Good morning! It’s the end of the week, and we’re all the way up to O in our trip through the alphabet. Today is all about General Motors, as we take a look at two nice and clean coupes in excellent colors. Yeah, they’re expensive, but they’re the nicest examples of their kind you’re likely to find.
Yesterday’s choices were awfully nice too, especially that NSU, and it ended up winning the vote. Rotary power and space-age styling is a hard combination to beat, especially in that pretty blue. Yeah, you’ll have a hard time finding parts for it, but you’re guaranteed to have the only one at any given car gathering.
But I think I have to vote for the beluga whale. I prefer the Hudson Hornet’s styling, but the big bathtub Nashes are awfully cool, too. And I know I can keep a big dumb six-cylinder alive. If I want rotary power someday, it’ll be a Mazda. At least those you can get parts for.
All right, who’s ready to revisit the Seventies? Today we’ve got two of the General’s coolest two-door offerings from that decade that brought us leisure suits and Poco. And true to form, they’re both in garish colors: bright frickin’ orange, and bright frickin’ green. Let’s check them out.
1974 Opel Manta Rallye – $13,500
Engine/drivetrain: 1.9 liter overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, RWD
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Odometer reading: 83,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives great
The first-generation Opel Manta holds a special place in my heart, for a strange reason: my parents had a red ’71 Manta when I was born, so it would have been the very first car I ever rode in. I don’t remember it; it was wrecked (not with me in it) and replaced with a ’74 Pinto wagon when I was still a baby. But as much as I like unusual cars, two-door coupes, and small European imports, that red Manta must have left some sort of imprint on my tiny, still-developing mind. It may, in fact, have been what turned me into a car guy. Would I be here, writing about cars every day, if my dad had chosen a boring old four-door Dart or something? Maybe not. We’ll never know.
This Manta is the one to get, if you’re in the market. It’s a Rallye model, with stripes, a blacked-out hood, and stiffer suspension tuning. Right up front, I should tell you it has a rebuilt title, because – get this – somebody scrapped it. What kind of monster sends a car like this to the junkyard? The seller has done a ton of work to it, all listed in verbose detail in the ad, but the highlights are a completely rebuilt suspension, a five-speed transmission out of a V6 Mustang, a Weber carb, an aluminum radiator, all-new brakes, and more. It runs and drives great, and is ready to go.
The seller seems to be more interested in taking artsy photos like this than actually showing the car, but we get the gist. The interior isn’t shown; the seller claims it’s a 7 out of 10, which sounds livable. It has an aftermarket steering wheel, but the original is also included if you’d prefer. The seller says everything works, including all the original gauges.
The paint is original, though the hood has been replaced by a hood from another Manta Rallye, and the seller did some rust repair in the floors. It has been updated to halogen H4 headlights, and LED bulbs in the taillights – kudos to the seller for not installing those awful LED retrofit headlights as well. The wheels on it are a period-correct optional set, but it also includes the original wheels, which if I remember right are stamped-steel Rostyles.
1976 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme – $16,500
Engine/drivetrain: 350 cubic inch overhead valve V8, three-speed automatic, RWD
Location: Grants Pass, OR
Odometer reading: 40,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives great
Here it is, the number-one selling car in the United States for 1976: the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. It was also, as far as I can tell, the number-one used car choice of high-school-age guys in Chicagoland in the late 1980s. My high school parking lot was absolutely full of these things, and usually the two-door coupe version like this. And why not? It’s a good-looking, reliable, V8-powered car that could be bought all day long in the classifieds for a few hundred dollars. Of course, those cars are long gone, having been used up and discarded by those young owners, which is how this one got to be a rare collectible today.
Power comes from a 350 cubic inch version of Oldsmobile’s celebrated V8, though it no longer carried the “Rocket” moniker by this point. It has a four-barrel Quadrajet carburetor and spins a Turbo-Hydramatic 350 transmission to drive the rear axle, with a typical malaise-era tall final drive ratio. Acceleration isn’t great, but the tall 2.41:1 gearing keeps the revs down and the mileage numbers up, and that was the point. It runs great, and even though it may not be the thundering beast that earlier Rocket V8s were, it breathes through a new dual exhaust system, and I bet it sounds terrific.
The seller doesn’t provide any single good shot of the interior, but these two should give you an idea: it’s immaculate. The white vinyl upholstery is all re-done, the dash is original and perfect, and the steering wheel is a 442-style, in green to match the dash. This is not, as they say, your father’s Oldsmobile. More to the point, it isn’t your grandma’s, either.
It has been repainted, in its original color, and the bumpers have been re-chromed. It’s got all new weatherstripping, too. The factory color-matched Rallye wheels with beauty rings are a nice touch, and there are five of them. They even replaced all the emblems. Someone really showered this car with love; it’s a far cry from the rusty, primer-gray Cutlasses jacked up on air shocks that populated my high school parking lot.
So you’ve got one sporty European import survivor that has been mechanically reconditioned, and one malaise era coupe that has been painstakingly restored to probably-better-than-new condition. And although they’re not exactly cheap, they’re both less than a new Nissan Versa. And they’re both way cooler. All you have to choose, and you have all weekend to do it. See you next week!
The Manta looks like fun. I am old enough to remember spending a lot of time in various iterations of the GM platform on which the Cutlass is based. They are sadness in metal.
I looked up the estimated 0-60 times for each of these cars, and the Mantra came in around 13.5 and the Olds somewhere between 14.5-16.5s, depending upon the engine tune. That is one SLOW boat!
Yeah, and I don’t even mind a slow car. I am always looking for a good Renault R4 or Citroen Ami. But cars like the Olds are just lumps.
My first car was the hand-me-down family ’77 Buick Regal, which is essentially the same as a Cutlass. It had a wheezy 2-bbl Chevy 305 and tall rear axle. Colonnade Coupes were horrible in many ways: slow, cramped inside-huge outside, soft cams, tiny shallow trunk, poor MPG (but not as bad as Fords), and rust was common. But they were gorgeous. They handled quite well for the time. Driving fast is not the point. Put in a Barry White tape in the 8-track, cruise around town or take a nice drive to the beach, stop at Dairy Queen with your beloved then go home and enjoy sweet love. (There’s no room in the back seat, and you might be able to do something if the front seat’s a bench, but you’re better off just finding a room with a roof over head. Slow down and take your time. Then sleep in late. What’s the rush?) The Manta is ok, but I think maybe I’ve seen 2 in my entire life. Seems like a pricey Chevette to me.
In college, I had a series of older American cars because they could be had for a few hundred dollars, driven until they failed, and then disposed of. Rinse and repeat. They included a ’67 Plymouth Fury, ’72 Olds 98 and a ’78 Regal, and a ’76 Grand Prix. They were all in good condition, though the Regal had rusted enough that the rear bumper fell off.
The Olds 98 had character and was a lovely cruiser with the four-door hardtop, eight-track, and 455 under the hood. The Fury was a nice-looking car and a fun light metallic green with a matching interior. The Regal was junk, but the Grand Prix was worse. Terrible performance, quality, economy, and design. When I was a kid in the 70s-80s, the big coupes were malaise incarnate. A wheezy, sad attempt at imagined glory days. The ones I saw in the late 80s were mostly on blocks in one of the many trailer parks around where I lived. They were all hat, no cattle.
I actually had a ’84 Chevette as my first car in about ’87. It was incredibly slow but built infinitely better than any of the “personal luxury coupes.” It only needed a single minor repair in two years, and I ended up selling it to two Italian students who used it on an 8k road trip around the U.S. on a gap year. They stopped by when they were finished and said the only repair it needed was a brake job.
Side note: The Malaise era cars, especially the Collonades, are still good deals, are basically updated ’60s cars, and there’s PLENTY of support out there to wake these things up.
Hit up Detroit Speed and you can dent your wallet to make it handle in a PROPER way. (And the Collonades were the best handling A-bodies stock).
An elderly relative of mine had a similar Olds but with a pale green opera roof. The color always reminded me of the contents of a Jello mold, which she also had an affinity for. The car was hideous and I still have a taste aversion to Jello but she was a sweetheart so I voted for the big Picklemobile. The Opel is way cooler but too much of a patchwork job.
Sorry for the mixed food metaphors.
This is a tough one! I picked the Manta because I think it would be fun as is, and I wouldn’t feel bad upgrading it.
The Olds is too nice to do anything to it, and driving it as is… well, it IS a malaise era car.
I don’t want to take either of these onto any freeway on-ramp. Surprisingly, the Opel would get you to 60mph faster than the American V8.
Both cars are in surprisingly good condition with surprisingly sparce pictures of the interiors.
Should I be suspicious of Texas plates on a car listed for sale in Oregon?
Saw that too, but it looks like the F-150 in the background illegally blocking the fire hydrant has Oregon plates. Maybe the seller is using some old Texas plates instead of putting a rag or thumb over the real plates. And those are definitely old plates as Texas hasn’t used the plate stickers in decades.
It looks like a Texas plate from 1976 – TxDOT lets you retrofit year of manufacture tags to cars over a certain age.
Did not know that, that is pretty cool. So maybe the seller is just flipping a car they recently bought from TX.
Nice choice of either one, as they’d both be fun.
Being of a certain age I remember my neck of the woods completely covered with Cutlass Supremes. This one is definitely nicer than the ones available when I was driving, and possibly better than factory. I went Cutlass, though in reality I’d probably buy the Manta because I’ve totaled two cars in my lifetime, both green
EVERYWHERE was completely covered with Cutlass Supremes in the mid-to-late ’70s. They sold more than a million per year for at least a year or two. Probably an “up and to the right” graph from ’73-’77, and then an absolute cliff in ’78 when the Aerobacks came out to debut the final RWD A-body generation.
Hell, The Price is Right was giving away a dozen Cutlasses a week. I’m gonna guess $4995, Bob!
I forgot about the Aerobacks. God, that was such a bad time for cars.
That green is too nice to pass up today
That Cutlass in a shade of Great Auntie Green is magnificent. It’s the proper place to dial up “Me and You and a Dog Named Boo” and follow the shadow of the sunrise west in search of … something.
And if you really want to subject yourself to Poco, you could probably find Indian Summer on FM in ’77, when this car was just a few months old, though they were pretty much done charting records by that point. At least it’s not the Eagles, man.
This is probably peak A-body; the “Metric” A/Gs that came after had a bit of a longer run but this generation was lavished with all the affection during development.
I’ve loved the Manta since it was new. They’re so rare now, yet so pretty. I had to go with the Opel, even though the Cutlass is tempting too.
Although I like the Manta better, it’s too rough to vote for at that price. Under 10 grand is where it belongs, needing paint and dent repair and probably an interior redo.
This is where I am at. The Manta isn’t in good enough shape to justify the price, no matter how much I love it. The Cutlass is in amazing shape, so the price seems reasonable by comparison.
The Cutlass for me! Appreciate your nod to Simon & Garfunkel, that thing is overwhelmingly green and I really dig it.
Not a fan of the salvage title, but it looks like it’s been fixed up properly. And, my goodness, despite its condition, that Cutlass is horrific in so many ways.
Tough one for me. The Opel would probably be more fun to drive, and the improvements would likely make it more so. But OTOH, you’re buying someone else’s project, with any unknowns that go along with that.
The O’mobile is a fantastic color, and probably a great cruiser. Soft and comfortable, great interior, so phenomenal for a road trip.
I’m truly stumped on this one.
Once offed, otherwise okay orange Opel one-ups orderly, oversized ornate Olds
Bravo.
Make mine Manta. Not one of my favorite cars, but acceptable. The Cutlass? One of the most embarrassing things about my generation is the number of years these things were the best selling car in the country. I will always remember the college friend who got all excited about borrowing his dad’s new “sports car” for the weekend and showed up in red Olds Gutless with a white vinyl roof and interior. What a letdown. Hated these cars so much, but to call them sports cars, that’s just blasphemy.
I have an ongoing argument in my head, Cutlass or Regal. Once and a while Monte Carlo shows up to try and assert dominance, but he usually shuts up. Today it looks lie Cutlass wins the argument.
Luxo barge for me. While I understand that the car suffered no damage the branded title isn’t something I want to deal with and I imagine it will limit its value in the future.
Sweet! Both! We had a white 76 Cutlass Supreme 4 door, 260 V8 (sigh), maroon velour interior. This 2 door looks so much better in every way, especially those color matching wheels. I ended up with the white whale for a few years after college. When I finally got sick of it we gave it to one of Mom’s co-op students. It had around 250k on it by then and was finally rusting out (Ziebart rustproofing on day 1 and meticulous care by my Mom all those years kept it pretty clean.) I believe he drove it for another couple of years. These were good years for GM.
All that said I wanna drive that damn Manta!
I voted the Opel I like the looks of earlier 70s vehicles much better then most late 70s luxobarges with few exceptions (Firebird and Camaros). Also the fiances TourX is essentially a Opel. If this was an earlier 442 or a 80s 442 I would have voted that way.
My father had an Opel Manta in the 1970s. He once told me how he wrecked it while drunk. Had it been an Opel GT instead, I’d have been upset with him.
Cutlass all the way. Green interior? Matching green rallye wheels? White upholstery? This car makes any man into a king. Floating across the Interstate, knowing that every other driver either paid too little or too much.
I mean, c’mon, this isn’t a fair fight.
Orange Opel for me. I’ll pass on the pasture-colored Cutlass from Grass Pants.
I had to go with the Opel. The green on that Olds doesn’t work for me, nor does its size, and I’m assuming that’s one of the Rochester 4-barrel carbs (not a fan). I don’t know why for sure, but one of the first cars I drove was a ’73 4-door Gran Torino (mom’s) and it sucked so bad that I’ve always gravitated more towards small cars. Side note, my brother’s first truck was a Chevy heavy-half with a 350 and a Rochester carb. That carb never worked right, we were forever chasing the right tune for it, and he finally gave up and dropped in a Holley, which was much better.
Fanta Manta, don’t ya want a Fanta Manta?
The Olds Gutless of Malaise era sadness does not spark joy compared to the plucky little Opel.