Newbie with 1964 olds f85 convertible!
October 2nd, 2011, 08:24 AM
#1
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 9
Newbie with 1964 olds f85 convertible!
Woo Hoo, picking it up tomorrow! Great condition driver, will get pics soon. I'd been looking for a convertible to run my little girls around in and found a super deal on this convertible. Boy the cowl plate can be a bit tricker than I've seen on other makes and years but I think I have most of it deciphered. Car is white but origninal is black I think. When I paint it one day I think it would look wicked black with the black interior. Auto with aircon. Air doesn't work but who needs it anyway. May work on that in the spring just cause I like my stuff to work anyway. Runs and drives like a top!
We're having some unseasonably warm weather lately and next week so I'm gonna get some crus'in in!
Just wanted to introduce myself.
Keith from Omaha, Nebraska
We're having some unseasonably warm weather lately and next week so I'm gonna get some crus'in in!
Just wanted to introduce myself.
Keith from Omaha, Nebraska
October 2nd, 2011, 12:59 PM
#5
Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: southeastern Michigan
Posts: 14,445
Actually, one never sees them.
The convertible in 1964 was available only in the Cutlass line, not in the regular or Deluxe F-85 line. Not that it's not an F-85, too, but I believe it would correctly be called an F-85 Cutlass convertible or just a Cutlass convertible. "Setting the Pace" calls it the latter.
The convertible in 1964 was available only in the Cutlass line, not in the regular or Deluxe F-85 line. Not that it's not an F-85, too, but I believe it would correctly be called an F-85 Cutlass convertible or just a Cutlass convertible. "Setting the Pace" calls it the latter.
October 2nd, 2011, 01:33 PM
#6
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 9
1964 olds cutlass f85
Like I stated, I get it tomorrow and can then post some pics so I wouldn't say my introduction was worthless. Yes it was sold to me as an F85 Cutlass but I am a true newbie to olds so I have a lot to learn. I"m sure you guys and others will teach me quite a bit in the coming months.
October 2nd, 2011, 02:23 PM
#7
Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: southeastern Michigan
Posts: 14,445
Here's a little to get you started.
You have a Cutlass, probably the most popular Oldsmobile of all time. The F-85 was introduced in 1961 as a smaller car than Oldsmobile had offered prior to that time. The Cutlass was introduced part-way through the 1961 model year as an upscale version of the F-85 with bucket seats. The F-85 was not offered in a convertible version for 1961.
Beginning in 1962, both the F-85 and the F-85 Cutlass could be had as a convertible. The '61-'63 F-85s and Cutlasses are nowhere near as popular as the '64 to '72 versions, and they're not well supported in the aftermarket.
Your car's year, 1964, was the first year of the 442, which was an option package available for the Cutlass consisting of a four-barrel carb, four-speed manual transmission, and dual exhaust (hence the "4-4-2"). 4-4-2 came to mean other things in later years. The 442 was an option package on the Cutlass for 1964, '65, '66, '67, and '72 (as well as later years). It was its own series separate from the Cutlass for '68 through '71.
The standard engine on your car was a 330-cubic-inch V-8 putting out 290 HP. The automatic transmission is a 2-speed known as the Jetaway, a term Olds used on an earlier, different transmission in the 1950s. It's often commonly called a "powerglide," but that's the term for Chevy's two-speed transmission used for many years. They're both two-speeds, but they have nothing in common mechanically.
Your car's base price was $2,984, which made it the most expensive Cutlass that year. The next most expensive was the Cutlass Holiday Coupe (two-door hardtop) at $2,784, $200 less.
Production of the '64 Cutlass totaled 12,822. Your car's wheelbase is 115 inches (8 inches less than the full-sized Oldsmobiles), length is 203 inches, and it weighed 3,442 lbs in base configuration.
At one time during the 1970s, the Cutlass was the best-selling car in America. In 1974, for the first time, Cutlasses accounted for more than 50% of total Olds production. The Cutlass would claim more than 50% of total Olds production again in 1976 and stay above 50% through 1984. In 1985 it dropped to 49%, but then it went back above 50% in 1987 and stayed there through 1996.
The model year with the greatest percentage of Cutlasses produced was 1989, when 85% of Oldsmobiles produced were one version or another of a Cutlass. Another way to think of that is, 17 out of every 20 cars Olds sold in 1989 was a Cutlass.
The single model year with the highest Cutlass production was 1986, when 712,411 were made. It was produced continuously until the last one rolled off the assembly line on July 2, 1999.
In the end, Oldsmobile built 12,843,526 Cutlasses. In its history, Oldsmobile produced 35,229,208 cars. Cutlasses thus accounted for 36% of all Oldsmobiles ever built, even though Oldsmobile was in existence for 63 years before the first Cutlass was made and even though Cutlasses were made for only 39 of Oldsmobile's 107 years of existence.
There will be test on all this tomorrow!
You have a Cutlass, probably the most popular Oldsmobile of all time. The F-85 was introduced in 1961 as a smaller car than Oldsmobile had offered prior to that time. The Cutlass was introduced part-way through the 1961 model year as an upscale version of the F-85 with bucket seats. The F-85 was not offered in a convertible version for 1961.
Beginning in 1962, both the F-85 and the F-85 Cutlass could be had as a convertible. The '61-'63 F-85s and Cutlasses are nowhere near as popular as the '64 to '72 versions, and they're not well supported in the aftermarket.
Your car's year, 1964, was the first year of the 442, which was an option package available for the Cutlass consisting of a four-barrel carb, four-speed manual transmission, and dual exhaust (hence the "4-4-2"). 4-4-2 came to mean other things in later years. The 442 was an option package on the Cutlass for 1964, '65, '66, '67, and '72 (as well as later years). It was its own series separate from the Cutlass for '68 through '71.
The standard engine on your car was a 330-cubic-inch V-8 putting out 290 HP. The automatic transmission is a 2-speed known as the Jetaway, a term Olds used on an earlier, different transmission in the 1950s. It's often commonly called a "powerglide," but that's the term for Chevy's two-speed transmission used for many years. They're both two-speeds, but they have nothing in common mechanically.
Your car's base price was $2,984, which made it the most expensive Cutlass that year. The next most expensive was the Cutlass Holiday Coupe (two-door hardtop) at $2,784, $200 less.
Production of the '64 Cutlass totaled 12,822. Your car's wheelbase is 115 inches (8 inches less than the full-sized Oldsmobiles), length is 203 inches, and it weighed 3,442 lbs in base configuration.
At one time during the 1970s, the Cutlass was the best-selling car in America. In 1974, for the first time, Cutlasses accounted for more than 50% of total Olds production. The Cutlass would claim more than 50% of total Olds production again in 1976 and stay above 50% through 1984. In 1985 it dropped to 49%, but then it went back above 50% in 1987 and stayed there through 1996.
The model year with the greatest percentage of Cutlasses produced was 1989, when 85% of Oldsmobiles produced were one version or another of a Cutlass. Another way to think of that is, 17 out of every 20 cars Olds sold in 1989 was a Cutlass.
The single model year with the highest Cutlass production was 1986, when 712,411 were made. It was produced continuously until the last one rolled off the assembly line on July 2, 1999.
In the end, Oldsmobile built 12,843,526 Cutlasses. In its history, Oldsmobile produced 35,229,208 cars. Cutlasses thus accounted for 36% of all Oldsmobiles ever built, even though Oldsmobile was in existence for 63 years before the first Cutlass was made and even though Cutlasses were made for only 39 of Oldsmobile's 107 years of existence.
There will be test on all this tomorrow!
October 5th, 2011, 05:34 PM
#10
Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Lehigh County Pennsylvania
Posts: 679
Actually, one never sees them.
The convertible in 1964 was available only in the Cutlass line, not in the regular or Deluxe F-85 line. Not that it's not an F-85, too, but I believe it would correctly be called an F-85 Cutlass convertible or just a Cutlass convertible. "Setting the Pace" calls it the latter.
The convertible in 1964 was available only in the Cutlass line, not in the regular or Deluxe F-85 line. Not that it's not an F-85, too, but I believe it would correctly be called an F-85 Cutlass convertible or just a Cutlass convertible. "Setting the Pace" calls it the latter.
October 5th, 2011, 06:35 PM
#11
Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Dallas Texas
Posts: 1,565
Welcome to CO, Keith from Nebraska, along with your new/old F85 convertible. We will anxiously await your actually getting your new purchase and providing us with the necessary pictures ASAP! LOL!
Aron
Aron
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
64oldsf85cutlass
Body work
8
July 4th, 2014 07:06 AM
