Oldsmobile Muscle Portfolio 1964-1971

A Collection of Contemporary Road Tests, Driver's Impressions & Track Tests

Oldsmobile's success with its high-performance overhead-valve V8 in the late 1940s was never really followed up in the 1950s and, when the muscle-car craze swept America at the beginning of the 1960s, the division was ill prepared. High-performance big cars in the shape of the Jetstar and Starfire were a nicety, but somehow they didn't really catch the publics imagination. Stung into action by the success of the Pontiac division's GTO in 1964, Olds moved swiftly to create an affordable mid-price intermediate muscle machine. Option BO-9 the Police Apprehender Pursuit package, was made available on the F-85 line under the name of 4-4-2, four-barrel carburettor, four-speed manual shift and two exhausts. It didnÍt make a big impression that year, but the 1965 revision did, not least because that second 4 now stood for 400 cubic inches of V8 engine.

From then on the 4-4-2 was OldsmobileÍs leading muscle machine, a regular option package on the F-85 line which could in later years be supplemented by the W-30 racing package. Capitalising on its new performance image, Olds hoped it would rub off on the big front-wheel drive Toronado as well, but this car was more about style than real performance, despite some impressive acceleration figures on some models. Performance became a dirty word in the US car industry for 1971, though, as cleaner exhausts and safety became the fashion of the day. So it was farewell to the high-performance Oldsmobiles, whose heyday this book celebrates so well.

Models covered: Jetstar 88, Cutlass Holiday, Starfire, 4-4-2, Delta 88, Toronado, Supreme, Hurst/Olds, Delmont, W-31, W-30, Delta Royale & Rallye 350.

Softbound, 140 Pages & 375 Illus.