I saw this Olds at a car show today, and talked to the owner for a bit. he was up my way in Hart, Mi. staying there for a vacation, though he is from the Lansing area. He recently bought this car, a 400 2bbl column shift auto. The original drivetrain was gone, the previous owner was working on it, and passed away hence the '68 H/O looking paint scheme. It now has a black interior, though it still retains the original red crank *****. It was a Burgundy Mist car with a Provincial White roof and red interior. He knew that the paint was Burgundy mist originally, and I showed him how to decipher the cowl tag for the paint, and that it should be a two tone car. The trim at the quarter panel to separate the colors was missing, though a piece was still there at the back window. He has GM of Canada documentation to verify that it is/was a factory Holiday Coupe with the 400 2bbl. I believe that he would like to get it back to the original paint scheme, and I told him to join up here. I hope that he does, and I think that it would be a sweet looking car in the original colors.

 

Not a bad looking car the way it is.

 

In 1968 (and in other years) Olds DID offer the 400 motor in non-442 Cutlii through the Police Apprehender Options. These were supposed to be available for "Police Usage Only" (note the footnote) but this is a case where a savvy salesman could special order such a package for a customer.

There are two problems with this car, however (well, three since the original drivetrain is long gone and the car has obviously had lots of changes from stock). The first is that the only applications for the L65 290 HP 400 2bbl motor were the Turnpike Cruiser and the Vista Cruiser. The second is that the Police Apprehender L77 motor that WAS available in the Cutlass line was the 350 HP 4bbl motor. Lots of questions on this one, grasshopper.

 

I thought only the 442 could be had with the 2 bbl 400 (Turnpike Cruiser), and the Vista Cruiser, but he had the GM of Canada documentation with him, and showed it to me.

 

I understand, but the car is a unicorn. Like I said, there is factory literature that documents the availability of the L77 4bbl 400 in a Cutlass, but not the L65 2bbl motor. I guess I'd like to see the underlying reference material that the GM of Canada letter is based on. I'm a skeptic, and what you get from GM of Canada is a letter that is supposed to summarize some documentation from when the car was built. It's not a copy of the actual build sheet, it's a letter that someone typed in the present. Yeah, it SHOULD be accurate, but let's be serious - it came off a laser printer. I'm pretty sure that with a little work, I could have "GM of Canada" letters for all my cars as well...

 

Yep, I agree as there was some fake GM of Canada docs. at one of the major auctions, last year? can't remember for sure, but this car was listed on Craigs list for $13k (my buddy's son saw it there), so why bother with a car in this price range. The guy wasn't a bragging type, mellow, and was interested in what info that I could give him on the paint code and Supreme trim. I realize that it takes all kinds, but I just did not get that from him. On the other hand, I don't know if he got that documentation from GM of Canada, or if the previous owners family provided it.

 

Other than the stripes, the paint was very nice.

 

I'm gonna have to say that this guy was scammed. I am talking to my buddys son on FB, who was there with us at this car show, while I was looking at the paint and trying to determine whether it was a vinyl top or painted top car, he was talking to the owner who said that it has the two speed auto, which did not come with the 400.

 

Very nice looking car but it has all the upper moldings & badges for a Cutlass S & the lower moldings & "cs" badges for a Cutlass Supreme????

 

Great, so now GM of Canada letters are worthless...

THIS is why I'm always skeptical of unicorn cars without ironclad documentation.

FYI, while you are correct about the TH400 in 1968, the 65-66 442s did use the Junkaway behind the 400, but it was the M32 Special Duty version only offered in the 442.

 

Yep, like the '66 GTO that I had, column shift auto with the 2 speed.

 

Was the police apprehender 400 available in 67 Cutlasses too? It would be neat to see one with a 4 barrel and the rocket 400 valve cover sticker. I actually like that red sticker better than I like the 442 one.

 

Note that Olds used L77 to designate the 350 HP 400 motor in the A-body cars and the 375 HP 425 in the B-body cars.

 

I don't think they are worthless but like anything they can be forged.
My GM of Canada letter was a perfect match to the build sheet that was under the back seat. It also matched the original dealer order form.

 

If I'm evaluating a car and the documentation is a GM of Canada letter that came off a laser printer a month ago or a build sheet that looks like it has lived under the back seat for four decades, guess which one I put credence in. Given the original artifacts that you have, why do you even care about the letter? Yes, my comment about the letter being "worthless" was somewhat facetious, but here we clearly have proof of a forged one.