My name is Doug (Hi Doug!) and I'm a proud new owner of a 1969 Oldsmobile F-85. It needs a lot of work, but I see her for what she can become. I'm looking forward to learning more about her, and about other peoples' Olds success stories. I have a ton of questions - so, for you veterans out there, please bear with me for a little while till I get on my feet.

First things first - I want her to be fast. And I want her to look husky and aggressive. Will 275/60/15 rear wheels and tires fit for every day driving? And, what size front tires go with that? Some that I've seen seem almost dainty. Advice?

 

Welcome to CO

 

Welcome aboard Doug

 

Thanks, gentlemen. I can see already I'm gonna be stuck on here! It's addictive.

 

Welcome to the CO

 

Welcome to our site! It's the best place to be, lol!!

 

Welcome to Classic Olds, 69 is a great year but my buddy says they are the "lost" year. Post some pics of your car please!

 

Welcome to the site Doug. Looking forward to seeing pictures of your car. You'll find the members here are very knowledgeable and always willing to help.

 

I'm still trying to figure out how to post pictures directly into this thread, but, in the meantime, I have a few pictures in my photo album. Warning, it's not pretty - but give me till the end of next summer!

 

Is it a Cutlass, or is it really "just" an F-85. It was possible to get a non-Cutlass F-85. It was available only as a 2-door coupe that year, and that's what your car is.

Can you post the VIN? No real reason. Just curious.


I have to say now, though, in looking at your album again that I do see what appears to be the word "Cutlass" on the fender behind the front wheel in one of the photos.

 

I believe it's just an F-85. But honestly, I don't really know. I have the VIN number at home. I'll post it later on this evening. Hopefully you can tell me for sure.

You're right, there is no Cutlass emblem on the Fender on either side. There is only an F-eightyfive emblem on both sides. The emblem on the trunk says Oldsmobile (script, just like on the hood). I'm hoping that being just an F-85 makes it unique in some way. If I can judge from the ridiculously high prices I've been getting for used emblems - there don't seem to be too many of this car floating around out there.

Would love it if you (or someone else) could tell me more about this car. Again, I'll post the VIN# later tonight.

 

Actually, I thought there WAS a Cutlass emblem on the fender. But it's hard to tell.

If it doesn't say Cutlass anywhere, then it most like is just an F-85. Production of those was lower than for the Cutlasses as they were the lowest-end Oldsmobile you could buy. I have the production figures at home and can post them later today.

It's certainly likely that, regardless of relative production levels, there are fewer as a percentage of the F-85's remaining now than of the various Cutlasses. That makes it likely more rare than any '69 Cutlass, but that doesn't necessarily translate into higher value because they're not necessarily as desirable as a collector car, either. Not trying to take anything away from what you have there as I think you have a very cool car precisely because it IS much less common today.

The "plain" F-85's were a more utilitarian vehicle back in the day. Anyone who bought one likely did so because they wanted to get into an Oldsmobile as inexpensively as possible. Anyone with any money to spend and looking for a little more flash would have gone for one of the many flavors of Cutlass, or even a 442.

 

Post your cowl tag info and we can decode that for you too.

 

OK.

Production of 1969 F-85 V-8 Sports Coupes was 5,541. The only other version of the F-85 available was with a 250 cubic-inch L6 (a Chevy engine, I believe), and production of that totaled 2,899. Thus total 1969 F-85 production was 8,440.

By contrast, there were only 553 1969 Cutlasses with the L-6 engine (137 4-door sedan, 236 4-door hardtop, and 180 wagons).

There were a total of 40,126 Cutlass V-8's that year (24,521 4-door sedan, 7,046 4-door hardtop, and 8,599 wagons).

There were 1,285 Cutlass S's with the L-6 made (483 2-door coupes, 566 2-door hardtops, and 236 convertibles).

There were 90,675 Cutlass S V-8's made (10,682 2-door coupes, 66,495 2-door hardtops, and 13,498 convertibles)

There were 37,428 Cutlass Supremes made (4,522 4-door sedans, 8,714 2-door 4-door hardtops, and 24,193 2-door hardtops).

Finally, there were 26,357 442's made (2,475 2-door coupes, 19,587 2-door hardtops, and 4,295 2-door convertibles).


In sum, there 8,440 F-85's of both types made, 170,067 Cutlasses of all types made, and 26,357 442's. The F-85 was definitely in the minority, and this makes your car all the more interesting.


Also, if you want to add them in anywhere, there were 11,879 2-seat and 21,508 3-seat Vista Cruisers made that year.

 

Great to have another 69 on board. They seem to be favorite here.

 

Welcome to the forum!

 

Thanks for all the helpful feedback. I feel good that my new Olds is rare - even if it is the entry level Oldsmobile! It's a collector to me!

In the meantime, I posted my Cowl tag in my album - please feel free to tell me what it means. All I can tell to this point is that it is in fact a 1969 Olds and that the Body Paint Code (61) is Sable...but beyond that, I'm stuck. I'm hoping it tells me something about the interior colors as well.

As promised the VIN# for the vehicle is 332779E178180

Thanks again for all the insight.

DO

 

That VIN tells you mostly what you already know. It's a 1969 Olds F-85 two-door (Sports Coupe) with a V-8 engine. It was built in Linden, New Jersey.

I don't have info to decode the cowl tag (others will) other than to say that the 06A is the build date and translates to the first week (A) of June (6). That would be June 1969, which means that this car was built late in the model year as production generally came to a halt around the end of July (?) to do the switchover to new model year production in time for the new models to be in dealer showrooms by late September or October.

I think the fact that there are two 61's on the cowl tag tell you that both upper and lower body colors were the same, which, again, you already knew. But those numbers would be different if you had a different color top or a vinyl top or a convertible top.

 

Cowl tag decodes as follows,

'69 F-85 2 dr sedan with a V8 assembled in Linden, NJ was unit # 714 has gold interior with bench seat, has chrome door window frames, sable lower body color with sable vinyl top and was built on the first week of June in 1969

 

Thanks for the info everyone. It's interesting to learn that it used to be a vinyl top. It's a hard top now, so I guess someone swithched it out at some point along the way. Here's hoping the gold interior isn't too gaudy!