The original Oldsmobile Cutlass 442 allegedly got its name from its four-barrel carburetor, four-speed manual transmission and dual exhausts, but the name eventually became synonymous with Oldsmobile performance cars, so not all models with a 442 badge featured such a setup.
By the time the Cutlass nameplate had reached the later portion of its life in the early 1990s, the Oldsmobile 442 had been undeniably watered down. The sixth-generation Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais Quad 442, built for the 1990 and 1991 model years, featured a 180-horsepower four-cylinder engine, a five-speed manual transmission and front-wheel drive. General Motors justified the name by saying it had a four-cylinder engine with four valves per cylinder and two camshafts, but this engine wasn’t really setting the Cutlass apart at the time.
While the 1991 Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais Quad 442 wasn’t a worthy successor to the legendary muscle car that made the nameplate famous, it still makes a fairly interesting used car, in our opinion. Take this one currently for sale on Facebook Marketplace, for example. This is a relatively obscure and decently reliable GM vehicle in great condition and, best of all, it’s for sale for less than $4,000. That seems like a good deal to us, no matter how underwhelming this 442’s performance may have been when it was new. This car has clearly been well taken care of throughout its life, as well, and stayed with the original buyer in California from 1991 to 2015.
The body of the car has 135,000 miles on the odometer, while the engine only has about 44,000. The owner says the vehicle underwent an engine change at a GM Goodwrench service center in 1995 when the car had 91,000 miles on the clock. The clutch was also upgraded at the same time, which seems to be the last time it was serviced, surprisingly.
Is this unique Oldsmobile Cutlass 442 worth the $3,950 this seller is asking? Let us know in the comments down below.
Subscribe to GM Authority for more Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais news, Oldsmobile news and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
At a time of year when luxury car ATP usually rises.
Sales decreased 5.6 percent to 16,670 units during the first ten months of 2024.
Specifically critical minerals supply chain development.
Scheduled for a Spring 2025 launch.
View Comments
This car is cool. Think about the time, we just had the war in Iraq and won, and the economy was at a standstill (was hard to find a job from 90-94) and Nirvana Nevermind was a hit on the radio. Everything looked like this, boxy, pastel colors for cars were a thing, and the day 2 mods were not built out v8 engines but cassette and later CD player in dash deck units, amps and speaker systems. The fact this had a manual with some hp is just cool.
The challenge of comparing this to a 99-00 160hp civic si is that the civic weighted less and had an insane redline, you could ride the clutch and make a civic do things it technically shouldn't be able to. Those civics of that time period will someday be viewed like the tri-five are viewed today as a popular car to hotrod because of the platform options.
Now take that and compare it to this, if GM took a different approach they could have completed with Civics, this did it nearly 10 years ahead of Honda. It's a cool car, but it's not worth 5k though, I think 2,500 is the right price.
I very much agree. That Civic was impressive as well. That little B16 damaged so many V8 egos 🤣
Good times 😂
I take a 442 cutlass 1972 anytime the best of our times
I had a 1972 442 It was Candy apple red with a vinal black top leather interior automatic gear shifter on console it had booze speakers all over this car was special ordered for me by my Daddy it had a cassette player do you know it didn't cost my Daddy $3,600.00 of course he was a GM fan I was taught how to drive at 4 yrs old first our tractor then a 59 3 speed on the column chevy Truck he made my sister who could not drive sit in the floor and I had to tell her when to pull the clutch out slowly and then give it gas and we would go flying across our 5 acre garden now when she got her 1st car it was a American Made Javlin no a/s no power stirring it had a 343 engine it could fly but of course she wrecked it constantly my 442 was in the garage when I wasn't driving it well when I got Pregnant my mother decided that since she had a 3 yr old daughter she needed it more than me well scared not to be able to pay the Dr bill my husband was fired from his job for hurting his back from his brother in law they made carbon paper and you had to lift hugh rolls on the ink side carbon was everywhere he got a job after going to Dr Sweat a chiropractor he got better so he worked for a Service Station that did all kinds of repairs at the time he had a ford gran toreno1972 model so we got my aunt to give me her car for what we had in it I got a 1972 chevy nova he was driving the Javelin then what really mad me mad her husband sold it for 500 dollars it had 30 thousand miles on it and this was in 1977 it was still in perfect condition but my 442 would out run any car I could race I still get mad Im 66 yrs old now and thats my 442 story
Not bad HP from a 4 cyl in 92. Would keep up with most V8’s. Worked on them the stick was definitely fun to drive.
I had a 1988 Cutlass Calais International. Great car - wish I still had it.
Is car still available? I love manual transmission, been looking for older car.
My name is Brandon I want that car ASAP call me 559-790-2037 please that's my dream car
442 ...four barrel, four speed, positrac.
I would like to see more pictures. Would love to have it.
It's worth that...if it were me I would not ask for any less..