At the risk of being flamed, and begging forgiveness for my ignorance, I notice an astounding similarity in body shape between the 1970 olds 442 and the Chevelle SS. Is this my imagination at play. I have not had the luxury of seeing them together but when I look at the photographs I see similarities.

Forgive me if I have offended anyone in my quest for knowledge

 

GM builds cars on platforms that are shared between divisions. The Cutlass/442 is know as an A-body. That family includes the Chevelle/Malibu, Tempest/LeMans/GTO, and Special/Skylark/GS.

 

You won't get flamed at all. We don't do that here, but we DO think that the Cutlass/442 body is nicer (of course) and there are differences. The first I can think of the the C pillar, especially the front portion, way different lines, and obviously the hood/grille area.

 

The 442 body seems to have moreswooping lines and is a little more aggressive. I dont know if thats due to clever add ons. I lov the exclusivity of having the ony one in South Arica, whereas there are quite a few Chevelles running around.

 

That would be sweet to own a classic car like that in S Africa. Actually it would be cool to own a classic car no matter where you live.

 

1970 442

http://www.dreams-cars.net/galerie-o...-442-1970.html
1970 Chevelle SS

http://bnpositive.com/blog/2006/12/2...evelle-ss-454/

 

Definite similarities, and definite differences. Wonder what drove people to make the choice between Chevy and Olds. What was more prestigious.. performance etc??

 

UMMMMM you don't know what we will say? OLDS!
Same reasons why people choose between two different items with similar aspects today.....

 

Yeah, don't worry about getting "flamed" here.

From what I've researched and interpreted (I'm only 20, the muscle car era was way out of my time), Olds tried to combine luxury and performance. Look at the '65 and '66 442 TV commercials.

While the Chevelle was a great car too, I've noticed commercials from the era aiming more towards the performance elements than the "creature comforts" Olds did.

Correct me if I'm wrong, senior members, but if memory serves I think the Rocket 455 was one of the highest-torque factory motors of the time, behind the Buick Stage 2.

The coolest difference I've noticed in the body? The rear quarter window shape in the 442... gotta love 'em...

 

Probably pretty close to correct. Having a longer stroke and smaller piston displacement does that. Check out the Tech section on the menu bar near the top of the page, then navigate to the big block section, there is a pretty good explanation of that where the differences between the 425 and the 455 are explained.