1985 Oldsmobile Calais

For sale at Gateway Classic Cars in our Dallas showroom is a 1985 Olds Calais Supreme. To refresh our memory, the Calais and its Buick Somerset Regal and Pontiac Grand Am siblings were introduced for 1985, originally planned as a downsized replacement for the mega-popular G special (formerly A) coupes. As market conditions changed, GM decided to keep the rear-drive Cutlass Supreme and siblings and just sell the new N cars as additional models. The Oldsmobile Calais fit in the showroom just above the Firenza and below the Cutlass Supreme. Or perhaps it was below the Cutlass Ciera. My they had a lot of car models back then! At least they dropped the Omega after 1984, so the Calais could probably be considered its replacement even though it was specifically marketed to a younger demographic and was initially only available as a coupe.

The interior is in excellent condition with original cloth upholstery. The thin-rimmed steering wheel was shared with most other Olds models at the time, Oldsmobile fitted full instrumentation on the car, a nice touch.

The car is equipped with the standard “Tech 4" 92hp 2.5L four-cylinder with electronic fuel injection, a.k.a. the Iron Duke built by Pontiac. The owner says the drivability of the 4 cylinder engine has been fine, adding the motor was rebuilt about 10,000 miles ago.

Scrupulously maintained, the car has not had any major problems.

The paint is nice and the body clean, The wheels are aftermarket, not because the owner really wanted to replace the original aluminum wheels but because he couldn't find any tire stores that could sell him the P205/70R13 size tires. In 2020, 13 inch tires are as obsolete as brick-sized analog cellular phones or Atari video game consoles, but without the charm. Tough to find, and white wall versions like it originally came with would be pure unobtainium.

Divided grille; stand up hood ornament; formal roof; vertically split taillights. All the Cutlass Supreme styling cues are there, just in a compact '80's package. Perhaps GM hit a bullseye on a target that didn't really exist: young buyers who wanted a traditional style Oldsmobile coupe in a smaller modern package. A baby Cutlass.

For more information on this 1985 Oldsmobile Calais Supreme, call: 817-310-9400 or stop by our Dallas showroom. To view HD photos and video, visit Gatewayclassiccars.com