The last of the 1970s W-machines were unlike many of their contemporaries, in that the moniker was more than just an appearance package. This one is up for sale right now, here on craigslist from Santa Rosa, California. Read on to see more! Thanks go to reader Rocco for the tip.

The Hurst/Olds started back in 1968 in a collaboration with Hurst Performance in Warminster, PA. Based on the Cutlass platform, it offered some rather unique options and colors, the largest engine on an intermediate GM car that year, and was a very limited run of about 515 units. Over the years, the H/O changed with the times and bodystyles, and many more were made, being put on hold more than a few times, for more than a few years, until its cancellation after 1984.

The 1979 cars were of particular speciality, since they had a setup that was really high performance for the time. Built by Oldsmobile, its 160 to 170 horsepower and 275 lb-ft of torque came from the L-34 Oldsmobile 350 V8, went through a strengthened TH350 automatic transmission, and finally to the rear wheels by modest differential gearing. If you opted for the setup, you got the engine, trans, graphics, Hurst dual gate shifter, power brakes, special wheels, a choice of T-Top or not, and two choices of two-tone paint (black/gold or white/gold) – and even then, you could check more boxes on the order form, to add even more goodies from the regular-car option list! Today, these cars are in decent demand, although David Traver Adolphus from Muscle Machines had this to say in January of 2009: “Buying one today, the news is either all good or all bad, and there’s no middle ground. If there was ever a car where you wanted someone else to have had the fun of doing a restoration, this is it.” Couple that with the facts that less than 2500 were produced, and that body panels are a bit scarce nowadays, and you could find yourself an interesting situation.

So, we turn our attention to this particular example. We can see a car that looks like it is rather original, and fits the already-prtty-good-as-is idea. The seller tells us that it’s a one-owner, 55,000-mile, garage-kept piece with an aftermarket radio (but the factory 8-track is on hand) and that there are a few minor interior issues. The pictures leave a few things to the imagination, but we can get a general sense that it is indeed quite nice overall. We wish there were an underhood shot, but again, we get the idea.

Cars like this are definitely niche-market, and they’re not everyone’s idea of a muscle machine, but they are pretty rare, and are starting to fetch decent money, in comparison to other late-’70s autos. There was a time where you almost couldn’t give away one of these, but as times change, so do tastes in the collector-car scene. I personally would like to have one someday, but I might be alone in that. What about you?