When I was just a wee lad (about 5 years old), my Aunt had a black
'67 Chevelle SS396 convertible. I fell in love with convertibles at
that point. She traded that for a '71 Oldsmobile Cutlass convertible.
I fell in love with that car and pestered her to sell it to me for 35
years. She never gave in--it is still in her garage.
Fast forward 35 years and my aunt referred me to her friend John
who had a '72 Cutlass convertible in immaculate condition. I paid John
a visit and found this copper colored model I have now. He is retiring
and was going to buy a Winnebago. I told him the story about my aunt's
'67 Chevelle. He told me a funny thing about that car: It used to be
his! He sold it to her in 1969.
He purchased the '72 Cutlass in 1975 from the original owner. The
engine has been rebuilt. The transmission has been rebuilt (and a shift
kit installed). The air conditioning is completely original and still
works (still runs on the old style "rip a hole in the ozone layer"
Freon). He did install a dual exhaust system. It came from the factory
with a single system. Engine runs strong--it is the 5.7 liter L34. No
smoke or leaks. The exhaust has a very nice and deep V8 rumble. It is
not loud--just deep and rumbly ! with a slightly lumpy idle. If you were
juvenile and silly en ough, a stomp on the gas from a stop will spin both
rear tires and put a big smile on your face. (I would NEVER do that, of
course). It runs fine on regular 87 octane unleaded petrol. The
transmission will leave an oily spot on the tarmac if parked long
enough. In two years, I have added about a pint of transmission fluid.
The body is indeed perfect--not a dent or speck of rust anywhere. The
paint is immaculate. It is about 4 years old (I think) and not a
scratch or chip anywhere. It is the original color. It is finished with
a modern "clear coat" finish, so it looks better than it would have in
1972. If it was being judged for factory originality, points would be
deducted for that.
The convertible top is original. 36 years ago it was white. It is now
a rather dingy, dirty tan and the seams around the back window are
coming apart. I have purchased a replacement top, well liner and pads
from
YearOne and will have it installed as soon as soon as I
get back to the States.
The interior is in very good condition, but most of it is original.
There are no tears or seam separations anywhere. The front buckets have been recovered at some time. I suspect the carpet may have been
replaced--it is just too perfect to be original. I have just sent off the AM/FM stereo, the 8 track player and some big huge box the stereo is wired to be refurbished. I'll have it re-installed again when I get back to the States. Also, in a big box o' stuff that came with the car is a "Rallye Pak." This isthe set of "sport" dashboard gauges that were optional in 1972. Itincludes gauges to replace the "idiot lights" and the "TickTock Tach. I considered and dismissed the idea of my installing this in the car. I don't want to pull the dash apart and hope to find the correct wires to plug in. That would be a never-ending project for me. I need to find someone that is skilled in such things.
The car has a tilt steering wheel that was not original. It is from
another 1972 Oldsmobile and is the correct color. It has the optional
sport steering wheel. The car has the sport, body colored outside
mirrors that were optional, but installed by the previous owner. They
replaced the standard chrome outside mirrors. The suspension has been
rebuilt and a factory optional rear sway bar was (again) installed by
the previous owner. The appropriate BFGoodrich T/A Radials(14x7 wheels) are brand new--I had them put on last January.
The correct and documented mileage is around 111,000 miles. It has
always been garaged and babied (as proven by the original convertible
top).
What does i! t need? I have ordered a replacement switch for the
windshield wipers. They move back and forth just fine, but they won't
shut off. I pulled the fuse. I knew this when I bought the car, but I
never drove it in the rain so I pretty much forgot about it. I
mentioned the radio doesn't work, but I hope to get that fixed soon.
The clock in the dash does not work and I don't think the cigarette
lighter works.