Cutlass Memories

I noticed on the car I am purchasing, there is an Oldsmobile emblem on the very front of the driver's side of the hood. I have seen pictures of other cars with this emblem, but not very many. Can someone tell me why only a few cars have this? Is it something a previous owner added for looks?
I know the hood has other issues like the bumper pushing in on the tooth, but was curious about this detail.
Thanks.

oldspackrat

I know the '70-'72 442 non W30 cars had that Oldsmobile emblem on the driver front corner of the hood.

Cutlass Memories

Did they? I looked for pics of 442 non W-30 cars and saw very few with it. I guess that's because most cars have been cloned to W-30 status.

1969w3155

x2

Bens71442

1970 sales brochure. Olds must have forgotten to install it.

Olds442frombrochure_zps0538a4e5.jpg

1969w3155

A friend of mine has a '70 (Matador Red) that has it there, he has owned the car since 1976.

Cutlass Memories

That's interesting. The emblem appears to be random on 70 442's. At least I know the hood must be original, I'm sure aftermarket hoods do not have this.

Allan R

No, the emblem is not random. According to the 1970 Cutlass Assembly manual, the Oldsmobile script was only for 4400 models (442) that were not OAI hoods. I suspect that some hoods have become donors to other cars over the years too. No problem finding images of 70 442's with that script though. Also consider that not all the 442's you see now are really 442s. They might have started out as f85, Cutlass or Cutlass S models and simply rebadged. Not so easy to validate by visual - you need to see the VIN number.

The reason the Olds script was on the hood of the 70-72 442s is the grills wouldn't accommodate both the brand name (Division Identity) and the model in the same location. So the model stayed prominent on the grill (hood tooth for 69/70) and the script went on the hood. That's for the all steel hoods. For the OAI hoods, I'm sure it was a corporate decision that the hood itself promoted the brand by its distinctive style, or maybe it considered that the same hood was used for the Rallye 350 and HO in 70?? Both of those series had emblems/script that identified Oldsmobile on the grill or hood tooth.

re: why the olds brochure doesn't have that? My theory is that the brochures were produced well ahead of production and in some cases were simply artistically rendered to show the product. Lots of things change during production but they needed images a customer could relate to for early ordering and display purposes. The brochures usually hit the floor in early June/July in anticipation of the next model year production startup. Check the 70 Assembly manual - section 11, pages 172 and 174 for documentation.

Cutlass Memories

Allan, it appears I did not search well enough for my images of 442s. I simply did a Google images search.
Oh, I am not trying to verify if the car is a 442 with the hood or visually. The car has a 344 VIN, built in Lansing.
Thanks everyone for the help!

stevengerard

Nice color combo - looks like a great find!

Allan R

That's easy to explain. The front of the car has been hit just off nose on the left side. That's why the bumper is popped out on the right side too. It can be straightened and re-chromed.

Nice looking car BTW!

Cutlass Memories

Thanks Steven! Looks like you live close, you'll have to show me that W-30 some day.

Thanks Allan! I am driving down to Atlanta next week to make sure the car is all legit before I hand over the money. When I get it back I'll let everyone know if numbers match. It looks rust free except for some quarter panel bubbles.
Allan, I was told that the bumper might be that way from having been towed by one of those old slings and it pushed things up. I hope it wasn't hit, but who knows until I see it.

Matt

Allan R

Look under and behind the bumper to see if any of the brace supports are bowed. I looked at your pic and the Passenger side looks perfect. That's why I suggest a slight impact as noted. I remember the old tow slings. They would not cause that kind of damage. This is based on personal experience.

Cutlass Memories

Allan, you mentioned the passenger side. Here are pics of the car from the front and the passenger side. Let me know if your opinion changes. I do appreciate your insight!

Allan R

The passenger side has shifted too from looking at those. There is obvious damage on the center where the hood tooth has been smacked back a fair distance. The damage appears to have bent the bumper and the support braces.

The head on shot gives me a much better look at the damage. It appears to be bent on the right side, halfway along the Drivers side grill. (definitely not straight like it's supposed to be) Also note the DS grill appears bowed? This damage could have been caused by 1 or 2 minor impacts at low speed.

Definitely a negotiating point, and new front bumpers cost about 350.00 + shipping. Tamraz has the front bumpers on sale right now for 315.00 with free shipping. Tamraz 1970 front bumper I bought a rear bumper from them for my 72 and it was a perfect fit. Chrome was outstanding too.

I'll be away for a week, so I'll catch up with what happens when I get back.