I am new to the F-85, by that I mean before purchasing this one for $2000 I dont remember ever seeing one. Although all car companys made a couple cool classics in my eyes (the late 60's early 70's Dodge Charger , the Mach 1 and Torino, the GTO, and many more) General Motors has always been my main focus.The F-85 is complete,numbers match but needs a little work,so after going to a big car show at Iola Wisconsin and not seeing one F-85 like the one in my garage the question is totally stock or stock looking with a 500 plus hp power plant. Whether the car is worth $2000 or $20000 in good shape doesnt matter to me, its worth the $2000 we paid because of the classic look, and classic lines.......I still love it and have no regrets

 

Looks to be a good solid blank canvas! Make it what you want it to be! Keep us posted.

 

Nice car.

What you have there is the most basic, least-expensive Oldsmobile you could buy in 1963. That's an F-85 Club Coupe, which means it is a 2-door post (non-hardtop) car. The base F-85 was also offered in 4-door sedan and 2-seat station wagon models. The slightly upscale F-85 Deluxe was offered in 4-door sedan and 2-seat wagon styles as well, but also offered in the Deluxe line was the Cutlass Coupe and Convertible. There was also the Jetfire.

Base price for your car was $2,403, and production of the F-85 Club Coupe was 11,276.

In those photos, the car looks very original, and if it were mine, I'd do everything I can to keep it that way as it can always be modified, but it can only be original once.

On the other hand, no matter how well fixed up it is, it will never command a premium in value both because the '61 to '63 A-body Oldsmobiles are just not as popular and collectible as the '64 to '72 models, and because you have the very base model there. If it were a Cutlass Coupe or Convertible, it would be worth more, especially for the convertible. So do what you want with it!

 

If you need any parts, see this guy!

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...lasss-f85.html

 

I have a '63 Cutlass that I'm parting out. Let me know what you might need and I will see what I have.
I do have all the wheel open mldg's and rocker mldg's, would look great on your car. I will get pic's this week.

Gene

 

So far after many hours on the computer doing research its looking to me like I'm going to try to get this old Oldsmobile to pull a front tire off the ground when it launches. I do understand the need to keep some classics in there original state,but I dont seem to be finding enough facts that this car shouldnt be a mean street/strip car. I would like to keep it as original looking as possible.

 

IMO it will be more expensive to try to restore it because of the lack of support in the aftermkt and it won't be a good investment due to the car not having a very big following. I'd hot rod it but keep the body as stock as possible.

 

Is that a "3 on the tree" or automatic trans? Power steering or brakes?
It has the look of the kind of car that might have no options to keep the original price rock bottom.
I think if it were mine I'd go for the "sleeper" ride. Restore it, but go all out on the 215 to make it a fire-breather. These guys can show you the possibilities: http://aluminumv8.com/

A wolf in sheep's clothing

 

In that case, you're looking at a complete custom tube frame. The 61-63 cars are unibody and are not designed for that type of torque.

 

You have a very solid car to restore welcome to this site there is a vast amount of knowledge and the people are very helpful. Good luck with the project I missed Iola this year maybe I will see you there next year I have a 66 442 convertible.

 

Joe, back when Arnie Beswick was racing Tempest super stockers how did they make those cars hold together? I think they ran 389 & 421's in those.

AWBArnieBeswickMysteryTornadoGTO52S.jpg

 

SSpontiacwagon.jpg

 

Its a 3 speed auto on the tree...power steering no power brakes...not much for brakes,heard the '63's were known for a weak brake right from the factory.

 

Keep in mind that track-only drag cars can get away with things that you wouldn't want to do in a street car. Those early cars probably didn't have much in the way of body reinforcement, though a properly-installed roll bar with triangulation goes a LOOOONG way towards stiffening up a car. In any case, if drag cars flex enough to crack the paint (or worse), the owners probably don't care.

 

 

I'm a big fan of the base models. Do what you want with it but putting big power in this model will not be worth the effort in my opinion. I would make it a clean unrestored driver with minor power/reliablity mods to original drivetrain.

 

any idea how much horsepower the stock 63 rear-end could put up with if axle/gear upgrades were made?

 

Considering that NO ONE makes parts for these axles, exactly what "upgrades" were you considering?

 

My vote is to leave it stock make it safe, put a few bucks in body work and a good paint job, some rims and just drive it and enjoy it for what it is. You will stand out just because it's an Oldsmobile. If I went to a big show and there were 50 cars like mine I would probably switch brands, your car will be unique from now on.....My 2 cents.....Tedd

 

Basically, if you're seriously thinking about a significant power increase (such as swapping in a larger V-8), you'd need to swap in a stronger rear end (driveshaft & transmission too). At a minimum, you'd need some subframe ties and underbody reinforcements to make it safe. This stuff gets pricy real fast.

A good stock rebuild with maybe a few bolt-on enhancements will still be lots of fun and much easier on the wallet.