I lost out on a 442 today.

[WileE]

The intake runners are so long on a olds they were notorious for running on after you shut them off. Occasionally catching the carb on fire. We found out a thermoquad is a terrible carb for a Olds 455. But the carb did melt completely and put the fire out. It literally could've burned the hole garage down if it wasnt for that.

I don't recall a TQ on an Olds engine ?

 

[SteveSS]

V, I do try to figure out which cars I like that the market hasn't overvalued. I'm sure we all wish 1968-69 Chargers were more affordable. For instance Corvettes from 1974 to '82. Drop in a high horsepower GM 383 and have cheap stylish fun.

 

[Richard Cranium]

Maybe the 442 was the one that lucked out that you didn't buy it?

 

[YY1]

I like the Supremes with the waterfall grills better, even though they had landau vinyl tops.
...but they had the same engines.

The guy I bought my car dolly from had a black one with a red interior, swivel buckets, and T tops.
He was in the process of putting a 455 in it. Sharp.

 

[dadsbee]

I dated a girl with an Olds 98 4 door

Easy entry....

 

[YY1]

Back in the 80's, a friend down the street's mother had one like this-

Velour buckets (non-swivel) and console, 350 4 barrel, PW, AC.

Was one of the more prestigious borrowed, 10 year old cars to go cruising in on Friday night.

 

[Ron_M]

Hard not to appreciate the style on those lMHO

 

[eldubb440]

Back in the 80's, a friend down the street's mother had one like this-

View attachment 1882122

Velour buckets (non-swivel) and console, 350 4 barrel, PW, AC.

Was one of the more prestigious borrowed, 10 year old cars to go cruising in on Friday night.

good friend of mine had one EXACTLY like that, color and all............ I needed to borrow it one night, that's another story

 

[DeltaV]

V, I do try to figure out which cars I like that the market hasn't overvalued. I'm sure we all wish 1968-69 Chargers were more affordable. For instance Corvettes from 1974 to '82. Drop in a high horsepower GM 383 and have cheap stylish fun.

Get yourself a Vega GT instead of those Vettes.

 

[DeltaV]

@SteveSS needs to make a Buddy Baker Gray Ghost tribute.

 

[Curiousyellow71]

I don't recall a TQ on an Olds engine ?

Only a mopar guy would replace the QJet w a thermoquad. You use what you have.
The olds ruined one of my favorite carbs.

 

[RR Fan Dan]

I like the Supremes with the waterfall grills better, even though they had landau vinyl tops.
...but they had the same engines.

The guy I bought my car dolly from had a black one with a red interior, swivel buckets, and T tops.
He was in the process of putting a 455 in it. Sharp.

Back in the 80's, a friend down the street's mother had one like this-

View attachment 1882122

Velour buckets (non-swivel) and console, 350 4 barrel, PW, AC.

Was one of the more prestigious borrowed, 10 year old cars to go cruising in on Friday night.

My first car in high school was a 73 Cutless Supreme bronze with vinyl top.

 

[Austin Charger]

In 1973 I bought a '72 Vega GT. Red with a 4 speed, about 15000 miles. I liked the styling (chicks also). It was a good car for me (work and local school) and I put a lot of miles on it. I would add about 2000 miles per month and I would change oil/filter. Not a good winter car but that is what I had. About 1975 it started
burning and leaking oil pretty bad. Chevrolet put a new warranty block in it but by that time it was really rusting from the winter salt. As I was going away to college in 1976 I started looking for a replacement. Saw a 1972 Olds Cutlass 442 with 4 speed in local paper. Bought the car and still have it today. After college and after getting full time job I bought a beater for work and never used the 442 in Winter again. This really saved the car.

 

[Ron H]

My mother’s hand me down around the whole family ’72 Cutlass Supreme was the first car I restored with my father. It was great to work on this with my now long departed talented dad. Learned a ton. It was severely rusted, but for some reason wanted to hang onto it as it was about to be dumped. I swore off restoring another rust-belt car after. Only original part of the body left after restoring was the hood. Well, had a Vette at the time as a fun ride and a company vehicle, but then had our 1st kid thinking a two-seater was out. Here’s 2 photos showing some before already in progress & after. Started cloning as a 442, but that changed when I came across a CA '63 Plymouth.

 

[YY1]

I found it interesting what gm did with the different divisions and how they could build a colonnade car.

chevy and pontiac had two different cars, the basic model chevelle/grand am with the "standard" rear roof and the upscale gran prix/monte carlo with a stretched front end and "landau" "V" window rear roof.

While olds and buick,although higher profile brands, had only the rear roof, but no stretched noses to differentiate a base cutlas/skylark from a salon/supreme/regal.

 

[Detective D]

I have a soft spot for Olds as we had a few when I was a kid. 71(2?) Olds Delta 88 with a 455 and TH400. Speedo went to 140. My Ma's favorite car in her entire life. In WI, salt. had to retire it to the front of the machine shed next to the 63 Ford one ton farm truck because Dad thought the gas tank might fall off dueo to rust out. 5 years later, oldrer brother's HS friends bought it for $500 and took it to Crandon brush runs. They were actually winning by 1/4 lap when..... the gas tank fell off. LOL. Kid took the drivetrain and put it in his 85 Scottsdale and proceeded to destroy 3 sets of tires in one year lol.
My hand me down 1980 Cutlass G body was an absolute pooch, but Grandpa insisted he got an Olds 350 on his car, and the dealer obliged even though that engine was only available on the hurst cars that year. I wish I had kept that car, it was a sedan but those cars were indestructable tanks and i am probably alive due to the lack of power and invincibility of the car itself with the stunts I pulled. 350, air, intermittent wipers, NO RADIO, NO REAR WINDOW ACTUATORS IN A SEDAN. I am 100% certain it was a special order one of a kind.

So anyway, a 74 Hurst with a 455 is on my short list of cars i would like to own. Olds did better then the other GM divisions with the bumpers, at least they look like part of the car, mostly, and not a highway gaurdrail bolted on the front like some of their stable mates or worse, a Ford.

The 74 W30 with the bigger rear windows and the painted roof and trim band I think looks best, compared to a vinyl roof and the little rectangle window they did in 75. They all came with swivel buckets, luovered hoods, and some other goodies. Extinct for 20 years in WI due to salt, these are getting really rare and are difficult to rust repair due to the geometry on the rear quarters where they like to fail. That subtle sweeping body line on the bottom of the side of the car I think makes them stand out a lot more then the Chebby or Buicks of that same era. Pontiac too, but Pontiac put such a dramatic hood shape on their mid size 2 door you can;t help but look there and ignore a lo of the rest of the blah they designed.
(I do like malaise Pontiacs with the pointy hood too)

My opinion is Olds completely ruined the style of this car in 76, I hate the front end revision. 73 I don;t like the bumpers, which is probably less popular an opinion, as I think they actually do look like an afterthought bolt on. However, in 73 you could still get a 455 and 4 speed. Only year for these cars with a manual besides the LOL 260 V8 and 5 speed that came later.
I also think these 74 and 75 cars are the last gasp of Olds having control of their own division. By 76 corporate GM forced them to use a chevy 350(resulted in legal disputes) and basically homogonized them into the pack. They made a few exceptions in the next couple decades but mostly once the rocket 350 and the 455 got the ax, Olds was just a nameplate on a chebby.

 

[YY1]

There were no less than five 73-76 Hurst olds cars within a five block radius of where I lived last in Ohio.

All were different in some way.
Not sure if it was options, or hand craftsmanship at Hurst.
One was white, the rest were black.