Trip Report
Oldsmobile 442
Friday March 2, 2018 7:36pm
top left corner top right corner
Credit: mike m
bottom left corner bottom right corner
top left corner top right corner
Credit: mike m
bottom left corner bottom right corner
top left corner top right corner
Credit: mike m
bottom left corner bottom right corner
top left corner top right corner
Credit: mike m
bottom left corner bottom right corner
Went up I70 to hit some ice.

The Oldsmobile 4-4-2 (also known as the 442) is a muscle car produced by Oldsmobile between the 1964 and 1980 model years. Introduced as an option package for US-sold F-85 and Cutlass models, it became a model in its own right from 1968 to 1971, spawned the Hurst/Olds in 1968, then reverted to an option through the mid-1970s. The name was revived in the 1980s on the rear-wheel drive Cutlass Supreme and early 1990s as an option package for the new front-wheel drive Cutlass Calais.
The "4-4-2" name (pronounced "Four-four-two") derives from the original car's four-barrel carburetor, four-speed manual transmission, and dual exhausts. It was originally written "4-4-2" (with badging showing hyphens between the numerals),[1] and remained hyphenated throughout Oldsmobile's use of the designation. Beginning in 1965, the 4-4-2s standard transmission was a 3 speed manual along with optional 2 speed automatic and 4 speed manual, but were still badged as "4-4-2"s. By 1968 badging was shortened to simply "442", but Oldsmobile brochures and internal documents continued to use the "4-4-2" model designation.[2]


top left corner top right corner
Credit: mike m
bottom left corner bottom right corner

  Trip Report Views: 5,112
mike m
About the Author
mike m is a trad climber from black hills. Who is cold

Comments
mike m

Trad climber
black hills
Author's Reply  Mar 2, 2018 - 07:39pm PT
mike m

Trad climber
black hills
Author's Reply  Mar 2, 2018 - 07:45pm PT
Russ Walling

Social climber
from Poofters Froth, Wyoming
  Mar 2, 2018 - 07:47pm PT
442 fukyeah!!!!! Get some muscle!!!!
mike m

Trad climber
black hills
Author's Reply  Mar 2, 2018 - 08:00pm PT
mike m

Trad climber
black hills
Author's Reply  Mar 2, 2018 - 08:02pm PT
By MALCOLM GUNN
Wheelbase Media
Updated June 9, 2013 9:42 AM
Print Share
What the heck is a W-30? A silicone lubricant that comes in a blue can? A special tax form for "other income"? Perhaps a new golf club claiming to straighten out your game?
Well, as far as deep and dark automotive secrets go, few were any deeper or darker than Oldsmobile's W-30.
It was so secret, in fact, that most of the company's dealers weren't even aware it existed.

SEE PHOTOS
In the Garage: LIers' classic rides

The W-30 was meant to win races on Sunday and sell Oldsmobiles on Monday.

It was the 1960s and the Free World was fascinated with power and speed. "Speed thrills," became a rallying cry.
Young drivers began to demand high-performance machines that could tear up a quarter mile of dark, country road or the tarmac of the local drag strip.
Speed and styling became the raison d'etre of Detroit's car manufacturers. Every carmaker came up with a performance package and the era of the 'musclecar,' with big-cubic-inch engines and face-distorting torque, was under way.
Quietly, and without fanfare, Oldsmobile became part of the movement in 1966, thanks to a little known, late-in-the-season release of the W-30 ram-air option package, which seeped out of General Motors' towers of primness. Basically, the car was an Oldsmobile F-85 equipped with a 350-horsepower 400-cubic-inch V8. A supercar was born.
The project actually began a couple of years earlier in 1964.
With Ford and Chevrolet banging away at each other for a bigger slice of the youth market, the General turned to its Pontiac and Oldsmobile divisions for help.
Pontiac came out with the hot-selling GTO and, six months later, Olds responded with the F-85 and its now legendary numerical designation 4-4-2, which stood for "4"-barrel carb, "4"-speed transmission and "2", or dual, exhaust. The car wasn't much to write about when compared to the stylish GTO, but it showed potential.
With its 330-cubic-inch V8 taken from the company's 1964 Cutlass police pursuit package, the car ran well but couldn't hold its own against bigger-displacement cars, such as the 389-powered GTOs prowling the streets.
Things didn't change much until '66 when the engineers at Olds slipped in a brawny 400 cubic-inch engine topped with a four-barrel carburetor. It was a nice improvement, but still no trophies.
GTOs were still ruling the road. So, Olds changed the carb configuration to three two-barrels from a single four barrel. The 442's power rating jumped to 360, and with it, gearheads everywhere began to take notice.
But Oldsmobile engineers weren't done, not by a long shot.
Later the same year, they quietly released the W-30. The engines received a hotter camshaft and high-tension valve springs to keep the lifters following at high revs. Then the components were painstakingly matched, measured and hand assembled right at the factory.
The goal was simple: become king of the drag strip. So serious, in fact, were the tech heads at Olds that they sold most of the cars in stripped-down versions only, without radios and some without heaters.
The W-30 option package was so secret that the vast majority of the general public had no clue it existed. And neither did most of the dealers. In fact, only 54 of these high-performance pavement-scorchers were produced the first year, most of which went to serious professional drag racers. (A few knowledgeable dealers converted some 442s by installing over-the-counter W-30 equipment, but they were few and far between.)
Success came quickly. That year, the Oldsmobile 442 W-30 brought home the bacon by winning the National Hot Rod Association's drag racing C/Stock category.
By 1967, the word was out about the hot, new musclecar at Oldsmobile and the company finally began to play up the W-30's existence. The result was a jump in production to 502 cars, plus a host of over-the-counter conversion kits known as the Track-Pac.
The big change for 1967 was in the carburetion. The three two-barrel set up was replaced with a Rochester Quadrajet four-barrel after GM brass mandated that only Corvettes could have the multiple-carb (known as Tri-power) setup. As well, the 442 package became available only on the Cutlass Supreme.
The next year, the 442 was named Performance Car of the Year by Cars Magazine. And that year, more 442s were built than in any other year in the musclecar era, which generally spans 1964-'72.
The W-30 continued relatively uninterrupted until 1970 when the engine grew to 455 cubic inches and horsepower topped out at 370. The popular W-30 option (about 3,100 would make it to the street) would stick around until the end of 1972, although the 455's horsepower rating would drop to 300, more a product of a change in how engines were rated than the abandonment of any performance
hardware.
But, the musclecar bubble couldn't last forever. In fact, most people believed it had already burst, due in no small part to tightening pollution laws, insurance regulations and gas shortages. The combined effect was lower engine compression and less horsepower.
As a result, Oldsmobile was no longer in the performance business, and an era had come to an end as quietly as it had begun. 
mike m

Trad climber
black hills
Author's Reply  Mar 2, 2018 - 08:04pm PT
http://w29.boards.net/thread/1672/new-trend-rat-rod-corvettes
guido

Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
  Mar 2, 2018 - 08:05pm PT
Now here is a TR that Rowell would drool over even though he was a Chev guy to the max!

Awesome TR........
Fritz

Social climber
Choss Creek, ID
  Mar 2, 2018 - 09:07pm PT
My frugile grandmother bought my older brother a 427 V-8 Chevy in 1966, as a vehicle for commuting the 500 miles from Ketchum to Moscow Idaho for his college years. I still can't believe he managed to scam that fine & intelligent woman into buying him, not a car, but a muscle car, that he never quite killed himself in.

So-----just one story. He & a fellow redneck pistol toting pal drove 35 miles south from Moscow, ID to Lewiston ID to visit a strip club. After closing out the strip club in the wee-hours of the morning, they sped back towards Moscow. About 20 miles south of Moscow is the junction for the small town of Genesee, which at that time was marked by a single large street lamp above Hwy 95.

My brother said, at 80 MPH, he took his 22 pistol off his lap & fired at the lamp as they approached the junction. To his horror, he hit the lamp & saw it start to fall into the highway. He "goosed" the engine & the lamp debris fell onto his trunk as he sped by.

It was a different time.
mike m

Trad climber
black hills
Author's Reply  Mar 2, 2018 - 08:32pm PT
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yduuS6f3QSM
hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
  Mar 2, 2018 - 09:08pm PT
i was a catcher for a widely feared pitcher all thru little league. his old man own the local dodge dealer. when we got to highschool, each of the late sixties mopar muscle cars, a fresh one every weekend, was available for action. let's just say those silly tire worms were missing come monday. all straight ahead stuff or we'd likely be dead, no break in or penance served
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
  Mar 2, 2018 - 10:07pm PT
I outran the local coppers in my pre-442 Olds, when I was 15. Like Mr T said, “I pity the fools!”
My bro had a 442 later, I had moved on to bigger firepower, courtesy of Uncle Sam.
I’m sure it was a W-30 as he sold it for really good money about 20 years ago.
Funny that my current pickup has more ponies than a W-30 had. My bro’s Volvo Polestar
does too and weighs a LOT less. It’s a beast in lamb’s clothing.
mike m

Trad climber
black hills
Author's Reply  Mar 3, 2018 - 08:14am PT
Mike. Thanks but obviously just pulled off the web. What does any of this have to do with climbing anyway you might ask. Really nothing accept we did Pumphouse a 4 in vail, the Georgetown flow a 4 right on I 70 that we had to drive like Thelma and Louise to get in and lastly coors lite a 2 in clear creek. Would have been a perfect day to have that black convertible and could have got them done in half the time.
AP

Trad climber
Calgary
  Mar 3, 2018 - 03:18pm PT
My first car was a 1966 Olds 88 with a 425 4 barrel. It passed everything except a gas station. Shag carpeting 8 track player and seat belts that doubled as beer bottle openers. Big back seat and everything a high school student needs!
My fathers first car was a 1949 Olds 88 convertible on a Cadillac chassis. He was proud of the Beast.
Splater

climber
Grey Matter
  Mar 3, 2018 - 04:52pm PT
455 is one better than chevy 454.
nature

climber
Boulder, CO
  Mar 6, 2018 - 11:37am PT
well that was different.


Was a great day But as you can see in one of the photos we took my Tacoma. It's got no muscle (except for maybe the passenger).

Did my first technical ice lead - Coors Lite.

One of my best days out climbing in a long long time. The stoke is real.
WyoRockMan

climber
Grizzlyville, WY
  Mar 6, 2018 - 11:52am PT
Heinous approach!

"With a Bocephus sticker on his 4-4-2, he'd light 'em up just for fun.."

[Click to View YouTube Video]
Nick Danger

Ice climber
Arvada, CO
  Mar 8, 2018 - 01:47pm PT
Mike M, you are living the life! I lusted after a 4-4-2 in high school, but there was no possible way (I didn't have the money and my parents weren't that stooped).

Also, I thought that looked like the ice above Georgetown in one of your photos. Nice climb, that. Pumphouse is always a classic. Not sure what Coors Light is, though, prolly something I climbed earlier but never had a name for.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
  Mar 8, 2018 - 09:27pm PT
Watching Mecum - a 70 W-30 442 just went for $98K! And it didn’t look that clean!
mike m

Trad climber
black hills
Author's Reply  Mar 9, 2018 - 12:38pm PT
Nick don't feel too bad the closest I came to a muscle car was a 1977 Mustang II so bad. My dad used to have these GM Diesels I don't remember if it was a Old or Buick.
tradmanclimbs

Ice climber
Pomfert VT
  Mar 9, 2018 - 01:13pm PT
I had a 73 delta 88 fairly anemic with a 350 that ran like a top but was pulling a heck of a lot of iron around... also had a 71 Chrylsler Newport custom with a 403. also just a land yacht. my only true muscle car was the 66 galaxy 500 2door with the stock dual exuast, 4bbl and a 352 police interceptor
mike m

Trad climber
black hills
Author's Reply  Aug 20, 2018 - 08:56pm PT
ran into this guy In chataqua as Jack and I were going to climb the 3rd on a Smokey night in boulder. It was either from the CA fires or from this bad ass machine burning some rubber.
Hardrock

Trad climber
San Bernardino
  Aug 20, 2018 - 09:30pm PT
Had a Cutlass convertible and then moved up to midnight blue white top 69 Olds 442 convertible. Use to race from Moab to Green River and back. Made it to work in less than an hour. Slowed down when I moved to SoCal. Sold to some Albuquerque college student 1991 and he brought it back to show me the mods and then they rolled it on the way back to New Mexico. Describing a climb as powerful, fast with an awesome view, 442 would do!
mike m

Trad climber
black hills
Author's Reply  Apr 29, 2019 - 10:39pm PT
thanks Katie.
Ksolem

Trad climber
Monrovia, California
  Apr 29, 2019 - 11:41pm PT
Nuthin' is more fun than a '57 Chevy with the 283 V8, Holly 3 Barrel, Muncie tranny, Hurst shifter. Those small block V8's would break the driveshaft if you weren't hip to the deal.

3 barrel is not a typo. Those suckers had one big throat where the 4 barrels had two separate bores. The secondary on those mf's was crazy. Of course so was the carbon footprint..
Happy Cowboy

Social climber
Boz MT
  Apr 30, 2019 - 04:45am PT
The closest I got to muscle cars was when my great friend George Sormer would pick me up for climbing or skiing in his different Camaro’s. Different because he changed them often. I remember once being surprised when he arrived in what looked a brand new Silver Camaro. I said “thought your car was bronze” to which he muttered “f***kin battery went dead”.

Many skiers in the SLC area in the 70/80’s knew George’s Camaros, generally terrorizing others rear view. He treated the Little Cottonwood canyon road like 3 uphill lanes (on a powder day). I was near 40 years younger and I felt slight embarrassment when I’d see the horror in the faces of those George would pass, commanding that invisible 3rd lane. My job shotgun was to watch for approaching downhill traffic. I’d warn but his response was often the same, “don’t worry, they got brakes”.

George loved to climb in the Canadian Rockies and I got to go several times. He came up with an interesting equation to rate the drive from SLC to Jasper, hours vs money spent on speeding tickets, honest. For a few years when I was guiding in the Tetons and unable to join George on his trips, I’d still receive a postcard with the now familiar summary, “pretty good 13 hrs/$475” hauling ass.
hobo_dan

Social climber
Minnesota
  Apr 30, 2019 - 05:23am PT
hitchin' home from Rapid City- got a ride in a GTO to Edwards AFB--100 mph got us there pretty quick
WBraun

climber
  Apr 30, 2019 - 06:57am PT
Muscle cars and climbing the best combination period.

None of this pussy Prius crap ......
Ksolem

Trad climber
Monrovia, California
  Apr 30, 2019 - 01:45pm PT
On at least one occasion Randy Leavitt, Tony Yaniro, and Dan Hershman drove Randy's dad's '74 Dodge Charger to the Needles (from San Diego?) That must have been some ride.
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