bdillon77

Folks,
I have been unable to verify any of this information in any existing threads, and was hoping I could find help here.

83 H/O VIN 1G3AK479ODM435804

Quicksilver Interior. T-Tops. Lightning Rods. Correct badges on dash. Correct tire size sticker on driver door. Air valve for air suspension behind license plate/ fuel door. Silver/black bumpers. Blacked out front/rear light bezels. Dual snorkel intake with vacuum. Chrome air cleaner lid.

However, it does not have the hood bulge or the nose emblem. Instead the chrome center hood trim strip extends to the windshield and the traditional Oldsmobile standup hood ornament is present. I’ve been told, only once- and cannot find information to verify anywhere, that the first 19 to 35 H/Os produced did not get the bulge or emblem simply due to supply. Is this familiar to anyone? Does the VIN imply an early production? If this is a clone, it is pretty thorough- so much that I doubt the obvious hood and emblem would be overlooked. Also, the dash isn’t gray/ Quicksilver, but perhaps what would go with the red interior…
It could have had front end damage, then repaired with off the shelf Olds parts, but the headlight bezels are blacked out, the front wheel well covers are consistent, and the headlamp panel is likewise consistent (no obvious detection of paint, spray, sticker, replacement, etc)- all items likely to be damaged as well and replaced in the same off the shelf manner.
Any help or guidance would be appreciated. Please don’t extend this thread with armchair “Fake!!!” declarations just because your 83 has the bulge and emblem. I would like to know if this VIN is an early production, and if anyone has heard of any differences in the first handful.

1970cs

Have you talked to Doug or Judy Badgley?
e-mail jdbadgley@gmail.com

Pat

joe_padavano

Production sequence number 435804 is pretty late in the 1983 run, so this is definitely NOT one of the first 19 or 35 or whatever cars (and no, I've never heard that the early cars were missing parts). More likely is that the car was in a front end collision at some point and got repaired with a regular Cutlass front end. Look for signs of repair, repaint, or parts replacement.

hajnovak

I would agree that It must have been in a wreck and header and hood were replaced with regular cutlass parts. If you look at the lower decals on the header panel looks to be a solid red not the tri-color.

69442C

The entire headlight door should be black and the ones in the photo look to be chrome on the front edge. Grilles should also be black. Looks like the front end was replaced using standard Cutlass parts.