1971 Oldsmobile 442 W30 455 Convertible Road Test Drifting @ Grattan raceway

[lazyozos]

That's how the fuck u sponsor a car fuk luxury mussel all day

[Mr3X7R3M3]

i own a 72 olds 442 455 rocket engine in my 85 camaro- boy could i ask for anything better? NOPE! id never put anything else in my car- the 72 455 engine isnt the best, but is still VERY nice in power!

[malicamino68]

Handles like a lightweight...

[gotyourtongue]

Warning: Looking for a used motor do not buy from Engine & Transmission World located in Cudahy, Wi. Owners: Mark Dobrenko & Allen Simmons two scum bags. Google Engine and Transmission World; see all the people they have scammed. They send out a junk motor that will not run knowing you will return it but they charge a 25% restocking fee, turn around and sell the piece of junk to the next poor fool. BEWARE !!! These guys are crooks.. They are under investigation by the USDOJ; prosecution pending.

[classiccarz]

The 455 motors in these are sweeeeet and very powerful. My friend had the same engine in his Olds 98 and the thing would burn rubber like you wouldn't believe.

[RexCars1]

Love it.. Great post



[Therealanimale]

"trough the pilons course like a ballerina"...the ad is full of this kind of talk, very amusing to hear those retro ads, great post!

[techdayguy]

I have that same car in red. I am glad they did the road test on that car. I am not going to drive mine that way. It does have radials which make a huge difference

[fkheinrich]

Does that driver have about the best job in the world?

[openroad88]

3:46 rocks

[spencerleeb]

anyone know the hp/trq rating on a '71 rocket 455?

[genedene]

I CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF THIS VIDEO I WATCH IT LIKE ITS A TV SHOW EVERY WEEK!

[IRONSEAN7]

everything about this sounded awsome till they taped it thru the slalom,, i thought my computer was gonna fall off the table, lol sweet car on skinnies

[56oldssuper88]

what was the slalom speed?

[mercmarc]

No quarter mile time?

[mrbangoskank]

i had a 75 and a 68. the 68 was tubbed and the 75 wasnt srock. had a 69 455 in it. now heres the thing that made me want to post. does anyone here have any idea just how heavy that 455 is?

for that car to handle the way it did was an enginearing marvel.

[MiracleMileV8]

AMERICA, FUCK YEAH!

{sry, couldn't resist :-)}

[biggonyou]

love that want the 72

[genedene]

Damn the olds a beast

[fuzzynormal]

Yeah, but how well does it tack against the wind?

[bigguy19921]

gotta love an olds 442!! whata great car

[wagon455]

i love how they just slam on the brakes for the test haha.

[CSXRockford]

3,600 lbs..LOL thast about what a kia compact weighs nowadays.

[mahmahmonkey]

That car must have had bologna skins for tires at the end of that trial.

[pettyofficerwelch]

my dad had a 71 cutlass with a 455 out of a 442 in it. damn that car had a hard pull. there were a lot of stoplight drags in that car back in the late nineties and i don't ever remember it losing.

[arteche1]

quick ratio steering baby it comes in handy. My 78 elky has it ;)

[zr2s10z85silverado]

they sure don't make cars like they used to!!

[JAZZARAEL]

DAt muthafucka was driving da shit out dat muthfucka never try to fucking drift in you cultass you will crash

[7cutlass2]

I got a 1972 cutlass, and I think I'm gonna go for a "road test" now. Yay new suspention!!!

[gwillo1]

How about this,I had bought a new 340 dart in 1969,with the 3:55 rear and the car was built in canada,the 340,had the w2 heads,3/4 cam anti pump up lifters,it did 0-60 in under 4 seconds .

[FlyBoy7X7]

Thanks for the great video...ABS sure was a major improvement to braking systems.

[hitace]

is the 0-50 is 4.9 what is the 0-60 anyone know?

[vistacruiser67]

7.3 seconds to 70. 0-60 must be somewhere in the sixes.

[buickman85]

6.1

[F41Driver]

I thought all W-30 cars came with the sport steering wheel?

I wonder how many of the W-30 convertibles had A/C? I'd kill for that kind of car today.

[vistacruiser67]

I guess the sport wheel was an option. Somebody sent me a message that this actual car survived and is on the 71 W-30 registry.

[pyromohanzed]

That steering wheel's made better than any new one today.

[Gerold1981]

thats cause theres no air bag to put inside, now they need to put those in so.........yeaaah

[Carl6231]

What a very rare and great running car that W-30 is. Pretty interesting how that car was run back in the day and nobody knew how rare it was back then.

[77Cutlass455]

Now we can bid farewell to anouther legend as GM pulls the plug on Potiac. So now us Oldsmobile boys will not be alone in missing a great car brand.

[k286]

And along with Pontiac there is a chance of Saturn, Saab, and Hummer going the way of the Olds

[77Cutlass455]

Yeah well for some reason im not so bummed about Saturn about the best car that they have have for along time is the Sky. Hummer eh whatever and Saab will find a buyer. but it does suck still.

[carsbyjeff]

I sold O)ldsmobiles back in 76 when the Cutlass Supreme was the number 1 selling car in America!

[vistacruiser67]

Olds sold over a million cars that year.

[365degrees]

Loved them 76' Cutlass. I had a Broughm

White/White padded Landau/Red Inside Beauty!

Also a 79''Broughm-Sky Blue/Same color Landau top/Interior Light Blue

But first Olds was

a 71' Olds Cutlass S...Silver/Full Black vinyl top and sport wheels

Strong 350-4bbl..Had as much zip as my dads 73'Grand Prix 400-4bbl..but the GP was triple black and very very nice..also fast but in 73 they started tuning down the engines

[nitrostang50]

I had a 70 cutlass with a rocket 350 with over 200,000 miles on it,I must say, to me that this is one of the BEST general motors cars ever to be built,it broke my heart when gm pulled the plug on oldsmobile,I would choose a 442 over a corvette anyday,why?,its EVERYTHING you would want in a car and more,if you havent driven one you would not understand.

[vnegron3]

Great video, thanks for posting it! I had a '71 Cutlass S w/factory 4spd and bench seat(!) with 71K original miles on it AS MY FIRST CAR in '91! I wish I had been able to afford the repairs, though, just nickel and dime repairs on a minimum-wage part-time budget were KILLIN' me! Glad my dad made me pay for my own car (and trusted me with it), as I never got crazy with it, never wrecked it, and will ALWAYS love it! Now if I could just FIND it again... ;)

[365degrees]

I had 71' Cutlass "S" in 79. I payed $900 it had 32,000 miles-1 owner. 350 Rocket like yours.

If I only knew then......what I know now

[inventour]

A beautiful 1970 4-speed just sold in Palm Beach for $173,250.00 at the Barrett-Jackson Auction, I met the new owner and was the first to congratulate him. It was the 6th highest priced car in the entire 3-day event. Has the 1970-only W27 aluminum axle carrier. 1 of 96 built. They have photos at the auction website, it sounds very sweet. A great investment, the guy did very well, this is a million dollar car in less than 10 years. I wish I owned this car, it's a keeper.

[janosleng73]

And kids nowdays thought "drifting" was invented by the chinks a few years ago for the fast n furious movies... GIVE ME A BREAK!!! This is proof that we have been doing this for generations before some dork like vin diesel thought of driving like satan himself was chasing you, nipping at your heels!

[rabidmaniac]

amen, drifting requires cars; america, the first country to have decent cars, japan had nothing back in those days. Funny thing is drifting is a modern term, the direct english translation of the japanese word, those dudes back in the day probably just called it awesome driving.

[pyromohanzed]

In the UK: "powersliding"

[blair442]

Actually , I don't think many dealers would have ordered such a highly optioned car back in '71. The nusclecar era was winding down and there is a chance of getting stuck with such a high priced car sitting on the lot. Many musclecars back in 70 and 71 did just that. I knew of a 1970 Torino Cobra 429 in Toronto that was at a dealers until 71.

[blair442]

this 442 is still in existence and is one of 32 W30(OAI-outside air induction) convertibles that were built in 1971. We have 11 documented that are still around. By 1971, cost of Insurance and emission laws were strangling the muscle cars as mentioned by Bud about " missing what progress will bring" "

[vistacruiser67]

What kind of shape is the car in? Still green?

[cadrolls1]

0-70 MPH in 7.3 seconds means that this car is faster than the Cadillac North star of today. Back then, that was EXTREMELY fast. This 442 is a $50,000 car today. I've seen them in the Hemmings magazine going for $240,000.00 when in showroom condition !!

[vistacruiser67]

I notice by your channel youre a professional driver. What do you think of the driver in this video? This guy drove many of the roadtest from this old Car and Track show. I ordered the DVD of these roadtest which contain about 40 roadtest. He seemed to show up around 71 and drove until the show ended in 75. The show ran from 67 to 75. I know Im bias for Olds but this car seems to outdo the other cars tested and even the host Bud Lindeman wont say anything bad about this car.

[cadrolls1]

By today's standards of testing performance, it is considered wrong to lock the brakes when doing 60 or 70-0 stopping tests. I have been in these cars as I grew up in the 70s. I can tell you this though and I think you will agree. The Olds shown is a great handling car when the roads are dry. On a wet road, or a spot of sand, however, these cars can spin so fast, that it is next to impossible to avoid a complete 360. I base that on a "71" Monte Carlo that I learned to drive in which my Mom owned

[mikeolds69]

I'm getting old but I told my son if my heart

stops beating put me in an Olds and this

machine will revive me again.

[IndyFan53]

I wish I was alive in this decade. I could have bought one!

[cadrolls1]

Back then, even if you did have the money to buy it, there may have been a waiting period as not all dealers had them in stock. It was not that easy to purchase these new unless you were there at the dealers when they first arrived. People snatched them up fast. They only made a limited number too. You would have been lucky to have had one.

[tumbiwahaza]

Please..find more from this show. Nobody around here drives them that way anymore. Something about speeding tickets, reckless driving, racing..

[sirstrongbad]

this guy was great host... when Speed was running these in their entirety I made a point of watching them... rather than the chopped up "back in the day" that only runs the races they covered.

[vistacruiser67]

Bud Lindemann was his name. Check out the youtube channel maccainstdead for more Car and Track roadtest.

[71W30]

Nice Video, I never saw this one before. As a owner of a 71 442 4 speed, I must agree these cars are awesome. I was hooked in 1972 when my step brother bought a new 72 cutlass supreme convert. I also owned a 70 cutlass supreme convert, bucket seats, hurst dual gate. The 350 V8 it had was still strong at 160,000 miles. However, for maximum fun, the 455 4 speed with W30 extras is the way to FLY!!!! Muscle Car Power, with Oldsmobile Luxury.

[Ob3lix]

This car kicks ass!!

[ReeseyPiecey34]

I will have one of these cars one day. My grandad had one, but some guy talked him into selling it when he was ill. I wasn't aware of this until the deal was done. I dislike that guy to this day. F*ck Him! I know it's just a car, but my grandad bought that car BRAND NEW off the lot. Then some F*ck Boy took advantage of my grandad right before he goes to the nursing home. He will get his. Long live the 442! It will be another one in the family again.

[cadrolls1]

I feel your pain.

[1987ian]

watching this commercial makes the hair on my arm stand!-the 1970 oldsmobile cutlass & the 442 are my dream cars!cars of today are crap,dont get me started on the prius....

[bkjbs762]

nice

[msquaretheoriginal]

She had a 455 Rocket!

Biggest block alive!

I could hardly wait just to take my turn

She was made for straightaways

She grew up hatin' Chevrolets

She's a Rocket, she was made to burn.

[IamNOTzaneHANSELL]

nice poem. I don't usually think of car nuts as poets but then Bob Dylan just made a commercial for Cadillac.

[215jami]

I am doing a 68 Catalina stick car, a 34 bobed Ford PU and a couple GM G bodies. My all time fav was the 67 442 which I stuck a big block pont in. I was having bad luck drilling out the Olds cranks and after scatering a couple I switched. I picked up the Cat this year no y pipe so I got the sound to comfort me.I think a swap of an early big block olds into a G body mid 80's Cutlass with a 2:20 would just about be as close as I would ever get to owning another 67 442$ Thats a wheel man for sure

[ianmatthewmcknight7]

...

[wissn2112]

I had a 76 delta 455 2 door. Love that car. heavy duty.

[sean92591]

that was a treat to watch, thanks for posting, that video kicks ass

[anythingtile]

Thats awsome! he says it sits wide on the road lol mine sits wide under the car port.

You have a great collection! True Doc. Olds.

[vistacruiser67]

This is a rare car. 1 of only 33 W-30 4 speed convertibles for 71. I thought the driver did a good job too. Would be nice to see some videos of your 70.

[215jami]

4 wheeling with a heavy RWD is just about a lost art. The engine had enough torque to pull it out .The style came from the dirt tracks where you use the engine to limit the directional enertia.I had a 67 and going up hill hung it out ever chance I got.I think the Mad Doctor built some fine cars including the W31. Your right he did an excellant job of wringing it all out. Thanks for posting such a cool vid

[wallacels1]

they dont make videos like this no more they make junk, trash

[dodge69874]

dam, this thing really makes me want to buy a 442. and only 3600 lbs? my 2000 police interceptor is 3900. wish i could have had some money back in in those days. the fuel crisis of the mid seventies killed the V8 and most of american muscle cars. todays mustang just can't compare to the pony cars of those days.

[raconter1]

Nice vid! A tribute to a name that's only a memory now thanks to the forward thinkers at GM! Jack

[bajabusta]

Thanks for replying to my vid. Wow I completely forgot about 'car & track' I found out about that show late nineties when it was on speedvision before it became speed! I have a couple in my collection, a pinto vs vega, a camaro, and maybe a matador. I can't wait to post them when i find them! Thanks again!

[bonhamfreak48]

Where do you dig up all these great old footages, man?

[mynameismic]

great road tst.never seen this , one leger? to bad gas is $4.00 a gal il take a sb v8 350, 318,302 2bl carb better gas mileage ,hope olds never saw ths film any more films?

[455cutlass]

Man I wish I was around to get one of these 442's when they were new, to get one today you would pay big bucks. I think this was the only year that you could get the M22 rock crusher in the 442

[crackhead350455]

1969, 1970 and 1971 were the only years you could get the m22. in previous years you could get a m20 and m21 ( i think thats how it went)?

[215jami]

The M22 came out in late 65 mainly for the big block GMs the same year the body style changed on the F85 I dont know about 65 but I think 66 ("1 inch counter gear" 5010 case) on through 72(660 and 661 cases) you could order it as an option if the Muncie 2:20 was standard.I think the Turbo 400s were an option. My 67 had a M 22 but it was four years old when I bought it.I gave five hundred for it which was a lot of money I thought back then.

[crackhead350455]

yeah, your right, you could get a m22 in the bigger cars way back. they showed up in the smaller cars with mouse motors in 69 or 70. and in regards to the turbo 350 vrs 400, on smaller, 350 motor cars the 350 was stander with the 400 optinal. big cars always had the 400 readgless of motor. but no matter what, 455=400. p.s., you still got any of your olds'es. I do ;)!!

[crackhead350455]

hey, i just rembered!!!(yonug with alzhimers ;), 71 w-30 was the only car in 70, 71 or 72 to get the rock cruser. olds department head thought it was to 'nosie' (i love that tranny whine;) so most old cars had m-21 from the factory. but, a lot of people made the swicth over to the m-22 form junk yards, like me

[rarew30]

Thanks for sending the video,looking forward to getting my "rarew30" back on the road

[455OLDS442]

Thanks so much for this vid. Great would be an understatement.

[tillman40]

You are never going to believe this...I saw a 442 convertible with at least 26 inch rims in Riveira Beach Fl over the weekend...what a travesty...

[455OLDS442]

it was probably a clone. real 68-71 442 convertibles have the 34467 vin. As time goes on and values continue to rise , like ss on chevys, more and more cutlass' will grow 442 badges. and I am sure some of them will grow dubs or 26 inch rims too. My 442 is real but I respect the clones especially if they have the power to back it up.

[365degrees]

Riviera Beach...Where were you going to the Palm Beach Princess?

[tillman40]

No Peanut Island lol

[365degrees]

You lost me..lol

I only know of Singer Island

[w30olds]

At 3:30 and again at 4:20 that posi and 455 works well. tires smoking and the driver hangs it out their.

[VictrolaJazz]

In the summer of '79 a friend of mine and I drove his chocolate brown '71 442 W30 convertible from Dallas to Lansing, MI to attend the Natl. Olds Meet--once there it rained the whole darned time, never got to let the top down. His car had auto with 3.42 axle, AC--got about 13 MPG during second energy crisis, but the trip was lots of fun. Drove a '60 Dynamic 88 sedan to Milwuakee meet in '81.

[w30olds]

befor this summer is over . my 77 will be put to the test!!!

[BullrunOlds]

That was a fantastic video. Old school drifting in a 72' w-30 442!! I was cracking up on every word the narrator was saying. "Dancing like a ballerina!" LOL! Man that was a great video. Thanks for posting!

[thurmanrandy]

That's a nice video, loved every second.

[tillman40]

Back when..when the chrome was thick and the women were straight.

[w30olds]

"be hear or be no were" mike's first car was a 1959 olds

[willpeterson]

Wow! That was a great video.Thanks for sending that to me.

[deezgeez]

what does ths S stands for in the name Cutlass S Oldsmobile?

[vistacruiser67]

More of a trim package than anything else and a designation of the fastback roofline from 68-77 Cutlasses whereas the 70 and later notchback models were Cutlass Supremes which ran much longer than the S. The S name was dropped in 78 and replaced briefly with Cutlass Salon until 1980 at which time the fastback roofline was dropped altogether due to poor sales and an arguably ugly design. The Cutlass Salon name resurfaced in the mid 80s as a trim package on the notchback Cutlass Supreme.

[deezgeez]

thank you for your reply

[365degrees]

I had a 71' Cutlass"S"

I always figured it to be in between the supreme and the 442. Sporty but affordable. After 72' my personal taste thought of them (THE "S") as ugly. But before that they were sporty nice and affordable.

[quad442]

That driver is good. I had a 70 Cutlass S 350-4bbl automatic back in 1976 and I could never do the kind of stuff that guy did. Thanks for posting !!!!!

[bigjp455]

NICE!!!!!!!Man those were the days!!!!!!!!! I added a few news ones also! Check em out.

[DarkFox6211818]

YES! He drifted it! That's gotta be my favorite Olds video I've seen here.

I enjoy drifting mine around the school parking lot after it rains, the administration doesn't enjoy it so much. Heh.

I'd rather see American muscle drift than Japanese ricers ANY day.

[Rocket4Barrel]

Great video, thats classic man, seeing a '71 W-30 strutting its stuff on the track, those cars could handle, Old's were one of the best handling of all the muscle cars. Would love to have that beast in my driveway. Thanks for sharing,:)

[Myaurora2001]

Great vid, have to love Oldsmobile and it will live on.

[HeavyOlds]

Great video. Some nice drifting there alright. See the smoke from the tires? Full lockup on the braking too. Stopping distance and handling has a lot to do with the tires. Way better now a days with sticker radials. Thanks for the video!

[jacboots]

One word...Amazing!!

Thanks

[spikedpunk]

Now that commands respect. No wonder these cars are so loved. Drove one of these not quite a year ago, factory 4-speed, W-30 convertible, on original type fiberglass belted tires! Not nearly as crazily, but you could just feel what this car wanted to do if unleashed!

[olds442power]

cool vid. man! Breathtaking, throwing an Olds around that way! didn't know oldses can drift!

[chrisfukinwalker]

WOW Thats awsome, been doing some collecing I see.

[colibri1]

Where was this shown? It seems unlikely to have been a commercial since it's 5 minutes long. Was it a dealer promo?

[vistacruiser67]

About 3 minutes 50 seconds in we see a CAR AND TRACK logo. Seems like a magazine road test that was filmed. I wish the quality was better. I borrowed it off a friend to burn to DVD.

[w30olds]

at 3:30 and again at 4:20 that posi and 455 works well. tires smoking and the driver hangs it out their. thanks for sending me this one.

[rallye425]

That was great! I've never seen an old sales video that throws a car around like that.

Who says the tuners invented drifting???

:-)

[meatman310]

Nice video , those were the days I'm wondering though,....Why the cutlass steering wheel- LOL

[Rocket4Barrel]

That particular 442 had the standard steering wheel, the 4 spoke rally steering wheel was optional in the 442. I put one in my '77 Cutlass Supreme Coupe. One of the best looking muscle car steering wheels ever, not to mention it was great to grip on as well while driving and racing.

[meatman310]

I had a 76 olds cutlass about 15 years ago when I first started driving. I yanked the 350 and put in a 1970 98 olds 455 turbo 400-  I also tossed the ugly steering wheel for a 442 wheel.

[Rocket4Barrel]

Cool, The 76 and 77 Cutlass's were identical with just minor trim changes. Some '76 Cutlass's came from the factory with the optional 455 that was availible in the 442 for the last year of the 455, but they are very rare. Cutlass's were one of the nicest looking of the GM intermediates.

[regency98us]

That is so cool I love that car!. I would love to see them try that with Dick Van Patten squealing the tires in a 1979 Delta 88 :-)

[dirtyweapons]

Very cool video. I'd love to have that car today!

[CORVAIRWILD]

Imagine what was edited out??? Lotsa' cam angles... Sheesh...

[oldsmobiletw]

one of the best looking cars of all time and gotta love seeing it in action again.

[spf1410]

Very cool! Thanks for posting this video.

[raconter1]

Very cool vid! That announce is intesting..he's making it seem like a scienific experiment. No nonsense tolerated!

I'm glad you found this and happy you shared it! :) Jack

[GSBurnout]

Gotta love thos A bodies.

[DJM442]

AND..... i know how that skid feels when you lock up the brakes, but damn my '77 coupe w/a 350 weighs more than this '71 w/a 455! now i feel extra slow  :(

[DJM442]

this is sick

[strongwilled2]

dam, wish i can drive like that

[bfgoodrik]

thats 1 bad olds