Welcome back! Today we’re looking at two older vehicles that you can actually, you know, drive. I mean, they’re not perfect, but not having to call a tow truck to bring home a new car is a wonderful thing. Yes, I know, most people take that for granted. They shouldn’t.
Yesterday, we looked at an overweight Mustang that hasn’t run in years and a big ol’ Lincoln with no brakes. There was just no stopping that Lincoln anyway; it ran away with the vote. I have to agree; I don’t dislike that era of Mustang, but for four grand it had better run and drive, and be rust-free. I think someone saw old car prices climbing and is trying to cash in.
Besides, that old Lincoln is just so cool. Too cool for me to pull off, I think; you’d have to be a bass player in a rockabilly band or something to do that car justice. I’m pretty sure you could fit a stand-up bass in that back seat.
All right. As promised, today we’re sticking with pre-smog-test cars, but both of today’s contestants run and drive. One needs a tiny bit of work before it’s ready for a long journey, but nothing a good backyard mechanic couldn’t handle in an afternoon. Let’s check them out.
1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass Holiday Sedan – $3,200
Engine/drivetrain: 350 cubic inch overhead valve V8, three-speed automatic, RWD
Location: Everett, WA
Odometer reading: 48,000 miles (probably rolled over)
Operational status: Runs and drives well
FIrst, let me preface this by saying that this is another one I may get a few tiny details wrong on. Oldsmobile offered no fewer than seven body styles of Cutlass in 1970, with multiple trim levels for each one, for a total of fifteen different combinations. You had your base-model F85, your Cutlass S, your 4-4-2, which came with a 455 cubic inch “Rocket” V8, and your top-of-the-line Cutlass Supreme, which came with sour cream and diced tomatoes. Then you had your Sports Coupe, your Holiday Coupe, your Town Sedan, your Holiday Sedan – it just went on and on. This is definitely a Holiday Sedan, since it’s a four-door hardtop, and I think it’s an S model, not a Supreme like the ad says, based on reference photos I found. But it’s hard to find reference photos of four-door cars from this era online; most folks want the coupes.
Like probably the vast majority of 1970 Cutlasses, this one is equipped with a 350 cubic inch version of Olds’s Rocket V8, with a two-barrel carb and an automatic transmission. It runs and drives well, according to the seller, but that’s all the information we get. I note that it does not have power brakes or air conditioning, more indications that it isn’t a Cutlass Supreme. It could even have drum brakes in front. That’s the scary part of cars from this era; they were really good at going, but stopping and turning were not their forte.
The beige paint outside isn’t too exciting, but inside it’s a nice dark green. Once again we’re reminded that cars used to be available with a much wider array of color options, both inside and out. The driver’s seat is covered in a sheet, which doesn’t bode well for its condition, but new reproduction upholstery is available if it needs it. And the rest of it looks all right.
Outside, it’s the color of oatmeal, but it’s straight and more or less rust-free. All the trim pieces, even the wheel covers, are present and accounted for. Maybe that 48,000 miles is accurate after all.
1971 Dodge Sportsman 100 Van – $2,000
Engine/drivetrain: 225 cubic inch overhead valve inline 6, three-speed manual, RWD
Location: Kennewick, WA
Odometer reading: 190,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives great, but has recent damage to the oil pan
Vans are funny things. Some are unbelievably cool, some are creepy, some are tacky as hell, some are just noble workhorses. The cool factor can be hard to define, but I think this old Dodge has it. It’s an early Dodge B-series, which were good-looking vans anyway, and it’s the short-wheelbase model, which is always cooler than the longer variants. Those cop-car-style steelies and dog-dish hubcaps help a lot, too.
Powering this little blue box is a legend: the 225 cubic inch Slant Six, backed by a three-on-the-tree manual. It was rebuilt at 100,000 miles, and purrs like a kitten, but the seller’s elderly father recently dented the oil pan on a rock. It has been parked since the incident, probably out of fear of a damaged oil pickup. It makes sense. As long as it’s making good oil pressure, everything is probably all right, but pulling the pan and replacing it, and inspecting the oil pickup and pump, isn’t a bad idea.
Sportsman vans had windows, and usually rear seats, as opposed to Tradesman vans, which were panel vans with nothing in back. We only get the one photo of the interior, and I can see that the rear is trimmed out, but I don’t know if there are seats back there or not. The seller does say it would make an “awesome” camper van, so my guess is that if it had rear seats, it doesn’t now.
Outside, it looks pretty straight and clean, but the primer on the roof is a little worrying, One photo in the ad is from when the seller bought the van seven years ago, and that photo doesn’t show the primer. I worry that there is rust on the roof, and it has been “repaired” somehow.
Finding a car this age that runs and drives is no mean feat, let alone finding two of them. But here they are, a hardtop sedan and a shorty van, both with legendary engines. Which one is more your speed?
(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)
“…not having to call a tow truck to bring home a new car is a wonderful thing.”
True. I prefer to haul them home myself with a trailer but, in this imperfect world, circumstances don’t always work out that way.
I’ll take the van and save $1200. The Cutlass is pretty damn boring and for $3200 no way.. The van could be used to haul stuff, people, camp, etc. . I would want to look under the engine and closer at the roof, windshield and rocker panel. Probably ok but I don’t want a rusty surprise.
Can work with the van. That Cutlass in beige just looks like overcooked meat. Veal Cutlass?
The Dajiban is neat, but we’ll take the crew-cab Cutlass. The Holiday four-door hardtop is especially handsome, and I’d ditch that raggedy bench for buckets and a console anyway.
The Cutlass is fine, but it’s not really interesting enough to get my vote. For a 4-door sedan of that era, I’d probably go for something else (probably a wagon). The Dodge van is pretty tired, but I like it.
It’s not a 4-door sedan, it’s a 4-door hardtop – no B-pillar! That automatically makes it cooler and more interesting than a sedan. I’d readily give it a home.
That legitimately made me snarf the water I was drinking.
Thank you for that.
Of the two, I feel much more nostalgic for the Van than the Cutlass. My grandparents owned a ’71 Dodge van-based Class B motorhome, complete with a blue cab interior. The rust thinly veiled under primer in certain places give me pause, but not that much pause.
I’m pleasantly surprised that the van is winning. I was expecting to find my vote getting buried by votes for the Cutlass. Both have their merits, but the enthusiast street cred you would get from rolling around in an old van with the leaning tower of power and a manual column shift is off the charts. So awesome. As for the exposed primer, I’d paint this van the same way I would a chicken coop. With a bucket, a brush, and no fucks given about the finish.
I’ve always wanted a big old American barge, so Cutlass for me please. Some cleaning, polishing, and a bit of reupholstery could make it a nice driver without throwing too much money at it. For some reason, those Dodge vans never did anything for me and I’ve never had much of a desire to own one.
This is a tough one, because I really like them both. I went for the Cutlass, because I’ll be in less trouble with my wife if I drag that one home.
Just tell her your Buick needs a friend to play with when you’re not home. It works for cats, why not cars?
Honestly, if the Buick was completely put back together, and we had another garage spot, she’d probably be fine with it. Alas, neither is the case.
I’m going to go with th Olds. Both are cool, but pulling that straight-6 to replace the oil pan and inspect the bottom end is an absolute pain in the rear.
Both are good options, but I’m going with the Oldsmobile. I love the styling of that car. This car could look decent with a good cleaning. I would also reupholster the front seat since the interior otherwise looks to be in good condition. Otherwise, I would drive it as is.
The van just has so many possibilities. The Cutlass is a gigantic old sedan, which is fine but… yeah it’s fine.
Van please.
Midsize, actually. The 88s and the 98, those were gigantic.
Haha, yeah for the era. But it’s just about the exact same length as a modern minivan (which are not so mini) so I still put it in the realm of gigantic.
88s and 98s were basically continents on wheels.
My mom had a ’76 Olds Custom Cruiser. Fiat 128s would orbit it whenever she went out.
I have been a cutlass fan and this one in in driver quality condition. Can fix as you go if you wish.
The van….shag carpeting, 30 speaker sound system to drown out all those Taylor Swift fans with Slayer. A Tempurpedic mattress might fit too.
Van, please!
It is, as Mr. Clarkson would say, an van. It’s a little filthy but suitable for doing van things. I like a slant six and a three-on-the-tree, so that’s an easy choice.
Interestingly, the van and the garage appear to color-matched. The third pic in the CL ad shows this pretty well: the blue on the van looks the same as the trim on the garage door, and the off-white on the front bumper/push bar looks the same as the garage siding.
The right front tire is flat, so maybe grandpa also dented the wheel when he hit the boulder.
I really wanted that van, but I’m gonna have to put AC in whichever one I get, and I think it would be way easier to do that on the Olds.
But the van has a great big fan on the dash, no AC required.
I am jonesing for some big fan van action.
I christen the great big air-mover Jean-Claude Van Fan
I am a man who appreciates a big fan in a van, but AC cools like no big fan in a van can, so that would have to be part of the plan.
Same here w/r/t the AC. I was hoping the Cutlass had it, but there aren’t any dash vents. (Yeah, I get that it never got hot in Seattle back then, but air conditioning dehumidifies as well as cools, and buyers could afford it back when everyone within fifty miles of Puget Sound who wasn’t a Boeing executive had a union job on their assembly line.)
For the Dodge, I’d just go with the house-on-wheels theme with a high-capacity electrical system and battery and a hellacious mini-split or two.
I always wish that there were a BOTH or NEITHER choice.
Picking than van solely for the 3-on-the-tree manual, which I’ve never driven. Someday…
Ironically, one of the two 3-on-the-trees I’ve driven was a ’70 Pontiac LeMans, very similar to the Olds.
I have had 2 three on the tree. After 15 mph you are in top gear and just leave it alone.
Ha! Sounds like the 4 speed (really 3 speed with Low) in my F-250.
If I ever get to do it, I hope I do it right. In something like a Citroen DS with a 5 speed!
Cutless: Is that a bullet hole in the rear passenger door? Plus the rockers have to be rusted out.
I’ll take the blue van this time.
I had a ’72 Cutlass just like this one, only it was a lower trim and was a post body instead of a hardtop. It’s the only car I’ve ever owned that lit all 3 idiot lights at once (oil, volt, temp) and yet kept on running.
So out of nostalgia, I’ll vote for the Cutty.
Can we talk about why the barn is crooked?
I think the van is crooked, if you look at the 5th image in the ad it looks like both right tires are completely flat.
You’re right. What a weird way to photograph it.
“Maybe they won’t notice”
Well, I didn’t…
Damn, I didn’t see it either. Good spot, Rad!
Noticed that. Thought van or barn might be on a hill.
I almost went with the van until the rust and shoddy repairs. So, I’m just gonna sit this one out.
The van definitely has some janky rust repair. Zoom in on the top of the a-pillar in the second pic and you can see some of it. But it’s cheap, and the Cutlass has too many doors.
If you look closely you can see a bench seat in the van.
If our time with a Dodge Ram van as the family truckster (I’m thinking it was around a ’90) is any indication, any fabric seats will have you wishing for the gentle caress of burlap by comparison.
LOL!