The Oldsmobile Cutlass was a series of automobiles produced by the General Motors' Oldsmobile division between 1961 and 1999. At its introduction, the Cutlass was Oldsmobile's entry-level model; it began as a unibody compact car, but saw its greatest success as a body-on-frame intermediate. The Cutlass was named after Vought F7U Cutlass, as well as the type of sword, which was common during the Age of Sail.
Introduced as the top trim level in Oldsmobile's compact F-85 Series, the Cutlass evolved into a distinct series of its own, spawning numerous variants. These included the 4-4-2 muscle car in 1964, the upscale Cutlass Supreme in 1966, the high-performance Hurst/Olds in 1968, and the Vista Cruiser station wagon.
By the 1980s, Oldsmobile was using the Cutlass as a sub-marque, with numerous vehicle lines bearing the name simultaneously. The compact Cutlass Calais, midsize Cutlass Ciera, Cutlass Cruiser station wagon, and flagship midsize Cutlass Supreme were among the models available during this time.
In the 1990s, Oldsmobile began moving away from its traditional model lines, with other legacy vehicle nameplates like the 98 and 88 being discontinued in 1996 and 1999, respectively. The Cutlass name was likewise retired in 1999 in favor of the all-new Oldsmobile Alero, ending nearly 40 years of continuous Cutlass production.
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Origins
Oldsmobile first used the Cutlass name on an experimental sports coupe designed in 1954. It rode a wheelbase, and featured a dramatic boat-tailed fastback roofline and stock V8. Its platform was similar to the compact F-85 introduced seven years later.
For the 1939 model years, Oldsmobile introduced the Oldsmobile Series 60 and Oldsmobile Series 70, which shared the GM A platform and GM B platform respectively with Chevrolet and Pontiac models. Both series continued for 1940, when Oldsmobile introduced the C-body Series 90. The Series 60 was discontinued in 1948, while the Series 70 was cancelled in 1950. The division then offered multiple models using the Oldsmobile Series 80 and Oldsmobile Series 90 platforms during the 1950s. When the division decided to revisit offering a smaller platform again, they didn't return to the traditional naming convention of reintroducing the Series 70 and instead offered the new compact as the F-85 Series, inspired by the North American F-86 Sabre fighter jet, and beginning a new tradition of using fighter jet names for their products as the Jet Age began, and using nameplates as series designations, and was a revival of a naming convention the company offered from 1928 to 1938 called the F-Series. Oldsmobile management decided to continue to take advantage of the "rocket" marketing strategy started with the Rocket V8 engine. The United States Air Force did previously produce a research fighter jet called the McDonnell XF-85 Goblin but it wasn't placed into production. During World War II, many GM factories temporarily suspended automobile production and manufactured fighter aircraft, bombers and aircraft engines for the war effort, and emphasizing their contribution was reflected in the division's decision to name their products after fighter aircraft. Starting in 1929, GM did own Allison Engine Company which manufactured aircraft engines for the United States Military until 1992 when the Allison Division was sold.
First generation (1961)
General Motors began developing its first compact cars in 1956, beginning with initial planning on what would become the Chevrolet Corvair in 1960 on the GM Z platform. The following year a second series of somewhat longer cars was planned for Buick, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac; what would be termed "senior compacts" on the "Y" platform. They would share the same body shell and lightweight engine. Oldsmobile designer Irv Rybicki began work on the Olds model in 1957. It finally went on sale in 1960 as a 1961 model.
The Oldsmobile F-85 shared the new "Y-body" platform with the Buick Special and Pontiac Tempest, using a 112-inch (2845 mm) wheelbase and still-novel unibody construction. It was Oldsmobile's smallest, budget priced model—some two feet (60 cm) shorter and $451 ($ in dollars ) less than the next-smallest Olds, the full-sized Dynamic 88. The F-85 had double wishbone front suspension and a four-link live axle in the rear, suspended with coil springs all around; the drum brakes had a diameter of . Standard engine was the new Rockette all-aluminum V8, Oldsmobile's version of the Buick aluminum V8, which later became the Rover V8. With a two-barrel carburetor and an 8.75:1 compression ratio, it was rated at 4,800 rpm and at 3,200 rpm. Specifications for the base engine remained the same throughout the 1961–1963 production run.
1961
The first-year F-85 was offered in two body styles, a four-door sedan or a four-door station wagon with either two or three seats, and in a choice of two trim levels, base or De Luxe. Transmission options were initially a 3-speed manual (with synchromesh on the top two gears) and the newly introduced 3-speed Roto Hydramatic. Overall length was , and curb weight was around . A few months after the model introduction, Oldsmobile added a "power pack option", which included a four-barrel carbureted, high-compression (10.25:1), dual exhaust version of the 215 cu in aluminum V8, and a shorter 3.36:1 final drive ratio with either manual and automatic transmissions. This premium fuel-only engine was rated at at 4,800 rpm and at 3,200 rpm. Initial sales were somewhat disappointing, but were soon picked up by the May 1961 introduction of a pair of pillared two-door coupes, each with a different roofline and market placement: the F-85 Club Coupe, which became the lowest-priced Oldsmobile model, and the sporty F-85 Cutlass. The Cutlass came equipped with the 185 hp "power pack" drivetrain, and featured De Luxe-type exterior trim with a more upscale interior with standard bucket seats, upholstered in two-tone vertically pleated vinyl, and an optional center console. 80,347 F-85s were built in total for the 1961 model year.
Car Life magazine tested an F-85 with the standard engine and automatic transmission, and recorded a 0–60 (0–97 km/h) time of 14.5 seconds, with a top speed of just over . They praised its construction, but found its steering too slow and its suspension too soft for enthusiastic driving.
1962 For 1962 styling changes were minor, and included a new grille, different chrome ornamentation on the bodysides and new interior trim. The existing F-85 models returned, and a convertible was added to the lineup in September, available in both standard and Cutlass versions. An all-synchromesh four-speed manual became optional. Overall F-85 sales rose to 97,382, with the Cutlass displacing the four-door De Luxe sedan as the top-selling model.
The Oldsmobile Jetfire
The Oldsmobile Jetfire was a Cutlass pillarless hardtop with a turbocharged version of the 215 V8, which Oldsmobile referred to as the Turbo-Rocket. This made the 1962 Jetfire one of the first ever turbocharged production cars. Equipped with a Garrett AiResearch turbocharger and carburetor, the Turbo-Rocket engine was rated at at 4,600 rpm and at 3,200 rpm. The Jetfire came with bucket seats and console, unique trim—two chrome fins on the hood and full-length contrast stripes on the bodysides—and a pressure/vacuum gauge mounted in the console (where it was almost hidden). Although much faster than a standard F-85, the Jetfire was criticized for having the same soft suspension as its less-powerful brothers, for its lack of a tachometer and other instruments, and for the poor shift quality of both the automatic transmission and the optional four-speed. Car and Driver tested an automatic Jetfire and obtained a 0–60 mph (97 km/h) time of 9.2 seconds, with a top speed of 110 mph (176 km/h). The Jetfire's high cost (nearly $300 over a standard Cutlass hardtop) and reliability problems with its turbocharged engines limited sales to 3,765.
With forced induction and an already high compression ratio, the Jetfire was capable of producing more torque than a naturally aspirated engine that was twice its size, significantly improving the engine's efficiency and usability in real-life driving conditions, turbo lag not being an issue at motorway speeds. But since turbo and supercharging the engine essentially means forcing the compression in the combustion chamber even higher, the Jetfire was prone to 'spark-knock' and without modern engine management systems, the only way to mitigate this was to use a 50/50 mixture of methanol and distilled water.
1963 The F-85 was restyled for the 1963 model year, to a crisper, more squared off design than that of the 1961–62 models. While the wheelbase was unchanged at 112 inches, the new sheetmetal added to the F-85's rear overhang, increasing overall length to . The Jetfire and its turbocharged V8 returned, for what would be its final year. Three-row seating was dropped on station wagons. On automatic transmission models only, the compression ratio of the "Cutlass" engine was raised to 10.75:1, pushing output to at 4800 rpm and at 3200 rpm. A Delcotron alternator became standard on all models, as well as on the rest of the Oldsmobile car line. Overall sales climbed again to 121,639, of which 53,492 were Cutlasses.
When the decision was made to upgrade the F-85, Jetfire and Cutlass to the all-new GM A platform, the GM Y platform was repurposed for the Chevrolet Corvette in 1976.
Second generation (1964)
Disappointing sales of the compact F-85, along with the introduction of Ford Motor Company's intermediate Fairlane in 1962, prompted GM to enlarge the senior compacts for the 1964 model year.
1964
The new intermediate F-85 now rode a conventional body-on-frame chassis with a perimeter frame which it shared with the newly introduced "A-body" Chevrolet Chevelle, and upgraded Buick Special and Pontiac Tempest. Wheelbase grew to , overall length to , and weight by more than . Both the aluminum V8 and the Roto Hydramatic were discontinued in favor of a new cast-iron small-block V8 of displacement and an optional two-speed Jetaway automatic transmission with variable-pitch stator. Buick's V6 was the standard engine. It was the first time that Oldsmobile used a six-cylinder engine since the Oldsmobile Seventy Six was discontinued in 1950 while it was sourced from a different GM Division.
The body styles of the previous model returned, and a new Vista Cruiser, a stretched-wheelbase () version of the standard station wagon featuring a raised rear roof with tinted skylights and a fold-down, forward-facing third seat, debuted on February 4, 1964. The 4-4-2 model, derived from the BO-9 police package, was also introduced in March 1964 (costing $285.14 in 1964), as an answer to the new intermediate muscle car market created by the Pontiac GTO that same year.
Sales increased to 167,002 for 1964, not counting Vista Cruisers.
1965
For 1965 a modest facelift increased overall length to while the front end received a "dumbbell-style" grille similar to full-sized Olds models. A bigger 400 cu in (6.6 L) engine was included with the 4-4-2 option, based on the newly introduced 425 cu in (6.9 L) engine from the full-sized Oldsmobiles while the Buick 225 V6 and Olds 330 Jetfire Rocket V8 were carried over from the previous year, with increased power ratings for the V8 options. Sales increased again to 187,097. The year 1965 was the first for Oldsmobile's "Rocket" logo that would last, with minor variations, until the 1990s.
1966