What Malaise? 6.6L Hurst/Olds

I'd drive up here just to make out with <i>the car</i>
I'd drive up here just to make out with the car

We’re all familiar with the typical Craigslist seller whose writing makes us weep for English as a language and whose photography leaves you wondering if they went to extra trouble to add blur and decrease the resolution of the two and a half pathetic pictures which usually contain a pitbull.
Sorry ’bout that. Where was I? Ah yes: this Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais Hurst/Olds may be the best 1979 anything, and the seller knows a picture is worth several thousand misspelled words.

That paint job far exceeds 1979 GM Quality Control Standards
That paint job far exceeds 1979 GM Quality Control Standards

Let’s open with the stats: 6.6L (403c.i.) Olds V8, Hurst “Dual Gate” shifter, and T-Tops, complete with T-Top carrying bags. Also, the seller somehow got the stonking Olds 403 to pass smog, despite the fact that the car originally came with a wheezy Olds 350.

The Hurst/Olds reflects on itself, preparing to turn 30
The Hurst/Olds reflects on itself, preparing to turn 30

Sure, sure, great powertrain in a clapped out GM A body, you say. Nope. The AC blows cold and the stereo works just fine, not that there’s a better sound than that big small block with the throttle wide open. We challenge you to find a better use for $4500.
It recently received a set of new tires. We can see why
It recently received a set of new tires. We can see why

Be sure to check out the Craigslist ad or the sellers Photobucket album for more great pictures. Actually, skip the craigslist ad. We’re keeping this one for ourselves.

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52 responses to “What Malaise? 6.6L Hurst/Olds”

  1. Jeff Glucker Avatar
    Jeff Glucker

    Wow… that was excellent!
    Should I feel bad that someone on CL selling a car takes far better pictures than I do for my paying gig?

  2. JeepyJayhawk Avatar
    JeepyJayhawk

    Bag it and tag it, it’s going home with me.

  3. Al Navarro Avatar
    Al Navarro

    Great post, and very very much to the core of what many of us have been missing on [REDACTED].

    1. engineerd Avatar
      engineerd

      I remember this one website that used to have this sort of stuff on it all the time. I don’t know what happened to it. It just seemed to disappear.

      1. Formerlythegreatestdriver Avatar
        Formerlythegreatestdriver

        @engineerd:
        Autoblog.com?

  4. Prawo Jazdy and The Velocity Trumpets Avatar
    Prawo Jazdy and The Velocity Trumpets

    $4,500 real cash money dollars? On my way to L.A.

  5. dmdukejr Avatar
    dmdukejr

    I love me some G-bodies, and that one is definitely cool. Those H/O cars are distinctive and while not as revered as the Grand Nationals or even Monte Carlo SSes, they are off-beat enough to be unique at the local cruise-in.

    1. p161911 Avatar
      p161911

      I’m with you on the G-body love. My first car was an 81 Buick Regal Sport Coupe Turbo, it had the GN hood bulge. Probably every 4th or 5th car in my high school parking lot was a G-body of one flavor or another. This would have been late 80s/early 90s. I’ve always preferred the Regals and Cutlasses to the Grand Prixs and Monte Carlos. I’m going to have a hard time convincing the wife to get one of these some day.

  6. Rockford_Brodie Avatar
    Rockford_Brodie

    That low angle burnout is now my new wallpaper, replacing the Turbo Trans Am hood with the rare Oxidation/Blue color scheme. I have a feeling that I’ll be getting several more future wallpapers from this site, especially if Scroggs shows up.
    Anyway, between those great pics and the Nice Price(copywright 2009 Gawker Media, used without permission), I’d be shocked if it’s not gone by the end of the week.

    1. Alf Avatar
      Alf

      Funny… the rusty T/A hood is the wallpaper on my home laptop as well. I guess I’ll follow your lead on my work PC. You are a trendsetter.

      1. Jeff Glucker Avatar
        Jeff Glucker

        It is a good one…
        Hoony-Chicken

        1. Dr.Dangerously Avatar
          Dr.Dangerously

          That Hooniverse insert is awesome.

    2. something_unique_and_descriptive Avatar
      something_unique_and_descriptive

      Hmm, this or a 10 year old Camry… If this hasn’t sold by Friday, there is something very wrong with the world.

  7. lilwillie Avatar

    Nice Price. Good ad also. Love those Hurst Olds.

  8. Alf Avatar
    Alf

    CL should hold up this ad as an example of how to properly photograph a vehicle for sale (well, except for the one that the owner appears to chop his coke on). Relatively speaking, the writing isn’t god awful either. Best part – at that price this car should sell itself.

  9. small_e Avatar
    small_e

    A very pretty example of an aesthetically challenged car. I prefer the styling of the mid ’80s Cutlasses (or the early ’70s, but that’s a less fair comparison), but with that shine for $4500, it’s easy to overlook this one’s more homely fascia. It’s a bit far away from Michigan, and I’m not in the market for another car right now, but he should have no trouble finding a buyer. Nice ride for a good price.

  10. iheartstiggie Avatar
    iheartstiggie

    This is so well done I actually thought you guys were jokin’ about this being on CL. I’m in agreement with Alf – this CLister needs to give a class! I’m in love with this car simply because of the photography!

  11. Dr.Dangerously Avatar
    Dr.Dangerously

    Everything that I would like in an Olds. I also like those wheels, looks like the ones off of the ’89 Camaro.

  12. engineerd Avatar
    engineerd

    Proving the adage that even a blind squirrel will occasionally find a nut, we have a car listed on Craigslist that is photographed well, the writing is intelligible, and without a price only a pimp could love.
    This squirrel found three nuts.

  13. Robert Emslie Avatar
    Robert Emslie

    Awesome ad- although it begs the question- what does the interior look like? Also, are those Monte Carlo SS wheels?

    1. Tim Odell Avatar
      Tim Odell

      IROC-Z wheels, according to the ad.
      From what we can see of the interior, it’s not too bad. I suspect the seats have that leany looseness typical of aged GM products.

  14. Bret Avatar

    That is just beautiful; this fellow deserves an offer at asking price for a solid presentation of an awesome car.
    Takes me back to the hoonadelic time of my late teen. A buddy had an Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme of similar vintage to this beast. That car was poorly motivated by a wheezy V6 filled with California Malaise Crapitude. That didn’t stop us. Remember the Grand National post? When that guy upgraded the suspension on the Buick, the stock parts found their way onto the “Gutless Cutlass”. This suspension enhancement turn the Olds into a semi-decent momentum car for canyon cruising. It still made about the same power as my Fiat Spider did, but was much more enjoyable carving sweepers, forcing the passengers to claw for interior bits to hold onto as the bench seats threatened to toss them out of the windows.
    If only I had the spare space, this Olds would be the perfect vehicle to relive that time. I’d be tempted to improve the suspension to better than stock GN parts, and maybe add a third pedal to make it into fun a track toy. But then maybe this car best suited to showing how badass a properly motivated Cutlass can be. I know I sure enjoyed my time with the Gutless Cutlass.

    1. dmdukejr Avatar
      dmdukejr

      Great story. THREADJACK: I’m planning on upgrading the steering and suspension on my ’67 Tempest this winter – tight-ratio steering box out of a 3rd gen F-body, new steering linkage, bushings, Bilstein shocks and high-rate springs. I can’t wait until I toss it through some corners while my wife slides across the vinyl bench seat and yells at me. Of course, then I’ll scare the crap out of both of us when the stock manual drum brakes fade to oblivion, but it’ll sure be fun.

      1. Jeff Glucker Avatar
        Jeff Glucker

        Threadjacks are allowed here…fear thee not.

      2. Bret Avatar

        Bolt on some front discs and throw on some sewer pipe sized sway bars and hit the twisties. Muscle cars that handle are just plain fun.
        This guy was having a blast at a recent track day.

  15. RLJ676 Avatar
    RLJ676

    Scam?
    Seriously, has anyone called this (and bought it) to prove it’s not a scam. Craigslist is full of good deals on cars with good pics and reasonable details (so’s auto and boat traders). I’m pretty sure they just pull pics and info off forums and post it for sale, then try and get you to do a transaction through some fake ebay account crap.
    Everything about this is a little too good to be true?

    1. Jeff Glucker Avatar
      Jeff Glucker

      The way the post is written gives me hope…
      Also, I forwarded the link to the president of Hurst Performance – maybe they will scoop it up real quick? (Their office is right near my own)

      1. RLJ676 Avatar
        RLJ676

        That’s the thing, I’ve seen scams that were “well written” as if by someone who’s an enthusiast or owner. I think they just lift the descriptions and content from a forum and turn it into an add.
        This one isn’t exactly the same, but still has some of those “too good to be true” characterstics it takes to sucker someone into a fake online transaction.
        Either way, if this legit someone needs to buy it.

        1. Jeff Glucker Avatar
          Jeff Glucker

          My contacts at Hurst Performance are trying to find a buyer!

  16. Cognitive Friction Avatar

    That’s about as non-ugly as a ’79 H/O is gonna get. Very tastefully done.
    Iroc-Z rims vastly improve the appearance of many late 70’s and early 80’s GM crapboxes, and this is no exception.

  17. superbadd75, enriched with vitamins and minerals. Avatar
    superbadd75, enriched with vitamins and minerals.

    Oh. My. God. I’m in love. Strip the H/O emblems and make it look as unassuming as possible. Dust some punk in a fart-cannon equipped Civic and laugh your ass off. The fun potential is mind bottling. You know, when your thoughts get trapped up, like in a bottle.

  18. CptSevere Avatar

    Great photography, and a lovely car. I wonder why this guy has to sell it, I for one would have one hell of a time parting with this car. He must need 4500 bucks real bad, and like right now. His loss will be someone’s gain. This is a killer deal, unless the transmission is shot from roasting the tires. Even then, a new TH350 is no big deal.

    1. Tim Odell Avatar
      Tim Odell

      2 months on a new transmission.
      I need to have a talk with the wife…

      1. jeremy! Avatar

        psssh, what college education fund!

  19. salguod Avatar

    Olds was using the 403 as late as ’77 (maybe later, I dunno) and the 6.6 Trans Ams of this era were the Olds 403 too. So, that it passed smog isn’t a big surprise, assuming it had the appropriate equipment for the era.
    I thought all the H/Os were two tone, either gold over black or gold over white. Makes me think this has been repainted. Still, the all black is a cleaner look and this thing is awesome. The IROC wheels look great, although the standard H/O alloys were pretty nice too.

  20. jeremy! Avatar

    for that last picture we should call to inform him he has won the hoon of the week. someone make an award quick.

  21. Tomsk Avatar

    AIIIIIEEE!!! Stupid lack of driveway, garage and shop space within my family!

  22. Tomsk Avatar

    AIIIIIEEE!!! Stupid lack of available driveway, garage and shop space within my family!

    1. Tomsk Avatar

      Whoopsie.

  23. Formerlythegreatestdriver Avatar
    Formerlythegreatestdriver

    It certainly changed my perspective of the quality of CL ads. A bit. Those are some seriously good photos.

  24. FuzzyPlushroom Avatar

    Writing is good, price is great, vehicle is excellent, photography is bloody brilliant. I want to believe.

  25. the_missus Avatar
    the_missus

    Mr Mad_Science – next time you might want to wipe the drool off the post before submitting it… just a thought

  26. Sebastian Avatar
    Sebastian

    Hey everybody,
    I am Sebastian and I am the owner of the car and the poster of this craigslist add.
    I just got told by Tim who runs this website that he put my add here on this forum. I didnt knew that my post was relinked or reposted so it kinda took me with suprise reading all these nice comments on my Olds and my photography.
    First of all I’d like to thank everybody giving me such a positive feedback on the car and my pictures. Photography is one of my hobbies and this car is hell of a good motive to take pictures of 🙂 – I think I almost have 2k pictures of her…
    Nevertheless I got only a handful of people showing real interest in buying the car. I know the times right now are difficult but there must be somebody who appreciates this car enough to buy it.
    Some people wondered why I am selling it. The reason is easy and simple. I am from Germany and spend a year here in the States working. But my Visa expires and i need to go back to Europe asap unless i dont wanna get kicked out. Your Government is kinda strickt about that and I dont wanna put any future options on stake coming back to the States. When I came here I was dedicated only getting a car like that and it took me 2.5 month to find something like her. I know the car is way more worth than what I am askin for but time is running out and I need at list a bit of the money back I spent on it.
    I love my car big time and thats why my first option was to ship it over to Germany in order to keep it. There are not many cars like that in the old world. But our gasprizes are 4 times higher than yours and the import taxes and the shipping itself is just too much right now for me to afford. Thats why I started may be a bit late trying to sell my car. The funny thing is though, that I get asked EVERY day on the streets if I wanna sell her. But when it comes to serious talking nobody got the balls to seal the deal.
    So I’d like to ensure and express again that this car is still for sale and it looks as good in real life as on the pictures. Its my daily driver, it has now flaws and I would sell it to my best friends hands down. Of course its 30 years old and time didnt passed by without leaving marks. Its not a mint condition showroom car but its in a decent condition and with some minor tlc it can be turned into a jewel. People driving Ferarries pulled over next to me lowered their windows and cheered on my car. So its definitely an attention getter. And I’ve seen only a few driving similar cars driving around here in LA and cross Country. And none of them where TTops…
    So if there is anybody out there who thinks about getting her, or anybody knows anybody – give me a call or shoot me a mail! This deal is real, no scam and may be a once in a lifetime opportunity to get yourself a sweet ride.
    I miss her already and enjoy driving here every single day!
    All the best,
    Sebastian
    213 268 9633
    snozon@gmail.com

  27. Sebastian Avatar
    Sebastian

    PS:
    Here is the craigslist ad:
    http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/cto/14487416
    Cheers

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