Hey guys. As you can see I just joined the classic olds forum to share some pictures of a real nice 442. I am in the hot rod restoration business and this car belongs to one of my customers and he has asked me to sell it. I am not at the top of my game on Oldsmobiles so I thought I might get some information here. Also I know we all like to see pictures of other guy's cars!! The Vin # is 344671M199793. I havnt read much but as I understand there are not many statistics on these cars and as with "clones" they can be faked. The owner told me first he thought it was a W30 but I dont see any indication it is anything other than a 442. One thing I can tell you about the car is it has had a frame off restoration recently and it is a real nice car and the work is top notch.

Let me know what you think of the car and if you have any comments. Thank you, Mark

 

One thing that can't be faked - it's a 442 according to its VIN. ALL 442's will start with 344. The 34467 simply means it's a 442 vert. It's a Lansing car so there will be no build sheet, but there might be a broadcast card found under the seats or carpet?

I seriously doubt this is a W30. All 71 W30's came with the W25 OAI hood, red fender liners, manual disc brakes, aluminum intake manifold and special W identification badging. Power disc brakes (JL2 option could be ordered, but that also changed the cam too so the necessary vacuum was available for the power booster) The hood on your clients car was never available on a 71 W30, but was standard on the 71 442. The Y73 hood stripe and side stripes are correct for a standard 442. So are the wheel inserts.

The rear sway bar looks like it's dangerously close to touching the differential.

Looks like a nice car otherwise. PNT code 43 A?

With the time and money spent on this car I'm really surprised that the control bezels (Lights, Cruise, Top, Heater) weren't replaced. Also that dash insert for the gauges? That's downright embarrassing since a new re-chromed one only runs 80.00. It looks like someone forgot the details.

 

one year only color for olds. I like the single stripe on the hood and small detail on the side . Nice car would be a real dream car for me. I like the color also.

 

I also like the Y72 stripe

 

y72?? You mean Y73 GT stripe. Your car looks great too BTW.

 

There were 1304 conv 442s built in 1971. I'll have to check my database, but this may have been in sold in Texas back in the late 1980's.

 

Nice to see another non-OAI '71 442 and Y73 stripe.

 

Hmm, I just noticed. This car has a 410410 air dam reinforcement bolted on (as it should). Those are really hard to find nowadays. They came on all 71 442 BTW, and all 71 Cutlass with 455.

One of these cars (only a 3687 body style, but same color W30) lived kiddy corner to me back in 74. It was an awesome 4 speed car and had a really nice rumble idling down the back lane. How much have you decided to ask for the car Mark?

 

For me it looks really nice but perhaps too much clear coat to look like factory. The side stripe too looks a little too wide and perhaps the exhaust trumpets too far inward. Under hood and underside looks very nice and yes all indication says a 71 442 vert no W30. Anyone would be proud to own and cruise in this one as is.

 

You must be an Olds fanatic!! Unfortunately I think these 442's are overlooked too much. I was in high school in the 70's and there were two 442's in school and they were bad!! I really dont know how much to ask for it. I wanted to tighten the car up a bit. The owner told me someone offered him $45K for the car. I cant verify the offer but I would think it would be worth more???

Agree with Allan R you have a cool looking car. I love the red and like the rims painted red



I think its cool too. I like the lime green. I drove it last night and it really drives nice. the 4 speed would have been nice but being its a convertible its a nice cruiser.

Texas442 This car was located in Colorado. When they painted the engine compartment they taped around this..................

 

Mark, just noticed from your pic showing the EMPIRE OLDS. Either the bumper is not set properly or the stone shield and headlight doors are too recessed. There shouldn't be a gap like that between them and the bumper. I'm leaning to the bumper not being installed quite right. Those tubular bumper braces are very adjustable to get that problem fixed.

 

Beautiful car!

 

I would say 45k is a really good offer on the car. I am not sure the offer was legit or can be duplicated even as nice as the car is. The 71's are sorta scarce and being a convert it is a nice combo. The lime green is probably a love it or hate it thing.

 

Ok thank you for pointing that out. I want to go through the car and tighten it up a little. Nothing major, just some detail items.

I really wasnt sure what it was worth. It would be pretty easy to spend $50K on a complete restoration on one of these cars. I guess you really have to love the car to go that far with it. Finding a guy who appreciates it is probably pretty hard.

thank you

 

Being a restoration guy you would know first hand that what is spent on the car won't always be recouped. Unfortunately Olds doesn't have the high market valuations that Chevelles, Vettes, Stangs and Mopar bring in. 45K offer on that car would likely be close to the top of the mark as it sits right now IMO. I laugh at every BJ auction when the auctioneer says, "You can't build this car for what we're selling it for" because that's one of the truer things that BJ does disclose.

 

My 54 was also sold at Empire Olds in Denver. It was in May 1954 and I have a copy of the invoice. I bought a dealer emblem from somebody on here. However there is no way I am going to drill two holes in the trunk and mount it. It is cool to have though.

You have a very nice car.

 

good to see another lime green one! The side stripes on the one for sale look a bit big and perhaps taped? Its also missing the trunk striping. I also have the metal air dam brace on mine and it was never added being an automatic.714424.jpgP1120477.jpg