Hi there,

I am looking at the possibility of purchasing what I think must be a rare car in my part of the world -New Zealand. To view the car I will have to fly one and half hours to our South Island and then drive another one and a half hours to the cars' location. I have been doing some research into the Oldsmobile F85/Cutlass cars and now know that the car the car is a 1965 Oldsmobile Club Coupe. I do have a few queries that I am hoping members of this site can answer for me.

I have found out the cars VIN code which is 338275Z120979. The code breaks out as
The number on the head is T 624625G
The Cowl ID plate is as below
4C
ST65-33827 Body BF2991
TR 943-13 Paint CCA
ACC 27079
In an online article called "Curbside Classic: 1964 Oldsmobile F-85 (CCCCC Part 2 –
The 330 V8 came in a 230 hp version for the F-85. Cutlass came standard with a prettypotent 290 hp version. And the 442 had a 315 hp version. The 400 CID engine for the 442 was still a year away.
In 1965, engines were shuffled a bit, and the Cutlass now came standard with the 315 hp former 442 engine,according to the Encyclopedia of American Cars. That’s a bit surprising to me. Cutlass was still accentuating its

 

Welcome to the forum , looks like a very nice Olds. Someone hear will help you.

 

it could indeed be a post car cutlass,they werent all hardtops. as for the trim, it appears to have the correct one piece rear panel between the taillites. the wheel well trim probly got damaged and was removed, its missing lower body chrome in front of the front wheel, has deluxe dash and wheel, correct cutlass badges, not sure on door panels and i think the cutlass would have the paddle style inner door handles. 315 hp 330 is correct, thats just a few of the things i see,

 

Welcome to the site Norm.

Nice looking car! It does look to me like the Cutlass trim between the tail lights, and it has the full length hood spear that was used on the Cutlass, as well as the side trim. Not sure about the missing wheel well trim, it could have been removed by a previous owner. I've got a 1965 but am not an expert with this year. A couple other sites that have a lot of 1965 information are 442bro.com and ultra-high-compression.com


John

 

According to Setting the Pace, a 400 was offered in 1965. It was Option 442 W-29. 345 hp. Available on any F-85 V-8 coupe or convertible.

Three versions of the 330 were offered, putting out 250, 305, or 315 hp.

According to the 1965 Olds Chassis Service Manual, your car was the highest-end F-85 offered in 1965 and the only version using the word "Cutlass." You have a "Cutlass F-85 Coupe." There was also a 33837, "hardtop coupe," which suggests that your car is a post coupe, also called a "Sports Coupe" in Oldsmobile sales literature. Production of your model was 26,441 units, base price $2,643.

Yes, "38" was the Cutlass V-8 line.

33: standard F-85 with V-6 engine
34: standard F-85 with V-8 engine
35: Deluxe F-85 with V-6 engine
36: Deluxe F-85 with V-8 engine
38: Cutlass F-85 with V-8 engine

There was no "37" series.

 

I know it can get confusing. The A-bodies collectively are a "line" and are all F-85s at that level. Then there are the "series" as shown above.
By series and model, the only "Cutlass" is the 3800 series. And only the 3800 series will have the word "Cutlass" on paper and on the car itself.

Norm, in '65, there was a Cutlass post car, the 3827 Cutlass Sports Coupe. Which is the car you are looking at. It is not and F85 by model, nor is it a "Club Coupe" which is an F85 model. Thus the upscale trim you refer to.

For more info, check out the SPECS booklet free of charge at Wild About Cars:
http://wildaboutcarsonline.com/cgi-b...aldisplayed=50

Wild About Cars. http://wildaboutcars.com. An information supersource, especially Oldsmobile. More Olds content than anywhere else on the internet and continuing to grow.
You'll find Chassis Service Manuals, Product Information Manuals (AKA Assembly Manuals), Inspector's Manuals, and other documents that will contain this and much much more.
Dealer Brochures, magazine ads and articles, and the Automotive History Preservation Society library growing daily.
Free to join, free to learn.

 

Welcome nice car !!

 

Thanks to those who helped answer my query. It was especially good being able to see the original type documents in regard to the 1965 Cutlass Sports Coupe I will be viewing in the next week. Hopefully the car checks out well as it looks and I will be the proud owner in the near future. Cheers Norm

 

It is a very nice car. The interior upholstery pattern is different than the interior on my convertible. The door handles are also different. I don't know if this is because your car is a 'post' car and the hardtop and convertible models had different interiors.

Here is a link to the sales brochures :

http://www.lov2xlr8.no/olds.html

 

That is a sweet ride.

 

Post cars had the sedan arm rest and there were three different door handles to choose from the basic witch was
null-4.jpg
Next was
null-7.jpg

And the paddle style witch I don't have

 

 

Thanks for that Tom very interesting reading. One reason the upholstery is a different pattern is that I believe the seat covers have been replaced. Every photo in the link you sent me shows upholstery with parallel ribs.As far as the wheel arch chrome and front of guard chrome moldings I have read that these were standard on a 1965 Cutlass although one source suggested that only the hardtop and the ragtop had them as standard. If I do buy the car I would try and buy some secondhand trims and get them sent to me in New Zealand. Another option may be to have the wheel arch trims made in NZ. As long as I can get some good photos etc of them to get copied I think it may be feasible. What I couldn't get made is the small molding that connects the wheel arch trim to the side of body trim so I will leave it there for now.
Thanks again to all who replied to my query.
Regards
Norm

 

Looks like your details are in order

I'll say it's a damn nice solid looking car
I would not worry about the wheel opening moldings... but it's your car. They will be hard to find probably.

Hard to go wrong with a 330 of any type. Check the corner of the head- a large ID should be present. 1964 models sport a "1", 1965's bear a "2", or the big blocks would have an "A" for first year of issue in 1965.

 

Welcome to CO Sarum. Looks like a nice car, good luck with your decision.

 

Thanks for your comment6.Another odd thing about this car is that it has no chrome roof drip molding that follows the window chrome from the left rear door glass to the right of the front window glass. 1965 Club Coupes do not have this extra chrome molding either and I have even found original sales drawings that show the same thing "missing" on Clubs. The car I am looking at has plate codes for a Sports Coupe and should have the molding so what gives ? Can the molding be taken off at all? Maybe a rebirth for a good Club (post) body into a Cutlass? What do the Cutlass guys think?

 

Drip rail molding can be removed I just took mine off for body and paint work

 

Also can you get a better pic of the side chrome trim there is something odd about it the side trim comes up into the wheel well trim but can't really see

 

Nice car,I have the same model here, it to was a fremont built car,it has roof rail chrome trim,cutlass tail panel ,cutlass fender scripts,and has f85 cutlass on dash, same as the one pictured.The wheel opening mouldings were probably removed due to damage.Mine is bench seat none ac,330 4bbl.

 

Here is a pic if mine look at the side chrome trim

photo-3-1.jpg

Here is a close up on the arch

null-16.jpg

I think the car your looking at is a post coup with the cutlass package

 

Good to know the drip rail trims can be removed. As far as the mouldings that curve into the wheel arch there is a special v shaped (?) moulding that joins the horizontal segment into the wheel arch segment. So with the car I am yet to look at this v bit will be missing altogether or possiby hacksaw off to give a semblance of an original fitting.In the image of the blue guard and body trim/wheel arch trim corner it may look to some that it is all one piece but it isn't.
I guess there aren't enough Cutlass's left of this vintage to justify someone making and supplying reproduction parts like this. Going off on a tangent here (it's probably not a novel thought) but it has occurred to me that it may be viable for forums like this to use their collective purchasing power and have certain parts made to order. Take headers for the Cutlass with the 330 engine I wonder how many owners would put their hands up for a pair at a reasonable price?

 

Hi all I got up at 3.30am yesterday to catch a 6.10am flight to our South Island (of New Zealand) to check out the 1965 Cutlass Sports Coupe. Within minutes of looking at the car I had fallen in love with it.It is so much better than the images I first poster. The US owner (now deceased) had obviously spent considerable time,money and effort to get the car the way it is now.I have been told thst the and previous owner used to "show" the car sometimes so maybe there are site users (what's the right term anyway) that will know of the car if they saw it.
The car also has good power (has engine mods) and sits on the road better than I had anticipated. I am now in the process of buying the car and arranging for it to be shipped(literally) and freight by rail to me in Auckland (mid North Island). By this time next week all going well I will have the car sitting safely sitting in my garage. I thought I would take some new pictures and then post them on this site. Question is where would be the best location to post them? Also I am assume that I would need to post lower quality images to be able to do this. Any advice? Cheers