- Seller: Jeff S (Contact)
- Location: South Bend, Indiana
- Mileage: 89,000 Shown
- Chassis #: 3J57K7M447527
- Title Status: Clean
- Engine: 403 W30 V8
- Transmission: Automatic
Oldsmobile sought to shake off its conservative image with the release of the Hurst/Olds. It combined a luxurious motoring experience with muscle car performance, appealing to a broad customer base. It planned a new model for 1977 but shelved the proposal because it lacked the production facilities to build such a vehicle, due to unprecedented buyer demand for the rest of the Cutlass range. However, the project reached a point where several Prototype vehicles are said to have emerged as Oldsmobile developed the definitive package for the 1977 Hurst/Olds. This Olds is claimed to be one of those cars, featuring a rebuilt V8 and automatic transmission hiding below the surface. The current owner feels it deserves a new home and is listing this automotive unicorn exclusively with us at Barn Finds, priced at $22,000.
Oldsmobile unveiled the Hurst/Olds in 1968, and although it was on hiatus in 1970 and 1971, it returned to the company’s model range from 1972 until 1975. The company was well down the path toward developing a 1977 version, only to scrap its plans at the last moment. However, approximately three Prototypes in two contrasting paint shades emerged before this happened. My research suggests that one wore Ebony Black, while the company applied Code 11 White to another pair of Prototypes. This Olds wears that latter shade, complete with the appropriate Gold stripes, graphics, and badges. This car also features the correct rear spoiler and the model-defining “Hurst/Hatch” removable glass T-Top. The vehicle would benefit from a cosmetic refresh, with the panels showing a few minor bumps and bruises and small areas of rust in a few lower surfaces. Overall, the process should be straightforward, and the rarity of this Olds justifies the cost and effort. Interestingly, Oldsmobile fitted the Prototypes with Gold Super Stock III wheels, even though the company was still determining whether the production version would roll on alloys.
One aspect of the ’77 Hurst/Olds that was set in stone was its mechanical specifications. Buyers would all receive a 403ci V8, a three-speed TH-400 automatic transmission, and upgraded springs, shocks, and larger anti-sway bars at both ends. This car retains those components, and there is plenty of good news for potential buyers. The current owner rebuilt both the V8 and the transmission, and they have put literally no miles on them since. Therefore, the new owner will have the pleasure of “breaking in” this car in a way they feel is appropriate.
This 1977 Oldsmobile Hurst/Olds Prototype offers potential buyers several worthwhile possibilities to consider. It is a prime candidate for a restoration that would recapture its former good looks, ensuring it turns heads. However, its exceptional rarity and undeniable spot in American automotive history may be enough for some to consider addressing the minor rust while preserving the vehicle as a genuine survivor. Either approach is valid, and the decision will be a matter of personal preference. If you dream of owning what is undoubtedly the rarest version of the iconic Hurst/Olds, reaching out to the seller could be the first step in fulfilling that ambition.
I wonder if there is any documentation that would validate this as being a true “prototype” and not some clone?
There is no documentation available on these since they were prototypes. The car has everything Hurst and performance parts that the 77 Hurst Cutlas would have had if it were produced. There were said to be two white and one black and one of the white ones was totaled in an accident and destroyed. The car is 100% correct for a Hurst car.
This, exactly.
Its fake. The 76 and 77 Proposal cars were all made from the “S” body style. Sloped rear window and slant nose.
This was made from a Supreme.
The car is mentioned in writeups. I dont know if the black prototype has dicumentation or not but my understanding is both should have been destroyed. These H/Os have been coveted through the years and not numbered enough for aftermarket to produce parts so to come up with correct parts would be about impossible in parts yard or aftermarket. I believe two prototypes were not crushed. The third that is also in magazine writeups was said to be crushed after being in a wreck.
Just the stories written in magazines and the fact that there are two prototypes that exist, one white and one black.
Looks pretty OG not to be a prototype H/O…
Dual Gate, inside C pillar pieces, based on Cutlass S…
Sure seems to be one!!
Only the taillights are Cutlass S items. The rest is Cutlass Supreme. It even says so on the interior door panels.
If all the prototype claims can be verified, this would be a real keeper. The exterior pics must have been taken before the rebuilt 403 was dropped back in; it looks like it’s sitting light in the front end on that trailer.
Thanks for your comments Will. Yes, motor and transmission were out for rebuild. I am hoping the handpainted pinstriping will be the piece of puzzle that connects the car to Hurst Performance. The striping is unique and is the artist’s signature on my car.
@CCFisher…
Correct sir… my bad!
The ’77 H/O proposal cars that I’ve seen were 442 / S based so that is the first glaring issue. Second, IIRC, those cars were equipped with the auto shifter II instead of the dual gate. While this is a cool ’77, and there are some pieces that make it appear it could be an H/O car, without documentation to back up the claim, it’s just that, a cool car. There’s always the possibility that Hurst and Oldsmobile explored different options for the 1977 model year H/O but without proof there is just no definitive way to authenticate the car. IMHO, of course…
This same car was featured in Barn Finds in 2018, and it generated a lot of comments:
https://barnfinds.com/build-1977-olds-cutlass-hurst-1/
There are only three 1977 H/Os prototypes known to exist or existed and destroyed and that fact is documented in articles written over the past 49 years. The details of the two white cars are sketchy at best. These cars were prototypes so they were supposively created from existing Cutlas S and Custlas Supreme cars. The black one exists today and was made from a Cutlas S and very well documented. One of the white ones was in a wreck and was supposively destroyed. There are no pictures that I have seen to prove what it was made from or documents to detail it.. There are rumors of other white prototypes that were also destroyed when the program was canned. This was supposively due to all the changes being made in the planned 2000 production H/O before its demise. This white H/O protype is made from a Cutlas Supreme. It has the 403 engine with turbo 350 transmission, the same as the black prototype. It has the upgraded performance stabilizer bars, Hurst ttops, Hurst insignia molded into landau interior panels, Hurst shifter with gated shift the same as previous year producion H/O cars, correct spoiler still on the car. The hurst special gold striping has hand painted red pinstriping surrounding the correct gold stripe similar to the other black prototype. The car has closed rear landau windows and landau vinyl top has been removed. The car has correct tack, W30 decals, Hurst decals and emblems like the black prototype. If you have real information to prove or disprove the history of this car I welcome it here. If you are speculating or just jumping on the bandwagon, keep it to yourself please as it is not helpful if you truly dont know. The car has a freshly rebuilt W30 403 and 350 transmission numbers matching.and is a great car as is or could be further restored. I do not want to redo the striping on this car do to the red striping being hand painted and it is only original once.
The provided VIN is incorrect. The second character should be a letter. The seller may have read the J (Cutlass Supreme) as a 1.
In 1977 Oldsmobile produced over 1.1 million vehicles. This car’s sequence number is 447527. That’s awfully late in production for a prototype.
It’s been fixed.
The vin code for the engine is a B. 403 would have been a K. GM used a B vin engine code in 77 but it was for a 4 cylinder
It is a typo and will be changed to a K.
It is a typo. Vin has a K not a B
You are correct and thank you. The vin has been corrected in ad. I was reading it from a 50 year old document instead of from the car. I was not at my shop when filling out entry to Barnfind.
If it’s real, I love it and wouldn’t change anything…
Lots of caveats though, most mentioned above. Not sure how to even prove it’s a prototype. Prototypes are almost always destroyed per industry SOP for one thing. There seems to be a bit of ZL-1 mystique here (at about $9 M+ less cost), but that is it unless someone has a way to prove its authenticity.
Here’s an article on the real 1977 H/O proposal car.
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/hurst-so-rad-1977-hurst-olds/
I’m sorry, but IMHO the last GOOD/Real H/O Cutlass/442 was 1972.
Meh…1972 was just as smogged out as what came after it. If you said 1971 you would have a point for sure. The ‘73-‘77 cars can also out-handle a ‘68-‘72 A-body all day long. To each bud…
need to see proof in some sort of docs to be sure of it being what it is claimed to be
This is a very interesting car! Love the t -tops!
Was this list listed here in 2018? Looks very similar and even has a little dent to the left of the passenger door on the rear quarter panel.
https://barnfinds.com/build-1977-olds-cutlass-hurst-1/
I see that it has a Mecum front plate, Has it crossed the block? It it not meet reserve? Did they they do any vetting? Just some thoughts
Doing a quick Google search revealed this 1 of 1 77 Hurst/Olds prototype. Not the same color as this one. https://www.facebook.com/HotRodHarrysGarage/posts/1-of-1-1977-prototype-77-hurst-olds-had-a-403-olds-with-special-rear-spoiler-and/1312947614209587/
Thanks for your comment. There was a black one and two white ones.
Here’s a Hemmings article about the prototype that I mentioned in my previous post: https://www.hemmings.com/stories/hurst-so-rad-1977-hurst-olds/
I dont think so. You can buy that plate at any of their auctions.
Good eye. I buy and sell at Mecum. It was put on before the H/O plate.
Looks in that first pic like someone forgot to lube the hood hinges and ruined the hood …
Jeffschevelle, yes, it is. Its not easy finding a hood for these. I will probably end up repairing this one in the next steps of restoration.
OG, IIRC, SOP, IMHO.
BS: no documentation. Fishing tale
Documentation is definitely needed to confirm the claims. Not sure if there are doc services for Oldsmobiles, like Ford has. Aside from that, doc or not, $22,000 for a 77 doesn’t seem out of line for this car. Hood definitely looks bent in the first pic, a common problem for many GM products, but could be easily fixed.
Tom C. Thanks for your comments. Unfortunately there are no records. Im going to try to contact the pinstripe artist that painted Hurst Performances family who passed in 2018. They may have pictures of the three proposal cars that he striped. These stripes and pinstripes are the signature of the artist. Mine are unique and make the car special. They are the reason I have not painted the car yet. I will preserve them in anything that I do to the paint.
Agree with Tom that $22k is not that far off, regardless of what it is. I mean, it is certainly not a Pontiac Banshee in terms of its asking price (one prototype here I think went for $1M). That said, claiming a car is a prototype is actually a pretty big deal, especially since so very few of them escape the crusher. The seller needs to back the claim.
Like I always say about mileage claims.
If you don’t have the paperwork to back up said claims, it’s all talk and speculation. All these cars had that paint job, so saying it has correct paint and spoiler etc means absolutely nothing.
Show me one other car with that paint job and spoiler, not to mention the Hurst ttops, hurst shifter, and Hurst inlaid landau panels.
Crickets………
All of that is available on the aftermarkt and could have been added. The Interior sail panels are off of a 75 Hurst olds.
And you keep using the word prototype. None of these were prototypes. They were PROPOSAL cars.
All of the proposal cars were built off the S body style. Like the 76 and 77 442.
This one is clearly a supreme.
Chirp chirp
Michael with Michael drop ha
“The Hurst/Olds was poised to be one of the hottest performance cars of 1977, yet the promising program was quashed. After many months of development, the “1977 Hurst/Olds Prototype Proposal Car Fact Sheet” was released and it stated, “Hurst Performance, Special Vehicles Division, regretfully announces that there will not be a production Hurst/Olds for 1977.” , Hemmings. You obviously have no useful infor.ation concerning the 77 HO prototype. I said show me one othe since you said “all these cars” so show me one. Also, none of these parts were available in 1977.
Seems like I remember Hurst built this and a black one to show proposal to Olds but they declined, they already had more demand for cutlass models than they could fill.
That is true. Hurst Competition built three protypes. Another white one was in an accident and destroyed back un the 70’s. They didn’t destroy the black and white protypes at Hurst Competion. Hurst Competition used Cutlas S and Cutlas Supreme for their protypes. They went back and forth on the car for months adding and taking away competion parts. They at one point planned for a 400 turbo transmission but both protypes have 350s from the factory as these were existing cars that received a custom build from Hurst Competition. The storys in magazines over the years have documented the prototype process and the programs cancellation due to the Cutlas being very popular in 1977 and in the end this would be the reason for its demise. Hurst Competition goal was to make the 77 Hurst Olds a monster in its time to push for the bodys acceptance in to Nascar. They beefed up the suspension, chose the W30 package, painted decals on cars, hand painted the red pinstriping around gold stripe. They debated which shifter to have as they also debated paint schemes, lettering and stripes. The original list of competition add ons changed over the planning cycle for this car. In the end GM decided to offer the car as a “Build your own Hurst Oldsmobile Program”. It is said one was sold as this package. Its unfortunate that GM cancelled the 2000 unit production but I am happy to have found this great piece of history. I will continue to restore it and bring it back to its factory condition. My car is a unicorn 1 of 1 Hurst Olds and for the naysayers, show me another one.
ATTENTION ADMINS: Please try to do a better job at approving comments with links. I posted a couple of them to this thread yesterday and they yet to show up.
Here are the bodies of what I said, minus the links:
Doing a quick Google search revealed several articles about a 1 of 1 ’77 Hurst/Olds prototype. Not the same color as this one.
If you search Hemmings, there is an article there talking about the prototype. Again, not even close to this one that is for sale.
Believe this is a “build your own” car done by a guy named Harold around Arizona area long ago. There ain’t no Protypes because they DIDN’T built production H/O vehicles. There were three PROPOSAL cars, only one 77 which was blk w/403 & TH400. A 76 had the 455/TH400 and another 76 w/350/TH350. All three of these car still exist and in hands of private collectors. During the 77 Proposal there were two H/Os, a wht car and a blk car. The wht car was actually the 76 vehicle Hurst had and both cars had diff paint schemes on each side side of the cars. Well final approval never gotten and the wht 76 car did get repainted so ea side matched and used for Hurst promotional use. When a collector found it, the vehicle was restored back to how it looked as the 76 proposal before the later paint scheme was put on it.
Subject car is just a creation by an individual. If you want to see documentation of how car was equipped and sent to dealer, it’s a 77 so you can obtain the dealer invoice from Allied Vaughn which does this service for GM. The actual proposal cars were all G37 Cutlass S bodies and this being a J57 Supreme body again says it’s not what people may think
Thanks for the facts. The seller isnt backing down on his claims though.
He thinks the paint scheme is proof. 🤔
Thanks Philbo 427! It is that same car. Hurst Performance used their signature stripes and handpainted pinstripes on the 77 H/O. My car has these H/O specific stipes and pinstripes. This is the documentation for the car. Hurst’s artist put his signature on the three prototype proposal cars.
“A few prototype or proposal cars were created during development (sources mention at least 2-3, including a black one and a white one.”
The car features classic Hurst styling elements like gold accents, special badging, T-tops (Hurst/Hatch), and a rear spoiler.
Broad gold side stripes running the full length of the body, accented with red and black pinstripes for added depth and contrast.
Gold and red pinstriping outlining elements like the front mesh grilles (extending over the hood), the NASCAR-inspired rear spoiler, and other accents.
“W-30” badges on the front fenders and “Hurst/Olds” lettering integrated into the rear quarter graphics.
Gold-painted Super Stock III wheels to tie everything together.” Hemmings
RocketOlds73-77, thank you for the information. That has always been a possibility included in all the magazine articles and Hurst documents surrounding the proposed car. If further research proves it to be a “Build your Own” car the car still is a historical part in the H/O that wasn’t produced. Its refreshing to hear from someone who has useful imput.
RocketOlds73-77, thank you for your response. You have given me a name name and a source to check out. It has always been a possibilty that this car was a “Build your Own” H/O. To me, it doesn’t matter what it’s part is in the story of the car that wasn’t produced but that it certainly has a part. It is not a fake as somebody said. If this car is what you suggest, Great! I will check out the information that you have given me. It is a part of the storied H/O that wasn’t, no matter what that might be.
“Instead of scrapping everything, the program evolved into a “build your own” concept: Hurst reportedly prepared parts kits (graphics, spoilers, suspension upgrades, shifter, etc.) that enthusiasts or dealers could use to convert a stock 1977 Cutlass S (or Supreme) into a pseudo-H/O clone. Period magazines from 1977 (like Street Racer “The Hurst/Olds, Roll Your Own”, Car Craft “The Hurst/Olds You Can’t Buy”, and others) featured articles detailing how to add 1977 H/O-style performance and looks using specific part numbers, essentially turning it into a factory-sanctioned “build your own” project.”