Junkyard Find: 1974 Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon

Friday, October 4, 2013

Junkyard Find: 1974 Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon

10 - 1974 Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon Down On the Junkyard - Picture by Murilee Martin The fourth-gen Olds Cutlass was one of the few bright spots for The General as the Malaise Era grew darker for Detroit. You could get T-tops, factory 8-track players, velour interiors in a wide range of bright colors, and who cared if engines were making less than one horse per two cubic inches? The Salon was the top-of-the-line Cutlass for '74, with reclining bucket seats, radial tires, and other futuristic goodies. Here's one that I spotted in a Denver self-service yard not long ago; nearly 40 years of personal luxury for this Olds.
08 - 1974 Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon Down On the Junkyard - Picture by Murilee Martin Those body-colored hubcaps really added some class to the Cutlass Salon. The seat belt starter interlock, mandatory equipment in '74, added annoyance.
02 - 1974 Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon Down On the Junkyard - Picture by Murilee Martin Oh yes, Whorehouse Red interior was a must on a cream-with-red-roof Cutlass in this era.
11 - 1974 Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon Down On the Junkyard - Picture by Murilee Martin This car visited Mexico early in its career.
05 - 1974 Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon Down On the Junkyard - Picture by Murilee Martin I'm not going to look up the horsepower figures for what I'm guessing is an Olds 350, because they'll just depress everybody.
04 - 1974 Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon Down On the Junkyard - Picture by Murilee Martin Instead, imagine you're cruising your brand-new Cutlass Salon with the A/C blowing cold and Grand Funk on the radio.