“I have one of the cleanest all original Oldsmobile 442s I have seen in a long time,” so opines the seller of this 1987 edition of Oldsmobile’s famous muscle car. Well, you have to admire certainty! That said, and this 26K-mile example does look great; why don’t we take a gander here and see if we agree with this enthusiastic assessment. Found in Boulder City, Nevada, by T.J., this end-of-the-line Olds’ muscle mobile is listed here on Facebook Marketplace for $37,500.
So, what’s in a number? Originally, 442 stood for four-barrel carburetor, four-speed transmission, and dual (two) exhaust. Some will say the definition changed in ’65 with the upgrade to a 400 CI engine, now replacing the first “four”. By 1987, we could still wrangle a 442 composition by virtue of the four-barrel Quadrajet carburetor, four-speed automatic transmission, and dual-outlet exhaust. OK, that fits, I guess. Available only as a two-door coupe and based on the Cutlass Supreme, the 442 sold moderately well, with 4,200 finding first-time homes. And 1987 would be the end of the run; GM was in the process of phasing out their rear wheel drive G-body cars. The 442 designation would return later on a four-cylinder, FWD Calais, but it was nothing more than a poor deployment of a historic and esteemed designation.
What you see here is pretty typical for an ’87 442. All were finished in a two-tone paint scheme, with the primary (upper) color in gray, black, dark blue, or burgundy, while the portion below the belt line was finished in silver. We’ve covered quite a few of these here on BF, and this gray/silver composition seems to be the most common. Stated is, “Always garaged and well taken care of. Never painted on and no issues.” So, this 442 has been properly stored/parked and is still wearing its original duds – no surprise as it presents like new. Of note is the power sunroof; the seller claims that this 442 is one of only 200 so equipped. Hemmings counters with an estimate closer to 500, however.
The bucket seat interior is as nice as the exterior. It’s upholstered in the typical cloth fabric that GM employed in this era, and it shows no signs of physical or weather-related (sun) wear. Nice to see is the full complement of engine gauges. The seller states that the A/C blows cold and the power radio antenna is the only non-working feature of this car.
A 442 is all about the engine, and in this case, it’s a 170 net HP, 307 CI V8 engine (30 HP more than the standard 307) driving a four-speed automatic transmission, which spins a 3.73:1 final drive (pretty steep for ’87!). There’s no description of running and/or driving characteristics, though there’s no reason to suspect an issue.
About halfway through the listing, the seller tells us, “I have only had about a month. Couple weeks after I got home, an opportunity to now buy my holy grail car has come up, and unfortunately, I can not afford to keep them both.” So, a flip? Kinda seems that way, but I guess that doesn’t matter. What does matter is the price, $37,500. I’m not feelin’ that at all, how about you?
$37.5 – maybe if I were addled with mind-altering substances…
Absofriggen-lutely …
Dumb price for a G body that can’t beat a Chevette .
Wheeze bag 307 . Take life and limb in your hands driving it.
Before anyone chirps – I have owned many G body Oldsmobiles , Buicks & Pontiacs .
Never wasted my time on a Monte for simple fact was stripped down and slow like the others . Olds was nice looking and sporty that’s it .
No power V8 sucks .
I wouldn’t ever buy one unless it had a transplant in it with real power
Low miles, real nice condition it appears. Last of the good Dr Olds coupes w rwd heritage. 👍🏁
Maybe if the entire drivetrain were replaced with a Grand National’s
There is so much competition at or below that price, $37,500, it’s hard to see many people willing to open their wallets that wide.
Steve R
Nice car but about 15,000 overpriced based on some recent sales that I have seen. I welcome contradictory opinions, but thats my free opinion
My first thought was love those cars, what a great cruiser. Then I saw the price – sei fuori!
This is a really nice car, but I have to agree. The price is unrealistic.
20k car. Period. End of discussion. But hey, ask whatever you want I guess. There’s a sucker born every minute.
Love this era of 442s and the Hurst. Prefer T-Tops but the Sunroof will do, but not the price. This is way over priced, even for this nice of car. With a little effort you can find other 442s that are this nice and in the $20k range, I will pass on this one.
Fair to median price for one of these is between 10 and 18 thousand depending on mileage and condition they are nice cars but this is to high of a price just passed on one black and gold for 12 thousand
it’s nice and a clean survivor. i have seen these bring close to the ask but only at auction. 25k is a fair number for what is offered but i doubt the seller will go that low.
Jay Leno is promoting a GN for one of the tribes out here in Kalifornia. The asking price for this car is what I would pay for that one. It’s got 37 miles showing.
Forty years ago this interior color was popular because if you dropped your cigarette ash on it it didn’t show…
At least ten grand over market, IMNSHO.
These were really nice looking cars and it looks in great original condition, but that asking price is so far over current market in my opinion.
Looks nice from here, but not $37.5K nice! As most everyone else has said, this is a $20K car, if you really can’t live without it
I wanted a new one like this one back in 87 as I’ve always been an Olds guy. We test drove one and although loved the looks and interior, the performance was pretty average. Then we also stopped a block down the road and looked at Buick GN’s. After one test drive we knew the turbo Buick was the one, the performance was awesome so we bought a black Turbo Regal. Never sorry, but the 442 still had the better interior, gauges, and looks.