DENT

I saw a pic of a Ralley 350 and upon close inspection i noticed a W31 on the fender. Is this correct or just someones strange doing's?

mmurphy77

From what I know, even though supposedly the W-31 was originally 'slated' for the Rallye 350, no known examples were ever produced. There have always been the 'out-the-back-door' or 'engineering mule' stories but AFAIK nobody has ever been able to substantiate it with documentation so I'd say someone is being a 'trickster'.

Allan R

Henry,
I have my doubts that the Rallye 350 would have a W31 fender badge. All the Rallye cars I've seen were either Cutlass S or Cutlass on the fenders. The Rallye 350 had the same hood, motor and dual exhaust that the W31 cars did, just it had to be Sebring Yellow. As you know, Rallye's didn't have side stripes, but the W31 did have the same wide W30 stripe - and the W31 emblem was centered in the middle of that stripe just like the W30 emblem.
According to a resto source, there were only 1,029 W31 cars ever built, which makes it a very rare car nowadays. Wonder if someone was just trying to cash in on a rare car.

Bit of a long answer, but I think it's just someone's personal addition to the car. In 1970 it was either a Rallye 350 or a W31 but not both as far as I can see.

wmachine

No, they did not. That was the point of the question, could a R350 have a W31 motor and the answer is no. And the R350 had trumpet tipped exhaust and the W31 did not.
A *lot* more differences than just the yellow paint.

Allan R

Ok, I didn't read it that way. I read the question as being 'Is it proper to have a W31 emblem on a Rallye 350?' We both agree on the answer.

When I said the same dual exhaust, I was referring to the dual pipes/blockoff plate coming off the exhaust manifold, not the cut out bumpers and trumpet tips. Yes, you're right about the engine; the R350 only had the L74.

Dave Siltman

There were a few W-31 Rallye 350 "assembled" by Oldsmobile. The cars were used for promotional purposes and executive "test" drives. The were NOT assembly-line produced and were NOT available to the general public. There will NOT be any supporting documentation because "officially" they did not exist and were kinda hand-built. Just like the 1971 W-31 Dale Smith had built.

DENT

INTERESTING, Thanks .

oldsmobiledave

How can there be a 1971 W-31 when the option ended in 1970?

Please explain.

Dave Siltman

Dale Smith had one "assembled" for tests and evaluation purposes. The car ( like the W-31 Rallye 350s) were built in and by the engineering dept., NOT on the assembly line.

Rocketbrian

I so enjoy hearing of those times at Olds during the muscle car heyday. I know John Beltz was well respected and passed on in 73 I believe, far too early. What was Dale Smith's role and what became of him? Is he long gone too?

Dave Siltman

Dale Smith was the performance link to the racers and one of the engineers responsible for the "W" cars. I don't know what his official title was, but I do know he helped many a racer with "back door" support and parts. He is no longer with us, but his legacy lives on.