There are a couple of pinhead size nicks just above the grill on the hood and the nose, and another above the far left headlight. There are a couple more pinhead size nicks on the doglegs and a nick on the back side of the passenger door. (see additional photos)

There are some very light, half inch scuffs on the rear quarter toward the back. They look like they would buff out and be almost nonexistent. There are 2-3 pinhead nicks and a couple 6” scratches on the rear quarter. There is also a little bubble on the bottom of the driver’s door. (see photos)

[ Body ] – If you look carefully at the angle shots, you can see how beautifully straight and gorgeous the body is. We would almost go as far as to say it is probably much like when it was new!

If you look at the straight-on shots, the fits and gaps around the different panels look very uniform. Nothing appears drastically off. These cars were not built to the same standards as cars are today – so they look much as they would have in the days when the car was built.

We looked over this Cutlass at many different angles, looking for dents in the body. We have not been able to find one. We also went over the body with a magnet and paint gauge. The owner said the quarters had been replaced, and it looks like a couple of small dents were removed (door dings, etc). The bottoms of the front fenders and the doors look like they may have been repaired at one point. The rest appears to be more or less undisturbed. There is a little spot on the door that might need attention.

The paint gauge shows 10-14 mils pretty consistently on the sides and the back of the deck lid. The rest of the upper surfaces are slightly higher than that (maybe 14-18 mils). Most repaints typically have a higher concentration on the top surfaces than the sides (which is also common at the factory).

[ Bright Work ] – The stainless around the windshield and the rear of the vinyl top is in great condition. It seems free of dents, misfits, etc. The chrome strip between the side windows is in nice condition with minimum wear, as is the strip on the back side of the hood.

The 2 short pieces at the back of the front fenders are pitting, as are the door handles. There is a small section of bright work missing on the left rear corner above the left rear tail light.

The wheel opening moldings are in nice condition and appear to be free of damage and dents. The bright work running down the lower side looks good, although it does have a couple of set screws to hold it on. These are typically used when the factory clips did not hold as well as they should. These match on each side and look nice.

The bright work on the front grill looks fine; though the black paint could be redone, and the gray could be refinished. The front and rear chrome shows minor wear, but looks nice. It would probably look like a couple year old car if it was cleaned up. The bumper guards show a little wear and tear, but seem to be aligned very well.

The front lenses are in place and look good; however, a couple of small pieces have chipped out. The rear bumper shows some tarnish and wear, but could be cleaned up. The tail and back up lights appear in tact but the left back up light looks discolored inside.

[ Glass ] – The glass looks older but appears nice, overall. We did not see any obvious discoloration, delamination, bulls-eyes, cracks, or wiper wear. The front windshield has a built in antenna and says BPG. The right side windows also says BPG; the left sides says LOF glass. The glass looks pretty nice, and only shows a minor amount of wear. The driver’s window has 3-4 light 6” scratches, which can only be seen at the right angle. The rear view mirror is discolored (see photos). .

[ Convertible top ] – The top looks nice and white, and does not appear to be yellowing. It has kept its color well, but could probably use a little cleaning. The vinyl seems pretty soft and supple, and the stitching along the sides is in good condition. The frame work seems to be in good shape, and it powers up and down just fine. It appears to have many good years left.

[ Interior ] – The interior was redone by the current owner. He said he kept with the original interior design, but replaced the vinyl because it was so hot in the summer. He designed inserts with the same design and stitching as the original - but used cloth for more comfort. It looks very fresh and has obviously not seen much exposure. The color is good and rich, and there does not seem to be any damage or wear to the cloth.

The seatbelts show some age, but could possibly be cleaned up. The sun visors look like they were made at same time as the seats. They are fabricated from vinyl and stitched in the same way. The inside of the top looks nice and presentable.

The top portion of the door panels looks like they were redone. The carpet and the bottoms of the doors look lighter, but seem to match fairly well. The top section of the dash is not cracked or damaged, and appears intact. If you look at the close up pictures of the gauges, you can see they are all in nice condition. The after market AM/FM stereo cassette is mounted inside the hole for the original radio, but it is not tightly secured.

The steering wheel is in nice condition but has 2 small cracks at 3 and 9 o’clock, and a tiny one at 12. They are not very significant, but you can see them in the photos.

[ Trunk ] – The trunk is painted black on the sides and has a tailor made mat that matches the interior carpet. We removed the mat to see the condition of the floor. It looks pretty original. You can see a couple of spots/holes there a trailer hitch was removed. There is also some light scale. We did not see a tire, wheel, or jack.

[ Tires and Wheels ] – All 4 tires are BF Goodrich Radial T/As, size P245 – 60 – 15. They all appear to have about 9/32 tread. We did not see any cracking on the outside of the tires, or damage to the tires or wheels.

The wheels appear to be the Chevy SS style. They are painted to match the car and look very striking. They have nice caps with outside trim rings. The left front is missing the SS emblem, and the right rear has a tiny nick.

*Note – This Cutlass has been stored inside and we did not have the opportunity to scrub the white letters. Once they are washed up, they will look really sharp (with the white top!).

[ Engine and Transmission ] – The engine compartment looks fairly original except for the excel coil, braided hose covers, chrome air cleaner and valve cover, and the headers that were installed.

The engine is 350 c.i.. The owner suggests using 87 octane gas (or higher) with a lead additive.

[ Chassis ] – Looking underneath the car, the frame looks good and solid, from front to back. We were not able to detect any noticeable repairs. It all looks original, or close to it. Cars typically get weak on the rails over the back axles, and in front of rear tires, but this one is in nice condition.

Looking at the floors, it looks like the floor pans are original (see photos). We did not notice any obvious rust perforation, or any repair spots. You can see the bottom side is left pretty natural. There is some light surface rust, but most of the frame/chassis components have been covered with road film, oil, etc. over the years. That is probably what preserved it so well. The chassis also looks like it may have had some light undercoating years ago. It is fairly worn, but that makes it easy to inspect the underside.

Behind the rear wheel mud flaps (where it kicks up inside the rear quarters), the black area looks like some filler was used to make a repair. There is also an area inside the left rear wheel well that is about 1ft long and 4-5” wide where it appears some non-metal repair work was done. It is common for these cars to rust there in their early years.

The rear shocks are an air type. The rear end seems dry, but the transmission is a little damp in the front. The inspection cover for the converter is missing, but it may be from when the headers were installed. They had to install a remote oil filter, we believe the hoses may not allow the inspection cover go back on as it was originally. We did not notice any obvious brake fluid leaks at any of the 4 braking areas.

All in all, even though there has been a little repair work underneath, this car is a very good example of a natural, original, solid Cutlass that has seen very little exposure.

[ Mechanical ] – The car steers smoothly, but there is a little steering wheel movement from a slight tire vibration at 60mph. The brakes stop well without pulling or pulsating. It starts fine (like a carb car) with a slight lope from the camshaft. But it picks up speed fine. It also seems to shift properly and works overall as it was designed.

Chad tried the following items and they were working at the time of the listing: • Headlights (low and high beam) • Parking lamps • Front and rear turn signals (left & right) • Tail lights • Brake lights • Back up lights (left side not working) • Courtesy light

The clock is not working. The trunk release button needs to be reinstalled and the radio is not mounted securely. The emergency brake was not touched because it has not been used in so long. The air was cooling fine a month ago, but the Freon may be low. The compressor seems to be ok.