. I will post pictures of the before and after. The paint is very oxidized and has significant marks from improper wash techniques. There is some burn through from a previous polishing job likely with a rotary on the top edge of front driver’s quarter panel.
Guess I cannot add photos for now. See it on my instagram or TikTok @refreshmyride