jaunty75

Found this for a buck at a local garage sale. I usually see make-specific literature at shows and swap meets, not so often general GM literature. There would, of course, be a Chevy on the cover.








I actually owned a '77 Caprice Classic from 1984 to 1986. This is the only photo I have of it.








1977 was, of course, a milestone year for GM as that was the year of the great downsizing of the full-size cars, with the intermediates to follow in '78 and the E-bodies in '79.










The date on this booklet is November 1, 1976, so 1977 model year production was well underway. But the literature still talked about the Toronado XSR, which was supposed to have a power T-top but was never produced. Production was cancelled at the last minute because, as the story goes, the power T-top could not be made to operate reliably enough. So the XS (power sunroof and wrap-around rear glass) was substituted at the last minute.

The "electronic spark timing system" mentioned ended up being a one-year-only thing. It was changed slightly for 1978 and then, as far as I know, went away permanently. It was available only on the Toronado, and it can be a source of pain and suffering for anyone trying to work on a '77 or '78 Toro today.








With downsizing of the B-bodies but not the A-bodies, most versions of the Cutlass went from being about 10 inches shorter in length than the Delta 88 to only about two inches shorter.









Oldsmobile resurrected the F-85 name in 1976 for the lowest-priced Omega. It was used again for 1977, and that was it, just those two model years, while the Omega itself lasted through 1984.








Product comparisons. I tried to patch the two-page spread together. Hope it's legible.

You see now-versus-then price comparisons all the time. That base price of $3,653 for the Omega F-85 is equivalent to about $18,500 in 2023, which is interesting because I don't know of any new car available for that low a price. Of course, cars today have much more in them as standard equipment than was the case back then.

At the other end of the spectrum, the base price of the highest-price Olds for 1977, the Toronado, at $8,134, is equivalent to about $41,000, which also seems kind of low for a car of the position the Toro held in the Olds line-up. The XS option was $2500 in 1977 and $2750 in 1978, so getting it added a significant premium to the car's price. About 20% of Toros built each of those two years were XS's.






We hope you have enjoyed this trip down memory lane. Now back to your regularly-scheduled programming.

jaunty75

Here's the two halves of the product comparison pages. A little easier to read.

Olds64

Thanks for sharing. It's interesting to see the prices of cars "back in the day."

BackInTheGame

Very cool to see about what my Mom spent for her '77 Cutlass Supreme, as I remember it being optioned - $5,587. Thanks!

MagicMan

I bought a used 1977 Olds Ninety Eight for $750 years ago & that was a great car. It had the optional 403 & it had no problem chirping the tires. Extra comfortable pillow seats as well. Sold it to some kids 15 years later for $450.

MagicMan

Here's a photo of me changing the oil although it kind of looks like I was run over! Actually owned it for 10 years not 15.

Vintage Chief

Those are excellent product pages. Thanks for sharing.