Obscure Malaise-era Oldsmobile trivia help needed

Since you guys know everything...

I'm writing an article about the Brown, Manual transmission, RWD, Diesel station wagon. A question about the 1979 Olds Cutlass has arisen.

Because the Oldsmobile 350 Diesel wasn't horrible enough, for 1979-80 Olds also sold a 260ci/4.3liter V-8 Diesel called the LF7. 90 hp and 160 ft/lb of torque. Woo!

Anyhow, research indicates that this awesome engine could be combined with (what some call) America's first 5-speed manual transmission, The Borg-Warner T50, under option code M75.

So... you could order a brown, manual, diesel, RWD Cutlass for 1979.

Here's where the research hits a brick wall.

For the life of me, I can't determine if this engine/trans combo could be had in the station wagon. I do know that you could get the wagon with a 350 Diesel and THM 350 auto. I do know that you could get the 260/5-speed in the "aeroback" Cutlass sedan and coupe.

Can anybody help??

Here's the 1979 Olds brochure: http://oldcarbrochures.com I didn't read it line by line but it appears wagons were only available with the larger diesel engine.

Aha! That brochure prompted me to find the "Engine Supplement Sheet". Unfortunately, I could only find the 1980 version.

Sadly, this pic is the maximum resolution I can find online. However, I blew it up to the point between "too small to read" and "too pixelated to read" and it seems that the 1980 wagon (aka Cutlass Cruiser) models could be had with the 3.8 V-6 gas, the 4.3 V-8 gas, the 5.0 V-8 gas, or the 5.7 Diesel. No 260 V-8 Diesel.

Now if I could only find the 1979 Engine Supplement Sheet...

Wagons were only available with the Diesel 8, Gas 8, and Buick V6, IIRC. Cutlass wagons also ran on different rear frame rails, making restoration of rust belt wagons very difficult, as Conrad Lozier (the main source for G-body frame rails) isn't making any more and is sold out of wagon and El Camino rails.

Aha again! Here it is!

Again, pretty hard to read at the existing resolution, but I'm pretty sure the only Diesel engine/trans combo in a wagon is the 350/Auto.

So one could never get a Brown, Manual, RWD, Diesel Cutlass wagon.

Thanks, GRM!

edit, they broke the link, because they don't want photos shared, but trust me.

I'm not sure where you draw the line between hipster and masochist, but if you're lusting after an Olds 260 Diesel, you probably can't see it from where you're standing.

Lusting? Not me, just doing research!

The only people who think the Olds 350 Diesel was the worst engine of the 70s are the people who never heard of the Olds 260 V-8 Diesel.

Oh and when the A-body went FWD in the 80s, there was also a 260 V-6 Diesel.

Just please tell me that it's not another "blah blah malaise junk blah blah olds diesel worst engine ever blah blah" piece.

Esoteric Nixon wrote: Just please tell me that it's not another "blah blah malaise junk blah blah olds diesel worst engine ever blah blah" piece.

Nope, that dead horse has been beaten enough. The article is about manual, RWD, Diesel, stickshift wagons you could actually buy in the US. And the Cutlass isn't one of them.

So that leaves what, Peugeot, Mercedes, and Volvo?

E, and surely VW.

Esoteric Nixon wrote: So that leaves what, Peugeot, Mercedes, and Volvo? E, and surely VW.

No Mercedes wagon was ever imported in to the US with a Diesel and manual transmission.

You might argue that the VW Vanagon Diesel was a station wagon (VW referred to earlier buses as "VW Station Wagon", but never the Vanagon) but I will contend that it's a van, not a wagon. There were no other RWD Diesel VWs sold in the US.

The reality of the situation is that the only such cars sold in the US were the Peugeot 504 (possibly also the 505, but the evidence is unclear), the Volvo 240, and the Volvo 740.

My research shows only coupe/sedan could get the 4.3L diesel. This is per the Standard Catalog of American Cars 1976-1999.

EvanR wrote:

Esoteric Nixon wrote: So that leaves what, Peugeot, Mercedes, and Volvo? E, and surely VW.

No Mercedes wagon was ever imported in to the US with a Diesel and manual transmission. You *might* argue that the VW Vanagon Diesel was a station wagon (VW referred to earlier buses as "VW Station Wagon", but never the Vanagon) but I will contend that it's a van, not a wagon. There were no other RWD Diesel VWs sold in the US. The reality of the situation is that the only such cars sold in the US were the Peugeot 504 (possibly also the 505, but the evidence is unclear), the Volvo 240, and the Volvo 740.

Yeah, I derped. Pretty sure the 300TD I saw that fit the criteria was in Germany. And also never mind the VW thing; I am at work and thought of that whilst distractedly thinking about the Dasher and talking to a colleague.