nklemens

Howdie folks,

I started out an olds lover right out of college with a 1980 Toronado (in 1993) with 52K miles. It was a diesel and I made the mistake of driving it out of 10 years of storage with old diesel in the tank. It never ran the same, but I loved it. A co worker loved it more and bought it from me at a profit. I always regretted selling it. How many do you see anymore?

Anyway, I need some help. My uncle has an 86 Cutlass Supreme Brougham Coupe. 19700 Miles, in storage since 1991. It is still factory new in every way and located in Arizona. Silver with the 60/40 black plush inside. All options but the Astroroof. No sagging headliner, 307/T200 (not R4). Window Sticker, docs, factory audio cassette, All you can hear are the belts. Original goodyear tires even! Started periodically and driven a few miles every year to keep it lubed. The car is nearly showroom new.

He wants me to make an offer. What is this darn thing worth? Please take no offense, he does not want to sell it outside of the family as he does not want it customized. It was his moms car.

Anyway, please help. I have a 14.5 year old who will be driving in 1.5 years, and boy would he like it!

Thanks for your help.

oldcutlass

It's worth what you will stroke a check for, and what he will accept.

jaunty75

The Old Cars Price Guide lists the value of this car in showroom condition at about $5,500. At the next step down, "car show" condition, the value is about $3,500. So it's likely somewhere in the $4,000 to $5,000, probably more toward the high end because of the unusually low mileage.

Give him 5 G's. He'll have a fair price, and you'll have a very nice car at a very nice price, too.

jaunty75

By the way, if you get this car, as cool and as nice as they are, those 27 year old tires should be replaced with new rubber. As old as the are, they are likely dry-rotted. Look at the sidewalls and tread, and you'll probably see a lot of little hairline cracks. This is not safe to drive on no matter how much tread is left.

OLD SKL 69

Welcome to CO! Sounds like a nice car, hope you're able to get it.

In addition to replacing the tires, I would also replace the belts and hoses too.

Allan R

I think if he wants the car gone, he should be the one advancing you info about how much he's looking for. 1986 Cutlass isn't really a unique car and over the span of 81-88 when that body style was manufactured, there were millions of them made. Also don't forget you'll likely have to get the car safety checked and certified for emissions. Starting the car and running it for a few miles each year doesn't mean a thing. Sometimes it's better to leave it properly stored than do that. You have a fair amount of work ahead just making sure everything mechanical is ok, so build in 'initial maintenance costs' to the amount you're willing to spend.

djcrook73

post some pics if you can please.i would love to see that interior! i did not even know they offered the brougham interior in black after 1980. is it leather or velour? what's it worth in my eyes? im sure some will think i'm high, but i feel if the condition goes with the low mileage and it proves to only need fluids and tires, i would say 8 grand. would anyone pay that? probably not. if it were my uncles car and he didn't really need the money i would ask for the family discount at $3500 and go from there

nklemens

Amazing how information gets passed. It was actually white and red and it is an '87.

Since my uncle bought a new Vette, he decided to put this outside and cover it. Knowing it would sit outside, I made him an offer and he accepted.

The shippers pick it up soon and it will be in Maine in another month or so.

So, it's an 87 Brougham. It has 20,100 miles on it now. Here are the photos. The only upgrade I will do is some White Lettered BFGs and some factory sport wheels. Still deciding if they should be silver or white.

Anyway, it was the real deal. No stone chips, nicks, scratches, all original paperwork right down to the Oldsmobile "return if lost" key ring. It is like new. Even the R12 AC works. I will probably get that converted before it ships. Folks in the West tent to do it right.

I cannot wait for it to arrive home. I will surprise my son with it.

nklemens

More Pics

Gary's 2 442-S

that is a very good looking car.

nklemens

They did break the power antenna by leaving the cover on it. I have to swap it, it. It is included in the box.

nklemens

A few final ones.

oldcutlass

Very nice!

redoldsman

That is a very nice car. Enjoy.

oldsman72

Welcome to the site nklemens! Congrats on your, er, your son's new ride. Sounds like you have about 1.5 years to enjoy it 1st! Ya know, work out the bugs and such
Car looks sharp, best of luck with it.

66400

You have very special Olds.

But as many 16 yearolds tend to wreck their first car you might consider some other vehicle for a first car for an newly licensed driver.

Henry

zodiacblue442

That 87 looks immaculate! Wow! I have a good friend who was looking for an 85 - 87 or 88 Supreme Classic a couple years ago. He eventually found a very nice low miles car and took a big risk, and bought it sight unseen. Fortunately it worked out for him. He diligently searched for months for a car that met his criteria. Everything else he was looking at was $8,000 and up, or so worn they weren't worth buying. The other factor is this era of Olds Cutlass is very popular with certain groups to customize. It's extremely difficult to find near perfect, low mileage, original cars such as yours. I really think your car would sell for $9,000 to $10,000 pretty easily. Yes Olds made alot of this body style, but the 85-88's are the most desirable due to better reliability, and original low mileage examples are really hard to find these days. That's great your son is an Olds enthusiast, but this is actually a rare (now) collectible car. I'm not sure you would want to subject this car to a high school parking lot with many inexperienced drivers. Oh, and yes, the car would look great with a set of RWL tires and Olds SSIII's.

nklemens

Thanks for all the comments. My son has his permit now and will be licensed in October. This will not see snow. I will store it Winters.

I hear what you are all saying about 16 and a nice car like this. I have been looking for him for months. I am sure I will get most of the wheel time.

School is 3 miles from the house so miles will not add up too badly.

I will keep posting on the upgrades. I have to find some fairly rust free sport wheels for my son to restore. A tall order in Maine as they are pretty rusty.

Maybe he should drive my 13 Ram Hemi and I drive the olds?

We'll see how it goes.

I wish I kept my first toronado. I do not even have a photo of it to share. It was before the digital age.

Allan R

87 is a nicer front end IMO. So what ended up being the $$ price after a year + wait?

Jamesbo

Welcome aboard

nklemens

I hate to say. It was just about the low number that folks suggested. I think it was a steal as a good solid vehicle. I had looked at a bunch of junk for $1500 to $2500 that I had to put $2K into to make somewhat right. This was less.

Allan R

Good price for a nice car. Treat it nicely and it will return the favor many times over. They are great riding cars BTW, but sometimes can be prone to wind noise at highway speed. Just the nature of the beast though. Should be able to get a great insurance rate on it - are you registering it as a DD or a collector car?

Be sure to do a complete service on mechanicals and flush / replace fluids. They can deteriorate over time, especially with non use.

deejai35

Car looks great and you can't beat the family history.

tru-blue 442

Welcome. Nice ride.
Maybe you can find a sport
steering wheel for it too.

nklemens

I found a great buy this weekend. 4 14x7 painted SIIs complete for $100.00 and 5 14x7 chrome SIIIs for $110. From the same place. All with the caps. The SIIIs have some pitting and minor rust near the outer chrome edge, so I would need to use trim rings with them.

But, I think I like the SIIs the best. They just look better, period. They are a charcoal gray on the inside. I will not paint them white, I would keep them either argent or a steel gray or dark gray center.

Anyway, I told my son I found these on Craigslist for him to restore and sell for money for his car. I know I am cruel "whether it be an Aveo, Metro or Accent or similar". He is anxious to get them done. So I started cleaning the garage this weekend to give him a place to work.

Now I am shopping for tires with RWL. I have 2 options, Cooper Cobras or BFG Radial TAs. Stock was 205/70r14. I am thinking of 215/70r14s or even 225/70 or they have a 245/60 too.

Can you chime in on which size may look best?

I will get them mounted on the best looking wheels and most likely take them with me to pick up the car. The week of May 23rd is delivery!
time.

I hope he does not browse this forum looking for wheel refinish ideas. It would actually be kind of funny if he did.
Finally, what do youthink about the Grant repro sport steering wheels? For $105.00 they have black 3 spoke that looks pretty cool.

Sampson

Welcome to CO. Great find on that car! Your son is a lucky guy. And what a deal. Leaves plenty of room in the bank for your son to do some customizing. Here is one idea.



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Hetman

Congratulations on being able to acquire this wonderful car and keep it in the family! It's very beautiful, and being from the desert, perfectly preserved. An ideal car, in my opinion. You got an outstanding deal on it too. I paid about the same as you ($4000) for my 88 Cutlass Supreme Classic Brougham nearly 3 years ago, and mine had 34,500 miles and was completely original except for the tires. I've since replaced those old tires with new ones, as well as the belts and some hoses, and done normal fluid changes, etc. It drives and handles extremely well. Mine also has the F41 handling package as yours does, but someone removed your rear anti-sway bar. You can see the front triangulated support bars but nothing in the rear. Enjoy your car!

nklemens

No f41 on mine. Thats why it only has the front bar. F41 had both a front a rear. Definitely a good option. Mine is an old ladies car for now.

Hetman

OK, I didn't know the front bars were standard equipment, and assumed they were part of the F41 package. My 84 Monte Carlo does not have these front bars on it (nor a rear sway bar). So the Cutlass was better-equipped than the Monte Carlo?

nklemens

The olds is being delivered Tuesday. My son thinks he has a doctors appointment in the pickup city. We have spent the last few weeks refinishing the SIII wheels so he could "sell them on CL" to make some $$ for his first car. He has no idea I bought the cutlass for him and the wheels are for it. So the wheels have been fitted with some Cooper Cobras and sent to Grandmas house as "we live on an island and its hard to get folks to come and buy anythng as we are far from major cities" which is true. They will be driven down to the pickup point as the olds has the original Uniroyals on it and I do not dare to drive far on them.

Anyway the car is coming as the sole vehicle on the truck Tuesday and he has no idea. Hopefully the surprise goes well. Here are some photos of the wheels. Not bad for $90 and some elbow grease. I did spend $45 on the trim rings as well.

This is kind of funny, the other night we were driving back from Grandmas and he was saying how much better a full framed car is than a unibody. He wants his car to be full framed.

tru-blue 442

Nice work on the wheels.
What a nice Dad.