The 1970 4-4-2 could have been the ultimate Oldsmobile. It was the most powerful mid-size muscle car ever produced by the brand and this particular example is even more desirable because it was ordered with the W-30 package. More about that later. Take a look at the eBay listing here because the bidding ends soon!
GM lifted their displacement restrictions in 1970 so Oldsmobile went whole hog and dropped a full-size 455 engine into their mid-size 442. Unfortunately, the red fenders are about the only things left in the engine bay. The transmission is gone too. So, the next owner had better be a good parts scrounger.
If the standard 442 wasn’t potent enough, you could check the W-30 option box. That added a fiberglass hood complete with functional hood scoops. More important than that though were the engine upgrades. New heads, intake, cam, carburetor, and distributor all added up to more grunt then and more value today.
There isn’t any documentation to prove that this is a real W-30, but the seller has photos and statements from the previous owners. Close investigation should clear up any doubts. Then the real work begins. There’s rust to repair and a drivetrain to find. So, do you think you have what it takes to bring this Olds back from the grave?
Wow $ 12,000 is what the bidding is up to.
Rare car, amazing color combo.
With a date correct restoration this car will be an amazing car.
Sold for $ 12,000
Without the build card there is no way to prove its a real w30.
Why do folks pull the original drivetrain and then get rid of them???
Especially with this one. the original F cylinder heads will run about $5k alone. The aluminum manifold, block and trans are easier to get, but you will have 12-15k in the drivetrain easily.
Chris, I have a 442 W30, I have not tried to start it yet, as it sat for 12 years, it has all the original engine, drive train, is it seriously worth 12-15K?
1)” I’m a gunna restore this hear caw!” Pulls powertrain.
2) “Jim Bob, I need 12k to fix this engine”. It needs everything.”
3) “Hey, I knows a guy up in Powdunkville will give a 12 pack for that! Lets go hook up!”
4) Jim Bob promptly gets drunk, ends up in local slammer for a few months – cars sits another 30 years in the back forty.
5)New owner cuts grass and finds old rusted out muscle car.
6)Ka Ching! 12K!
An AUTObiography?
In the late 70s, no one I knew gave any thought to the value of the original drivetrain. If an engine failed, you found another one because it was usually cheaper than to rebuild the one that failed. Today, most people know better but there were many years where they did not.
Rare Olds 442 W-30 when I look at the picture of the previous owner proudly standing beside the car; now sans the original drive still desirable, but I’m guessing mainly to non-purists. I wonder where the original engine and transmission ended up in the first place? It could be that “elrod” above is on to something that’s very close scenario wise.
Said story, how ever you look at it from birth ( old picture ) to the $12,000 grave yard .
For W30 cachet, isn’t an original drivetrain needed?
I can’t believe of all the muscle cars featured on this site half of the cars are missing the engine and/or transmission.
What do these people do with them!?
Did they sell it, put it in another car.what!?
Looks like both the brake and clutch pedal are missing, so I would venture that someone converted their Cutlass S to a 455 4 speed a couple of decades ago.
take a closer look. they are both there. Also the factory red inner liners are there. This is a real w30 body.
Speaking of red plastic inner fender liners, here is a good read about it on Hemmings Motor News. They first came out on the 1966 Pontiac GTO
https://www.hemmings.com/magazine/hmn/2008/06/Too-Nice-for-Tar/1641256.html
Easy to get those. Not really conclusive it’s a w30.
Offered by nickey_performance, surprised they did not add there own version of the W-30 motor and suspension. I had a new Camaro drive by me while at a car show this summer, it had a Nickey decal on the rear quarter panel. I must be getting old, never knew they were still building. Man, that Camaro sounded sweeeeeet! This one reminds me of an H/O for some reason, beutiful car when new.
They are not. Somebody bought the rights to the logos and is selling new stickers at car shows.
What happens to the original drive train:
It’s about 1979. The paint is done, chrome starting to rust, interior is torn, and the whole mess has over 100k miles. Parts are no longer available, and you can’t buy horsepower for love nor money at any dealership.
“ Hey Lamar, I gots an Olds use to have three hunert seventy horses, Yew kin have it fer that 12 gauge an a twelver of PBR”
Haha! PBR, good ol pabst! Gut rot beer! Love those good ol days!
I hope the original owner doesn’t watch this site. He may be ashamed at how bad people have treated his 442 after he sold it.
He’s probably still driving the VW .
I believe the guy who now bears the Nickey performance name bought the rights to the Nickey performance franchise from the original owners of Nickey Chevorlet. He’s been using the name for some time now. Shows up on different sites with performance cars new & old have seen the name on a few wicked gassers sells straight front axel conversion kits to turn 55-57 Chevys & 60s Novas into killer gassers
Take a break kido’s – HP motors of ALL make’s were run hard up until those rods went through the block – heads most likely all that survived the many hard runs..
And one a side note – a non-hot rod ex-buddie ended up with one of these about 1977 – red liners and all….4 sp Gold car black inside….bugged him for years after about 1980 as where the car went…he knew…just wouldn’t tell me….
True story about how drivetrains disappear: around 1988 or 89, I bought a big block 396 68 Camaro SS for a few hundred bucks from a friend, engine had no oil pressure & a knock & he was wanting a dirt bike. I traded the top end to another friend for a hot 350 to put in the car & get it running. A couple of years go by, the 4 speed transmission is making a racket, has a couple broke syncros, so I park the car till I can replace the transmission. I get remarried, & the new wife decides she really wants to drive the 68 Camaro, but she can’t drive a manual, so I put a th350 in it for her to drive.
Fast forward a few more years, child number 2 is now here, we have other cars to drive, the auto is slipping pretty bad, so the Camaro gets parked in the shop till I can get around to working in it. And that’s when life got in the way.
15 years later is when I get a chance to start working on it. The original 396 was still sittin on the engine stand it had been on for 20 plus years, minus heads & intake. But years earlier, the Muncie got rebuilt & put in my father’s 61 Impala.
So stuff happens, without alcohol being involved. In the 70’s, 80’s & early 90’s, only the die hard Corvette purist cared about matching numbers or being date code correct. We were just trying to keep them running by scrounging whatever we could get our hands on. I am personally responsible for many 60’s Impalas & early 2nd gen Camaros not having their original drivetrains.
Good realistic view of how things went down. This is the reason why numbers matching is so rare and valuable. They rarely survived.
What A Rust Bucket !
Back in the 70″s my friends 1964 SS409 Impala gets stolen from outside of his house in Los Angeles . Weeks later the car is found missing the 409 and the four speed transmission. A friend of his says I got a 389 tri power out of a GTO if you want it. Sure , so we proceed to install a Pontiac 389 in a 64′ Impala. Lot of work but we got it working. So two numbers matching cars from the 60’s lose their engines in the 70’s. Fast forward to 2017 I wonder where those engines are now.
If a genuine W-30 it is a very rare car. I believe these are the production numbers:
1970 W-30 production numbers: 264 convertibles, 262 sports coupes(post) like the one featured,and 2,574 holiday coupes(hardtop); for a total of 3100 W-30s.
Of the 264 Convertibles 96 were 4 speeds
Of the 262 Post Coupes 142 were 4 speeds
Of the 2,574 Hardtops 1,032 were 4 speeds
That is correct , I have one like the one sold one of 142 with 4.897 mi. have owned for over 40 years. The car is worth restoring , Does anyone know where the car is now? I am interested in buying it . contact Dennis Bixby 843-727-9252
Not worth restoring without the original drivetrain.
If I’m correct… A fully restored W30 tops is worth $30g .. Who would undertake a headache such as this?
Not sure where you pulled that number from.
According to Hagerty, a #3 “good” Holiday Coupe (the pictured car is even rarer), is valued at $70,800. A #1 is $119,000. The numbers double if it is a convertible.
$30K gets you nothing rare in the muscle car game these days.
1970 Matching # W’s bring more than 30k especially 4spds. No matching# drivetrain or build sheet/ibm card proof of W30 origin from Lansing Mich. is a different story.
No matter what, It’ll never be a W30 again.
Life certainly gets in the way Tyler! In 1988 I bought from the estate of the original owner a nice little 1965 Ford Fairlane, 2 door, 200 ci w/3 on the tree- only 32,482 miles on her. Original everything. All the intentions to drop a hot 289 in her and then 2 daughters came along in 1996. Pickled her up and parked in my storage garage for 21 years.
Finally last Spring I pulled her out, replaced the gas tank and lines, brakes, hoses and tuners her up.
I’m glad I didn’t start ripping her up.
Now I’m 57 and I like her just as she is; not fancy, all 100% original, warts and all, but a real survivor. Things happen in life- you do what can to keep things running..
CaptShindig, that’s a beautiful car!
Back in the early seventies I bought what I recall was a 375 horse 396 Chevelle. It was also a four speed car. Out came the 396 which went into my stock car. The four speed got sold one direction and the car went another. Never saw the car again
It is a 442, but yeah without the build sheet it is impossible to tell According to http://datatagdecoder.com/ is it a 70 442, built the first week of Feb in Lansing, MI, Black on Black with Black interior. It appears that it didn’t have A/C so that is one point for it being a W-30.
Winning bid:US $12,000.00
[ 20 bids ]
I had a ’70 442 (don’t ask me what happened to it). I don’t remember it having vent windows.
The hardtop and convertible lost their vent windows starting with the 1969 model year, but the 4-4-2 trim was also available on the Sport Coupe body which had a post and also the vent windows.
Looking for the Black 70 442 W-30 Want to buy. Call Dennis Bixby 843-727-9252
The question is the car worth putting x amount of money into it or could you find one in better condition for a better deal?