Ride Of The Week 05/08/2023: 1978 Cutlass Restomod by Hahn Automotive

MOST DEFINITELY NOT YOUR FATHER'S OLDSMOBILE

This 1979 Cutlass caught my attention at the 2023 Pittsburgh World Of Wheels because of the bumpers. I noticed immediately that they had been drawn in and I had to know more.

I spoke with a member of the Hahn Restorations team about it and he told me they had recently completed the car for a customer who had taken ill and asked them to halt work, but his wife called and told them to finish it.

It's a 17k mile car that received an LS heart transplant putting out 525hp and is backed up by a Tremec 6-speed. It rides on a Schwartz Performance Chassis and custom, one-off 18” wheels that harken back to the body-colored steelies that came on the car.

Body mods are plenty with custom Olds-logo side markers, front & rear, customized bumpers tucked tight to the body and custom crush panels beneath said bumpers to fill all the seam and gaps. The trunk lock has been eliminated and an custom release integrated into the passenger door jamb. Kindigit Design door complete the smoothed out look of the exterior.

Despite all those body mods, the car retains its original landau style vinyl top. Also retained is much of the interior. When the call came to halt the project Hahn Restorations had only done the custom console and centerstack with the 11” Alpine touchscreen. So, the original seats, carpet, door panels and dash remain, albeit with Dakota digital gauges replacing the factory units.

The owner was completely surprised to see it completed on the show floor at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. You can bet that there were some happy tears shed.

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