442 Road Test

[Brougham-Holiday]

Oldsmobile 442 Road test, check it out!

Edited April 22, 2008 by Brougham-Holiday

[Sixty8panther]

That's when CARS were cars and MEN were MEN.

Notice the lack of a rollcage in that car as it

drifts, power-slides, pulls J-turns, acceleration &

70-0mph brake trials. People were allowed to

exercise personal responsibility & free will back

then.

Oh and... I thought muscle cars don't handle!?

[Sixty8panther]

The Olds Rocket V8 fights pollution!?

[!!!TED!!!]

Oldsmobile 442 Road test, check it out!

3:27 - 3:33 FTW!

Did you hear that? "we're going to miss what progress takes from us"

[Brougham-Holiday]

"When you trade in, trade up to an Olds." I love it!

[Sixty8panther]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htLIyzrAbx0

What a thrill to take the wheel

Of a Rocket Oldsmobile

In performance it's the star

It's a rocket engined car

Hydramatic drive is new

Futaramic styling too

With the rocket engine & whirl-away

It's a driver's dream come true!

[balthazar]

Damn- that was a treat! Just the whole demeanor of the review was a blast of fresh air vs. today's automotive 'journalistic' entertainment.

>>"I thought muscle cars don't handle!?"<< I heard that too- must be CGI in that '72 road test... because it cornered pretty damned flat!

[ocnblu]

Hot damn, that looks like fun. REAR WHEEL DRIVE FOR THE WIN!!!

[Brougham-Holiday]

The saddest part is this great heritage is going to be lost on future generations much like that of Packard.

[Delta Force79]

Breathtaking....God I miss Oldsmobile

[vonVeezelsnider]

Breathtaking....God I miss Oldsmobile

+1

[Paolino]

Breathtaking....God I miss Oldsmobile

My sentiments exactly. I was ready to be a life-long Olds fanatic, and then after I got my license, they started killing off the brand. It broke me. It's why I'm a Buick fan now, but it still doesn't equate to my olds love.

[A Horse With No Name]

I had a Cutlass when I was dating my wife, over 20 years ago. I still iss that car.

And god, the convertible 442 in the road test was a 4 Speed! WOW!

I'm not going to sleep tonight thinking about that car...the likes of which we will never see built here again, sadly.

Chris

[mustang84]

Awesome video! My dad kicks himself sometimes for buying the '78 Vette instead of a '70 442 that he was looking at years ago. This vid makes me want to get an Oldsmobile for my next car.

[A Horse With No Name]

I would just love an Olds of this generation, mustang84.

A ragtop would be just awesome, as well as a Vista Cruiser...

Chris

[cletus8269]

its a 3600 pound brute but it handles like a lightweight... in todays terms it is a lightweight.

correct me if im wrong but the narator sounds like the guy that did all the old nascar comentary back in the day.

[Blake Noble]

its a 3600 pound brute but it handles like a lightweight... in todays terms it is a lightweight.

Indeed, most Cutlasses were great handling cars. Mine is just a run of the mill Supreme and the power steering still feels refreshingly light and decently weighted for a car of its vintage. And another thing that I found surprising after getting mine was that the interior feels much more compact than the exterior suggests.

Edited September 26, 2008 by YellowJacket894

[loki]

my dad is still working on his 70 supreme... but with a 455 going in it. it's the gold color too, very rare....and not a convertible.

[Blake Noble]

my dad is still working on his 70 supreme... but with a 455 going in it. it's the gold color too, very rare....and not a convertible.

My Supreme used to be Saturn Gold Metallic at one time as well, as proven by removing the a-pillar interior panels when those were taken out to be cleaned and repainted recently. I am seriously contemplating returning it back to the factory color.

Is your dad's '70 a notchback coupe like mine or a fastback?

[balthazar]

Your Supreme has a color code on the underhood data plate- very easy to verify the original color right there.

[loki]

My Supreme used to be Saturn Gold Metallic at one time as well, as proven by removing the a-pillar interior panels when those were taken out to be cleaned and repainted recently. I am seriously contemplating returning it back to the factory color.

Is your dad's '70 a notchback coupe like mine or a fastback?

um....notchback. just needs a motor, rear glass, exhaust..hm...not sure what else. next time he pulls it out i'll get a pic of it or steal a pic from my parents' pc.

his color...the mixed color is called autumn gold, not sure if that's the original name though.

[Blake Noble]

um....notchback. just needs a motor, rear glass, exhaust..hm...not sure what else. next time he pulls it out i'll get a pic of it or steal a pic from my parents' pc.

his color...the mixed color is called autumn gold, not sure if that's the original name though.

I don't think that's the color's original name either, in fact I'm fairly certain Olds didn't have an Autumn Gold color option for 1970.

[Oracle of Delphi]

I don't think that's the color's original name either, in fact I'm fairly certain Olds didn't have an Autumn Gold color option for 1970.

So Mrs. Butterworth, does this mean you have given up on getting a new Zeta Camaro?

[Blake Noble]

So Mrs. Butterworth, does this mean you have given up on getting a new Zeta Camaro?

Given up? No, not totally, PCS. My next purchase after the Cutlass will be to replace the Sonoma, more than likely, and will either be another classic or the F5 Camaro.

[balthazar]

1970 Olds paint chips :

http://www.tcpglobal.com/aclchip.aspx?imag...mobile-pg01.jpg

[Blake Noble]

Yeah, I've read the plaque wrong. Instead of reading "53 53" which would denote Saturn Gold Metallic without a vinyl top, it reads "57 57" which actually denotes Baroque Gold Metallic without a vinyl top. (Hey, the numbers are sort of worn off and I was trying to first read them at 11 pm at night, so ...)

However the gold color that is on the inner fenders where the black top coat of paint is chipping away and beneath the a-pillar interior trim appears to be much more closer to Saturn Gold than Baroque Gold. Perhaps Baroque Gold looks lighter in person than it does in the color chip?

Edited October 3, 2008 by YellowJacket894

[balthazar]

The colro chips themselves were not exact, and online you are looking at a scan of it.

I have the '59 Buick paint chip sheet, and I sent a scan to a website that is still using it, and the scan & the actual are close, but notably different.

There is no "Saturn Gold" listed for '70 tho- 53 is Nugget Gold.

It wasn't until '71 that 53 was called Saturn Gold.

My brother's '71 Goat is Code 53 - Quezal Gold Poly.

Chevy, Pontiac, Olds & Buick mostly shared color palettes- same paint codes = same paint formulas, but with different names... tho each division did have a few unique colors. Cadillacs always had completely unique palettes.

[Sixty8panther]

Man I just watched that video (original post in this thread) again and it reminded

me why modern cars suck. One drive in that awesome 442 by the biggest bitter

skeptic who is obsessed with modern $hit-boxes and they'd be scouring the local

classic cars for sale magazines.

[Oldengineer]

Man I just watched that video (original post in this thread) again and it reminded

me why modern cars suck. One drive in that awesome 442 by the biggest bitter

skeptic who is obsessed with modern $hit-boxes and they'd be scouring the local

classic cars for sale magazines.

Have to disagree with you a bit. I owned a 69 4-4-2 brand new. Bought it right after I graduated from college. Loved that car for its quickness and handling at the time. Fast forward 40 years, and, now, I own a 4 door sedan that will accelerate as fast as the 4-4-2 did, easily out corner it, and has more top end. Over the years I owned 4 Oldsmobiles - besides the 4-4-2, there was a 73 Cutlass 350, a 75 231 V6 Starfire, and a 78 403 Custom Cruiser. Yeah, I like to look at them at car shows, but, just don't have the itch to own one anymore.

Regards:

Oldengineer

[Chicagoland]

Yes, Olds once was cool. What hurt them the most was the 78-85 diesels.

[ponchoman49]

I love the 442 and have a real fondness for 78-88 G-body Cutlass cars. There is a real nice clean 87 blue on gray 442 for sale about an hour away from me with 72K original miles that I would die to get my hands on. This car excites me more than 98% of the blandmobiles on the road today. It has the 180 HP 4 BBL 307 HO engine, dual exhaust, 3.73 rear with limited slip, rallye guages, bucket seats, larger 215/65R15 RWL tires, Olds gold tinted super stock wheels and a healty dose of personality. The owner, who is a super cool fellow Olds enthusiast, let me take it for a test drive last September. It was easily the most solid G-body car I have ever driven. It sat up nice and firm, rode and handled curves with ease and that nice burbly 307 has very strong low end grunt and only petered out at high speeds well above the limit. It would sure make a fun Summer ride.

[Oldengineer]

I know what you mean. I once owned a 69 4-4-2. My son currently has a restored 68 Cutlass convertible. Under its hood, the 350 deuce and 2 spped automatic are long gone. In its place is a well massaged Olds 425 big block coupled to a built THM 400. He's beefed the suspension, rear end (positraction), added disc brakes, and reinforced the chassis to handle the power this monster developes. The thing accelerates like its shot out of a cannon, and, is way quicker than my 4-4-2 ever was.

Regards:

Oldengineer

[balthazar]

And in as much as performance-minded owners 'mod' modern cars to make them better; there's no reason (beyond money) that a classic musclecar cannot EASILY be moded to brake, handle & accelerated much better than it did in factory spec. Sometimes people dismiss vintage muscle because a stock 4bbl is slower in the quarter than some modern 'equivalent', but who exactly mandates you never touch that vintage muscle?? Not to mention the aftermarket for them is world's larger than the aftermarket for modern performance cars. I read an article on a '65 GTO that was pulling down 1.0+ Gs in lateral accel- that's supercar/exotic territory.

Mod the vintage iron, out-perform all factory modern cars, and get a well-built & appreciating classic that's unique and admired.

[Blake Noble]

Mod the vintage iron, out-perform all factory modern cars, and get a well-built & appreciating classic that's unique and admired.

Welcome to my mentality. :AH-HA_wink: