biggus

Thought my 1968 Cutlass was a Supreme, turns out it's a Cutlass "S". What exactly is a Cutlass "S"?

BlackGold

It's an "S" period. Cutlass S is the model. Cutlass Supreme is a different model, one of higher trim level (and actually slightly different body style in '70 - '72).


Don't feel bad. My first car was a 10-year-old Cutlass S which I, too, thought meant Cutlass Supreme. It wasn't until decades later that I learned what you just learned.

Rallye469

I often thought it might stand for "Sport"...no idea where I got that from.

-Pete

Fun71

Probably because one of the popular the body styles is a Sports Coupe (a.k.a Post Coupe).

biggus

So Cutlass S is the very bottom? Why would my vin say Holiday Coupe, Cutlass Supreme? Dang these Oldsmobiles are complicated, my old Chevelles were easy. Malibu, SS, two door post, two door hard top and four door. I thought the trim code on the cowl tag would help but I can't find anything about it, it's 970. They bounce all around it. Anybody know. Again thanks for the help. Gil..

MDchanic

forgive me, but I thought that the available models in 1968 were:
F-85 straight-6 - 31
F-85 V-8 - 32
Cutlass straight-6 - 35
Cutlass V-8 - 36
Cutlass Supreme - 42, and
4-4-2 - 44

If your VIN starts with 342878, you have a 1968 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Holiday Coupe.

You should get a copy of the 1968 Chassis Service Manual.

- Eric

Allan R

Gil, Oldsmobile isn't really complicated at all.

The trim or cowl tag will help, same as the VIN tag will. They share some similar info but are different in some of the information they provide. VIN tags were attached by the assembly line, whereas the trim/cowl tag was attached by Fisher Body Works where the car started its life. Can you post a picture of your VIN or trim/cowl tag? It will help clear up any confusion. And no, Cutlass S wasn't the bottom of the line. As Eric points out a CSM is a nice reference that would solve most of your questions, but to just find out what model you have it's perfectly fine to just ask here for the answer.

joe_padavano

I don't know why, but people agonize over the "S". It means "S". Period. It's simply a model name that Olds used sometimes. These model names come and go. The basic sheet metal is the same on all of them. And as noted above, the only thing that matters is the model designation in the VIN. Keep in mind that the "official" model designations in the CSM don't always match the emblems on the fenders. Just stop loosing sleep over it.

The only functional differences were in the base equipment that came on that particular model and the trim/upholstery pattern used. The Salesman's Guide books that are available on the web for most years provide the detail of what was the base equipment (and available options) for each model in each year.

Diego

It's no different for Oldsmobile:


F-85 - Chevelle 300
Cutlass - Chevelle 300 Deluxe
Cutlass S - Chevelle Malibu
Cutlass Supreme - Chevelle Concours
4-4-2 - Super Sport

Granted, the Cutlass S was a sportier 2-door, while the Malibu was the bread and butter like a regular Cutlass, but the point here is to show a hierarchy that is just like any other brand.

"Holiday" and stuff that is confusing you is just an old way Olds called its hardtops. Buick used Riviera and Pontiac used Catalina back in the day before they became models, but when hardtops began to be produced, that's what the manufacturers called their hardtops. In fact, if I'm correct, the first Bel Air was strictly a hardtop until they decided to make it a top-line model available in a number of bodystyles.

Octania

The "S" is a sporty model, almost a 442 but w/o the larger engine, trans, perhaps dual xst, etc.

Uses the same wheel well trims as the 442. Same taillite lenses I believe.
In contrast to say a Cutlass [w/o the S] or Cutlass Supreme, which has knee high trims much like a Vista Cruiser.

Typically a 2-door though perhaps a 4dr could have been ordered.

Typically a 350-2 or 350-4bbl and TH350 trans, though Synchromesh Manual Trans was an option.

All 68-9 Cutlass, even the lowly F-85 I believe came with a 12 bolt rear end. The Canadian built cars would have the C type 12-bolt 12-bolt whereas the USA built cars used a 10-bolt 12-bolt Type O generally.

Diego

Probably an issue of semantics, but the standard tranny was the 3-speed "synchromesh" manual.

allyolds68

The TH350 wasn't available until 69 in any cutlass or VC. The 350 in 68 got the Jetaway and the 400 got the TH400.

Allan R

If you want a pictoral display of the 68 Olds lineup which shows the various A body models and body styles, it's evident there are many to choose from. In some cases, except for the side badging it would be impossible to tell some of them apart (as Joe noted). What I find interesting is that only the Cutlass S and 442 were available as verts. In the 70 - 72 model years, this changed so that only the Cutlass Supreme was available as a vert.

joe_padavano

This all varied from model year to model year, so there are no hard-and-fast rules. Again, these are all names made up by the marketing department (just like "Rocket V8"). There's nothing magic about them, they're just names. By the way, Diego, starting with the 1970 model year, the Cutlass Supreme was analogous to the Monte Carlo, at least the 2dr version. Olds was unique in building it's 1970 G-body (yes, they did use that designation, along with "A-special") on the same 112" wheelbase as the other 2dr cars. The Monte and Grand Prix used a longer wheelbase.

These days automakers are afraid to use names on their vehicles, lest one person dig up a reason to be offended by it. That's why all new cars pretty much carry alphanumeric designations now (CTS, RX300) or geographic names (Avalon, Malibu), or made up names (Prius). Only a handful of historic old car names survive.

MDchanic

And I would like to point out that that model lineup chart shows that if you got a 1968 Cutlass with 2 doors, it was going to be either an S or a Supreme (F-85 was not a Cutlass), so the S trim went with the 35 and 36 series, styles 67, 77, and 87.

That is to say, if your VIN starts with 335678, 335778, 335878, 336678, 336778, or 336878, it is a Cutlass S.

That is what S means.

- Eric

BackInTheGame

The S model in my avatar and signature came with what I was told was a Powerglide automatic 2-speed trans. I later learned that in the Olds nomenclature the 2-speed trans was named a Jetaway. And if I recall past threads here at C.O. the Jetaway internals are nothing like the Powerglide's. When I painted it black back in '81 , I removed the quarter panel trim that delineated the white painted roof from the Jade Gold Metallic body color. Also, not knowing any better, I swapped out the 2BBL carb/intake for a 4BBL carb and intake, and added ladder bars. Without making any other changes than adding headers The wheels would hop something fierce!! I wish I knew then what I know now - I'd have three of these babies in my stable!

Allan R

@Biggus

That also means the car was born with an L6 engine

That means the car was born with a V8.

VIN can be very handy to know some things other than the cars sequence on the production line.

General Summary for Cutlass S:

3 - is common terminology representing Oldsmobile Division
35 - is common terminology representing L6 engine equipped cars
36 - is common terminology representing V8 engine equipped cars
77 - is common terminology representing body style sports coupe aka post coupe
87 - is common terminology representing body style Holiday coupe aka Hardtop Coupe
67 - is common terminology representing body style Convertible.

Octania

Wow a cornucopia of information
not sure why I thought TH350 was std, time to take my Olds Service Guild Exam again.

The Jetaway is actually a blast to drive, shifts once, at 70, if running WOT

is the '68 model Jetaway a switch pitch?

not sure what you meant by semantics there, Diego, I said synchromesh, you said synchromesh, I don't see the difference. Did I leave out a letter? hard timie typing tonite. Typically listed as "SMT" in factory Lit which I assume is either SynchroMesh Trans or Synchromesh Manual Trans.

I likes to just call 'em AT or MT. Unless more detail is needed.

joe_padavano

The externals are nothing like a Powerglide, either. Technically that trans is a SuperTurbine 300 (ST300). The Olds marketing name for it was Jetaway, not to be confused with the Jetaway trans from the 1950s. The only things the ST300 have in common with the PG are the gear ratios (but not the actual planetary gear sets) and the overall length. All 1964-67 Olds ST300s used the switch-pitch torque converter.