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By Tommy Parry
Born from fire, Pat’s Oldsmobile demonstrates the power of teenage motivation. The build began, spiritually speaking, when Pat’s dad, then a teenager, scrimped together enough to buy an Aspen Green ‘70 Cutlass Supreme Convertible from his neighbor. He had to wait a few years before he could actually drive the machine legally, but used that time to learn its intricacies.
But a long and healthy relationship with this car was not in the cards. The day Pat’s dad got his license, disaster struck. A faulty fuel line led to a freak fire that, for better or worse, a neighbor managed to capture on film.
A tragedy like that might take some meeker folks out of the hot rod game for good, but Pat’s dad is resilient and saved enough to get himself a ‘67 442—a car he’s kept to this day.
Some of that toughness is hereditary. As Pat turned thirteen, all he could imagine was a muscle car of his own. Through some saving and begging at Christmas time, he amassed a small (for a kid) fortune that would buy him another Olds, just like his dad had. He found a Cutlass S online that would fit his budget if his parents would loan him the last $400 needed. They agreed to loan him the money, but he would have to wait until his birthday a month later.
The Astro Blue Cutlass he had his eye on was listed for sale for only a few short days before it was sold to a new owner—and Pat was dismayed. Nevertheless, when Christmas day rolled around, he was eager to add to his pile and find a new car for the new year.
After boxes of socks and other less-than-interesting gifts, he found a small jewelry box addressed to him, hidden at the back of the tree under a stack of pine needles. Inside, he found not a wad of cash, but a set of keys. His dad told him they had decided to give him the ‘77 GMC Sierra truck instead, and, eager to begin on his new project, Pat ran to the backyard.
But the keys wouldn’t open the truck. His father returned Pat’s puzzled look with a curled finger leading him to the front yard, where that Astro Blue Cutlass sat. His dad had bought the car the day after Pat showed him the ad and hid it in their neighbor's garage.
Their original plan was to make it drivable, fix any structural rust, and create a cruiser. That phase started by pulling the car off of the frame to fix the rust as well as clean up the frame. They also decided to replace the tired 350–TH350 combo with a 330 and a 2004R transmission. After a couple coats of spray paint and a few evenings getting all the lights to work, Pat had a running Oldsmobile that was the envy of all his friends.
Though still a little rusty in places, the Olds was reliable and, to most teenage eyes, quite a looker. He enjoyed it in this state until his senior year, when he decided to add a little more power. That began with a 455 core and a new rear end sporting a 3.73 posi.
Fast forward a few years later, Pat was in college, but his studies hadn’t prevented him from spending some time with his baby. He’d grown tired of the flat black exterior and decided to start sanding. After a few months, the father-son duo built a paint booth in their driveway and doused the Olds in a coat of Twilight Blue with black stripes.
Around this time, Pat decided it had to be more than a mere cruiser—even a very pretty one. With intent of racing it on road courses and autocrosses, they added in a Competition Engineering half roll cage, Corbeau CR1 seats, a UMI Performance Cornermax kit, UMI tubular rear control arms, UMI sway bars, UMI rear lowering springs, and Forgestar F14 wheels. Measuring 18x10” in the rear and 18x8.5” in front, he’d fill the fender wells and give the Cutlass an athletic stance that anyone in the know would recognize.
In his mind, the build was about four-fifths of the way there; fit to cruise comfortably and corner occasionally for the remainder of Pat’s college days. In fact, he hardly touched the car in that period, except for adding a TH400 to handle the power of the motor, at that stage stroked to 463ci.
When Pat graduated and began working his first proper engineering job, he finally had the expendable income to see this machine brought to its final form. The short list of pricey modifications consisted of a T56 Magnum transmission, Sparco racing seats, additional frame boxing, a set of 18x11” Rocket Racing Attack wheels wrapped in 315-section tires, and bigger Wilwood brakes at both axles.
The result was something truly spectacular.
Unfortunately, the first shakedown revealed that the car wasn’t really ready for the road course. The Olds motor wasn’t suited to sustained revs, and the shocks just didn’t cut the mustard. So, in typical Pat fashion, he wasted no time, outsourced a dry-sumped LS7, and installed a set of triple-adjustable coilovers from Viking.
To see the continuing development of this gorgeous track toy, make sure to follow Pat’s growing YouTube channel. With the fire still burning in his belly and the funds needed to make his vision a reality, there ought to be plenty of content to enjoy in the coming months.
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