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Most people do not realize this was a factory option. As far back as the 1965 model year, police and fleet buyers could get a big block factory installed in an F-85 or Cutlass without getting a 442. This route was not supposed to be available to the general public, but a friendly salesman could put such an order through. Of course, if this becomes well known, expect a rash of high dollar "special order" cars to pop up for sale with exactly ZERO documentation...
For example, as shown below, for the 1966 model year RPO L78 was the 400 motor in the 442. L77 was essentially the same motor in an F-85 or Cutlass for police use. RPO B07 also got the 442 suspension and rear sway bar. In the late 1970s there was a similar back door performance car in the form of the 9C1 Nova. That package got you the 350 4bbl motor and police suspension. Unlike the Olds police packages, the 9C1 Nova was well publicized by the car magazines of the time.
Funny, my buddy's son posted the first article on Facebook, and i was just about to copy and paste your options sheet, only to find that he had found it online and posted it, again on Facebook.
So at least one was built. Wonder if it was ever let out to the public or was it scrapped? Would this be considered a W33 or a BO7? Probably neither, just a special order car at 2x the MSRP with the BO7 option. I do see the 442 trumpets and bumper as well. Cool piece of history. Ahh for a time machine.
I always find it interesting how many option codes GM used that are so difficult to look up, and how many hours one can spend chasing them down rabbit holes.
My ’66 PIM does not have a list of codes in the front but the ’65 and ’67 do.
On Joe’s chart the L77 engine options lists as mandatory options:
G71: is not on the code list, but on page 4-2 1 it is listed as a “group” and denotes a HD driveshaft
K51: not on the list and could not find
N11; not on the list, but if you look at the exhaust system chart on page 8-3 0 it list an exhaust system with different mufflers and tail pipes than any other application.
I always find it interesting how many option codes GM used that are so difficult to look up, and how many hours one can spend chasing them down rabbit holes.
Yup, I've done the same thing. The Inspector Guides, if you can get them, have all those obscure RPO codes that you can't find anywhere else.
So at least one was built. Wonder if it was ever let out to the public or was it scrapped? Would this be considered a W33 or a BO7? Probably neither, just a special order car at 2x the MSRP with the BO7 option. I do see the 442 trumpets and bumper as well. Cool piece of history. Ahh for a time machine.
W33 was specifically the Delta 88 performance package. The two basic Police Packages were the B01 City Cruiser and B07 Highway Apprehender. As the names imply, the former was intended for in-city cruising and the latter for high speed pursuit. That's why the B07 got the rear sway bar, B01 did not.
The interesting thing about the 1968 car that MT put together in that article is that they apparently went through a lot of trouble to order what was essentially a 442 with Cutlass badges. The police suspension was the FE2 suspension in the 442. Here's the interesting thing, however. The 1968 442 got the 350 HP version of the G-block 400 with manual trans, but only the 325 HP version with the TH400. The cam was different, thus the HP loss. The L77 police version of the 400 was the same 350 HP version as in the manual trans 442, but available with an automatic. Essentially, this was the 1969 W-32, one year earlier!
I realize it was not all that different from the prices of the day but look at the cost;
Heavy duty front and rear springs,
Heavy duty front and rear shocks,
Heavy duty front sway bar,
Heavy duty rear suspension system,
Certified police speedometer $10.75!
Heavy duty 3 speed SMT with Hurst shifter, $84.26
L77 350 HP engine $134.81
All that for $229.82 over the cost of an entry level F-85.
Oldsmobile must have had stiff penalties for selling "T" optioned vehicles to non authoritative organizations. If a dealer figured out how to launder these cars and do something like Chevie did with the COPO program it would have put Olds way out in front on places like Woodward Avenue.
It's always great to learn something new about 68's. Up until now I'd always believed that you couldn't get a big block in a cutlass body unless it was a 442
What rear is the “performance rear axle recommended?” I’m wondering particularly for the B07. Does the “performance” refer to a Posi, or to an axle ratio, or was there a heavy duty (thicker) axle? Was the B07 something taller for a higher top speed, where the B01 might have had shorter gears for city pursuits?
I realize it was not all that different from the prices of the day but look at the cost;
