Independent · Source-led · American performance history Issue 01 · 1951–2023
American Muscle Car Facts

Showroom arguments.
Race-bred answers.

1981 · Oldsmobile · United States

1981 Oldsmobile Cutlass (no 4-4-2 or Hurst/Olds)

Neither a 4-4-2 nor a Hurst/Olds was offered this year, per the available accounts.

United States · researched through 2026-09-22

The tertiary account states that the 4-4-2 was not produced in 1981-1984, and the Hurst/Olds Club of America lists no Hurst/Olds between 1979 and 1983.1,2

Fact sheet · 1981 · United States

The numbers

1981 Oldsmobile Cutlass (no 4-4-2 or Hurst/Olds) — Neither a 4-4-2 nor a Hurst/Olds was offered this year, per the available accounts.

Coverage: Partial — researched sections are shown; missing ones are not yet sourced. Researched through 2026-09-22.

Every figure is labeled with how sure we are. Reported means a manufacturer, registry, or reference figure we cite but have not reconciled against factory records ourselves. Disputed means credible sources disagree and both are shown. Rows are separately scoped; don't add them together unless the note says they make up a total.

Key facts

  • No subject configuration was offered; no production applies.1

Same model year

Also in 1981

  • Buick Regal Turbo, Grand National and GNX The restyled Regal paced the Indy 500 and dominated NASCAR, while the turbo Sport Coupe sank to 2,891 cars before a mid-year Y47 performance package.
  • Buick Riviera The turbo model was renamed T Type; counts range from 1,944 to 3,990.
  • Chevrolet El Camino SS RPO Z15 El Camino SS trim on the fifth-generation El Camino; no production count from a verifiable source was found.
  • Ford Thunderbird Eighth-generation Thunderbird; production fell to 86,693.
  • Mercury Capri RS and ASC/McLaren Production fell to 58,946, and the Black Magic edition appeared.
  • Mercury Cougar Outside the muscle focus: 90,928 Cougars for 1981 per Wikipedia's table.
  • Pontiac Firebird and Trans Am The second generation's last year: 33,493 Trans Ams, a Daytona pace car, and four-speeds only with a Chevrolet 305.
  • Pontiac Grand Prix Restyled, with the Brougham replacing the SJ at the top of the line.
  • Pontiac Tempest and LeMans In its last year the rear-drive LeMans was catalogued with only a 3.8 V6 and a Pontiac 4.3 V8 that Pontiac said would be available only until about January 1981.