In the Middle of the Road: The Oldsmobile Cutlass and 4-4-2

[NINETY EIGHT REGENCY]

In the Middle of the Road: The Oldsmobile Cutlass and 4-4-2

Written by Aaron Severson

Saturday, 27 February 2010 00:00

The 4-4-2 was Oldsmobile's entry in the "Supercar" wars of the mid-sixties and early seventies. Although it was never as lauded or as popular as the Pontiac GTO or Dodge Charger, it outlived many of its rivals, and helped pave way for Oldsmobile's ascendancy in the 1970s.

This week, we look at the history of the Oldsmobile F-85, Cutlass, and 4-4-2.

THE FIRST OLDS CUTLASS

Back in the benighted days of the seventies and early eighties, the best-selling nameplate in America was not a Chevrolet, a Ford, or even a Toyota, but the ubiquitous Oldsmobile Cutlass. In 1977, the division's best-ever sales year, Oldsmobile sold 1,135,909 cars, 674,564 of which were Cutlasses of one sort or another. The Cutlass was not the world's most attractive design, nor was it outstandingly quick, economical, or luxurious, but it was a competent middle-of-the-road car, and it sold like mad.

It was not always so. The Cutlass got off to a disappointing start in the early sixties, and for much of the decade, it was overshadowed by its A-body cousins, the Chevrolet Chevelle/Malibu and Pontiac Tempest/Le Mans/GTO. It was not until the early seventies that it began its remarkable ascent.

The first Oldsmobile Cutlass was a 1954 show car, a plastic-bodied fastback with a louvered rear window and dramatic fins; you can see photos of it here. It took its name from the U.S. Navy's Vought F7U Cutlass fighter, which entered squadron service around the time the show car debuted.

A Vought F7U-3M Cutlass of VF-83 'Rampagers' taking off from the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Intrepid in late 1954. The later Olds Cutlass was far more successful than its Naval namesake. The F7U was an underpowered, evil-handling fighter with the worst safety record of any USN aircraft of its era. "Gutless" was the kindest (and most printable) of the many nicknames crews bestowed on it. (1954 U.S. Navy public domain photo)

The Cutlass show car was not GM's prettiest design, but it was quite racy, something that could not be said of contemporary Oldsmobiles. The original Olds Rocket Eighty-Eight of 1949-1950 had been the darling of hot rodders and stock car racers, even winning the first Carrera Panamericana rally, but since then, Olds had succumbed to middle-age spread. By the late fifties, the Oldsmobile brand was most easily defined by what it was not: it was not as sporty as the new Pontiacs, as posh as a Buick, or as prestigious as a Cadillac. It was a big, soft, conservative car, aimed at middle-class buyers with little interest in performance or ostentation.

GM'S SENIOR COMPACTS

In the late fifties, the United States suffered a short but severe recession, beginning in the fall of 1957. Auto sales were hit hard, particularly middle-class brands like Buick and Oldsmobile. Many buyers turned to compact imports; Volkswagen sales rose to more than 120,000 units in 1958, causing considerable alarm in Detroit.

In response to the recession, General Motors decided to invest heavily in compact cars. The first would be the Chevrolet Corvair, followed a year later by a line of "senior compacts" from Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Buick. All would share a new unibody shell, known internally as the Y-body, and a new 215 cu. in. (3.5 L) aluminum V8, co-developed by Buick and Oldsmobile.

Despite the recession, Olds management was not convinced that they needed a compact car. Although Oldsmobile sales had taken a 22% hit in 1958, they recovered handily for 1959, and customers were not exactly crying out for a smaller car. Chief engineer Harold Metzel had considerable doubts about the unitized Y-body, preferring the greater isolation of body-on-frame construction. Everyone was worried about the new aluminum V8, which was expensive to build, and strained the division's manufacturing technology to its limits.

Left to its own devices, we're not sure that Oldsmobile would have built the Y-body at all, but the corporation was already committed, and development went forward at a brisk pace. The "senior compacts" went on sales in the fall of 1960 as 1961 models.

At the suggestion of general manager Jack Wolfram, the Olds Y-body was dubbed "F-85." The name was inspired by another 1954 show car, the F-88, which was itself was inspired by U.S. Air Force nomenclature. (There was no production F-85 aircraft, but the USAF had assigned that designation to an experimental McDonnell "parasite fighter" called Goblin, intended to be carried in the bomb bay of a heavy bomber.)

THE OLDSMOBILE F-85

The F-85 was the smallest car Oldsmobile had offered since 1932, nearly two feet (60 cm) shorter and more than half a ton lighter than the division's contemporary full-size models. Prices started at $2,384, a sizable $451 less than an Olds Dynamic Eighty-Eight. Standard power was Oldsmobile's version of the 215 cu. in. (3.5 L) aluminum V8, with 155 gross horsepower (116 kW).

Despite its smaller size, the F-85 drove much like the big Oldsmobiles of its day, with a soft ride, slow steering, and a near-total aversion to enthusiastic driving. With the optional Roto Hydramatic automatic, it was capable of 0-60 mph (0-97 kph) in 14.5 seconds, a top speed of 102 mph (164 kph), and up to 22 mpg (10.7 L/100 km) -- reasonable, if hardly startling.

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