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I thought that I would share my personal drag racing experiences from the 1970's and give you an idea how the 442's ran in the 70's.
My first car was a used 1965 GTO, factory air conditioned, 4 speed convertible, with factory tri power. I didn't enjoy the car and sold the car in 1970 for $800.00.
I ordered and bought a new 1970 442 convertible, automatic, with air conditioning from Faulkner Oldsmobile in Philadelphia.
In addition to driving my car daily, I wanted to drag race my car. I raced my car at Englishtown, NJ;Cecil County Dragway, Cecil County, Maryland; Maple Grove Raceway, Reading, PA; and Atco Dragway, Atco, NJ.
I raced my car in the G/Z class, defined as strictly stock from the factory. No modifications, no headers, cams, slicks, etc. The tire's had to have full tread.
This was the NHRA's classification to comply with strictly stock class.
The 442's responded well to adjustments to the timing, carburetor jetting, spark plug gaps and adjusting the point gaps in the distributor.
The fastest time I recorded in my car was 13.28 at 108.xx MPH.
In addition to my car being successful in weekly class competitions, my car was awarded the State of New Jersey Championship for my car's class, and my car set the class record for the lowest elapsed time (ET) as well as the highest speed in a quarter (1/4) mile.
I have included some certificates that I was awarded for your reading pleasure.
Last edited by twilightblue28A; February 23rd, 2019 at 12:03 PM.
Reason: Punctuation and context.
I was looking at your Casler Slick pic thread and thought we better get Harry to recall some of his racing stories from back then. Nice times and it was in a heavier convertible car. Those are stylish looking awards as well.
My brother and I both raced in the 70s he had a 50 Olds red fastback with a 394 and I had a 64 Cutlass running a 425 Olds with tri-power and a W-27 3.91 rear end. We watched a 70 442 W-30 running in stock F/S auto ran 11:90 and a 66 442 stock w/stick runs 11 something its long ago. Both cars were record holders.
the 70 was called "ESCAPE MACHINE".
Gerald
The '70 W30 automatic referenced in your post that ran F/S and set a record at 11:90 was really fast.
The '70 442's were and are, really fast, beautiful street and track cars.
NHRA allowed limited modifications to run in the stock class (S) compared to the strictly stock class (Z). For example, the stock class (S) allowed headers and slicks. In the strictly stock class (Z), the car had to be be factory stock. No headers or slicks.
The '70 442's ran really well when they were allowed open exhaust and allowed to breathe and provided traction.
Also, if you ran a hardtop, you fell into the F class because of the weight and horsepower ratio.
Convertibles were heavier, and fell into a lower class.
Scary that I remember this information, but I have always been an Oldsmobile fan.
Thanks!!
Last edited by twilightblue28A; February 23rd, 2019 at 09:10 PM.
Not drag race regulations related, but the top on my car starts lifting in the middle and I can feel air coming through the gap above the windshield at speeds above 80 MPH. If I roll the window down an inch, it equalizes the pressure and the top doesn't lift. With the top down, it basically becomes a windstorm in the passenger compartment.
Does one race a convertible with the top up or down?
OLDSter Ralph is correct. We were required to race with the windows and top up, hubcaps removed, seatbelt connected, and a helmet.
Manual transmission cars were not permitted to race without a scatter shield.
Seatbelts were new to cars as a result of newly imposed safety regulations. They were a pain to wear, although common today.
I had a friend that also used to race and was my mentor. He too had a 442 convertible, except his was 4 speed. He stayed stock for a brief period and then modified his car to run in a different class. The car was so powerful the front wheels lifted off the track. He used to go through transmissions multiple times in a day (M22'S). Finally he cut a large section of the transmission tunnel, put the top down, and removed and installed the transmissions from the inside of the car, top down, without crawling under the car, at the track, in between races.
I too raced my 1970 442 W-30 in the tracks in Arizona in the mid to late 70's. Beeline Dragway almost every weekend and Tuscon Dragway for the AHRA Winter Nationals were great times. I had a mentor that raced a class record holding 68 442. Bob Voss was his name and he built my engine and helped me race in my first national event, the 77 AHRA Winter Nationals, where I won the C/P, stock production class. Let me tell you, winning a class and receiving a three foot trophy was quite a weekend for a 16 year old kid. All the "old" guys gave me hell all weekend for taking "their" trophy, and I loved it.
February 23rd, 2019, 05:41 AM
