A few months ago, on epinions 1.0, I thought I'd take a break from my medical epinions to write about my first car. Unfortunately, my car wasn't listed. Well, here on 2.0, I found it: my old 1983 Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais.
A little history about the car...
My parents bought it brand new off the lot in 1982 or 1983. It was custom ordered with a T-top roof for the sporty look. It had a 6 cylinder engine, but I don't remember how big the engine was. It was a 2 door with brown paint, brown interior, and some of that "fake wood" paneling on the interior. It was an automatic transmission with a floor shift. It had manual windows but automatic door locks. AM/FM stereo, no cassette.
My parents drove it for years. When I was 15 1/2 years old I got my learners permit and started driving the old Olds. I crashed it once and had it fixed up. When I turned 18, my parents entered divorce proceedings, and I was getting ready for college. My parents owned 3 cars and I was able to get my hands on the Olds. I went off to college.
I drove it for 4 years of college and 3 years of medical school. I dated, courted, and married my wife while driving that car! Finally, in 1998, while a third year medical student, I sold it and bought something brand new.
I guess most of the problems I had with the car were normal wear and tear. The water pump died twice, the radiator in later years. The automatic transmission went out at about 60,000 miles and my parents put in an AAMCO transmission with a lifetime warranty. I got my use out of that warranty!!
The only 2 other big problems involved the floor automatic shifter. The cable broke, however, I had replaced the steering column (actually my brother-in-law did, with a column from a junk yard). The replacement column was a column-shifter, so I just quit using the floor shifter and kept driving. It was great to see valet parking attendants try to get the floor shifter to work!!
The other complaint I had was with the T-top. As time went on that thing leaked air like crazy! I drove on the freeway and could barely hear anyone talking in the car because of the noise. I tried weather stripping it many times without much luck.
Oh, I guess the odometer didn't work too well either. I almost forgot!
Anyway after 15 years of the car being in our family, I sold it for $750 (again thanks to my brother-in-law who kept that car running for ever!). I think it had about 180,000 miles on it.
I don't miss that car, but occasionally I wane nostalgic for it.
I have to give it a 2, only because it lasted so long!!!
I guess I'll return to writing medical reviews, that's where I have some expertise. I have listed all of my medical epinions on my profile page for easy access. If you are looking for a specific topic, please look there!
In the hopes of bringing together good writers and topics, I have started a webring of people who enjoy writing medical epinions. Hopefully, this will help others find medical epinions when they are looking for specific authors or topics. See my profile page for details, then click on the "ring hub" link. Thanks!
Thank you for reading.
Amount Paid (US$): 12,000
Condition: New
Model Year: 1983
