Today’s Fan Car Friday is brought to us from John, over at Hertz Kompressoren, and his ’71 Cutlass. Fan Car Friday is a segment where we want to share with the world the automobiles that our fans have. We have absolutely no affiliation/relationship with the cars, but in this post we do with the owner as we have partnered with his company. This post was made with written consent from the owner.

For many of us car guys, we have great women in our lives that understand our passion, time and the dedication it takes to restore a vehicle. Some of us are fortunate enough to have our wives participate with us. But only a lucky few have a wife that “laid the law down and said [they] would get rid of me before we ever got rid of the car”! This is the relationship John and his wife have with their Oldsmobile.

After getting married in 2011 John and his wife purchased their first car together, a 1971 Oldsmobile Cutlass “S” Hardtop. When two people are this passionate about cars, it can be tough to pick one you both like. Some people like muscle cars, others prefer a British style, some may want a Lincoln while another wants a pickup. It is not too often that people love the same car equally. This Oldsmobile came into the picture because was sitting for a while at John’s Father’s restoration shop in South Carolina. The upholstery guy owned it and after getting enough phone calls from “tire kickers” and other flakes who never showed up, he decided to move the car around back and take down the “for Sale” sign. It was only when John drove by for the hundredth time and saw the Olds was missing that he wished he had purchased it. When he went in to see who the lucky new owner was, he discovered it was just a few hundred feet away and that it was still available. After hearing the asking price, John drove faster the bank than he would like to admit so he could purchase it.

Having been owned by a man who has been doing upholstery as a living for a good number of years, the interior was immaculate. The paint job was also recently redone at his father’s shop so he knew it was of quality and lacking any rust. The 350 rocket engine was getting a bit tired, so he had it bored .030 over and had a hefty cam installed. From there, John and his wife rebuilt the front end, installed top of the line control arms, shocks, springs, new bushings all around as well as new calipers and disc brakes.

After a bit of research it was decided that they wanted some 17” and 18” Boyds to give it the perfect stance. It wasn’t too long after that they decided to install a new fuel tank and pump to go along with the EFI setup they installed. With the amount of miles they were putting on the odometer, they knew the carburetor couldn’t keep up. Then they started to add in more modern safety features like LED headlights. They are currently working on getting the AC working, something much needed for their southern weather and humidity.

Despite originally lusting after a Chevelle, they are very happy they went with this body style. John says he doesn’t see much of anything like this going down the road and he can’t imagine owning anything else. They have 3 young boys and a girl who all love to ride in the Cutlass. John says “I guess we will let them draw straws to see who gets it when our time is up. Because as long as me and my wife are still kicking, its not going anywhere!”

Johns favorite thing about the car is the way it sounds and how he and his wife can share this passion together. His wife’s favorite thing is driving it around and how everyone approaches her almost like she’s an old friend while she is driving it.