Down On the Alameda Street: 1968 Oldsmobile Cutlass Convertible Donk
While in California to check out Billetproof Nor-Cal last weekend, I had the chance to visit The Island That Rust Forgot. It didn’t take long to find this ’67 Barracuda convertible and today’s find.
Oakland, which is the mainland to Alameda’s island (separated by about 100 yards of estuary), has been Donk Headquarters for many years now. If you want to split hairs, a true donk must be a box Impala, but I guarantee that nobody on Foothill Boulevard would deny donk status to this machine.
At this point, let’s set the proper mood for contemplating this car by putting on some Too $hort.
Now, some Oldsmobile purists might try to say that a classic Cutlass convertible doesn’t look right with this treatment, but the definition of “purist” (as stated by my friend who enraged his purist Econoline Club peers by dropping a 460 in his low-mile, Canadian-market Mercury Econoline) is “someone who won’t piss in the shower.”
As a former Cutlass owner (purple ’69), I think this car looks good as it sits. First, it’s an ancient A-body convertible that still lives on the street. Second, it livens up a neighborhood full of minivans and Lexuses. Third, if a donk belongs on a race track, it certainly belongs on the street.
Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.
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I sold my Velocity wheels to a guy on Ebay from my first Chrysler 300 and he built this monstrosity: http://www.flickr.com/photos/38614316@N00/6170694649/in/photostream
The best part of this silly massive over-sized rubber band wheel trend is that it is easily reversible. Yes a nice ride, thousands less in tire replacement costs, accurate speedometers, lighter weight wheels and less unsprung weight, much less stress on the brakes, suspension and wheel bearings and a sane look are a just a 4 rubber band swap out away