1988 Olds Cutlass Supreme International | Retro Review

[NINETY EIGHT REGENCY 504]

 

[trinacriabob 1,535]

I never was able to get into this model.  It's mostly the blacked out/hidden rear pillars and the big taillights when the front lights and fascia are so narrow, and look decent.

The announcer was right.  The market tapered because people were "Cutlassed-out," as he said at the beginning of the video.  In this year, 1988, they ran both this new body style and the Cutlass Supreme Classic, the RWD phase out model.

To think about it, they used this platform from 1978 to 1987 ... with a major refresh in 1981, which was a very good refresh!  In between those years, we saw the names Cutlass Supreme, Cutlass Supreme Brougham, Cutlass Calais, and, once again, Cutlass Salon.  I may have missed one or two, such as 4-4-2 et al.

As for the 1988 in the video, I didn't care for rear pillars (I already said that), the dash (which got much better in the 1995 model) even though I like those digital gauges, the upholstery for the seats, the small and busy radio buttons, and the amount of exposed carpeting between the 2 rear bucket seats, which are sort of cool but poorly executed.  The Regal GS or similar package did a better job with 2+2 seating than did the Cutlass of the same years.

This model was not a solution. Sales eventually fell even more.  The solution that worked was the Intrigue, in 1998.  You saw so many of them on the road in no time flat.  People gravitate toward good design, even if they can't vocalize what it is about it that they like.  Let the people in the design labs and studios use all the high falutin' design words, as long as they come up with something good!

[oldshurst442 4,510]

Cutlass Ciera is missing and I want to include it because  its a car that I liked JUST because my dad bought a Celebrity.  I liked the 2.8 V6 Eurosport Celebrity. I hated the Iron Duke one my mom made my dad buy...  And the Ciera would be the next in line from that platform I liked.  The Pontiac 6000 ST/E would be the 3rd itineration that I liked from these platforms.  

Back to the FWD W Body Cutlass Supreme. 

I liked all of them. I started LOVING them in the early 1990s when Olds added the ribbed body cladding to them.  Especially the convertible .

 The Grand Prix Turbo and GTP were my favorites.   

But my favorite interior from these early W Bodies were from the Cutlass Supreme. The original dashboard and digital. But the analog one is cool to me too. 

 

 

[trinacriabob 1,535]

4 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

Cutlass Ciera is missing and I want to include it because  its a car that I liked JUST because my dad bought a Celebrity.  I liked the 2.8 V6 Eurosport Celebrity. I hated the Iron Duke one my mom made my dad buy...  And the Ciera would be the next in line from that platform I liked.  The Pontiac 6000 ST/E would be the 3rd itineration that I liked from these platforms.  

Back to the FWD W Body Cutlass Supreme. 

I liked all of them. I started LOVING them in the early 1990s when Olds added the ribbed body cladding to them.  Especially the convertible .

 The Grand Prix Turbo and GTP were my favorites.   

But my favorite interior from these early W Bodies were from the Cutlass Supreme. The original dashboard and digital. But the analog one is cool to me too. 

The name Ciera is a match for the Cutlass family, but the platform, shared with Century/6000/Celebrity, is different.  I forgot the letter of that GM chassis.  Of these, I liked the 6000 the best - nicer front end, rear fascia, and clean looking dash.  Of the possible engines for these four, I liked the 3300 V6 the best (only found in Olds and Buick).

I once had a '95 Cutlass Supreme coupe as a rental.  I liked it.  I didn't love it.  It was way better than the '88 base model that would have had the 2.8 V6. I liked the fuel mileage and decent response of the 3.1, the nicer dash, the alloy wheels (kudos to the '88 International for the alloys that resemble latticed wire wheels), and the blue illumination in the gauge cluster.

The one I had as a rental was white.

I liked this dash much better.  Simpler to work with, too.  I had black cloth buckets in my rental.  These look like leather.

- - - - -

Was that Iron Duke your family bought a dud in terms of power or was it a dud in terms of reliability?  Or both?

I've known people who had either Cieras or Centurys with 3300s that, like 3800s, ran forever.

 

 

[Robert Hall 7,772]

A buddy of mine in Colorado back around 2000-2001 bought a clean '95ish Cutlass Supreme convertible, red w/ a white interior to replace his aging Sunbird convertible (which was that neat two tone gray/black from around '86 or so).   I remember the hoop structure the Cutlass had so they could keep the beer tap style door handles on the convertible...rode in it several times, neat car....last I checked, he still has it, along w/  an '06 GTO and '09 G8 GXP along w/ his oldies ('69 GTO Judge and '69 Cutlass 442). 

[trinacriabob 1,535]

@Robert Hall I think they called that '90s Cutlass convertible styling the "basket handle" roof or something like that.  Good term.  Just like "Dustbuster" is a good term for the early GM minivans.

I loved those gull wing door handles on my '90s W-body vehicle.  They looked clean.  I even went onto EBay or Amazon and bought one for less than $30 and replaced the driver's side myself, with the help of a friend.