Is my Cutlass Supreme Brougham a Calais?

[DylanOrbanski]

Reminds me of my first gbody i had in the late 80's. View attachment 77447

That’s a sweet looking Cutlass! Was your an actual Calais? Or a W-30? I really like the white and red 2 tone, I honestly hate my tan/brown paint on my car aha

 

[DylanOrbanski]

I can't locate any documentation that you could order a Supreme with a Calais header and grilles. Calais was more than just the nose. Look for these clues...
"The Cutlass Calais used essentially the same suspension as the 4-4-2, but it also came standard with several other performance and touring options, including full instrumentation, an aluminum spoked sport steering wheel, reclining front bucket seats and a center console with floor shifter."
I see none of the interior cues in the photos. I see the door guard trim is missing on the RF fender and the paint even looks mismatched. Hood to header fit is poor at the front too. I'm thinking it was in an accident.

After re looking over the pictures you can really tell the front passenger fender has been repainted, and repainted terribly! The paint isn’t even matching the passenger door, I guess things I’ve over looked. I just love the car so much, I’m more concerned with her pushing some nice HP than looking like a show car.

 

[O. D. Showtime]

Welcome from Regina SK!
Certainly looks like a great starting point!

 

[DRIVEN]

Agreed. Great looking starting point.

 

[DylanOrbanski]

Agreed. Great looking starting point.

Yeah I got a nice 350HP small block sitting in the garage so I’m gonna toss that in, probably gonna go through Turbo350 while it’s out too. The main thing i wanna do is change up that rear end, with a posi and a set of 3.73s, only thing is I’ve read the 7.5” rear ends are kinda junk, but I’m sure for under 400hp it should be okay

 

[Texas82GP]

Keep it like it is. The 'ice tray' grill looks great.

 

[DylanOrbanski]

Keep it like it is. The 'ice tray' grill looks great.

Oh yeah im never gonna change it, the grill is staying ! Would like to get her repainted but that is completely outta my price range lol

 

[oldsmobile joe]

That’s a sweet looking Cutlass! Was your an actual Calais? Or a W-30? I really like the white and red 2 tone, I honestly hate my tan/brown paint on my car aha

thank you, i built that car 30 years ago. it started out as a true calais, reclining buckets, console, gauges and all. red interior and red exterior with vinyl top. the vinyl top blew off, literally, one day. so being single and rich, lol, i had it painted in a factory style two tone with the red and white you see. then i traded off for something else. what an idiot.
i like your two tone paint, with the camel brown and white.
i currently have two 79 calais'. one is camel brown with vinyl top and the is red with vinyl top.
you have a great looking car and a great base to start from. enjoy yourself.
joe

 

[DylanOrbanski]

thank you, i built that car 30 years ago. it started out as a true calais, reclining buckets, console, gauges and all. red interior and red exterior with vinyl top. the vinyl top blew off, literally, one day. so being single and rich, lol, i had it painted in a factory style two tone with the red and white you see. then i traded off for something else. what an idiot.
i like your two tone paint, with the camel brown and white.
i currently have two 79 calais'. one is camel brown with vinyl top and the is red with vinyl top.
you have a great looking car and a great base to start from. enjoy yourself.
joe

It really was nice looking with the red/white, I’m quite happy my car doesn’t have the vinyl top, maybe it did at one point but it doesn’t now. My Cutlass sat under a row of big spruce trees for 5 years before I went to the guys house and offered him 2500$ for the car, I drove past the car every time I went to grandparents and it was painful to see it sit and sit over the years. The spruce trees protected the car from alot of sun damage but the tree sap and Manitoba winters really destroyed the paint, the whole top over the cabin is coved in hairline paint cracks