jayleo_4

O.K I just recently purchased a 1965 Oldsmobile Cutlass, I dont know very much and im trying to get as much knowlege I can, but one thing came across, what is the definition for a "F-85"?? I know what a "442" is and what the hisotry about... any quick help would be appreciated...
Im new on the Oldsmobile side...
Thanks!

oldcutlass

It's an "F"...

http://www.oldsmobility.com/old/67-O...Qs/general.htm

cutlassjoe

Don't forget the -85 too....I'm not sure but I think it was a handling package. I know someone with more knowledge on the 65's will add something to. I do like that body style though.

jayleo_4

Definalty would like to know more, I dont want to show off the 65 cutlass then someone asking me "So what does "F85" stand for?? LoL!

Now if the car was a "442" its then a diffrent story..

rocketraider

F85= generic Olds-speak for the 1961-72 A-body car platform. All F85, Cutlass, SX, Supreme, 442, Hurst et al are referred to as F85 by Oldsmobile in parts & service literature.

However, F85 is generally the base trim level car, with the others being trim & equipment packages over and above the F85 trim and standard equipment level.

1965 you had F85, F85 Deluxe, and Cutlass. The 442 option was available on all but the wagons in each series though as you might expect majority were a 2-door bodystyle.

jaunty75

It's just a model name, really. It doesn't stand for anything.

For many years, Olds used two numbers to designate its series. That's the origin of "98" and "88." The first number designated the series, while the second the engine. So "98" originally stood for a 90-series Oldsmobile with an 8-cylinder engine. 88 stood for an 80-series Oldsmobile with an 8-cylinder engine. There were other series back in the 1940s. There was a 66 and a 68 as well as a 76 and a 78.

Olds added words before these numbers from time to time as well. So, in addition to the "plain" 88 and 98, there have been, over the years, Futuramic 88, Super 88, Dynamic 88, Jetstar 88, Delta 88, Delmont 88, Futuramic 98, Fiesta 98, Classic 98, Custom Cruiser 98, and probably some others I'm leaving out.

From 1956 forward, the 98 stopped getting words in front of it and was just called "98" or "Ninety-Eight" right through to the end. The 88s were called only Delta 88 starting in 1969 through to some time in the '90s, when the Delta was dropped, and it was just called "Eighty-Eight."

What I've read is that the "F-85" name comes more from a jet airplane than it does anything else. Remember the era. Rockets and spaceflight were really capturing the public's imagination and attention, which partly led to all the fins in the late 1950s, and also led to car names. "Delta" comes from the Delta rockets of the 1960s. At least, that's what I've read. For a while in the 1960s, the Olds "spokesman" in advertising was John "Shorty" Powers, the then well-known "voice of mission control" for NASA.

This commercial from 1965 says it all:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVG40v1fsig


Going by the earlier system, F-85 would designate an 80-series Olds with a 5-cylinder engine, but that makes no sense. So, as I said, it's just a name.

The Cutlass was a slightly upscale option package on the F-85 introduced about mid-way through the first year of the F-85's existence, 1961.

mike's88

Wasn't the F-85 the entry level A body for Olds? IE, bench seat, rubber floormats, instead of carpeting, rather plain interior all around. Oops, didn't see RRs post, but you couldn't get the 442 on a 4 dr, except in 64.

TK-65

442 was only offered on the club coupe V8, the Cutlass Sports and Holiday coupe and the Cutlass convertible.

No 4 doors and no wagons. And no F85 Deluxe coupes, that was a V6 car only.

TK-65

Yes and no. The F85 was the model line. The Cutlass, F85 Deluxe, Standard F85 were trim levels. You could get carpet in a standard F85.

MDchanic

Wow! Fantastic bunch of ads!

Shorty Powers really redefines "cool."

I mean, redefines it to mean something completely different.

Just goes to show, you didn't have to be good looking to get on TV once upon a time...

- Eric

Allan R

X2 BTW Eric, did you notice the dyno test on the 425? It shows the exhaust manifold and crossover pipe issue we were discussing on another thread in ultra clear detail. Even has the heat riser valve!

jaunty75

Did you notice the influence of the Batman TV show on the '66 Olds commercials at the end? The music was similar as was the "kapow"-type graphics coming at you and "Rocket Girl."

By the way, Rocket Girl? I'd never heard of a Rocket Girl in Olds advertising.

MDchanic

Yes - those who don't quite get the intended action of the heat riser can actually see the counterbalance weight move as the engine is revved.

And, yes, I liked the Batman motif as well - crass commercial plagiarism at its worst, and with hand-drawn "POW!" bubbles, no less, but I used to love Batman when I was a kid, and I love the Batman pilot movie even today (hysterically funny, rent it if you can!).

- Eric

rocketraider

TK, on checking my production figures closer, I see that the V8 was not offered on the Deluxe sports coupe, only the sedan and wagon. Ridiculous, but they did stranger things I suppose.

I never liked that 225 inch Busix. Always sounded like a tractor to me.

jaunty75

Actually, it wasn't a pilot film. The original series premiered in January 1966 and the movie was released in the summer of 1966 to capitalize on what had become the hugely popular TV show.

You're right, though, in that there are some classically funny scenes. My two favorites are at the beginning when Chief O'Hara and the Commissioner figure out that it's all four of the supervillains working together and the scene when Batman is trying to get rid of the bomb. In the first one, they conclude the Riddler is part of the gang after they've decided that the other three are part of it, and O'Hara muses "it all adds up to a sinister Riddle" or something like that. Then he and the Commissioner look up at each other with looks of realization in their eyes.

In the second one, Batman is running all around the wharf trying to find a place to throw the bomb that he's holding with the burning fuse, and he says "some days you just can't get rid of a bomb!" That line or something like it has come up several times during life.

The movie also had a couple of cool pieces of equipment that I don't think ever appeared in the TV show, including the Batboat and the Batcopter along with much more extended scenes of the Batcave.

TK-65

The F85 Deluxe Coupe was basically a Cutlass Sports Coupe with a V6. Makes a ton of sense right? I guess since the Cutlass came standard with a V8, they needed another model if you wanted to get a V6. Thus the F85 Deluxe coupe.

btw Im sure the original poster appreciates the Batman talk in this thread.