1971 Olds 442 W-30 4-speed Convertible - vintage road test

You Tube

 

Pretty cool video...loved the way he was rolling it through the turns and throwing the rear around...good stuff!😀. Thanks for sharing.

 

That was good. I was surprised that they claimed the vehicle weighed 3600 pounds, though. Seems a bit light compared to my car that weighs a bit over 3800 pounds.

 

Yes, good stuff as usual Cosmic Charlie.

The one thing that absolutely drives me nuts with vintage road tests is the often vague weight given. All we ever needed to know was the 1/4 mile MPH and the by the book TEST weight which includes driver and passenger. But what did we often get instead. Very little that you could use to really help assess the cars actual power and performance.

general model weight
rounding up
rounded down
shipping weight
curb weight
2 onboard but no numbers on weight added
etc, etc, etc. All but useless without a total tally or complete individual listing.


Car Life is one of the few that was consistently thorough in this department and therefore the best in my opinion. They would tell you test weight, curb weight, how many onboard, amount of gas, you name it. After test weight its all gravy, but those added details let you know exactly what your working with.

In the end and I love the Bud Lindemann reviews the weight given makes no sense, Its a cutlass coupe weight but definitely not that 71, not even shipping...

reference weights: shipping weight 1692 kg / 3731 lbs base curb weight: 1740 kg / 3836 lbs (automobile catalog)

That's as light as a 442 convertible got for 1971.

 

I love the videos, but can't stand the lame engine sounds they dub into the videos. Barf! I also love how these things wallowed through the cones and around corners, but yet were claimed to handle well. Although they handled well for back then it just humors me that my 1/2 ton pick up would out handle it today. I'd still rather drive my Olds than any modern car.

 

While the announcer says that the car “moves like a ballerina”. That made me chuckle.