The Hugger Orange car is a special-order 4-4-2 convertible that he claims is a W-30. And, Brian, I thought the stripes were standard on W-30s and W-31s, with the option for W-32s?
Yes. Don't know what he did with that. Knowing him, he probably traded it away as he's pretty much all 68-72 Olds.
Tom, I saw that Stage 1. It was a special-order color. And the orange car you speak of was a '70 W-30, if I remember correctly, but nothing out of the ordinary.
As usual, Diego is right. The hood splotches appear to be included in the W-car packages, but they were available on other cars, too. But apparently not the W-32. The only factory literature I have for '69 is what I see in 442 - A Source Book, by Dennis Casteele. The '69 442 Wholesale Order Form strangely doesn't list the W-30 option, so I can't see for sure what it included. Option W-42, Dual Hood Stripe, is listed as available on any 442. I'm not sure if it was available on any old Cutlass or F-85. The big '69 W-Machine glossy brochure and smaller W-machine tri-fold brochure make it clear that the paint splotches were included with the W-30 package. The glossy says the splotches were on the W-31 as well. The tri-fold doesn't say whether or not the W-31 got splotches. Interestingly, the tri-fold says that the Y-73 GT Hood Stripes were a mandatory option on the W-32, which would preclude those cars from getting the W-42 splotches. Of course, this is all just marketing literature. It's the assembly manuals and order forms that matter. I know .... TMI. :idea2:
I remember them being part of the W-30/W-31 pkg too. But I didn't have my literature in front of me. So I didn't respond .... until nowp edit. additionally, I remember a discussion about the correct hood on a 69 F-85 W-31. I always stated it was the dual hump S/442 style because of the hood stripes. A plain, non W-31, F-85 would have received the flat F-85/Supreme style hood and thus no hood stripes as they were made to "outline" the humps/bulges in the hood.
Because my uncle worked for Olds at the time, my grandmother got a '69 310 horse 350 Cutlass that was blue with white hood stripes. She loved that car.... with 3.91 gears. My folks drove that car to Pennsylvania, thru the mountains to a family get-to-gether. :laugh:
Brian, I wouldn't necessarily say I'm right . . . like you found out, I was going by literature I've read in the past. It doesn't make sense that the splotches would be optional on the W-32, but that is what seems to be. What I've never understood is what's the deal for '70? Pinstriping on the hood standard and splotches optional? Or nothing standard and pinstriping optional, and if you wanted splotches you had to get the W25 hood? I know there's a stripe code for 1970s, but the description "GT Stripes" doesn't say much. Casey, last year on eBay there was a Cutlass post car that had the 350/310, stick, and hood stripes . . . and documentation to prove it. It was pale yellow/black - quite a cool combo.
Will somebody please tell me about the black car, second photo. The one with the dog dish caps. I'm not a huge Olds fan, but I love the looks of that car, what is it?uzzled:
It's a 1972 Olds 4-4-2 W-30. In 1972, there were four 4-4-2s available: Cutlass hardtop Cutlass S sport coupe Cutlass S hardtop Cutlass Supreme convertible For the Cutlass hardtop, there were about 700 with the 4-4-2 option, and only 17 had the W-30 engine.
Diego, The car looks like a post car, or sedan? Are you certain it's a hartop? Is this rare. The ' 72 would be an 8:1 265 hp 455?
Actually, it could be a 350 and still be a legit 442. The 455 was an option separately from the 442 option.
I thought all the GM A cars split their engine options away from the performance options for 1972 like Olds did. ???? i.e., you could get an SS350 Chevelle, 350 GSX, 350 442, but no 350 GTO? 442 was a unique series from 1968 through 1971, but in 72 was just a sporty trim option. They weren't that fast anymore, anyway. 1972 was supposed to be the big model year change on the A and G series cars that had to be delayed until 1973 due to the UAW 8 week strike in 1970. Car designs and development were ready, but the manufacturing and tooling were virtually stopped dead in their tracks. We were buried at Olds launching the 1971 models (new B/C and E cars) as fast as possible to get cars out to the dealers, then the strike hit for 8 weeks and all work stopped, then back to relaunching the 71's again after the strike was settled, again to get cars to the dealers. If it ran, it got shipped.....many with parts in the trunk for the dealer to complete. Finally got back on our tooling/process development schedule well after the first of the year in 1971. That was 6 months behind the schedule. 72 model year for the A and G's was very, very minor, but ended up being one of the best cars ever produced at least in Lansing. 71's were some of the worst.
Frank, it's a Cutlass hardtop 4-4-2 W-30. An orange '72 in the garage next to the black car is a Cutlass S post coupe 4-4-2 W30. Dave, the GTO kept its muscle status intact through 1973. Afterwards, on the Ventura platform, it went with a 350. The SS reverted to a sporty option in 1971, where the 350 became standard. I believe the 2bbl. was the base engine, but not sure. Options included a 402 and a 454. The GS had 350 and 455 variants already, but they all went under one GS umbrella and they weren't their own models like GS350 and GS455, as had been the case in 1970.
I wonder if they would let this Olds in P/S Well maybe for a parking lot crawl. http://detroit.craigslist.org/car/653386076.html
On the way home from work I pass a used car dealer, who deals in higher line used cars. Today he had a 69 hurst olds, like the one in the photos one the first page. The dealer is located in Flushing Michigan. The dealership is called Sovereign Auto, and the phone number is 810-487-2020. It wasn't there yesterday. Just in case any of you Oldsmobile knuckleheads are interested. Jim
