Julle

My lovely Cutlass Supreme Brougham 1977

Eddie Hansen

oldcutlass

Nice car, welcome to the site.

Julle

Mike77

nice looking car. However it's not a 1977 Cutlass Supreme. Looks like a Buick. look at my Avatar not even close to a 77CS

Julle

It was sold brand new like this in Sweden, maybe that makes a different? In US you have 4 headlights, I have just 2 with H4-lamps in them. What else is different?

Allan R

Julie, that's a 1978 Cutlass Supreme Brougham. It's the first year of the downsized Cutlass lineup. You can't go by the number of headlights on the car to validate it being European. BTW the wheels on the car are also not stock - meaning it was never delivered from the factory with them. They've been added by a previous owner.

Allan R

This is 1977

Julle

Fun71

If it were a new car, it could have been manufactured and shipped during the previous year. My 2006 Volvo was built in late summer 2005 and I took delivery in October, 2005 at the US dealership.

jaunty75

Haven't we seen this issue before with people registering their U.S.-made cars in Europe? Her car is a 1978 model year Oldsmobile, but as we all know, production starts in the fall of the previous year. If they look at the assembly date on the cowl tag or driver's door jamb, it might very well say "10/77" or something like that, and they take that to mean that it's a 1977 Oldsmobile and leave it at that. I mean, how many of us know anything at all about how cars are registered in Sweden?

Just thinking out loud here.

Allan R

Actually it's not strange at all Julie. Production of the 1978 Oldsmobile started in Late July for the production year. Your car was obviously one of the early production models that was likely mass produced (production lines running 2 or 3 shifts a day) simply to build the inventory that dealers needed to fill demand. The Cutlass was a popular seller back then. I bought a 78 Cutlass Calais off the showroom of Stedelbauer Chev Olds here in Edmonton back in 1978. It was a burgundy padded landau roof with lower silver body, SSIII wheels and a red interior with buckets and rallye gauges.
Look under the hood, on the cowl ( directly in front of the VIN) there should be a plate that looks like this:

It will of course be different information for your specific car. It's called a cowl tag. See if you can find it and post a picture of it.

The 1978 Olds Cutlass didn't always have an Olds engine either. Some were built and delivered from the factory with Chevrolet engines. If you're not sure what your car is, post your VIN and it can provide the clue to that engine.

Julle

I will check my Car for plates when I take it out from winter storage. Here is the vin number: VIN 3K57R7M344233 Hope you can find something

Allan R

I would guess that your VIN starts out like this: 3M27(Letter) 8(Plant ID)XXXXXX

The cowl tag is a different story.

Allan R

Ok, here you go
Year:1977 Which still makes no sense seeing as the body is clearly a 1978
Division:Oldsmobile
Series:Cutlass Salon
Body:Coupe
Engine:350 (5.7) V8 4BBL
Plant:Lansing, Michigan
Serial Number:344233

Julle

Greg Rogers

Very nice looking car, Julie! Welcome to the forum!

Allan R

I can't help but wonder if this is the same kind of year transition that happened with 1988 models, but in reverse. The sequence number on your car is not consistent with an early 78, but is consistent with a late 77

Julle

Jamesbo

Welcome aboard

CRUZN 66

The VIN does represent a 1977 Model year vehicle as we know it for domestic distribution in the US... However, since it is indicated that the vehicle was first registered in Sweden in September 1977, it would appear that it was a direct export to Sweden...Possibly GM had different vehicle documentation requirements for exporting vehicles to Sweden... Otherwise, unless there is a finite paper trail, one may consider a VIN swap somewhere along the way...

CRUZN 66

Not saying it couldn't be a possibility, but the 1988 model year change was two completely different body lines, G vs W... The 77/78 bodies were both A-Body transitions...

Allan R

Which is totally illegal. This is an interesting mystery

76olds

[QUOTE=Julle;1146849]Thank you for the info! It seems to be a mystery car I have.

Very nice mystery car
I own a 76 which is the same ( very similar ) as the 77 ( 76/77 being a 2 year only body style) Your 78 looks really nice and in great shape! Shows well.
If and when you need to order or finds parts, look for years 1978-80. haha
Welcome!

Eric

joe_padavano

OK, let me be clear. There is absolutely no fuzz on this. That is a VIN from a 1977 Cutlass Salon 2dr with an Olds 350 motor built in Lansing, MI. There are more than a few problems with this. First, "3K57", which is the car model and body style, was not used for the downsized 1978 models. More importantly, the only Cutlass Salon models in the 1978 model year were the aeroback style, not the notchback. The only notchback 2drs for 78 were the Supreme or the Calais. Second, the fifth character of the VIN is the engine. The "R" signifies the Olds-sourced 350 motor. That motor was NEVER certified nor installed in any Cutlass car in the 1978 model year, except the wagon and then only for high altitude use. Third, the sixth character of the VIN is the MODEL YEAR, not the calendar year, and "7" is 1977 model year, period. Finally, as Allen points out, build sequence number 344233 is very high for a Lansing built car supposedly produced in the first month or two of the model year. I hate to say this, but that is not the correct VIN tag for the car in the photo. It's been swapped, which does not bode well. Sorry.

Here are pages from the Olds parts book that decode the 1977 and 1978 VINs. I've also included the pages from the 1978 brochure that show the models, body styles, and engine availability.

CRUZN 66

We hold that to be true here in the US... But that VIN appears to have spent it's time in Sweden from initial inception, or it would seem...

joe_padavano

Wrong year, wrong engine, and wrong body style. That car was NOT born with that VIN tag, period. No part of GM, either in the US or in Europe, installed that tag.

76olds

Its licensed and plated so I guess the MTO in Sweden is okay with it. Continue to show, drive and enjoy it . Just keep in mind, its a 78 if you happen to look for parts at anytime down the road.
Also see what power plant you have under the hood and order parts for your specific engine if you want to tune it someday

Eric

Julle

76olds

The ownership will just state either 8 cylinder or 6 cylinder. Won't specify what make of engine. However looking at the engine you will be able to tell which engine you have. You may even have a transplant 350 ? never know, that would be a plus !
Did you take any pics of the engine before storage?

Eric

rickman

Julle. Beautiful car, whatever the papers or tags state, very nice! Welcome and thanks for sharing.

Rick

scrappie

Nice looking car. I had a 79 cutlass supreme back a ways.
So with all this V.I.N. stuff can we assume the car may have been stolen here in U.S., V.I.N. swapped and shipped overseas? or maybe this was done somehow by a dealer?

Julle

Thanks!

Julle

According to the previous owner the car was bought brand new from a Swedish Oldsmobile dealer. I don´t think there is any kind of fraud (the car is not that rare to bother). I would be more concerned if it was a Ferrari or equal. It probably is just a mistake made by the dealer or the Swedish car registry dept.

Allan R

No Julie, a VIN is a sacred part of the cars heritage. GM would never make that mistake, neither would a dealer change out the VIN plate. I would be really curious to see what the VIN actually is, especially since you believe it is a Swedish clerical error at the dealer or DMV. I can't see that happening as these details are checked quite carefully on a Bill of Sale. I agree it's a lovely car and not the same kind of following as exotics. Even in North America they don't have a large following.

joe_padavano

Look, this is easy to resolve. Post a photo of the VIN tag on the dash and the cowl tag. There is NO WAY any GM-affiliated dealer in any country would put a 1977 VIN tag on a 1978 model year car, period. If the VIN the OP posted is from some documentation and not the one on the actual car, then there's likely a clerical error. If the VIN on the car is, in fact, the one posted above, it's been switched and the car was likely stolen.

Allan R

Easier said than done. Apparently the car is in storage for the winter now.

Julle

JohnnyBs68S

Take some pictures under the hood too while you are at it, that will reveal the mystery of what engine you have.

Sharp ride by the way! Even if it has been re-VIN'd at some point in its history, it looks to be in really good shape.

Allan R

There will be a stamping pad on the block under the head number. That is called a VIN derivative. It will tell you the last 6 digits of the cars VIN number, assuming it is the original engine. That number would also be on the left side of the transmission housing, on the vertical lip under the speedo gear adapter. I don't know if you're the type of gal who would crawl under a car or get dirty in the engine compartment or would have someone find this for you but, here ya go.

This VIN deriviative is from a 1975 Olds built at Arlington TX


TH350 Transmission (also a 75 Olds but built at Fremont CA)