Rolling landmark, the famous Oldsmobile“Chicago Cutlass” was for sale, finds new owner after several decades

The Chicago Cutlass is getting a new lease on life.

A previous version of this blog post reported that the Chicago Cutlass was no more. This most recent version corrects in light of its new owner.

If you live in Chicago, chances are you know the Chicago Cutlass, a 1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass painted shades of blue, green, and rust that supposedly has hundreds of thousands of miles.

Earlier yesterday, reports circulated that the “Chicago Cutlass” had driven its last mile, suffered some kind of mechanical failure, and is no more.

Here’s one such report from Twitter.

She’s gone fellas,,, pic.twitter.com/U5Q68GKRao

— Michael (@Aband0ned_milk) August 22, 2023

Although mostly false, parts of that rumor were true.

The “Chicago Cutlass” is not owned by it’s original owner anymore because it was for sale!

Not only that, it sold and has a new owner.

Here’s a screenshot of the Facebook post confirming as such (Facebook post linked here.)

If you’re wondering what all the hype is about surrounding this Oldsmobile, you’re not alone.

According to an archived post from DriveTribe, no one quite knows the full story about this particular 1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass.

The generally accepted facts are that this it’s (it was) a one-owner car and the owner was some kind of mechanic (a boat mechanic if a post from The Chicago Garage is to be believed) who used it as a daily to and from work.

It’s got a lot of miles but, how many, no one’s really knows for sure.

That Drive Tribe report says the Chicago Cutlass has 800,000 miles, while the aforementioned post above says it only has half that.

This Tweet from earlier this year says it has 500,000 miles.

The 1978 “Chicago Cutlass” that is still being used as a daily driver with nearly 500k miles on the odometer.

I used to see a bunch of cars just like this when I lived in the U.P. of Michigan a while back. They even made a song called “Rusty Chevrolet” by Da Yoopers. pic.twitter.com/atWyOcM0a0

— Brian Hates Cole Slaw ???????????? (@m4_mutt) April 22, 2023

While it’s been spotted all over the Windy City, often the Dan Ryan Expressway, this particular Cutlass was often seen parked on N Kenneth Ave presumably for several decades as seen on Google Maps in 2017 below.

Now, this Cutlass has a new owner, his plans for the car, like most of this Cutlass’s history, remains unknown (you can find out who bought it in the Facebook thread posted above.)

I, for one, hope he repairs what needs to be fixed under the hood and body, to make it safe, but keeps its patina.

To change what it looks like would betray this car’s legacy, of refusing to change in the midst of an ever-changing world.