Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Oldsmobile Cutlass S, 1976

Oldsmobile Cutlass S, 1976


The Oldsmobile Cutlass was an automobile made by the Oldsmobile division of General Motors. The Cutlass was introduced in 1961 as a unibody compact car competing with the Dodge Lancer and Mercury Comet.

Over the years, the Cutlass name was used by Oldsmobile as almost a sub-marque, with a number of different vehicles bearing the name simultaneously. This was probably shrewd, because the Cutlass name had great equity and became one of the most popular nameplates in the industry in the 1970s. However, the proliferation of Oldsmobile Cutlass models caused confusion in the market-place in the 1980s, when three different vehicles (the Cutlass Calais, Cutlass Ciera, and Cutlass Supreme) all shared the name.

Fourth Generation
The F-85/Cutlass was redesigned for 1973 using GM's new "Colonnade" A platform. The model lineup consisted of the Cutlass "S", Cutlass Supreme, Cutlass Salon, Vista Cruiser station wagon, and the 442 appearance package on the Cutlass "S" colonnade coupe.

The Cutlass Salon was added in 1973 as an upscale model, first as a 4-door, then 1974 brought the 2-door Salon. Also, this was the first Oldsmobile with the 'international' flags emblem which was later carried into the Cutlass Ciera.

For 1975, Cutlass featured the Oldsmobile 260 V8 with a 5-speed manual transmission (T-50 - optioned in 1976 and 1977) or optional automatic transmission (TH-200 or TH-350).

Optional engines were the Olds 350 or Olds 455, but only with automatic transmissions. The Buick 231 in³ V6 was added for 1977. The Olds 403 replaced the 455 that same year, and a restyle was done.
In 1976 the Oldsmobile Cutlass was America's best selling car.

0 comments:

Post a Comment