Im becoming intrigued with the 72' Hurst/Olds, as some may know ive been restoring a 72' Cutlass Supreme but ive been kind of directionless with it. Now im considering making it a 72' Hurst/Olds clone. Its a 72' car, needs the entire roof replaced (opportunity for the 72' H/O sunroof?) and the 455 i have is a Ga headed motor, so it all matches. Not to mention im maybe a 30-45 minute drive from the Indy Motor Speedway

So im issuing a challenge to you 72' H/O folks. Get me interested! Haha, what i mean by that is post some pics and if anyone has any info on what specificly went into these cars itd be much appreciated. Some questions to get started are:

1. What did Hurst do to the motor?
2. Ive seen some with the white vinyl roof that has full vinyl and some that begin about where the quarter window is and go back from there, is there any "correct" style? Or were both optional?
3. The sunroof? Was this on all of them? Or optional?
4. Any suspension upgrades on these cars?
5. Ive heard they offered these cars with a 4-speed? Just wanting to confirm this

Thanks for any info, I love H/O and i love the Indy Motor Speedway, the mix of the two sounds very interesting even if im really not a fan of white cars haha, but i think i'll manage might just give me that inspiration i need to push forward!

 

How about doing a 72 H/O W30 with a sunroof:

http://www.realoldspower.com/phpBB2/...st+w30&start=0

The listing is expired and the pics stunk but it was a rare car

 

Thanks, thats actually exactly what ive been thinking. I already have to replace the entire roof (the vinyl rot has destroyed any hope for the original roof's salvation haha) although i do have an excellent replacement roof waiting to go on the car. Having the roof off the car like that presents a rare and convenient opportunity to put the sunroof in it in an easy manner. I just need to research the sunroof a little more and find a place that sells reproductions

 

Does anybody know if anyone is reproducing the vinyl tops for these?
And were there any visual differences between a standard H/O and a W-30 H/O?

 

They were automatic cars with a Hurst dual gate shifter, 455 motor with Ga heads. I believe they all had the landau vinyl top, not a full one. Only 220 of the cars had a sunroof. They also had the 442 suspension package.

 

It would be cool to do but do you think you can find a roof from a sunroof car?
An aftermarket one would look cheesey.

 

Finding an original roof will definately be hard, an aftermarket one would look cheesy like Ron said. As far as I know, no one is reproducing the vinyl material and not much of a chance at finding any original stuff left... good luck and if you need to see an original sun roof car for comparison I am 2 hours north of Indy...

 

Don't think there is any visual difference other than the 'X' in the VIN designating the W30

 

You can always try for the Prototype clone, below left the original and below right is a replica done by Jon Wessel

 

those are some trippy stripe's . I want to get in line to get willed all your
H/o stuff . Were did you get the hand note's and other wild things?

 

Yeah i was hoping someone would be reproducing the sunroof so i could install it on the roof i have before i install the roof. But im assuming nobody reproduces these? Or anything similar for that matter? :/

Oh well, i can always do without the sunroof, was just a nifty thought. The vinyl top im a little more concerned about, id really like to get that done somehow. Maybe i could use an off-white vinyl top and trim it to fit the H/O trim and use that, it doesnt have to be perfect as im not trying to pass it as an original H/O, i just want it to look as close as possible. Thanks for all the info by the way!

What exactly did the 442 suspension consist of beyond typical cutlass suspension?

 

what is different between the prototype and the production version? other than the neat stripes

 

Years of accumulating I guess, I've actually found some neat items on ebay as well from time to time...

Actually, that first pic is from the Hurst Heritage book....

 

I think I may have another picture, but what Jon's replica doesn't have that the Prototype does is that the rear window roof line is extended farther down the rear quarters, doesn't show too well in the first pic, but if you look closely you can sort of see it.

 

oh yeah, i kind of see it, its like a fastback-supreme kind of thing. Its like theres just a lot more angle on that part of the roof line