Hi all,
Sorry for double posting as I put this originally in the newbie section but wasn't getting much










action.
Looking for advice. I'm looking at 1971 cutlass s. The story behind this car is it has been in the same family since new. It was originally bought by the guy's brother who owns it now back in April of 71. He was a Vietnam veteran who had lost his leg in the war. Veterans Administration back then will give you $2,800 towards a new vehicle if u lost a limb. The car is an original Viking Blue it was repainted once in 2000 I would say the paint job is somewhere in a 6 to 7 rating. There is some flaking on the hood 1 tiny ding on the passenger fender and then you can see if you're really close up to it differences in the metal flake maybe a speck of dirt here and there. The guy has the title from 1984 when he acquired it from his brother the car had 64000 miles on it then he claims that the 72000 miles on it now is original miles I don't know if there's any way to actually verify this. I see no signs of rust repair the trunk looks brand new the interior is in excellent condition other than a hole in the driver's seat of the bench seat. It runs great it looks like it's unmolested has the original working AM radio the wipers and heater the horn the 8-track player everything works. The brother wanted a 442 but he didn't want the high insurance or the 455 engine. Sonhe ordered it with a 350 4 Barrel and the w25 option and the options for the 442 suspension I will list the options. The only work I see done was the exhaust has been worked on I can see where a bolt was broken off the manifold and drilled out when they attached the exhaust and the radiator it was replaced he still has the original two core but says it has multiple leaks it will have to be re cored has a aftermarket transmission cooler on it and that's all that I can see . The outside air intake valve works. He has the original sales contract from the Oldsmobile dealer listing the options and the amount being paid by the Veterans Administration and the total price the warranty book user manual the protecto plate. I have never seen a cutlass with that hood from the factory. And the history is making it really hard to determine a value. Looking for help there.

 

There are some very knowledgeable people here for this model year. Hopefully, they will get back to you soon. How much is the owner asking?

 

Sharp ride! Jump on it!

 

For me i would consider what a comparable 442 sells for and then work backwards.

pluses the car looks to be in good condition and has the popular oai hood.

the story has no $ value but has sentimental value to the family.

in my area i have seen a few similar sbo cars sit on cl w asking prices from 20-30k.

if i was buying i would be happy at 15k

 

I would say that car should be 15-20K. Because of the W-25 hood, I would think more towards 20. I have seen nicer cars offered for 17-20 that didn't sell, and ended up more like 12. If it is not a 442 or W-car, Olds prices are typically 70% of the same condition chevelle. If you figure it is a 12K car plus a 3K hood, 15 should be doable. I like the color, so much easier to sell the blue than brown or green. I just saw a really nice 72 on craigslist for about half of what I have in my restoration to date, and it is already done.

 

Thanks guys. He is asking 26,000 which I thought was high. At least I'll have a little better idea of what the work with. I know here in Michigan the 442 is going anywhere between 30 to 45,000 in this or better condition. I would like a 442 but the whole reason to buy a 442 and what makes the car is the hood. I like the story the documentation and the fact that it's a Cutlass with the factory hood.

 

If not flipping...it is worth whatever you pay for it. Enjoy and have miles of fun!

 

That looks like a very nice car. The drawbacks for me are no AC, bench seat, no AC, column shift, and no AC.

 

If a 442 is going for 30 to 45 in Michigan in that condition, someone is getting ripped off. I'm going to call that car a #3 car condition wise, and a 71 442 in #3 is 25-26k. Factory W-25, as in documented, which you have, will add a couple thousand, so like 28k. However, this is a Cutlass S. A Cutlass S in #3 shape is a 9k car. The color is nice. I think that car is worth 15 due to the option loadout. He's not coming down 40%.

I will differ. The whole reason for a 442 is the engine. This is why 72 442s that aren't big block sell for less. The hood is cool, but didn't really do all that much. That's a tricked out Cutlass, and it should sell for tricked out Cutlass money, not 442 money. The problem is how to walk away without offending the guy, and maybe, when he comes down to earth in a few months, he'll call you back.

 

I agree with the others. Seller is high by at least $10K. It would be worth that if it were a 4-4-2 or a convertible. Don't make him an offer at this point. Tell him you're interested in the car but you're too far apart on price and you don't want to insult him. You might show him this thread. Give him your contact info and ask him to let you know if it's going to sell. Then let him cool off for awhile and see how much (or more likely, little) interest he gets at that price.

He'll be in touch.

 

Man! I am WAYYY Off, eh? But it is a looker...

 

Sounds exactly like the sentiment factor is kicking in jacking the price to the stratosphere. If it were a 442, maybe. But it's not. So there's that. It's likely in the 15 range if the body isn't rusted out anywhere unless properly repaired. It's a nice 25 footer as is.

Maybe if it were a restomod with an LS engine, it would be worth 26K as some may think.

 

Now that would be a shame.

 

Yet, that seems to be the direction a lot of the young $$$$ is going.

Both of my cars are very close to original but, if The Queen wasn't so damned mean I would have a 3rd that would very likely be a resto mod, all new, whiz-bang...something.

 

You are getting some good advice here. The only way this car is worth 26K is if that wallet on the front seat has 12K in it. BTW Looks like he uses the car for a trash can too.

good luck,
tc

 

That reminds me, I need to wash my car before I take pictures for the ad.

 

Car is worth WHAT buyer pays
What #6999 to 27999??

 

I would like to thank all of you who chimed in. I did buy the car. I paid less than 20k. I love the thing. It drives great and at the moment needs nothing. I have already put over 500 trouble free miles on it. In the winter I will redo brake lines etc. I looked it over real good and it looks safe and solid. I had 2 years of auto body training and have painted several cars and this is a very solid car. I will get more pics up later.

 

Congratulations! You did good. Enjoy it!

 

Congrats. Have fun!

 

Happy Motoring

 

Sweet ride, drive it as much as you can, enjoy!!!

 

Jeez what am I chopped liver...

Seriously, congratulations and enjoy. I think you picked up a helluva car.

What rear gear ratio ? Depending on what it is you may have one of the most aggressive small block packages Oldsmobile could put together after 1970.

Essentially the original owner created a 1971 version of a Rallye 350.


Actually you were dead on and its a looker big time.

I was sold before my third post... in his original thread. After my second post I felt it was a screaming buy, all that needed to be worked out was a fair price. Didn't post a 3rd time because I felt the thread needed to breathe. So day after day passed by with no additional responses. I was like wth, nobody else is chiming in on this sweet ride. Never realizing till yesterday that he had an additional thread on same subject. I'm not big on "need help with value" threads. So I kept on overlooking it till I finally decided to open this thread.

Many a time the powers that be, (moderators in this case) will merge such similar threads, thinking the different thread titles may have skewed things....

 

You got an awesome unmolested car! It looks great. What I would do to look under my dash and not see a birds nest of stuff messed with over the years. Or the 6 different colors, flames included, that it has been painted over the years. You buy one that needs work and you never know what you will put into it until your done. And usually more that you wanted. So good luck on a beautiful car that you can just get in, drive and enjoy.

Steve

 

A special thanks goes to 69cshc. Lol. Yeah I posted again because I needed to make a decisions and wanted more input. It was very hard to determine what I thought a fair price was for this car. By the way it has a 2.72 rear end😞. But I have a lot of relatives a couple hrs away so it sounds good doing 75 on the express way.

 

Even with the 2.73 i'm sure the ride has plenty of go. Glad it worked out for you and best of luck with it.


P.S. Came across this interesting read about a very similar car to yours featured in Hot Rod. https://www.hotrod.com/articles/1971...ss-s-original/

Not as original as yours as best I can tell, (wrong rear bumper, wrong rear end, wrong gear...) but a beauty nonetheless.

Similar ownership, and his miles and his repaint in a sense mesh with your miles and repaint. That is that he had 119,000 miles at the time of the article in 2013 and had it repainted in 1988. Vs yours being repainted in 2000. Both may have been repainted when mileage on odometer was very similar IE approximately same level of outside exposure... May lend additional credence to the fact that your mileage is very low... May mean absolutely nothing also, just a fun observation.

 

As you may or may not know the gentleman in the story lives in Holland, MI. That's only about 30 min. From me. It looks like he took somewhat better care of the car than my previous owner. So I googled him and unfortunately he passed away in 2019 at 67. Damn that is not that old. Anyways I did find his wife and address and I may take a ride and see if she still has the car. If so I'm going to ask if I can take some pics for restoration reference. Thanks for the link to the story.

 

I did not realize that.

Sorry to hear that, RIP.

Interesting, please keep us posted.

 

Really is a beautiful car. I bet the lack of multiple owners really shows when you drive it. Nice car.