Ron Ward scored big while trolling eBay and he sent this awesome car for us to check out. Of course we had to share it with you because a BangShift reader NEEDS to own this awesome sleeper. Looking like something an old lady would be rolling to the market with, this 1983 Olds Cutlass wagon is the right bad color, with the right roof rack, and seemingly plunked on Grand National wheels to lull anyone into a false sense of security. Packing a fully built Grand National turbo V6, the seller claims that the car is good for low 11s in the quarter mile when we runs it at Palm Beach International Raceway. There is video of the car running and driving in the ad and it really couldn’t get more unassuming unless it had whitewalls and factory wire hubcaps. We personally dig the swapped on GN wheels because any kid who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s saw any number of G-bodied with Monte Carlo SS or GN wheels bolted to them as a sort of cheap swap when people didn’t really see much value in those rims. That’s a different story now, but you get where we are going.
If we had to nit-pick on thing with the car, and that’s pretty much what we do around here nit pick, it is the sheer number of gauges in the passenger compartment. Yes, the wagon was built by an engineer, but we didn’t think he was a flight engineer. We’ve literally been in small planes with less instrumentation than this car. Honestly, when looking at ’em we run out of ideas about what half the gauges are for and there are still like five left!
That’s a small trifling complaint, though and not one that would steer us away from the pretty awesome $15,000 asking price. By how clean, rot free, and generally awesome this car is the price strikes us as very fair. You could just eat people’s ego’s for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in this car and do it handily. Every modern muscle car would be destroyed, most of the classic stuff would go down in flames, and anything else you can think of would be cannon fodder. A low 11 second car on the street is exceptionally fast…like most people have no conception fast. The best part is that the thing idles like a little V6 and probably does OK for mileage when you are not eating Vipers and late model Camaro-stangs alive.
The transmission is a built TH400, the rear end a built up unit out of a GN, there is no rot or decay of any kind visible. This thing flat out friggin’ rules.
SCROLL DOWN TO CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS AND THEN HIT THE LINK TO SEE DOZENS MORE PHOTOS AND VIDEO!
EBAY LINK: THE SLEEPER OLDS G-BODY WAGON OF ALL TIME — GRAND NATIONAL POWER
I count 21 gauges, including the Scanmaster digital gauge. Seems a little excessive. But definitely one of the coolest sleepers I’ve seen in a while.
Keep all the awesome sleepers comin!!
T-type wheels to be exact. Aluminum as opposed to the GN’s Steel wheels.
Those wheels were installed on ’84 and ’85 GNs before the chrome steelies of ’86 and ’87.
Mother of god…
Hydraboost brakes are missing. I hope he doesn’t ever need to do a panic stop from speed or acceleration!
What’s wrong with vacuum brakes? They work fine with GNs, recommended over the stock Powermasters.
So, if he can keep the boost levels low at slow cruising speed, it sounds like another 80’s full-frame car missing 2 cylinders. Me likes. The American muscle version of the Honda 2.0 liter ricers with turbos that displace more than the engine.
Very cool sleeper, but those gauges are ridiculous.
Here’s the thing if it was a real sleeper it wouldn’t have the wheels or gauges. It would look grandma fresh. Get it to hook on some cheap thin white walls now that’d be bad ass.