Anyone who has followed my writing here over the years, likely knows I don’t have a stash of muscle cars in the garage. I like the foreign jobs and suffer plenty for this allegiance. Still, one aspect of the hobby that tends to unite us all is the desire to see good cars be saved. Some of you may recall my junkyard-find 1986 Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16 Cosworth (peek down below for an exciting update!), so I can certainly understand someone wanting to save this extremely rough 1970 Oldsmobile 442 – but it’s likely headed for a re-body or a VIN swap. Check it out here on craigslist in Massachusetts for $3,600.
The Oldsmobile 442 is obviously one of the most revered muscle cars ever built. As a second-generation model, the 442 shown here is equipped with a 455 that produces approximately 370 horsepower, so this was a real-deal muscle car all the way through. While later generations of the 442 became increasingly less powerful, this era of Oldsmobile’s iconic nameplate was still entirely capable of melting its rear tires. According to the seller, this 442 retains its numbers-matching engine.
And – here it is. This is the same car as in the video above, and some of our longer-term readers may remember when I brought this car home in November 2018. I have way more details to share with you showcasing the restoration as it has unfolded over the last few years, so keep your eyes peeled. In the meantime, while this 442 may not live on in its current form, I’m happy to report as living proof that almost anything is possible when it comes to saving special cars.
Would have liked to at least seen inside. Down set PASS.
Looks like it was front, side and rear-ended prior to be set out to pasture. May have been save able if locked inside after the wreck. This is a sacred Olds! Who does these things?
A poor man’s dream? A few sheet metal screws should do the trick. Numerous body parts are available on line. Who says it has to be pristine? A 442 is and always will be a 442. If I were younger this would be in my yard. I’ve repaired worse when I was able. Just get it road worthy.
Yah. That will buff right out.
Dittos… this piece of crap isn’t even worth the parts.
Well said. I hate to see ‘old’ vehicles trashed or simply left out somewhere to rot.
Now that’s what I call patina!
Let it sit for another 25 years and still wont be worth 3600 rofl. Boat anchor
Well it will make a fine conversation piece and the price might put a dent in the yearly beer budget but this thing is toast. No doubt a dreamer will cart it home, buy a fender and new tires and a carpet set and spray some primer here and there and it will be back on here for 5 times the amount right now….lol
Aren’t the 455 engines blue in 1970, like they are in ’71 and ’72? The 350 engines are gold. This engine is definitely gold in color.
Not sure if the engine color we see is just rust ? One thing I do know for sure, is the base 442, 455 engine came with a dual snorkel air cleaner, though that could’ve been easily lost over the years.
Not a so rare 442. If it were a W30 edition, certainly!
It is gold and not the correct color, but looks like a 455 based on the width of the intake. It was probably rebuilt and painted the more common and more available color.
It’s a 350, 455s take up the hole engine bay. I had one
The 455’s are about 2 inches wider, 99% of people would never notice the difference. The engine is also wearing E code heads, which are correct for a 455. Everything visible in the photo says bone-stock… including the single snorkle air cleaner, which is correct on a base 442. This thing is super crusty, I would suggest that the engine literally has no paint showing on the photo’s… which is why it looks gold-ish. I’m not an Olds expert, per say, but I have had 9 1966 through 1970 models, plus a 72 Cutlass, which was wrecked just before I was drafted. The one that got away was my 69 W30 4 speed convert!
I think you are right I have never seen a gold 455 in any year oldsmobile
300.00 tops imo.If it was closer I’d offer that and trailer it away. The only saving grace is the forged crank 455 with decent heads and the turbo 400 with a switch pitch maybe a posi rear end.Theyre all probably ok as it looks like it was put out of service due to an accident.3600 no way. glwts.
The switch pitch was only available from 1964-1967. Not available in 1970. But yes, very little appears to be salvageable. The engine stands a chance as it still retains it’s original air cleaner, trans and rear are about the only decent parts remaining. A car sitting like this for over 25 years, even with the windows up would have a ton of moisture in it that would affect nearly everything.
“Forged crank 455” and “switch pitch” tells me everything I need to know about how clueless you are about these cars. And yet this guy gets 8 thumbs up? Hilarious.
Good luck dragging these hulks home from the junkyard and trying to turn a proffit. I guess some guys don’t think their time is worth anything.
Not every restoration has to turn a profit. There could be someone who just retired that needs a project that brings them joy, where time and money don’t really mean anything
I was referring to the guy that dragged it out of the junkyard that is trying to sell it.
I’m Imagining the intense joy I’d feel if this heap got flatbedded into my driveway. Somewhere between food poisoning and a root canal.
I had a 70 442 in the same color Gold. Since it has rust on the engine hard to tell if its a 455. Looks Gold could be a 350. But ever 70 442 I seen was blue 455. This could be a 455 that’s worth taking out. Don’t know if it a auto or stick. But the drivetrain is worth pulling and working on it to put into a 70-71 Olds . It’s trashed not worth fixing. 🐻🇺🇸
For God sake let it go in peace.
Did you mean “pieces” ?
Do you remember the scene in in “Full Metal Jacket” when the Gunny asks one of the pukes “How tall are you?”, “5-11 Sir”, “5-11?”, I didn’t know you could pile $hi+ that high !!” For some reason I just remembered that scene.
Actually I think he was five foot nine
A once great vehicle sullied in most undignified fashion. Ugh. Ugh! Uggggghhh!!
Junk!! pull the motor tranny and rear look for a better car to put it in sell rest for scrap. If it is a bucket console car then i would strip that out and the steering column and guages and send the rest to the graveyard heavens…
My sentiments exactly! I couldn’t have said it better myself! Salvage the drivetrain, and send the rest to Japan as scrap metal to be turned into new Toyotas, LOL!
Is he paying $3,600 someone to tow it away? He/She/It should call donate-a-car.
If this thing sat open for the last 25+ years, there is likely little to save. The seat frames are likely rusted beyond use, the gauges are likely rotted and full of mold, who knows the condition of the engine. I am usually optimistic, but as crusty as what you see in a few photo’s. There appears to be very little left here.
I wouldn’t be so quick to completely write it off until I saw it in person. Front end and doors are just bolt ons, if the roof is still solid and straight it really isn’t much worse than a lot of the 60’s-70’s cars found in the rust belt. Most of the classics I run across may look better but still need floorboards and quarter panels. For me the big thing here would be the condition of the roof and the frame, and of course verifying that it really is a 455 under that hood.
When does optimism cross the line into fantasy? I can fix anything given enough time, money and effort, the question then becomes how much of the original car will be left when the work is done? It’s like the old joke about the antique dealer who is trying to sell an old axe. He says that “This is the same axe that George Washington used to cut down his father’s cherry tree, except that the handle has been replaced three (3) times, and the head twice!” Think about it, you’ll get it eventually, LOL!
1970 Oldsmobile 442 Sitting 25 Years.
And it’s gonna be sitting for another 25!
If you can’t replace some quarters and floorboards and bolt on the rest, you have no business “restoring” cars. I am so tired of all these people who think a fresh coat of paint and new seat covers is a restoration, but it would seem that is all the work most people these days are willing to do
Oldsmofeeble. It might make some good fertilizer for somebody’s garden
The before and after pics of this cars restoration will consist of two pics….one with the VIN tag and one without.
A little duct tape and should be good to go.
I love how every old car rough project that gets posted here seems to have a large peanut gallery of “experts” who try devaluing it to nothing, based on their own ignorance.
The writer of the article and one commenter got it right here: You’re buying some numbers, not a car. Like it or not, that IS the reality here.
I guess you would have to just go and look at this car, hmmmm there’s not alot information, and or photos, provided, hmmmm, big question 🤔, is it good deal maybe, and or maybe not, from what l can see 🤔, it looks kinda ruff,but 🤔, if someone is looking for a pretty part’s car maybe this,is it.
It’s not even worth the trip… there are much nicer parts cars out there. This one is barely worth the crusher!
I’d have commented on this car but I couldn’t figure out which bent up, rusty piece of it to comment on.
I can only imagine what the rest of the car looks like…
Remove the vin and bury the rest.
Some zip screws and duct tape.. a couple gallons of gas and Dukes of Hazzard it around the farm…
Don’t think it sold…Think seller took it down..realizing….only drivetrain a viable part..