El Caminoized: 1983 Oldsmobile Cutlass
The fifth generation of Oldsmobile’s legendary Cutlass is an interesting car to turn into an El Camino because it shares the G-Body platform (remember that the A-body went front-wheel-drive in 1982, and everything rear-drive was designated G-body after that year) with the actual fifth-generation El Camino. I guess you could get a real El Camino with the shapely B-pillar and a factory-sealed (and compressed pressed wood-free) truck bed…but that wouldn’t be fun. Find this 1983 Oldsmobile Cutlass El Camino offered for $4,600 in Holland, MI via facecamino cookbook.
From the seller:
1983 Oldsmobile cutlass cruiser
$4,600
Listed a week agoa week ago in Holland, MI
About this vehicle
Driven 1,000 miles
Automatic transmission
Exterior color: White · Interior color:
Fuel type: Gasoline
Seller’s description
May consider trades, send me what you got.Super cool cutlass wagon turned el camino style (one of a kind)
V8 400 SBC 6.6L
400 small block 330817
Runs and sounds great
Lots of torque
Motor has builder tag from rebuild but can’t tell who built itJust did spark plugs
Oil change
Drive belts
New battery
And a bunch of odds and endsCragar wheels
Dual exhaustNot answering a bunch of questions
Serious buyers only message me if you are ready to see the car
See a better way to drive something wacky? tips@dailyturismo.com
Impressive work on the tailgate. made from actual El Camino components?
but the bed woodwork? yeah, chipboard. not my choice.
even if the bed cover is weather tight, a leaky gas can soaking into that cheap manufactured wood product is pretty nauseating.
Ever gonna want to put groceries in there?
I would have chosen a more durable, weather tolerant species of Wood or at least seal the stuff.. even if more costly & harder to work. use Black Locust, redwood, teak…
i made a bed cover for my then new Mazda truck using 1990 mfg. /4 Lauan plywood. Stained it ebony & finished with multiple coats of marine spar varnish- all sides. Assembled with stainless steel screws & soft Maple “rafters”. While not constantly on the truck, that cover survived a decade+ before i disassembled to reclaim the hardware”
Yeah, the chipboard seems like an odd choice. Maybe the local home depot ran out of diamond plate?
Strand board? Why? Not to mention the choice of vehicle. Musta had a lot of time on his hands.
That’s just the standard wagon tailgate for GM G-bodies, including this era of Cutlass sedan/wagon; those ‘gates were already bottom-hinged with a separate top-hinged glass panel above — i.e., this is just a G-body wagon with most of the roof cut off and the rear doors welded shut.
I’d reckon they didn’t alter the original wagon floor structure at all, so the strand board here just provides a level load floor of cheap “sacrificial” material they don’t have to worry about getting scuffed up.
Classic sales line, “not answering a bunch of questions.”