The Cutlass name was first used by Oldsmobile on a prototype sports coupé designed in 1954.

With the introduction of the F-85 series senior compacts in 1961 the Cutlass name appeared as the top trim level for the pillared two door sedan in 1961.

Credit for the design of the F-85 was given to Irvin Rybicki who started work on the 215 cui 3.5 litre aluminium V8 powered F-85 model in 1957.

The car appeared as a ’61 model year and received facelifts in ’62 and ’63 before the introduction of the second generation F-85 in 1964.

The 1963 F-85 seen here features a body that is more squared off and four inches longer than the ’61 and ’62 F-85’s

The F-85 jet plane was a still born fighter project, designed to be carried aboard the B-36 heavy bomber, that never got beyond the experimental stage.

The all aluminium 215 cui V8 which would become the top line mainstay of Rover, Range Rover, Land Rover and British Kit Car producers until the turn of the millennium was available in two options 155 hp or turbocharged 215 hp Jetfire forms, less than 4,000 of the expensive turbocharged options were built.

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This F-85, seen at an Avenue Drivers Club meeting in Bristol earlier this year, was first registered in the UK in February 2008.

Thanks for joining me on this “Senior Compact” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a jet powered Rover. Don’t for get to come back now !