Good morning! We’re looking at all domestic cars this week, and you may recall yesterday that I said I was going decade-by-decade. Yeah, forget that. I have skipped 1980s cars because the good ones have just gotten too damn expensive, and I skipped the 1970s because I wanted to show the best Detroit had to offer, and, well…
We looked at a couple of 1960s trucks yesterday, and I thought they were fairly comparable. Most of you disagreed, and the vote came out much more lopsided than I expected. The basic six-cylinder GMC was the winner by a country mile. The mention of Bondo on the Dodge scared off a lot of you, but the general consensus seemed to be that Mopar was just outclassed by GM here.
I tend to agree. I’m a Chrysler fan (just in case you’re new here), but when it comes to pickups, I go for GM every time. The Action Line trucks are great looking, just enough more modern to drive than earlier trucks, and always guaranteed to get attention these days. And a six with a three-on-the-tree is the definitive old truck drivetrain.
The 1970s were brutal on the car industry here in the US. The combination of two gas crunches, a bunch of new regulations, and near-constant labor issues made for a bunch of slow, poorly-made, ungainly cars. We romanticize them sometimes, but the truth is they were awful. The 1980s got better, eventually, but that decade started out with new technologies that took a long time to perfect.
Today’s competitors come from the early 1990s, a time when the designs of the ’80s had gotten as refined as they were going to get, and the build quality problems were more or less ironed out. No one is going to call either of these cars exciting, but they’re reasonably nice, reasonably well put together, and they both have a nice comfy red velour bench seat across the front. That has to count for something, right? Let’s check them out.
1993 Oldsmobile Cutlass Cruiser S – $4,500
Engine/drivetrain: 3.3-liter OHV V6, four-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Fayetteville, NC
Odometer reading: 45,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
GM’s second foray into front-wheel-drive (after the Olds Toronado and its derivatives) got off to a rocky start. The X-body was a rushed design, poorly built, and it spent more time being recalled than it did racking up miles. The A-body which followed a couple of years later fared much better, and stayed in production for fourteen years. This Oldsmobile Cutlass Cruiser is from towards the end of the run, when the A-body was down to just Oldsmobile and Buick variants, and just four-door sedans and station wagons.
Several different engines were offered in the Cutlass Ciera and Cruiser over the years. This one has a 3.3 liter V6, commonly known as the 3300, which is a smaller-displacement, simplified version of the revered 3800. It drives the front wheels through a four-speed automatic. It’s not an exciting combination, but it should last a long time with proper maintenance. This one has only 45,000 miles on it, all from one elderly owner. The seller’s mechanic says some gaskets and seals need to be replaced, just because of the low mileage, but it does run and drive just fine.
Even in 1993, this interior was outdated. But I think that’s part of the reason the Ciera and Cruiser stayed in production so long. The newer W-body Cutlass Supreme was advertised as “Not Your Father’s Oldsmobile,” but this one definitely was, and that appealed to a certain segment of buyers. Outdated or not, it does look comfy, and it’s in great condition inside. There’s no photo with the tailgate open, so I can’t tell you if this wagon has the third-row “wayback seat” or not. But we can hope.
The dominant characteristic of its exterior is the fake woodgrain trim, which is also a throwback. I’m not particularly a fan of it, but I know some people are. It’s generally in good condition, but there is some faded and thin paint on the front bumper. The rest of the paint looks fine, and there isn’t any rust on it.
1991 Dodge Dynasty – $3,500
Engine/drivetrain: 3.3-liter OHV V6, four-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Rockwall, TX
Odometer reading: 109,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
While GM was learning hard lessons with the X-body and applying them to the A-body, Chrysler was busy putting its business back together with the K-car. It spent the next decade creating endless variations on the same theme, including the longer-wheelbase C (later AC) cars like this Dodge Dynasty. Though it was introduced in 1988, it looks much older; this car was intended for a demographic that wasn’t ready for the future, too.
One aspect of its drivetrain was thoroughly modern for 1991: the A604 Ultradrive transmission. It’s a computer-controlled four-speed overdrive unit that gained a bad reputation early on, but any problems this one might have had have long since been fixed. Its engine is a Chrysler-designed 3.3-liter V6, not the Mitsubishi 3.0-liter engine of earlier cars. It runs and drives well, but that’s about all the seller has to say.
This one looks older inside than it is too, though it wears its vast expanses of fake woodgrain on the inside. It has a bench seat, making this a full six-passenger car. But did anybody ever actually put someone in the middle front seat? This one hardly looks sat in at all; it’s in great shape. And the seller says the air conditioning is nice and cold.
It’s really clean outside, but there is a little weirdness I feel compelled to mention. The passenger’s side has the original wheel covers, but the driver’s side has terrible aftermarket covers that I think are supposed to look like ’70s mags, but don’t. The muffler is also hanging at a funny angle, making me think there’s a hanger missing from the back. That’s an easy fix, but it should be taken care of before the muffler decides to part ways with the rest of the car.
If you’re looking for excitement, look elsewhere. But if you want comfort, durability, low maintenance, and cheap insurance, these are your rides. And if you’re anything like me, you appreciate a nice red velour interior. Which one would you take home?
Who among us would not enjoy getting a Woodie?
My wife had a 1990 Dynasty when we were first married. It was endless trouble even then. I can’t imagine what a couple more decades can do. I’m voting for anything else!
Dynasty? More like “Die Nasty”. Olds, please.
The woody wagon and I don’t even know why it’s a question. Sure the fake woodgrain is pure kitsch, but it’s also come back around to being ironically kinda cool. And a wagon is still the apex body style.
Wagon all day. Better engine and I can give my kids some of that nostalgia from when I was a kid.
Good luck finding parts for that Dodge.
My wife had almost this exact Dynasty as her first car, same exterior/interior colors too.
Out of respect for her, I cannot vote for it, so I’m going Buick.
Ours was gold, but otherwise similar story.
Hard to go wrong with A body and a Buick V6. Classic grocery getter. K-Cars were pretty crappy, so no contest really.
I can smell both of them and it makes me want to sneeze. Reluctantly olds. Tin box of a thing but it will probably run until the transmission gives up. If someone spung for wood and power locks it probably has the hatch seat.
I was past the age of station wagons when the Ciera was first introduced, but I do have a certain nostalgia for them. They were prolific in their day, and this one leans hard into the overall aesthetic. I think you could touch up that front bumper, roll it into a car show (a regular one, not even Radwood) and it would draw a crowd. For those who might have grown up in the 80’s and had parents that didn’t swing into one of those newfangled minivans, the back seat of this (and its GM stablemates) is where they grew up.
Dang. That Old’s wagon looks good. That would be perfect for just cruising in.
Grampa’s wagon, obviously, but the interior of the Dodge is an amazing colour. Can’t say I wasn’t tempted.
I can’t believe how triggered I am by that square speedometer.
I am noping right away from that Dodge!
Of the 90’s GM products, the big wagons always have drawn positive attention from me. Give me this instead of yesterday’s pickup truck, and it will handle my home store and landscaping runs just fine!
Wagon almost always beats sedan and it does again today. The price is on the high side but the condition is good and wagons are basically extinct today so if you want one you should expect to pay more than a sedan. On the plus side you get a more capable vehicle.
Leaking seals could be an issue, or not. Really depends on the volume of the leak. Pretty much any car this old is going to have some weeping gaskets.