It is not every day you come across a 1 of 204, factory built homologation car. Yet, this 1991 Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais 442 W41 is exactly that. Built by GM for the SCCA and IMSA racing series showroom stock class, the seller would like only $6,750 for it. They have a VIN listed, a clean title, and it has only 82,458 miles documented on the odometer. It is located in Lansing, Michigan. Thank you, Dan B, for the tip. You can view more on craigslist.
Under the hood is a crisp and clean, for its age, four cylinder, sixteen valve, dual overhead cam, W41 engine that when new, produced 190 horsepower. That is connected to a five speed manual transmission. The seller says the car runs and drives and has no problems with the clutch or transmission shifting. They have recently recharged the air conditioning with R134.
On the inside, the very stereotypical 90’s GM interior greets you. Gray cloth interior and a more subtle, rounded rectangular shaped dashboard and console is an evolution from the very right-angled dashboard of the ’80s cars. While the rear seats do look a little faded, the car presents itself incredibly well. The seller says all the seals and moldings are in great shape and the car only has surface rust in a few areas.
The question that comes to mind is, will these cars ever be desired? While production numbers can attribute to the legitimacy of rarity, desirability is something that the market will have to determine. At the price that this car is being offered at, is it worth it to potentially have something desirable and more valuable in the future? Only time will tell, but until then, it is fun to come across one of these, especially in this condition.
Not a “real” 442 by auction show standards, but fun to play with I bet. Power-to-weight ratio means this thing has probably surprised more than one stopllight warrior in its time.
It is odd to see the rear spoiler laying face on that rough concrete.
HA, I always say, as soon as we hit 65 here in the good ‘ol USA, we should be given an Oldsmobile!
Proof that low production volume does not guarantee high collector interest.
I believe this one has the Torsen?
Yep, torsen LSD. Made all rhe difference
The ones given to the race teams did, NOT thr ones on the street. DRIVETRAIN.com in Las Vegas does sell them, along with rebuild kits for this tyranny.
What is a Torsen? It is a real Quad442 by Oldsmobile standards 4cylinder 4 valve 2 dr.
The Torsen was the limited-slip differential.
Based on the asking price, the seller is assuming the desire is already there…not sure the rest of the world’s ready for it though.
With the Quad-4 and 5-speed this would be a nice little runner…this is the engine Pontiac should have used in the Fiero.
It was scheduled to become the base engine in the re-styled 1990 Fiero that was canceled.
We’re almost 30 years on. Hard to believe 1991 was almost 30 years ago but it was. So if it hasn’t caught on yet, is it realistic to expect it ever will? I would just buy it and enjoy it versus trying to predict some market boom. It ain’t gonna happen.
Looks fun to tool around in. I’ll bet it was a nice ride in it’s day.
I like seeing the occasional 90’s car on here. I started driving in 1989 and the “N” body cars were all over the place, extremely popular when new (Grand Am, Calais, Somerset/Regal). Now they’ve all but disappeared. This one, being a special edition should bring a premium, but price still seems a bit high. Bet it would be fun to drive, and show. You’d be the only one there with one.
i owned the 92 SCX that replaced this car, they ran very well but they were 4 cyl and the collectors market isn’t in love with fwd 4 cyl cars (yet)
190 hp from a 4 cylinder at that time was pretty damn good. Especially when one looks at what some of the emasculated V8’s were making back then and just a few years earlier.
Had one of these and run like crazy. A real sleeper.
My stepmom has owned one since new. The thing is a sleeper of a power house. Fun car and in mint condition.
I’d post a pic if this thread would let me.