1979 cutlass Calais question

[85salon]

Hi guys,
Newbie here. I have owned my 85 Cutlass Salon since I bought it from my dad, the original owner, 15 years ago. Love these cars.

I am looking at a local 79 Calais with a 4 speed and 305 engine. On searching the net, it seems that these are rare but not unheard of. It is in decent shape, complete and without much rust, but it's been sitting for 20 years, needs a full exhaust, and I'm told it will run on gas from a can. The owner thinks it's worth $9500 as it sits. I don't think it's that rare, I'm just wondering what top dollar on one of these models, restored would be. I know that a nice w30 of this vintage can bring a nice chunk of change. I just don't think that these manual trans Calais carry the same value. Hoping for some other opinions!

Thanks

Tom

 

[williamattop]

$9500 sounds like a lot to me too. Although its kind of hard to put a value on something we have never seen.
Maybe this will help you (and him) get a better idea of value. If you haven't seen this already.


Value guide from Collector Car Market:

1979 OLDSMOBILE CUTLASS 305-160hp (8cyl-4V) AT

..................................... #5 ......#4 ......#3 ......#2 ......#1
Calais 2dr Hdtp . . . . . . . 425 . . 1150 . . 2550 . . 4225 . . 6600
Salon 2dr Hdtp . . . . . . . .425 . . 1150 . . 2550 . . 4225 . . 6600
Supreme 2dr Hdtp . . . . . . .400 . . 1050 . . 2275 . . 3775 . . 5900
Supreme 4dr Sdn . . . . . . . 350 . . 775 . . 1750 . . 3025 . . 4600
Salon 4dr Sdn . . . . . . . . 350 . . 800 . . 1800 . . 3125 . . 4750

Add:
350-165hp (8cyl-4V) . . . . . . . . 5%
4spd manual trans . . . . . . . . . . 5%
Power windows . . . . . . . . . . . . 3%
5spd manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5%
Brougham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5%
442 pkg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10%
Buckets w/console . . . . . . . . 10%
Sunroof-pwr . . . . . . . . . . . . 10%
T-roof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15%

Deduct:
231-115hp (6cyl-1V) . . . . . . . . -15%
260-90hp (8cyl-Diesel). . . . . . . -40%
350-125hp (8cyl-Diesel) . . . . . . -40%
3spd manual transmission. . . . . . -10%
No air conditioning . . . . . . . . -10%
Manual steering . . . . . . . . . . -5%

HTH