Seems too much going on here to call clone or real. These are very hard to legitimize. This one has some key W items and is also missing some including the shroud. Radiator support appears to be factory punched, build date within the production run. Car has AC and looks factory. I say clone...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Oldsmobile-4...m=272305797309

 

It has the correct body plate so thats 1 in it's favor. It is missing many parts but that does happen over time. Somebody did a lot of work adding a/c.

 

pretty convincing that its real...its been sitting some where for a long long time..and has that 80s look of being "worked" over to make a driver..

i dunno..i think it could be real..we put a/c on a lot of cars in the 90s and early 2000s..a/c is not on the trim tag

ive seen weirder things...a friend bought a 68 w 30 convert, it was in a family so long they had no idea it was a w30..and he had no clue himself til he got it home and discovered the red inners where painted black (his story) but ive seen the car...it appears real....beginners luck..happens all the time..could be the same story here..

 

It could be a real body and frame; the rest is gone. F block, G heads, wrong seats, etc. Edit: just read the copy; that stuff is all listed.
Then again, could you even get A/C on a 67 w30?

 

No factory 67 W cars came with AC, yes a lot of work if it was added factory style. I see too its now an auto with manual trans brake pedal. No mention of rear as the factory cars came with the P type 10 bolt cover rear and literature shows a 355 or 390 or 433 gear. The accelerator linkage has been switched for the switch pitch trans too. Also a mystery is the CS emblem on the passenger sider outer sail panel, that does not belong on the 442.

 

Power brakes?

 

If I am not mistaken Tweed said the 67's could have PS and PB, the PB thing seemed strange to me on these cars also.

 

I think the car started life as a factory w-30. One of the things that is incorrect on the car is incorrect for the right reason, and I don't think a cloner would've caught it.

 

i put power brake boosters on at least 100 60s car in my life...with the other stuff there...i wouldnt count it out..just needs a bunch more research..

people that drove cars like that ,later, when they where just "cars", daily put options on them..i know it happened because ive done it....a month with manual steer and brakes, driving it daily..will change your mind...especially city driving and not knowing the pedigree..

looks like a solid, really decent car...i like it..a bunch

 

Seller writes The car was manufactured with battery in the trunk as indicated by the trim tag "E" on the upper line . First I have heard of this. Positive proof or BS??

 

I know a letter in that spot is a possible indicator of a W car. But I haven't been doing the research on this. E does seam to be the popular letter.

 

Would any of you pay W30 money for this thing? Too many folks acquiescing without enough proof, IMHO.

 

Well of late it seems the 67 and 66 W cars that are nearly believed true cars have not been getting 70=72 W prices. Dont think they ever did. Since a lot of stuff is missing including original engine and trans and shroud I dont really think it is a high dollar car. If legit I would put it under 10G's for the way it sits.

 

I didn't say I'd buy it, or that anyone here should. My comment was that I saw a couple things that point at it starting life as a w-30.

A cowl tag, scoops, and red fenders are part of a w-30, but I don't hold a properly tagged body as the "spirit" of the car, and it's just as much a w car, and just as much not one, as if you dropped the original powertrain into a donor car.

Right now, it's worth project 442 money, which is 5 grand or so. You're looking at a few grand for the engine, a few grand for the shroud, half a grand for the transmission, who knows for the rear end, and then you have to restore the thing, and it will never be a numbers W car. If you could get it for under ten, and get good deals and do a lot of work yourself, you might come out above water, but I don't see it being worth over 40 when done.

I'd love to know what those single letters mean above the Lansing build number. Mine has a letter there, too.

 

Its believed to be a real W30 and was pulled from someone's hiding place with an all original 69 H/O thats missing the original engine. (see his other auctions) It has all the signs of a real one but not sure what I would pay for it.

 

My factory built 66 W30 has a L in that spot so I'm not sure that the E represents battery in trunk. But I have no idea what it represents.

 

I think the letter mystery would be a good question for Curt Anderson

 

Odd that it has all the factory A/C parts on the dash too. Someone with thru a lot of trouble to make that all look stock.

 

Yeah, mine says "S"

 

The more I look at it (not knowing Jack about cowl tag codes), the more it looks like someone got ahold of a wrecked W car and transferred the parts over to an A/C car. If you think about it, the core support, inner fenders, and battery relocation are a helluva lot easier to do than cut those vents into the dash, plus the Supreme emblem on the sail panel. ........ just my .02.
It's still at $6k before the shill bids start.

 

Such is my car.
It was an original W30, with one black plastic and the other painted black to match...

 

i dont know..weird things happen on the assy line..but theres no fisher code for a/c on the trim tag..and it would be there on a 67..for sure..too may holes cut in the body for it to just slip by..the assy workers wouldnt even be able to attempt to put it on there..its just too huge of an option and so many body piercings..

the codes for fisher say its a 4 speed with a console and a 442....

it is a lansing built car too...

W ~ Tinted windshield (only) [RPO A02
2- group number
L ~ 4-speed transmission [RPO M20
G ~ Center console [RPO D55
5 group number
v-442 i believe

this isnt on the trim tag....and i am positive..it would be as i already stated
K ~ Air conditioning [RPO C60]

so, to me..it was put on after the car left the assy line...so more research needs to be done..meaning dealer...customer...Joe Average wanting A/C...

heres the tag..no a/c code
s-l1600_zpsu5pti926.jpg
Im not saying its a W30..but if wanted one..i would investigate it further...it has the potential to be one...in my mind....

 

My 67 Turnpike has an X on that top line a bit over to the right where the E is on the car we are discussing. When I got my red car Curt A replied to my mail and said for me to check a few things to see if my car was a real W30 possibility. No mention of the E or anything on the trim tag back then.

 

the buick guys recently discovered how to decode a trim tag letter code thats been a mystery for decades...it just came to light..for years..the 65 GS was an anomaly..it was a mid year intro...if it had a nail head...and a convert frame..and all the right visual ques..it was considered a GS...because it wasnt in the VIN

the VIN it said skylark...then one day...someone got a real build sheet/broadcast card for a 65 GSand low and behold..there was a code on the sheet and its on every 65 GS trim tag..but one plant..and they are weird on everything they built...its for the fisher codes to pierce the body for GS emblems etc....it was dscovered in last 2 or 3 years..

new things are discovered all the time..i dont know what E means either...but i've never seen it on any other trim tag....it could be an Olds specific code..youd think it would be on other car lines too..

another example...69 70 Chevelle SS cars have always been impossible to ID as real..its come to light very recently...'L' on Kansas City built chevelles..are SS cars...well....right now it believed they are , and some say YES it is..but conservatives say we believe it is and needs more research..everyone is afraid to be the one proven wrong..lol.....but its huge for KC built car owners...and is devastating to clone=ers from the past...

the letter code E may not have been decoded in the past...nor the letter X.but the info is out there...someone will stumble on the info...hopefully they share it

 

This is a super nice '67 that sold on eBay a while ago with an s on the trim tag.

 

Just looked at my 67, and it has no letter.....

 

I checked my Lansing built 65 442 and it has a B

 

My 67 Lansing car has an S where the E is on this car. I have wondered if the S means super stock wheels as mine was ordered with them. SS1 cars have the tire tool mounted on clips in the trunk.

 

Trim tag from my 67 TC, with X on top line

 

That X is in an interesting spot, it's over to the right from where most of these top row letters are, which is above the first digit in the body number.

S may mean super stock wheels. Mine has the S and the rims, although the clips are gone (though there may still be evidence of their mounts.) But, what about that one up there, the Cutlass Supreme with the surprising amount of non-Supreme Cutlass stuff on it? It has normal hubcaps.

 

i dont think a wheel code would be on a body tag....the trim tag is a road map for body by fisher..it tells the assy workers what piercings or extras will be needed on the body for options

like brackets for buckets and console..holes in the floor for a 4 speed and emblems..power antennas...am/fms with rear speakers on early cars am radios with fender or trunk mounted antennas...etc..tinted windows is a big deal, so is 2 tone and tops..

hence 5V piercings for trim options or deletes and emblem holes....on some cars...

not all plants did it the same way...but like an assy plant thats controlled by chevrolet...the Kansas City plant for example...it was controlled by chevrolet but they built GTOs and Oldsmobiles, buicks etc..they where really good about options that where important getting on the trim tag...others..maybe not so much

if it is a wheel option it , i personally think it would be in a group number and a number code..maybe the first number of the RPO option...i have never seen a wheel code on a trim tag...it wouldnt be important to build the bodies...anyone know wheel codes...not sales codes..assy codes? may be some insight...


fisher built the bodies..and then they went to final assembly where the body and frame with engine came together...so the mechanical side would know the wheel options.....

i'll throw one out there..just from my last 30 years of GTO stuff..the early GTOs had a seat belt code in the spot where the E is..but its a hole punch for..on long body GTOs..a hole punch means shoulder harness...which would be important to the fisher and build..they even put dome light option on the trim tag..because it needed an extra punch or screw hole in the body..

dont know about a letter code like E or X or S....never seen it..or..never noticed it..but its on cars and varies..its an option or labor requirement to build the car....would need to see a billing invoice or window sticker maybe to match it up..or..an assy manual or real early parts manual..it would be there...the current year parts manuals have tons of info on trim tag identification info..tons...so a 67 master parts and illustration manual may have it in there...those old parts guys knew where and how to find that info...it was in print..its out there

 

Not to imply this is the same car, but, I worked as a lot boy at the local Olds dealership, Britt Oldsmobile
the summer of '67, the year I graduated from high school.
The local scrap metal mogul, Isidor Lashinski, had twin sons 4 or 5 years older than me.
They came in one day and each bought a new 4-4-2, one was a dark pewter W-30,
the other was a loaded saffron automatic car with black vinyl top.
He had the W-30 done up for the drag strip, mainly adding 4.33 gears, headers, scatter shield and Mallory distributor.
After a hot summer weekend of drag racing, he was back the following Monday to order parts to add A/C.
Said it was just too hot for him waiting to stage and sitting on the line with the windows up
waiting for the lights to come down.
(Saw him on TV several years ago in a documentary about Vipers.
Apparently he was president of the national Viper owners club at that time.)
The factory A/C was installed as soon as all the parts came in.
It's possible this might be that car or another car like it that had a dealer-installed A/C put in.
Pretty sure A/C was not an option on the '67 W-30's because
the ram-air hoses had to be routed where the compressor needed to be mounted.

 

Not sure if calling it "factory A/C" is the proper way to call a GM-authorized A/C unit installed by the dealer.

 

True, I probably shouldn't have used the term "factory",
even though nothing but factory parts were used and the installation
was done exactly like a factory installed unit.
But if you'll notice, in addition to the explanation of what happened,
I also called it "dealer-installed".
Don't see any reason for being "confused".
I think we may be getting into a bit of "hair splitting".

 

I'm not confused - I simply used the emoticon to express the fact it could be confusing.

 

Cool story Ed, could be the explanation of this car.

 

i think it would be a little hard to do "factory" looking install without changing the cowl and firewall. these pieces are punched completely different from one application to the other. the kick panel vent cutouts are also different. im changing my 65 from ac to non acand there are a lot of differences. i would say on this car,someone got rear ended and put a different body with the w30 front end

 

Auction ended with the car bid up to $12,600.00 and reserve not met. No way of knowing what bids were legit. Without positive proof seems the bid was excessive to me.

 

who knows for sure..further inspection is really needed

i think $12k is too much also

 

IF I had the cash, I wouldn't pay more than 6k for that piece. It has cool parts, but it needs an S ton of work to become a 30k car.