Oldsmobile's First Compact Was a Technological Marvel: The 1961-63 F-85/Cutlass/Jetfire

[@vulcrider]

Way back when I was a sophomore in high school, my first car was a '63 F-85 purchased for the princely sum of $35.00. A great little project car for an aspiring gear head. Unfortunately, my mother didn't see the potential in the car and had it towed away for $15.00. This was all around 1970, god how things have changed. If I only could go back...

[@foreignautomobiles]

And your dad went along with your mom's decision?

[@bloqk16]

The situation you described about a seven year old vehicle brings up an aspect about vehicles in the 1960s when compared to 21st century vehicles: In early 2024, a 2017 model year vehicle is not considered old. But, in 1970, a seven year old vehicle was considered on its last legs. As much as people like myself look at the vehicles of the 1960s for their quality, the materials used in 21st century vehicles are, in many cases, better than they were in the 1960s. I have a 20+ year old Toyota Tundra truck that's been parked outdoors 24/7. Paint job [rarely giving it a wash job] and the interior still in fine shape. Doubtful a 1960s era vehicle would hold up that well, as they could be very well showing signs of faded paint, along with vinyl dashboard cracks and upholstery being frayed, after a decade outdoors.

[@Dougie1969]

​@@bloqk16 I agree I would only add that computerization, fuel injection, electronic ignition made drivetrains last well over 200k, where pre 80s vehicles were lucky to make it past 150 k. Don't know uf i entirely agree about the quality of materials, but technology in those materials probably helped a lot. The last thing i would add, a pre 80 vehicle was almost certainly easier to repair because of the computer aspect.

[@Dougie1969]

​@@foreignautomobiles His father probably put his mother up to it. LOL

[@jimsharp5044]

And a 7 yr old vehicle looks just like a new vehicle. All makes and models all look alike. The don’t change the looks every yr like they did back then

[@61rampy65]

Your sound effects of the transmission shifting was absolutely spot-on!

[@RareClassicCars]

Thank you!

[@jeffstonecipher1594]

I second that -not bad at all! Would not want to hear him try to sing Fords panther platform transmission 1-2 noises though. I've tried -its bad🙂

[@61rampy65]

@@jeffstonecipher1594 I never drove one of those F-85s, but I did drive a 61 Catalina with the Roto HydraMatic, and it really did sound like Adam's sound effects!

[@JasonFlorida]

If only we could have seen your face making those sounds. Lol

[@donk499]

Almost as good as Adam's oral compression test imitation!

[@StupidFastTruck]

Loved the impression of the 1-2 shift, first I think for your channel.

[@jude4000]

Hey black kitty! Thanks as always, Adam. Love the videos

[@quetzal4042]

My buddy in college had an F-85 wagon, I believe it was a '61, in the summer of 1972, a real rustbucket by then, I remember patching the body with coffee cans and pop-rivets so it would pass inspection. Then one of the brake lines rusted through, so had to replace all of them as well. The ignition coil failed so we grabbed one from an old abandoned Rambler in a neighbor's yard and that worked just fine. Cars were so much simpler and more fun to work on in those days. That winter we drove it from Pittsburgh to California and back, no major problems. Great little car.

[@eltonyancey6426]

My first car was a 1963 F-85 I bought it in late 67 while in the Navy. I never had any problems and it and it got me from Florida to Texas twice. I drove it for 4 years before moving up.

[@gerardcousineau3478]

👍 I put the thumb up after the impression.😊

[@RareClassicCars]

Awesome

[@MostlyBuicks]

I had a 1962 Skylark 2 door HARDTOP. The frame around the side glass when up and down with the glass. No B pillar. It had the 215 4bbl V8 with 11:1 compression. 190 hp. It had the two speed "dual path" transmission which was quite durable. It also had buckets, power windows and factor A/C. It was a luxury compact for sure.

[@marko7843]

I was shocked to see power windows in this video on such a lowly car...

[@unclebob7937]

@@marko7843 Oldsmobile division was mid level at GM in those days.

[@davidpowellseattle]

A co-worker drove a 62 Skylark convertible. Light yellow/white top and interior. It was about 1985. It was a nice looking classic by then. Vivian probably purchased it new. It fit her personality. Lovely person, smarter than she let on... Like the car.

[@RonaldDaub-g7z]

That's interesting and I believe it because I've seen some skylarks with little nailhead v6

[@RonaldDaub-g7z]

​@@davidpowellseattlethat's the one that I saw that had the nail head

[@budmatto9205]

My wife often spoke about her Mom's car when she was little - 1961 F-85 four door sedan. She enjoyed seeing the footage in your video.

[@edwardpate6128]

Another thing driving the development of these smaller cars was not just the VW but the fact that in the late 50's the country was going through a pretty significant recession.

[@califdad4]

My Aunt got a new 63 Olds F85 Cutlass, and it was a nice car, she really liked it,

[@Paramount531]

I think Olds did the best styling job on the compacts. I like the aluminum V8 too, I had one in a 1970 Rover 3500S.

[@Flies2FLL]

You needed to fill the tank with "Turbo Rocket Fluid", not turbo rocket fuel, Adam. I remember looking at the old car and seeing the degraded sticker. Me and my friends at the time thought the car was stupid and would never be worth more than scrap. Little did us boys know!

[@df7293]

As the owner of a 62 special wagon I love seeing more information about the senior compacts being put out there! They’re wonderful little cars

[@turbo8454]

My first car was a '62 Special wagon. Sold it in the fall of '71.

[@WIED66]

Your friend has to get that bumper ding fixed. That would drive me nuts.

[@The_R-n-I_Guy]

Early 60's American compact cars are great looking. These small GM cars and the Chrysler compact cars from the same period are just beautiful in my opinion

[@sprague49]

As a kid in the early 60's, I remember my mom test driving a used '61 F-85. As a family we had always owned Plymouths and Chevy's so this Olds was a step up! These were the days when a car salesman would bring a car to your home to test out. She had told the salesman on the phone she wanted a manual like she was used to, so the F-85 he brought had the floor shifter as featured here 12:33 Mom was aghast! It's supposed to be on the column! That jalopy shifter wouldn't do for a respectable lady! (A few months later she ended up buying a brand new 64 Chevy Bel Air with Powerglide! LOL. It was gifted to me when I turned 18. That car was bullet proof.)

[@michaelplunkett8059]

Oy vey. The 2 speed poweglide. Bulletproof but zzzzzzzzz.

[@ZGryphon]

@@michaelplunkett8059 The kick-down could be fun, if only because it generally made an awful lot of fuss and sounded very exciting while not actually making the car go fast enough to get you into trouble. (And also because of that tantalizing delay after you stepped on the pedal, while the bridge telegraphed down to the engine room for full speed. :)

[@unclebob7937]

80s, we had a 'beater' '64 w/283 base and pg. Was a freakin' tank!

[@randyfrommesaarizona6927]

Really nice to see all of the views and comments. I currently have a 1961 2dr base F-85, a 1961 4dr Deluxe F-85, a 1962 Cutlass convertible and a 1963 4dr Buick Special. The ‘63s are too big and plain and I agree the Olds has a leg up on the styling. The automatics on both the Olds and Buick suck.

[@buzzwaldron6195]

As does the automatic in the Tempest, as well...

[@BillofRights1951]

My parents had close friends who owned a '62 Olds F85....The wife once gave me a ride to school and stomped on the throttle on a freeway on ramp....that 215 V8 was faaaast!!...I assume it had the 4BBL carburetor....I realize now it was the Cutlass upgrade. What a great little go-cart of a car. Adam's vocal version of the transmission was spot on. I remember well the 1-2 shift back then. The 1-2 shift had a very distinctive shudder as well when the shift took place.

[@dogdad27]

Great shift impression, Adam!

[@chuckselvage3157]

The impression was outstanding 😂😂😂

[@stephenlight647]

Great review. Really enjoyed it. Shame about the transmission, BUT great transmission re-enactment on your part! 😂

[@sawtooth4615]

When I was in high school, we had two of these cars for driver's training. One was an automatic and the other was a standard transmission (three speed) on the column. I already had my driver's license but we could take it to reduce the cost of car insurance. I grew up on a farm so everything I had driven was stick shift so the standard shift car was not a problem.

[@bobhenry6159]

7:30 The ad is hilarious with all the red ink and underlines. Rockett motor at no extra charge! New hydra-matic with amazing accel-a-rotor action!

[@oldsjetfire8975]

Jetfire was not just the first turbocharged in US, it was first in the world. Corvair was only a couple weeks later, not months. That is a really nice 61 4 door in the video! Thanks

[@Dougie1969]

The turbo setup looked outstanding for being the first. I had to pause the video so i could admire it.

[@frederickbooth7970]

@@Dougie1969 We paused too. The interiors are also so clean & simple as well.

[@oldsjetfire8975]

@@Dougie1969 I have several videos about them on my channel you can check out. I hope to do some more in-depth videos on building the turbo system in the next year.

[@RareClassicCars]

Love your Jetfire!

[@motomuso]

Aargh! There's a solid looking '61 Buick Special for sale here in SoCal for $4K and it's been calling to me. Seeing this video at this time almost makes it meant-to-be.

[@chrishoff402]

Growing up in that era, the thing I noticed the most about the cars driving down a highway was that you could look right through the next ten vehicles in front of you, especially at night, didn't matter car or pickup truck. They all had the exact same height, the windows provided excellent see through visibility.

[@Stevespecs]

Bought one off my third grade teacher’s husband in 1973 was a F85 , 4 barrel, even had an aftermarket A/C. Paid $300 bucks, drove it for 3 years until it got badly hit. Fun little car, lots of great memories

[@67marlins]

Excellent history lesson as always! I enjoy the Oldsmobile approach to shared designs. As my grandfather said, Olds was always GM's 'experimental car'. ..their division was always pioneering engineering innovations.

[@christopherkraft1327]

Wow Adam, you sound just like that transmission!!! Very impressive!!! 👍👍🤔

[@courtneypuzzo2502]

the F85 was the base model of the Cutlass which was one of Oldsmobile's best selling models and its 3rd longest produced behind the 98 and 88 the 98 was produced for a total of 53 yrs. between 1940 and 1996 the 88 was produced for 50 years from 1949-1999 and the Cutlass was produced for 38 years 1961-1999. at one point in the mid 70s 3 of my grandparents had Oldsmobile cars a 1972 98 Holiday Coupe a 1972 Delta 88 and a 1974 Cutlass sport Coupe

[@MarinCipollina]

Ninety Eight was always spelled out.

[@cdjhyoung]

Did you live around Lansing, Michigan? I think there may have been a county law requiring every family to own at least one Oldsmobile in the 1960's and 70's.

[@rightlanehog3151]

Adam, Thank you for sharing the humble beginnings of the Cutlass. 🤩

[@DanEBoyd]

The Special/Skylark, theF85/Cutlass, and the Tempest were all linked, stylistically, to the first generation Corvair in my mind, even though they were a little closer to a Chevy II in format. That '63 F85 looked like an amalgamation of a Chevy II and an A body...

[@Rabblewitz]

These are some of my favorites from the early 60's. Honestly though, while I like them all, I prefer the styling of the 63 best.

[@bullnukeoldman3794]

My father bought a new F-85 two door post in '73. Fawn Beige (I believe it was called) with a white top. It was a either a base or mid range model. He traded his '61 Corvair Monza four door for it (it was red - My mother hated it because she said it looked like a damned fire engine). A lot more get up and go than the Monza as I remember. Great car, he got his normal 30k miles out of it before being forced into a white '66 Chevrolet four door Biscayne 6-cyl "three on the tree" company supplied car.

[@OLDS98]

Thank you Adam. Nothing to say or add... I liked that you mentioned how the 3800 V6 has its early origins here. Well stated about the Cutlass beginnings and Jetfire. These were called compacts, and yet years later this was considered midsized as this car was long as a Oldsmobile Ciera from the 80's and the 1988 Cutlass Supreme. I liked the photos of the interior and exterior.

[@Dougie1969]

Yeah He always teaches me stuff like this

[@JasonFlorida]

My first car in 1996 was a 2door 1988 Cutlass Supreme. It was so nice and never gave me any problems. That style had a long run with the basic design ending I think in 96 or 97

[@OLDS98]

@@JasonFlorida It was 1997. Then it was replaced by Intrigue for 1998 for Oldsmobile centennial plan. Intrigue was supposed to be branded Cutlass Supreme, but they went Intrigue instead. We see how that turned out. I am glad to hear the Cutlass Supreme never gave you in any trouble.

[@pdunn1871]

Beautiful cars Wow, brown and cream is a perfect colour way for this style of car.Really pops!Thanks

[@doc3584]

2:51 whats the cat's name?👍👍

[@trevorchapman1694]

In Australia it was used in the Leyland P76 V8 and the capacity was increased to 4.4lt. Used in local F5000 racing.

[@KarlAdamsAudio]

Early versions of the Repco-Brabham F1 engine were based on an extensively modified Olds F-85 215 block too.

[@johnd8892]

The 215 alloy block forned the basis of the 1966 Formula 1 winning Repco Brabham car. Win the championship for Jack Brabham as both a driver and constructor. Only driver to acheive this and unlikely to ever happen again. Repeated in 1967 with Denny Hulme outscoring his boss Jack Brabham. How radically the motor was changed can be seen in the vid : the story behind brabhams success Beat all the Ferrari, Maserati, BRM, Ford and other engined cars.

[@andrewinaustintx]

Back in 1969 - I was working and able to upgrade from a small 50cc motor bike. Tah dah, I bought a 1962 two door F-85 and none of my friends were impressed. At the time and today, I thought the F-85 as an economy car was a bit more polished than the typical 61/62 Ford Falcon of the same era. Mine had the Rockette V8 with a Rochester 2 barrel carb. I must say, I was totally unaware of the reputation of the Roto-Hydramatic transmission.

[@scroungasworkshop4663]

Did you know that the Buick 3.8 V6 found a new home in Australia. With the introduction of the VN Commodore in 1989 Holden changed from the straight 6 that it had been using since about 1964 to the BuickV6. They were used up until Holden closed down for good in 2021 and were offered with a supercharger in the 2nd generation of the Holden Monaro in about 1999. It didn’t sell very well against the 5.7 litre V8 so it was dropped from the line up fairly quickly. Of course, like the Holden straight 6 it received many changes and upgrades along the way and was a pretty reliable and relatively powerful engine. Cheers, Stuart 🇦🇺

[@ohioalphornmusicalsawman2474]

My Uncle had the Buick Skylark version of this car, a '61 I believe, when I was a kid. It was a daily driver for him, and he loved that car.

[@Radioactive_Slime]

You forgot to say “headphones on” for the transmission shifting sound🔊 🎶 🎶. Awesome video.

[@jamesengland7461]

Adam, you made a great impression! Really threw me back in my seat 😂

[@loumontcalm3500]

Black cat cameo at 3:45 It was obvious that they all shared the mid section and roofline.

[@VMac822]

When I rebuilt the engine in my '62 F-85 my stripped down engine block weighed in at 44 lbs. It was fun showing the kids how "strong" I was by lifting it over my head! In terms of engineering, the body structure feels very strong on my car, and the ride is nice and compliant. The handling isn't that great though, the front tires camber too much and too much body roll. The unibody does transmit road noise, but I need to look at my engine mounts as a lot of engine vibration resonates through the body- it is poorly isolated. Fortunately I have "3 on the tree" and don't have to deal with the automatic. (Edit: another difference between the Buick and Olds version of the 215 is Olds used more head bolts. I would think the Buick version would have more head gasket failures). When I rebuilt the engine, it had a tremendous amount of cylinder wear for the miles it had (around 100k). When I took the oil filter assembly apart, I found the check valve for the oil filter was missing, apparently missed on the assembly line, so it went its entire life without oil circulating through the filter to be cleaned.

[@Bloodcurling]

Check valve should be for back flow prevention

[@Redpawdave]

My father-in-law bought a new '61 F-85 but special ordered a 4 speed, floor-mounted, manual transmission. He loved his "hot rod"

[@atikovi1]

Power windows on the Cutlass 14:32 must have been a rare option.

[@4o5919]

the front and back of this car is classic. The interior looks great also. Give me the JetFire

[@amidointhisright]

i remember playing the original of this a million years ago on my dad's old computer. good shit

[@DanEBoyd]

About fifteen years or so ago, I stumbled upon a website dedicated to scolding real estate agents who let the seller's pets sneak into the listing pictures!🤣 That cat wants the video to be about him.

[@charliefunboy5210]

I wonder if they offered AC on these cars? Thank you for including the engine and exhaust sounds under your commentary. Also, the transmission impression brought a smile to my face. lol.... much appreciated and affective in describing the much maligned transmission.

[@61rampy65]

Yes, A/C was offered on all the B-O-P compacts. 61 would probably have the old 5 cyl GM compressor, but 62 and newer would have the much better A-6 compressor.

[@charliefunboy5210]

@@61rampy65 Thank you!

[@charles-ge1nx]

The interior of the 3-speed Hurst(?) was amazingly upscale.

[@DSP1968]

Thank you for covering this car, Adam. I've always thought that each of the GM "senior compacts" had something unique to offer the buyer.

[@777jones]

Thanks for the video. Drove my 4.6 Range Rover today.

[@annelarrybrunelle3570]

Had a '62 convertible for a while. The baby Roto actually worked pretty well, and in those days, you expected about one transmission overhaul for any automatic during the first 100k miles. (At another time I had a '64 Catalina with the big Roto, which transmission took 3 overhauls. A real weak sister. Hot Rod reported that GM had a heavy-duty Roto, presumably for racing, but have no idea what was different about it.) I really liked the little Olds. A set of Uniroyal sports car radials made a huge difference in roadworthiness.

[@MarinCipollina]

Radial tires fixed a lot of handling sins.

[@johnplovanich9564]

A gentleman on the island has a 61 F 85 4 door.Quirky little car.The transmission you definetly need to get used to.I drove him home from the pub 1 night.Except for the 1 2 shift the car drives quite well.Irs tight and holds the road quite well.Love your videos.Cheers from Eulethra.

[@kitdinker]

The cat likes it so that's good enough for me.

[@williamwalsh4158]

My high school friends and I drove an Olds wagon with the aluminum V8 from MN to CO. The head gasket blew which made the trip interesting.

[@fomfom9779]

More memories. Interesting you started with the Corvair. My father ordered a 1962 Monza sedan for my mother's car. (Replacing her 1955 Mercury Montclair sedan.) He kept one little secret. It had a 4 speed manual; not the automatic. That didn't go over well. At all. It was quickly replaced with a nice new 1963 F-85 Cutlass convertible. We had the Cutlass until it was traded in on a new 1966 Toronado. I don't remember any issues with the Cutlass. I always liked it.

[@gm12551]

Your dad moved on up in car for sure

[@NebukedNezzer]

my father bought a 1961 4 door f85. the first try was an automatic trans. it kept shifting 2-3 -3-2 at about 35mph. he took it back to the dealer and drove 2 demos and they did it. so the dealer traded him for a 3 speed manual. it was a nice car.

[@tedlawrence4189]

Had a '61 V8 coupe. Parents bought it in '66 when I was 17. 28,000 miles and just arrived from Arizona. We lived in Nor. Indiana,so back then cars got rusty starting a 6 years old and by 8 years they were rust buckets. On those not used in Winter escaped that fate!

[@DinsdalePiranha67]

Another interesting bit of trivia regarding the Oldsmobile 215 V8 is that its block formed the basis of one of the earliest 3.0L engines in Formula One. With the addition of some proprietary parts, such as a shorter-stroke crankshaft and OHC heads, it became the Repco V8. It powered Brabham to consecutive driver's and constructor's championships in 1966 and 1967. It didn't last much beyond that, however; the Cosworth DFV was introduced in '67 as an exclusive to Lotus and became available to customers the following season.

[@weshelzer6054]

My first car. I just out of high school I bought a one for $ 1000 cash I had saved working in a Shakeys Pizza Parlor in Ft Worth my senior year. It was totaled by a Checker Cab, the ones built like a tank, about 4 months later. I was at a stop sign at the crest top of a hill that caused rear end to be a little more elevated and the cab failed to stop, got under that unibody and folder the whole trunk up to the rear window.

[@robertlear2712]

When I was in high school around 1967 was told if I contributed some money for a new family car I would have a say in what they bought. We ended up buying a 1962 Cutlass. I was jazzed about the small size, V8 engine and bucket seats. I felt very hip driving it around.

[@usmale49]

Very interesting video. You sure are great at explaining engines, transmissions and so forth. I would have liked to have seen more of interiors and body styles! I did enjoy the black kitty-cat at the beginning. When I was in 8th grade, my English teacher gave me ride to school in her 1962 F-85, it was a 2 door and a very nice automobile! Thank you for uploading and sharing!!

[@brettcannon74]

This is truly a landmark car most haven't heard of

[@markbehr88]

I always liked these. Wouldn’t mind adding one to my collection.

[@85TransAm406]

My first car (in 1996) was a 63 tempest with the slant 4, and I preferred the '63 sheetmetal shared with the F-85 myself. And now, I am restoring my wife's '65 F-85, jind of bringing me back to another of the shared BOP cars. The best part is finding out which division used which parts, like her post car uses the same headliner and sail panels as the other division's pillarless coupes for some reason, making getting the correct parts confusing sometimes...

[@sergioleone3583]

These are such cool cars. If I had collection, I'd love to have one of these in it. Good looking, and lots of cool items in the design.

[@michaellindquist31]

This was my 2nd car I bought late in 1969. A gray 2 door with automatic and bucket seats. I don’t remember if it was a Cutlass but it did have the 4 bbl carb and it had respectable acceleration albeit the terrible transmission. It leaked a lot of oil through the valve covers and dripped on the exhaust manifolds creating quite a stink. I only had it for a few months before selling it when I left for army basic training.

[@myronfrobisher]

Excellent report Adam - Thank You !!!

[@929cbr_rr]

Hey now, that was a great rendition of the shifting of the roto-hydramatic ! My brother had a '61, with the 4 barrel. As a 10 year old kid brother, I thought the car was awesome. Thanks for bringing back some fond memories.

[@deanstevenson6527]

Transmissions and, later, Rust let them down . The Oldsmobile engine had five bolts per cylinder head clamping. The Buick Rover V8, four bolts. Thanks AW. Love your great, informative articles.🥝✔️

[@amandab.recondwith8006]

The F85 was such sweet little car!

[@daveforeman6931]

One of my brothers in the 1970's bought a pristine '67 F-85 with I believe it was an aluminum motor. Nice little care.

[@jamesonpace726]

As an olde car guy, there are few domestic models I've missed but the F85 was one. Thanks for the great vid on a short, odd time before even I was born....

[@tedszweb5268]

Also my first car in High School 1962 F-85 Cutlass with a 4 speed & bucket seats with the 4 barrel 215.

[@mileshigh1321]

2:50 Black cat cameo!

[@jeffkoe310]

Can you do transmission sounds for all your car reviews going forward?

[@edwardpate6128]

I kind of have a soft spot for the Roto-Hydramatic as it was the first transmission I had a hand in helping to rebuild. Working with my dad we rebuilt the one from my grandmothers 62 Olds 88. I will say I was amazed at the huge number of parts inside of it compared to other transmissions of the period like the Dynaflow or Powerglide. It did seem to work better once we had rebuilt it however.

[@gregmcable]

Part of my collection wish list is an example of each of these very intriguing 1st gen GM compacts in B-O-P flavors. Each division was able to create such surprising and individual design features, despite the common platform.

[@pjrebordao]

That 215ci V8 had a looong life in the UK as it was adopted by Rover in the mid 60s and was used in many models and even outside of Rover by other UK manufacturers - TVR was one of them...

[@troynov1965]

I like the 63 the best myself from a styling standpoint.

[@stormythelowcountrykitty7147]

Thanks as always. How do you manage so many excellent videos!?!

[@61rampy65]

My aunt bought a new 61 or 62 Cutlass 2 door and picked it up at the factory. How that deal worked is beyond me. It did result in a bunch of minor issues that a decent dealer prep would have fixed. I remember that the car looked really small, but had plenty of room inside. I was only about 8 or 9 at that time. I think the engine or cooling system was giving her problems, so she sold it .after just a couple of years

[@georgeburns7251]

The convertible at the was nice looking.

[@donk499]

These were cool cars, certainly remember them when I was a kid, but can honestly say I never got to ride in one of them. OK, so these aluminum V8s had steel sleeves and aluminum heads. Someone theorized that the Vega had a cast iron head only because they were worried about valve seats falling out. But, it seems like these early aluminum engines had that figured out as well. Love that crazy looking air filter housing!

[@pcno2832]

15:16 1HP per cubic-inch was pretty impressive for 1962, even when talking gross, rather than net, HP. I've always suspected that part of the impetus for the small-car craze of 1959-62 was the after effects of the Suez crisis, which caused much bigger fuel supply and price shocks in Europe, but seemed to throw a scare into corporate America for a while. The Eisenhour administration had worked out a deal with the Texas Railroad Commission (our version of OPEC during that time) in which the TRC would maximize U.S. oil production in exchange for a near-ban on oil imports. This freed up supplies for oil-starved Europe and it led to only modest price increases here, but it showed how vulnerable the U.S. was in the long run. It's understandable that smaller, more space-efficient cars would seem like the "way of the future" in this environment, and eventually, after few false starts, they were.

[@MarinCipollina]

Part of the small car growth had to do with how much bigger standard size cars had become from 1955 to 1959..

[@weegeemike]

Loved your impersonation of the Roto-matic, reminded me of playing with my toy cars as a kid 😂😂

[@martinthorne8543]

The '61 Buick Special, Olds F-85 and Pontiac Tempest were nicknamed the "BOP cars" in auto magazines. It was a hellavu year for engineering, each with something unique to offer.

[@mikeskidmore6754]

"From 1961 to 1963 Oldsmobile manufactured its own version of the Buick-designed, all-aluminum 215 engine for the F-85 compact, known as the Rockette. This was a compact, lightweight engine with a dry weight of only 350 lb (159 kg). The Oldsmobile engine was very similar to the Buick engine, but not identical: it had larger combustion chambers with flat-topped (rather than domed) pistons, six bolts rather than five per cylinder head, and slightly larger intake valves. With an 8.75:1 compression ratio and a two-barrel carburetor, the Olds 215 had the same rated hp, 155 hp @ 4800 rpm, as the Buick 215, with 220 ft·lbf of torque at 2400 rpm. With a four-barrel carburetor and 10.25:1 compression, the Olds 215 made 185 hp (138 kW) @ 4800 rpm and 230 ft·lbf (312 N·m) (@ 3200 rpm. The basic Buick/Olds 215 V8 went onto become the well known Rover V8, remaining in production until the 1990s"

[@jonclassical2024]

Excellent vlog Adam......Loved the all black cat with the all white car....excellent stagging! Lol

[@dj33036]

I''m surprised you didn't talk about the manual transmission. I kinda wish I'd bought one of these back in the day.

[@bobpierce115]

Love this feature on the '61-'63 F-85!! The amount of beautiful sculpturing done on what was arguably much less sheet metal to work with is astonishing. These cars have been overshadowed far too long by the 1964-'72 mid-size versions that replaced these. That applies to the Pontiac and Buick versions obviously as well. I'd like to know more about the GM styling studies that led up to this car, and the LeMans and Skylark (I would think) probably between 1956-'59. Do you have access to that, Adam?

[@Ed_Stuckey]

11:49 I could feel the back of my chair pressing into my back...

[@ericeverson5956]

1980 Triumph TR8 had this engine. It was an excellent engine.

[@stephendavidbailey2743]

The last Oldsmobile compact was pretty nice too.

[@josephgaviota]

12:40 As a kid, I remember thinking that "pod" with the speedometer &c. in it was very "space age."