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Regarding defects in the car. Remember, in the late 1960's and earl 1970's, on average, around 25 defects were reported per vehicle.
So if you bought a new 1970 Olds 442. There would be around 25 factory defects on that new vehicle. This could have been paint, body panel, interior, mechanical, etc issues right from the factory. So in other words, quality control was abysmal back then. Unlike today, the QC has improved drastically since the 60's and 70's.
All 70–442’s have the same gap between the hood and grill. It is not a fitment issue.
No, that's not true at all. I noticed the grills when I first looked at the car. It IS a fitment issue. I'm 67, I've seen tons of 70 442's in my life. While it's true fitment was not excellent back then, they didn't and still shouldn't look that way. If you don't believe me, Google 1970 442, go to Images, look for yourself. Definitely something going on there. That can definitely be fixed. I believe a lot look like that now, though. Sure, I think some may have been bad off the line. Like Mike said, whoever buys it is not going to care about that, anyways. I look at the car and say wow, the alt fan is wrong, the tail pipe clamps are wrong, the seat retractors are flipped, I think maybe the lug nuts are wrong, the car has Ziebart plugs, the horn relay wiring cap, a lot of little stuff that would bug me. I've probably sold 4 steering wheels last year that were all better than the one on this car...way better! But, whoever buys it is not going to care about any of that. Those grilles would drive me crazy!
Look at this one, look at the gap between the hood and bumper and the way the grilles fit. That dead on front shot is what I call the "Money shot", that's where you can see how straight the bumper is and how everything fits. You usually don't get that shot in a set of pics. Although now I see the hood is lower on both sides. https://journal.classiccars.com/2015...-russo-steele/
Last edited by mrolds69; Feb 21, 2021 at 07:47 PM.
Yep, note my edit earlier. I have seen that gap so many times that I guess I became used to it. Looking forward to playing with the adjustment now. Agreed, it should not be a big thing to adjust.
*** Agree Joe, photo copies of docs don't mean much these days. But again, we're probably spending more time examining this car then the buyer will. LOL ***
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Nice try Vader, but you need more practice? I've attached the bc from the Russo Steel example (Scottsdale 2016 sale) to show the print is seldom if ever beautifully centered within the blocks as you so expertly did? Plus the foot of your 3 doesn't match either? Despie all this, I do think you have potential though
The lack of a build sheet or window sticker didn’t seem to affect the Triple Black W-30 4-speed convertible that I used to own. It has changed hands a couple of times with only a Protectoplate, original Bill of Sale (which depicts the Induction Package) and the testimony of my having purchased it from the original owner in 1985, well before the art of faking cars was prevalent. Potential buyers of that car have actually contacted me within the past couple of years asking me to attest to its authenticity.
Buddy - The triple black W30 is cool car....we had it here, along with the Matador Red car (mentioned by mrolds69 above) and another one. Spent a lot of time on the black car when it was here.
Some may have already seen this article, I post two excerpts from the article to show just what a rariety a W30 4-speed vert with docs is according to the author of the article. The entire read can be found at Russo & Steele Scottsdale 2016 W30 auction.
Good quality non W-30 442 convertibles can fetch into the 6 figures. One strong clue would be to compare the stamped engine and transmission vin derivatives to each other as well as others from the same/close build dates. I looked at this 442 many years ago, prior to the affidavit existing. The car was a question mark back then. More research could still be performed in that small town and amongst the community if someone was so inclined.
As an example: The red “Holy Grail” W-30 4 speed, discussed here has had the Original husband and wife owners surface (long time divorced) as well as community photos, such as the car pulling a high school float in the early, 70s and a group of friends to confirm knowledge of the car. Not that this particular W-30 needed this but it was very Kool to get more first hand info on this special W-30.
