~ Auto Buzz ~: Hemmings Find of the Day – 1971 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser

The green paint with woodgrain trim on this 455-powered 1971 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser for sale on Hemmings.com drew us in right away, but it was the seller’s excellent description of the car’s history, restoration process, and even the way it drives and handles now that hooked us on this car. It still has some minor issues to address, as pointed out in the lengthy description and detailed photos, but it’s also a running and driving and all-there car with new paint and straight bodywork. From the seller’s description:

The Vista was originally sold to the San Diego Red Cross and was then purchased by the second owner in 1972. He drove it daily until 1977 when it suffered a rear-end collision. The tailgate was replaced but driven infrequently until 1984 at which time the owner gave it to his son-in-law, also in California. I purchased it from him in February 2005 after seeing his ad in Hemmings Motor News. I had the Vista trucked out from California and commenced a 10-year-long total restoration of the vehicle.

I started with the engine. It was professionally rebuilt with new camshaft and Edelbrock Torker 455 manifold, Holley four-barrel (manual choke), and and Accel HEI distributor. Runs very well and starts every time with the choke pulled. New dual exhaust lets the engine breathe and it sounds good, if a bit loud for my taste. While the engine was out, I painted the firewall, inner hood, inside of the fenders, and the inner fender liners.

After reinstalling the engine and front end, I commenced on a two-year restoration of the bodywork. I removed the trim and all glass, then got to work with the sandpaper, sanding down to bare metal or original OEM finish. I then sprayed an epoxy primer down, did more body work, then sprayed a urethane high-build primer surfacer and sanded more with a long board to get the smooth appearance you’ll see in the photos. (If you want to see more photos, go to kurtlammon.com).

The Ford kiwi green paint looks very similar to the original shade yet with more sparkle. The PPG urethane basecoat/clearcoat finish was professionally applied in a downdraft paint booth by George Eid of Iron Horse Auto Body in Rainsville, AL in 2011. The woodgrain was professionally applied by a local vehicle wrap expert, whereupon I reinstalled the trim and glass. I wet sanded and polished the paint myself.

After the car was sprayed and before I wet sanded it, I had the whole interior reupholstered with original style carpet, vinyl, and headliner by a locally-well known auto trim expert. Since he does a lot of work for local used car lots, it took him nearly a year to finish the interior. All surfaces were redone except for the third-row seat, which is original. I also installed rectractable shoulder belts with anchors welded into the roof at the B pillar (I just feel naked without a shoulder belt nowadays). The back seat folds down just as it should and the third row operates perfectly. The only thing lacking are the vinyl panels that cover the sheet metal in the cargo area; this remains an opportunity for someone to perfect the vehicle in the future. Also, I just sprayed the rear wheel housings with the factory-correct dark green color; they were not reupholstered. As a result, there are some blemishes in this 44-year old vinyl.

The Vista is going to be a real attention-getter for the person who doesn’t mind driving something different to the car show. Everybody of the baby boom and 70’s generation seems to have a Vista Cruiser memory somewhere; this car is a real conversation starter. The car is a reliable driver, but it runs hot despite the radiator being rodded-out and having a new fan clutch installed. The temperature indicated on the accessory gauge under the dash will get up to 220 in the summer, but even at this level it doesn’t boil over when the engine is turned off. I have a coolant recovery tank installed and it stays at the right level. I wonder if the temperature gauge is even reading properly.

To help survive the humid Southeastern summers, I installed a Vintage Air air conditioning and heating system. This really cleans up the firewall, allowing you to see the 455 in Olds Gold in its full glory! The A/C, heat, and defrost all works well. On the dash, the wipers work fine as does the speedo and odo. However, the clock is not working, nor is the inside switch for the back glass (I had an electrical drain and I isolated it to the back glass relay. I pulled the relay and that solved the problem. However, the switch didn’t work before I pulled the relay either. Alas, another opportunity for you to perfect this vehicle if you choose to accept the task!)

Back to the interior, the previous owner had installed an aftermarket K-Mart stereo in the ashtray area, so I pulled it out and just installed a plastic blank where I installed the carburetor choke knob, a cigarette lighter receptacle (is it still okay to call them that?), and even a USB 5-volt port. I put in an “old looking” stereo that has a radio (terrible reception since I didn’t hook up an antenna), a cassette tape player, and an auxiliary plug that is routed to the glove box so you can play your iPod. The sound is not great since it just plays one channel through a 4×10 speaker in the middle of the dash. (I didn’t have any desire to make the sound system any good). The glove box is only a tray; the upper half of the box supplied by Vintage Air wouldn’t fit for all the corrugated hoses running around back there.

Regarding the dash pad, it does have one crack on the far right side. The pad did have a crack in the left side. When the windshield was out, I took the opportunity to repair that crack, retexture and paint the entire pad. It looked brand-new! However, about two weeks after I had the windshield reinstalled, the crack on the right side seemed to appear overnight! Ugh.

The Vista runs and drives really great, but it is a car from the 70’s. When I bought the car, the suspension seemed so floaty that I thought there was something wrong. I bought brand new springs and shocks and discovered that that’s the way they were supposed to ride back then! Just takes some getting used to. The steering feel is likewise almost nonexistant.