Wally's Stomping Ground

Cutlass Salon dot com is a place for this OldsmoGeek to tell the story of his ride
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Wally Grimes, circa 2000.

My First Cutlass

Not Pete Steele's car, but as close of a representative pic as I could find on the Internet.

Not my car, but as close of a representative pic as I could find on the Internet.

1982, sophomore year, La Porte High School (La Porte, TX)... I was introduced to the car of my dreams by another high school student, Pete. It was a "#66 Cinnamon" metallic brown 1974 Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon with "Saddle Tan" interior. Optioned with Rallye Pack gauges, tilt wheel, cruise control, Olds wire hubcaps, a tan vinyl landau roof, sport mirrors, AM/8-track radio, and a broken A/C, I fell in love with the car the first time I drove it, and within a few weeks, bought a similar one as my first car.

Mine was metallic "#64 Silver Taupe" (with lots of rust), but the interior was a beautiful immaculate "Cranberry" color. About the only option ordered on that car was sport mirrors. It had no tilt, no cruise, an AM radio, and the A/C was out, but I loved that car! The night hurricane Alicia hit Houston, parked in my parent's garage, I peeled the rotting maroon landau vinyl roof off. I had lots of good times cruising around, burning gas, and made lots of trips to Sonic, Morgan's Point, and Sylvan Beach during my lunch hour at school. That car made many trips to Huffman, Galveston, San Antonio, and Austin too. It lasted about two years, but at age 18 with a job that didn't pay well, I couldn't afford to keep repairing it. With bad body rust and with 130,000+ miles on an abused Rocket 350 that cratered to my lead foot, it was time to let go.

My Second Cutlass

In early 1985, I replaced my 74 Salon with a beautiful cream-colored 77 Salon with two-tone interior, and I loved that car too, but it was never the same. I kept that 77 Salon until late 1986, when it was essentially taken from me.

My Third Cutlass

Car History

1974-2002: Owned by aging original owners in California that kept it garaged.
2002: Bought by a sheriff deputy in NM. He loved the car. When he was a "youngster" he would wash the car for the original owners, just to see it. He realized after a couple of years and 4,000 miles that he didn't have the time, space, or extra money to put into it.
April 2004: I bought it on eBay from the second owner.

Factory Options

Tilt
Cruise
A/C
Power steering
Power brakes
Power windows
Power driver's seat
Power trunk release
Optional clock
Optional wood grain passenger side lower dash trim
Rocket 350/4BBL
TH 350 (has been upgraded to TH 400 since)
Vinyl landau top
AM/FM
Olds rally wheels
Optional "Rallye Pack" gauge package
Salon options (heavy duty front sway bar, presence of rear sway bar, fatter Salon steering wheel, Salon wide reclining buckets, 15 inch Olds rally wheels)

Pre-purchase eBay Pix, 2004



Post-purchase Pix 2004-2005