Craigslist Find: ’61 Olds Cutlass F85

In another case of “You’ll Never Know What You Can Find on Craigslist,” we tripped over this super rare ’61 Cutlass F85 coupe. While some of you might be thinking, “OK, it’s a small, boring white box” you have no idea how far from the truth you are.

Here's a turbocharged version of the aluminum 215 Olds used in their '62-63 Olds Cutlass/F-85 models.

The early Cutlass, or F-85 as it was called here in its early years, was built utilizing a unibody construction, a four-link rear axle, and an all-aluminum V8. Sounds perfectly normal today, but keep in mind this was over forty years ago, and was considered cutting edge technology for the time.

The Cutlass/F-85 (and it’s corporate brethren, the Buick Special and Pontiac Tempest) were small, lightweight, and could be modified to fit a larger engine if you were so inclined.

The aluminum V8 in question was none other than the 215ci. unit that would later be sold to Rover. The British manufacturer used in several of their vehicles over the course of over forty years in one form or another. It was even available with turbocharging for a time, producing a total of 215hp and making it one of the first engines with a 1hp per cubic inch output. Just not in 1961, unfortunately.

Very few details are known about this particular example other than what’s stated in the ad, which isn’t much. We tried contacting the owner, but he/she couldn’t be reached before press time.

Either this car has been for sale for quite some time, or the pictures are really as old as the date depicts, because we don't get much snow in mid-August.

About the author

Rick Seitz

Being into cars at a very early age, Rick has always preferred GM performance cars, and today's LS series engines just sealed the deal. When he's not busy running errands around town in his CTS-V, you can find him in the garage wrenching on his WS6 Trans Am, or at the local cruise spots in his Grand National.
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