Well I've been on this sight for a couple years now while working on my dads 69 cutlass S but it was time for a toy of my own. I bought a 69 Cutlass Flat Top Wagon yesterday. Just thought i would post some pictures of it here before looking around the site for some of the missing/not optioned parts i want to get for it, on that note does anyone know if a third row seat would go right in since this car was not optioned with it?

 

Looks to be a solid car with minimal rust issues. Make a list of parts you need and post a parts wanted ad in the classified section.

 

I believe you have a Vista not a flat top , looks like a great start
good luck w it looks nice.

 

A vista has glass panels in the roof, this doesnt so yes it is termed a flat top. These are a better choice for resto as most of the vistas that were not garaged a major portion of their life have severe rot around those glass roof panels.

 

You are correct threw off by the rack ty for that

 

Very minimal rust. The only through rust I've found on it is a small pin hole under one of the rear windows and the spare tire well to the right of the trunk area is pretty much gone. solid frame and floor boards and i personally love the faded paint, at least for now.

 

Nice score
I have a '69 wagon for parts, but it will have NO sheetemetal left. Maybe the 3rd seat you seek. If the coons haven't gotten into it. Some interior plastics, stuff like that. Underhood is intact, 350 engine. Save this:

Chris
517.Four49.Oh 432
RocketScience443@hotmail.com <== change "443" to the obvious correct #

 

I thought the 3rd seat was an impossibility due to the shorter body-wheelbase of the non vista wagons. At least the ones from 64 -67 I dont think the rear seat was an option.

 

As Oldsmaniac says, there was no 3rd-seat option in the '69 Cutlass flat-top wagons, so there are no donor cars from which to get one nor any place to mount it if you took a third seat out of a Vista Cruiser.

Remember, the Vista Cruiser was the top-line Olds wagon from 1964 through 1970, and Olds wanted to steer you in that direction if you were looking for anything other than a basic station wagon. The Cutlass non-VC wagons were for the lower-end of the market at the time. Few were made relative to the VC.

Production numbers for '69 Olds wagons:

Cutlass 6 2-seat wagon: 180 (yep, just 180. If you found one of these today, you would have a truly rare car)
Cutlass V-8 2-seat wagon: 8,559
Vista Cruiser 2-seat wagon: 11,879
Vista Cruiser 3-seat wagon: 21,508

So that's more than three-times as many Vista Cruisers compared to non-VC wagons.

 

I thought these were the same size as the chevell/malibu wagons that had the rear facing third row seat. I only figured the cutlass was optioned the same way because it has a large space in the rear with a hinged door over it like the folding 3rd row seats and there is a step built into the rear bumper i assumed was for access to a seat.

 

Couple of thoughts on this:

1. To save money, Olds didn't bother to create a separate bumper for the non-VC wagons. Of course, since Vista Cruisers could have been ordered with only two seats, it would be interesting to know if 2-seat VCs also came with a step in the bumper.

2. The step was put there as much to make it easier to get at stuff on the roof, so it would be useful to any wagon with a roof rack.


Something else to keep in mind. In Vista Cruisers, the third seat faced forward. So access through the tailgate was not terribly convenient, and it seems unlikely that step was put there to make getting into the third seat easier. It was more likely put there for better access to the roof and perhaps to just make it easier to climb into the rear area when the seat was folded flat.


Here's a page out of the '69 Olds brochure. Note the image at lower right showing the bumper step in the description of the optional, two-way operated tailgate. It appears that step was there on all of the wagons.

 

Went out to the yard today and I have a 72 Pontiac Lemans station wagon and it is equipped with with a rear facing third seat. So while it may not have been offered for an Olds flat top at least the Pontiac was available.

Henry

 

Congrats on the new ride, it looks nice and solid. Is it a running/driving car?

 

Henry,
Could I/we trouble you for some pix of that Pontiac wagon? I'd like to see how it compares inside & outside to the Olds. wagons. I would think that like many G.M. A bodies, they would share the basic frame, floor pan, & inner door structures? I know to put a third seat in a non third seat Vista is a Major operation.
Thanks.


Eric,
My Vista is a two seat only & it does have the step in the bumper.

 

I've got a 1969 Vista Cruiser parts car. It does not have the two way tailgate so its bumper does not have the step in it. It did come with a roof rack though. It does seem like a lot of tooling for the different options that were offered back then.


John

 

The step in the bumper is for the lower latch to accommodate the two way motion of the tailgate. '68 did not offer a two way gate.

 

The car was running/driving when i bought it Saturday, However after an hour of driving one of the freeze plugs fell out. Really hoping it was just corrosion from sitting that caused this and the block was not frozen at some point in its past causing a cracked block. Will be putting new freeze plugs in this weekend fingers crossed.

 

I had a 69 and wrecked it in April of 99. Low production cars. Somewhere in the 7 to 9 k production units I think. That Oldsmobile tailgate molding is neat and exclusive to this model and a rare piece. These ride on the 4dr 116 inch wheel base instead of 121 in wheelbase of the Vistas. Don't know if that would affect the third rear seat room.

 

Also that tailgate Oldsmobile molding is a rare tell tale sign of Cutlass Cruiser. Yes the roof racks can fool us providing an optical illusion.

 

I think all the GM intermediate wagons share the same tailgate. Buick Sportwagon, Malibu Concours, Vista, Lemans Safari .