When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Car won the 2015 Olds Nationals. Has some aftermarket things like the rear sway bad and diff cover. Along with a magnetic rear quarter panel H/O sticker. Looks like it also had the catalytic converter removed. Unless these cars didn't come with one? But I am sure they did in 1983.
I like these and the lightning rods are a cool gimmick. I just can’t get past the 180 hp hooked to an auto. I’ve never driven one, but I’d expect them to be pretty slow.
I like these and the lightning rods are a cool gimmick. I just can’t get past the 180 hp hooked to an auto. I’ve never driven one, but I’d expect them to be pretty slow.
They ran 16.70's at 83mph. Definitely slow, as modern 4 cylinder SUV's are running faster than that today.
The 307 Olds could be made to go a little faster with a better exhaust but tuning was not really possible as the factory ECU was limited to what it could deal with. The "electric carburetor" was not really user friendly for mods. Ideally, yanking the 307 and installing an Olds 350 would be best as it was dimensionally the same and the brackets and pulley's all lined up. You would have to dump the factory ECU and run something else or just a straight carb with a way to lockup the 2004R torque converter.
If it won in 2015, it surely didn't do it looking like it is. At least I hope not. Too many details that aren't quite right here. Odometer issues perhaps? That's a red flag that needs investigating. The console woodgrain plates are the cheezy aftermarket jobs that cost about $5 to make on a Gravoply machine. The speedo is kinda stupid in appearance. Doesn't even remotely attempt to blend in. Some things going on under the hood just doesn't look like someone's been taking good care of it.
Nobody ever bought a G-body thinking they were fast. They're great cruisers though and an 83 H/O typically will turn heads any place it goes. Tuned up they'll get over 20 mpg if you're not trying to open the back barrels on the carb all the time. Ones that are in nice shape are starting to bring in the $$$ too. Nostalgia are selling these cars now. The 84-up cars in general got hit pretty bad IMO when the stupid cash for clunkers put a dent in their supply. I think 83's were spared because they were considered "too old".
Here's some perspective. Almost 40 years difference between the modern SUV and this car. There's modern 4 cylinders out there that can smoke a 70 442 just as well. If modern cars couldn't do better performance-wise with the aid of advanced computer-design, then automotive engineers might as well quit if they can't improve performance efficiency nearly a half-century later. 1953 Corvettes are pretty slow too, and lighter than this Hurst/Olds, and clocked in about 18.1 seconds @78 mph in the 1/4 with their behemoth 150 HP straight 6. But people will still pay big bucks for one. Once again, there are people that buy cars for reasons other than what they can do in a quarter mile or how much HP they have.
Lightning Rod shifters are pretty cool when they're adjusted right and lubed. If not, they can be a nightmare. More of a gimmick than actual performance, but with practice you could do well with them. And other than the 6,501 83-84 production Hurst/Olds cars, NO other cars in automotive history came standard equipment with those Lightning Rods. The dual gate got you to the same place, but having 3 shifters hanging out of the console is always a conversation starter for those not in the know.
Not the fastest. But Lighting Rods give the user the ability to control upshifts and downshifts at any RPM. In the right hands, you would be surprised on what you could do with this car. I often upshift deeply passed the red line. That with the 3.73 rear end and 2004r close gear ratios. It was a hell of a lot of fun!
The rear giant stickers on quarter panel was not OEM. And a few other things.160 mph speedo(came with 85 mph one) Rear end in 83 was a 7.5. 84 was the 8.5. My 84 H/O new. It was like $18,000. back then
After being my daily driver for 20 years. But time and the nonstops salting of roads in upstate NY. Body was going. No matter what I did.
Bought a 442 clone from a great builder on here. Morph into HighwayStar. With 350 SBO and many many more upgrades.
What are those orange body plugs doing everywhere?
Those are plugs where someone did a Rusty Jones, or Ziebart, or some other waxy goo rustproofing job on it. Not sure when they did it or what company used orange plugs because those are stupid, as normally they're black when they did them new. Back in the 80s, it was a HUGE deal for dealers to spritz a bit of that junk on a car, or get it farmed out, or wax it for you and call it a $200 paint shield, and try to mark up the car a few hundred bucks for stupid crap like that. Nothing but window sticker padding.
I remember a thing from the 70's called polyglycoat (I think that was the name) that dealers would put on new cars and charge probably $200 for it. It was supposed to be a paint protectant, but you still had to wax the car. They did that, pinstrips and body side moldings. .
Does anyone know what is the thing between battery and window fluid tank? Is it a aftermarket cruise control?
It's a factory cruise transducer requiring an upper and lower speedo cable. 84 was the first year for K34 RPO, which was electronic controlled cruise control that had the pod hanging off the front of the intake that didn't require speedo cable input.
20 is a reasonable figure. I'd probably pay that, considering it needs a little bit of lovin'. But it doesn't matter what it's actually worth. But I forsee it's going to go for closer to 30 easy. Depends on how hard people are feeling the inflation pinch.
And that power antenna thing is a standard failure with the plastic cables on those era cars. The "replacement" antenna offered in the auction isn't even the right one, but there are cable kits you can get that are steel that you can replace on the original unit and get long service life out of it. It seems daunting, but it's pretty easy to fix once you get it out.
Sold for $36,750 + 5% buyers fee = $38,587 + shipping
Very high price for what it was.
Told ya. And yet nobody wants to believe it, even when it happens in front of them. I think it's more of a bidding war drove it that high between only two bidders. It probably should be closer to $25K in reality, but some people have money to burn.
I almost bought that very car for $37K when it first went up for sale when they were shopping it around before any auctions. Clean and super-original. Then I thought better of it and decided I have enough cars. Getting too old for this ****.
The dented muffler thing on the VIN 9 cars may have started out on engineering paper with the idea of fitting better, but if you look carefully, the same side of the mufflers are dented on the same corners regardless of which side the muffler is on there (dented on driver side, so the driver muffler isn't dented next to the drive shaft. So it appears they would fit anyway, dented or not. Even the NOS mufflers are dented on the driver side only as the tailpipes are already welded on to the back of the mufflers when you get it. It only clamps to the Y pipe (inlet) side.
Another fun fact. Those Olds VIN 9 mufflers were also used originally on the Buick GNX. Maybe different tail pipes, but the mufflers themselves were the same p/n.
I am starting to realize that BaT is a great place to sell a car but not such a good place to buy a car. This should have been a $25,000 car or maybe $27,500. Like Pettix says, you have to add the 5% buyers fee and shipping. and then you will be at $40,000.
I almost bought that very car for $37K when it first went up for sale when they were shopping it around before any auctions. Clean and super-original. Then I thought better of it and decided I have enough cars. Getting too old for this ****.
The dented muffler thing on the VIN 9 cars may have started out on engineering paper with the idea of fitting better, but if you look carefully, the same side of the mufflers are dented on the same corners regardless of which side the muffler is on there (dented on driver side, so the driver muffler isn't dented next to the drive shaft. So it appears they would fit anyway, dented or not. Even the NOS mufflers are dented on the driver side only as the tailpipes are already welded on to the back of the mufflers when you get it. It only clamps to the Y pipe (inlet) side.
Being from NYC. I knew a guy at the GM OLDS parts department. Who would sell me parts at repair shop cost. Ordered complete exhaust in 1998. Both oem mufflers were dented at all four corners. Movement of the whole exhaust system and going around the gas tank. May have made a difference. Even the Flowmasters and pipes are close.on HighwayStar.
I am starting to realize that BaT is a great place to sell a car but not such a good place to buy a car. This should have been a $25,000 car or maybe $27,500. Like Pettix says, you have to add the 5% buyers fee and shipping. and then you will be at $40,000.
The fees begin to add up. Some states will make you pay a sales tax on the car purchase. All said and done, that 83 HO will end up being a $40k + purchase for the buyer.
I can find nice, clean, low mileage C6 Corvette Grand Sports for that money. I've driven both, and a C6 is a night and day difference driving experience between an early 80's G-Body Olds. Not only that but quality and reliability is huge between a C6 and G-Body. GM was not known for high standard QC back in the 80's. The G-Body cars rode nice as they were full frame but that's about all they had going for them, besides looking cool.
For $40k, I will take a 440HP C6 Corvette with a LS3 engine, any day of the week over a G-Body Olds. Don't get me wrong, an 83 HO looks cool but the driving experience leaves a lot to be desired. A LS swap into that G-Body would liven things up...
Ordered complete exhaust in 1998. Both oem mufflers were dented at all four corners.
I think you're mis-remembering. I still have the original exhaust on my 85 442 and 87 442, and I have an entire NOS GM exhaust system from exhaust manifolds to tailpipe tips, with all the GM fasteners, too. Dirver side dents only. If they were dented on all 4 corners, someone did it themselves or they weren't GM mufflers. The only obvious difference I can tell from the NOS exhaust from the factory exhaust is that the factory had crinkle bends in the pipes where the NOS system is crinkle free. A minor detail is that the factory Y-pipe has tabs that align with the slots in the mufflers to maintain alignment. The NOS over the counter system Y pipe does not have these locater tabs.
This is from a very low mileage 85 442- passenger side, then driver side.
Here's an NOS set that belongs to someone else. The ones I have in the shop look just like them. Note, no crinkle bends in the pipe, and the dents are on the driver side of the mufflers only.
