The car has a vinyl top with quarter windows that have a plastic, chrome-like molding. Arnold had to go through multiple swap meets to finally find replacement chrome in the original packaging.
He also needed a couple of emblems to finish the car’s exterior, and was lucky to find some at a swap meet, though they needed to be re-chromed.
The vehicle needed only minor engine work, and was still pretty much full of the stock components, Arnold says.
“The motor is a 350ci V8; I did some minor head work to it, adding a small cam just to give it a little bit more rumble,” he says.
To keep with the theme of more rumble, he added dual exhaust. He also put in a limited-slip differential to get the two-wheel burnout he wanted.
The $15,000 put into it not only gave Arnold a car with a new look and improved performance, but it also helps maintain a family tradition.
“My grandfather worked at a dealership back in the ’50s,” Arnold says, to show just how deeply Oldsmobile attraction runs in his family.
When Arnold isn’t getting his restoration fix (he says he’s moving on to another vehicle the first chance he gets), he’s taking his Cutlass for joyrides and occasionally to car shows, though it’s more for Sunday drives and enjoying the weather.
