I am clearing out the garage now for my late father in law's 1970 442 W30. He passed away from cancer earlier this year. My wife and I have decided to put up the money to keep the car in the family vs someone else buying it and possibly never seeing the car again.

I don't know much about it, as it currently sits in another state and I will have to wait on delivery of it to NC. I am of the belief that it is a true W30, not a clone. I have not verified it, although years ago I do remember seeing the inner fenders and noting they were indeed correct. Also, he owned the car for a very long time. The last it was on the road was in 1982, but it was stored in a garage since then.

I'm looking to restore it as much as I can, without breaking the bank. From what I currently know it doesn't run. The transmission leaks due to sitting for so long and it will need a water pump.

It looked really nice when I saw it last about 10 years ago. Good interior and exterior. I'm excited to get this thing going and would like it to make a trip up to my mother in law after it is completed. He never had the time to work on it because he was always working on everyone else's vehicles. He was first a coal miner and then an ASE certified mechanic. I'll miss his knowledge throughout this project, but I'm sure he will be watching from afar.

I'm glad to be here and look forward to meeting everyone. Who knows, maybe he was even a member here?

 

Welcome, when you get the car, post some pics, many here will help determining what is correct for a W30.

 

I will post the pics when I get the car here.

Forgot to mention, probably one of the coolest parts of this whole deal is my wife rode in this car when she was a baby. That alone is unreal to me. That means he has owned it since at least the mid-70s.

 

Welcome to the site, sorry about your FIL. Looking forward to the pictures.

 

Awesome story and great decision! Welcome to the site. Can't wait to see the pics. Where in NC? There are a few of us Olds fanatics here in the Raleigh area. Hope to see you and the W30 around town.

 

That means he's owned it since well before people were making clones of 442s and in general trying to fake these cars. In the mid-70s, a '70 442 was a five-year-old used car that was probably seen as a gas-guzzling, costly-to-insure car, not a prized collectible like it is 40 years later, and no one thought about faking them. If this car has been a W30 since the mid-70s, it has very likely been a W30 since new.

 

Thanks Scott and Jaunty75. I am glad to be here. Feels like home already.

I'm from the Charlotte area Scott, but I drive past you about once a month for a weekend camping trip in Emerald Isle.

I am sure hoping you are correct, Jaunty75. It even has the 70s stickers on the side windows like the ones that looked like they came out of a vending machine. As far as I know, that's the only thing that isn't original. Although I keep and open mind and am mentally prepared for some disappointment just in case.

 

Welcome to the site. I am looking forward to seeing pictures of your car when it arrives. I especially enjoyed hearing about the cars family history.
If you get a chance you might want to collect as many original family pictures with the car in them as you can. It might add to the value of the car.

Tom

 

Thanks for the welcome, Tom. When my father in law was sick, I thought briefly about contacting someone on one of the reality TV car shows to get them to make the car flawless, but I was concerned about how he would handle it. Plus most of those shows that I have seen, those guys always add something that isn't stock. And that wouldn't work too well.

There is another Olds also with an aluminum engine. Not sure what model it is, but all it needed was a muffler. I'm thinking it is a mid-60s model. I can check with my mother in law, but I believe someone might be buying that one. I can afford one, but not both. Otherwise I would buy both. I'm crazy but not that crazy. Still 3 young kids in the house here.