Gleaming Saturn Gold paint, white stripes, and a snorkel hood put all eyes on this 1971 Oldsmobile 4-4-2 W-30. That’s just the beginning of attention-grabbing details on the Somers, Connecticut classic. A hot 455 V8 and four-speed manual transmission promise plenty of power to back up the classic muscle car’s sporty good looks. Check out more pictures and details here on eBay where at least 10 bidders have the W-30’s market value over $50,000 in the auction’s waning hours.

Described as a 45,000 mile, “unrestored original… survivor car,” this 4-4-2 looks great, with only some carpet and plastic parts suggesting the interior dates to the Nixon years. I confess I’ve never driven a 45x V8 with a stick-shift, and I’d love to run this Olds. GM’s two-tone interior makes the perfect icing on this muscle car cake.

Red fender liners suggest an early ’71 W-30 according to ClassicOldsmobile, as they ran out mid-year, after which Olds fitted conventional black units. I’m no Oldsmobile expert, but everything including the bare aluminum intake looks right for a ’71 4-4-2 W-30. A step beyond the 4-4-2, the W-30 added the fiberglass Ram Air hood, red fender liners, and more aggressive engine internals to the 455 cid (7.5L) V8, besting the 4-4-2’s 340 HP by 10. Thanks to Wikipedia for some details. Power peaked in 1970, but this lower-compression ’71 should gladly overpower the tires and Etch-a-Sketch a parking lot, if such is your bidding.

Neatly integrated bumpers make the ’71 cleaner than later versions of this Cutlass-based 4-4-2. The listing shows a host of documentation to support this car’s provenance. It would take more than the claimed indoor storage to keep this Cutlass in good shape for 50+ years in Connecticut, and the paperwork shows a sale in February of ’71 in Fairfield, Illinois, so tip your hat to whoever preserved this sweet W-30 so well for so long. What, if anything, could improve this claimed original W-30?