Oldsmobile had a long and distinguished history – and suffered a slow, painful death.
The process of mortification began in the early 1980s, when General Motors gutted the formerly independent engineering departments of each of its seven car divisions. Management eliminated the Buick, Pontiac, and Oldsmobile-built engines that had made each of these divisions’ cars unique, not just “badge-engineered” clones of one basic model fitted with a different grille and set of wheel covers. Henceforth all divisions would share identical “corporate” engines built by a new entity, GM Powertrain.
Pontiac was the first to go; after 1981, it was no longer allowed to build its own V-8s and had to install Chevy-sourced engines in its cars, including the Firebird – which quickly became little more than a tarted-up Camaro. Pontiac ceased to be anything more than a hollowed-out marketing division for generic “GM” vehicles functionally identical to other GM cars.
Oldsmobile’s trip to the glue factory began with the 1983 and 1984 Hurst Olds (and the similar 442 that ran from 1985 to 1988). Reaching back to the company’s salad days in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Olds product planners tried as best they could for one last hurrah before the ax fell – returning two well-respected muscle car designations to the lineup as an option group on the still-rear-drive (but not for long) Cutlass coupe.
The 1983 and 1984 Hurst Olds had an attractive black with silver and red accents paint scheme and was specially-equipped with an aftermarket-style Hurst “Lightning Rod” three-handled shifter: one stick for each forward gear. This was a bit much for a car with just 170 horsepower, though. But it was a good try, in very trying times. The little 307 V-8 wasn’t much compared to the legitimate “455 Rocket” and “W31” high-performance engines of Oldsmobile’s better days gone by, but it was at least an Oldsmobile-built engine, the last of its kind. Tied to 3.73 rear gears, it was still possible to do a decent burnout in a Hurst Olds or 442 – if you power-braked the car or found a puddle to wet the tires a little.
From 1985 through 1987, the basic Hurst Olds package continued but was now called the “442,” in reference to the 1960s-era Oldsmobile muscle car of the same name. Back then, the acronym was short for four-barrel carburetor, four on the floor (a four-speed manual transmission), and dual exhausts. The 1985 to 1987 442 did have a four-barrel carburetor, among the very last of GM’s Rochester Quadrajets to be installed by the factory. But there was no manual transmission, the dual exhausts were as fake as Pamela Anderson’s tits (as a result of the single pellet-style GM catalytic converter), and the car’s performance was as sickly as the Oldsmobile brand itself.
It should have come with its own IV stand.
On the other hand, these cars began to look much better after Oldsmobile switched over the front-wheel drive after 1987 and no longer offered the enthusiast buyer anything more meaty than a transversely-mounted V-6 in a re-badged GM-generic Buick/Chevy/Pontiac/Olds clone-mobile – the “gutless” Cutlass.
Five Fast Facts
3,001 1983 Hurst Olds coupes were built – several hundred more than had been planned. Another 3,500 were made in 1984.
No other production car was ever offered with the Hurst “Lightning Rod” triple-tree shifter as a factory-installed option.
In 1984, the two-tone paint scheme was reversed; silver on top of black instead of black on silver.
The original 1968 Hurst Olds had a 390-horsepower 455 “rocket” V-8.
Four custom-built Hurst-Olds were made in 1988 – even though Olds had switched over to a new, front-drive platform for the Cutlass. These cars all had unique “Aero” rear window glass and “ground effects” body kit and were the last Hurst-Olds models made. They were also the last rear-drive, V-8 coupes Oldsmobile would build.
Excerpted from “Automotive Atrocities” (MBI, 2004) http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Automotive+Atrocities&x=0&y=0
I had heard that the ’2′ was for 2 doors, not dual exhaust.
Hello, The “2″ was in fact for dual exhaust.
Also the main article has a couple of errors. The last 442′s were 85-87 not 85-88. And also there was no Aero back window on the 88 H\O’s, that was a Monte Carlo SS special edition item.
there was an 1988 442…..I have one
if you have one its the only one ever built in 1988 it was called a cutlass gt not a 442
Yes there was 1 1988 Hurst/Olds areo Coupe, it was a kit car created by jack watson
Well, but a kit car isn’t a production car – so it’s not really a 1988 Hurst/Olds… just like the current “Trans-Ams” (aftermarket kits that alter the appearance of Camaros) aren’t really Trans-Ams, either…
I think it was dual exhaust, but maybe my memory’s fading! (It was assumed, I think, that any muscle car was going to be a coupe – not a sedan.)
PS: Curious to hear any responses you may have to my comments about religion….
Followed the comments over here….don’t want to be that guy who resurrects long-dead threads but just wanted to say that Olds did build a handful of sedans with the 442 package in ’64.
I am trying to find out how many 1987 Hurst Olds were produced with the factory sunroof? also mine has the lightning rod shifters in it?? i have read those shifters were last installed in 1985 unless ordered?? any help with these 2 questions?
Hi Ken,
This ought to be fairly easy to track down. I’d check with Olds clubs (and Hurst Clubs). I’m a member of the Pontiac Oakland Club (POCI) and they have (or know someone who has) every scrap of info imaginable about those cars. I’m sure the Olds people are just as fanatical!
Thanks for the info. I actually found it yesterday afternoon late. For anyone else that may ever need it they produced 501 with the power Astro Roof they call it. Thanks for the Reply.
You bet, Ken – great car!
Coincidentally, last week I came across what appeared to be a nearly-perfect “survivor” Hurst Olds. If it was restored, it was restored to the nth degree. It looked almost brand-new, right down to its factory correct white letter Eagle GT tires. Beautiful!