1961 Oldsmobile Cutlass Sedan 3.5L V8 4MT (185 HP)

Vehicle Overview

Introduced in 1961, the Cutlass’ first generation was available in two body shapes, sedan and station wagon, and was built on the GM’s Y-body platform shared with the Pontiac Tempest and Buick Special.

It was the early ’60s, and the car design started to switch toward boxier-looking styling. In those times, the Cutlass broke the covers of magazines and made its presence felt on the streets. But it was not the design that mostly attracted customers but the engine underneath its hood, which was an all-aluminum V8 mill that was later carried over to NASCAR racing. The name “Cutlass” was previously used by Oldsmobile in 1954 on a show car unveiled at Motorama.

The car’s look featured four headlights at the front with a flat slatted grille between them. Its edgy line on the upper side of the front bumper was extended towards the rear, while a descending, curved line ran along the bodywork from the headlights to the rear bumper. The four-door sedan was launched at the same time as the station wagon, while a coupe followed in May 1961 and a convertible in the following year.

Built as a compact-sized sedan, the Cutlass was fitted with benchseats both front and back and standard fabric trim. Later, the De Luxe trim added a vinyl interior and bucket seats for the front occupants. The flat and low-mounted dashboard was slim and featured a raised, rectangular instrument cluster in front of the driver, where the speedometer covered most of the area. It was flanked by a clock on the right and two rectangular gauges on the left.

The aluminum V8 engine was available with either a two-barrel or a four-barrel carburetor mated to a three-on-the-floor manual gearbox with an option for a three-speed automatic. Later, a four-speed manual was added to the options list.