DB stopped by to offer a response to our story, “1973 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme: Monument to a fading dream.”
There was no downsizing which hindsight would have been the right direction. I have owned three A bodies from the 1968-to-1972 era and a 1973 Century. The Monte Carlo/Grand Prix comparison does not apply. These models were A-plus bodies.
I have also owned a 1973 Buick Century, which in my opinion had a better profile than the scalloped-sided Cutlass. As far as handling and ride, the 1971 Supreme has the best handling, the 1970 and 1971 Skylarks I owned were the lightest feeling/ nimblest, but the 1973 Century definitely had the most solid feel, but probably didn’t corner as well as the lighter earlier A-bodies.
— DB
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When I think of this generation Century, I think mainly of the 4-door sedan drived by detective Kojak (Telly Savalas). 😉 https://www.imcdb.org/v020015.html
All of the 1973 A bodies were obese. The sculpting on the Cutlass doors was an issue that did eventually get changed in a few years. The Buick isn’t bad. I find the Pontiac Grand Am the best of the lot although it was not successful.
So did the 1973-1977 Buick Century inspire the 1973-1977 Monte Carlo or vice-versa ? Both cars were not as distinctive as the Oldsmobile Cutlass sedans and coupes nor the Pontiac Grand Prix, in my opinion. John Z. DeLorean was right, that G.M.s A-bodies as proposed and eventually locked-in were in need of a slight downsizing.
Overall, there was quite a bit of stylistic excess happening with GM’s 1973-77 A & A-Special cars. Only the ’76-77 Cutlass & Century/Regal A-Specials got the benefit of a thoughtful restyle. IMO, the Cutlass was the best looking from 1973-77, even with the fender scallops, which were low on the body, allowing for a nicely tailored appearance.
The Chevelle was almost bland, save for the one year only round taillights in ’73. The flat front end was the least attractive aspect of the 1973-77 Chevelle. The front bumper of all but the Laguna models in ’73 would have been out of place on a Chevy 1/2-ton. The pontoon-fendered LeMans looked cool, initially, but the blunt ’73 front bumper ruined it and the next year the tapered rear deck had to have a butt lift to accommodate the bigger back bumper.
The Grand Am’s protruding nose piece, while distinctive, was out of fashion by the time it was introduced. The front fender swoop on the Century and Regal looked out of date on the 4-door sedans and wagons the minute the the ’76 Century & Regal A-Special bodies were redesigned.
As for the Monte Carlo, you either loved it or hated it, but, like the Grand Prix, it didn’t stray far from the original ’73 version. The stacked vertical headlights that came along in ’76 did it no favours, however. On the other hand, the rectangular headlamps looked great on the Grand Prix and allowed Pontiac to clean up and modernize the design without losing it’s Pontiac flavour.
Looking back to the 73-77 period objectively, so many neighbors, family and friends had traded in their older full-size GM’s for new Colonnade cars. As I recall, they were cited as being big and roomy enough compared with the recent standard cars and more rational while offering most of the attractive attributes of their previous larger cars. While these cars may be arguably oversized in “midsize” terms, I now see it very differently; they may have indeed been the first step across the bridge to downsizing in a lot of traditional domestic buyers’ minds at that moment in the early-mid 70’s.