I am told by experienced members that Oldsmobile never put a 394 ci in a 63 cutlass. But for the last year and a half a website called dustyoldcars had a 63 F85 convertible with a 394 ci they claimed was an original factory car. I wanted to buy it but the body and undercarriage was soo badly corroded I just couldn't pay the outrages asking price of 17,000 for a car that might literarily fall apart in shipping...surly some members saw this car )it was copper colored). Of course I just recently looked and it is gone!
At any rate do we know if Oldsmobile built the 63 with the 394 ci option?

 

if this is the place in new hampshire they don't care about accuracy in their ads, i think they are morons. they advertised a 65 f85 saying it had the original "rocket" 350 engine, the car had a 307 in it, egr intake and we all know that it should have been a 330. i think they make stuff up as they go

 

Yes, that is the place and yes, you are correct...they are morons!
Thanks!!

 

In any case I'd like to see a y body with a 394 stuffed in it

 

Well, Pontiac managed to put a 421 in theirs.

 

And just to say, the 63 F-85 Cutlass was the last year for the all alumium 215 V8. A totally new full frame 64 F-85 emerged with a Buick V-6 or an all new Olds 330 V-8. The 330 is a great SBO.

 

Pontiac put the 326 in the 63 Tempest from the factory. The 421 is externally identical to the 326, so that was a bolt-in. The 394 is extremely heavy and weighs well over twice what the 215 weighs. Olds NEVER installed one in a Y-body from the factory, and frankly, it would be an awful car if you did. The front suspension is not up to the task of supporting it, for starters.

 

At that, the 421s were AF/X cars and only a few were made all with significant mods to the platform and suspension made to handle the extra torque. IIRC, they were all wagons, too. I remember reading that the 326 factory installation was problematic and considered to be pushing the envelope as far as possible. So it's easy to see how the 394 would have been an impossibility for Olds.

 

Coupes also...

 

You just let that car be secure in its identity.