Gary Campbell's 1974 Cutlass Supreme

I never paid much attention to Cutlasses; Chevrolet was the only make that I was interested in. My thinking changed on May 31, 1991. A friend of a friend was selling his mother's car. The car was sitting in an apartment parking lot, so my father and I went to look at the car. We arrived at the parking lot, and there sat a 1974 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme 2 door colonnade hardtop. We learned the car had not been driven in over a year. The paint, once Cranberry Metallic, had oxidized to bleached brownish color. The white landau vinyl top had rotted to an almost powder-like consistency. The tires were also rotten as the sun had severely cracked the sidewall rubber. Under the hood however, the engine compartment was surprisingly clean. Only a few years worth of dust had accumulated. As we looked around inside the car, we noticed a practically flawless interior. The interior was cranberry colored. The odometer read 25,104 miles.
The owner liked Subarus, not Mother's "old tank". My dad purchased the car for a very good price, and was going to resell it. Once he drove the Cutlass, he loved the feel of the car and could not sell it. He wanted the car to stay in our family (and he needed a pick up truck) so he traded me the Cutlass for my 1967 Chevrolet El Camino. Three months worth of work followed. We replaced the tires, all belts and hoses, installed gas shocks, changed the oil, trans. fluid, and antifreeze, refurbished the landau top, and rubbed out the paint. The original cranberry color came back with a lot of paint deoxidizer and determination.

The Cutlass Supreme was originally purchased in Independence, Missouri at Lloyd Ketcham Oldsmobile. The car has a 350 cubic inch engine with 4 barrel carburetor. It has a Turbo Hydramatic 350 transmission and 2.73 rear end gears. The options the car has are: factory tint windows, door and body moldings, air conditioning, power brakes, landau top with paint striping, sport mirrors, Super Stock III wheels, and the convenience group which consists of a passenger visor vanity mirror, and map, glove box, hood, and trunk lights. Over the past six and a half years I have added the following options to the car: tilt steering column, sport steering wheel, AM-FM stereo (original GM of course!), rear window defogger, power trunk lid release, rear sway bar, and dual exhaust. I have driven the Cutlass almost every day to college and work, and it has served as very faithful transportation. In August of 1993, I won a first place trophy in the Olds Club of America's Denver regional show.

car:            1974 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme 2 door colonnade hardtop
color:          Cranberry Metallic
engine:         Olds 350 cubic inch
carburetor:     4 barrel Rochester Quadrajet
transmission:   Turbo Hydramatic 350
rear end ratio: 2.73:1

options:
 A01 soft ray tinted windows
 A90 power trunk lid release
 B84 protective side moldings
 B93 door edge guard moldings
 C49 rear window defogger
 C60 four season air conditioner
 CB1 vinyl landau roof with paint striping
 D35 sport mirrors
 JL2 power brakes
 N10 dual exhaust system
 N33 tilt-away steering column
 N34 custom sport steering wheel
 N72 super stock III wheels
 U58 AM-FM stereo
 Y60 convenience group

Gary's Email: GRCampbell@juno.com