I was amazed at the number of late model cars in the student parking lots at St. John's University in Jamaica, New York when I went there in the mid-Eighties. SJU was primarily a commuter school back then and General Motors intermediate coupes were very de riguer and made my ten-year old Chrysler Cordoba stick out like the beater it was. The Monte Carlo was the most popular of them followed by the Pontiac Grand Prix (not included in the above Car and Driver article because there was no real sporty GP), Cutlass and then the Regal. If any sport model was in vogue like the cars in C&D, it was the Monte Carlo SS. The Buick Grand National was a unicorn because it was so expensive. Again, the Olds Cutlass was popular although its sport model, by the time I was at St. John's it was the 442 (nee Hurst\Olds Cutlass) and was about as rare as the Grand Nat.
That's why when this 1987 Olds 442 popped up on my Facebook wall the other day I had to take a closer look. For sale for a relatively sane $4,500 asking price, with 30,000 on its thirty-five-year-old analog ticker, could this be the ride to take me back to Utopia and Grand Central Parkways?
General Motors did a great job updating their class of 1978, downsized intermediate coupes for 1981. The four-door models stayed all but the same as did the wagons. While I've always felt these updated coupes were still far too narrow, the 1981-1987 Cutlass coupe I've always thought particularly handsome. Regardless of trim level. I wasn't alone in my sentiment as Cutlass coupes were one of the best-selling cars in America in the mid-Eighties. Fun fact, Olds actually built the Cutlass coupe through 1988 calling the last run of them, "Cutlass Classic" selling them alongside the new for '88, front-wheel-drive Cutlass.
Oldsmobile's first came out with a "442" in 1964 as an "answer", as it were, to the Pontiac GTO. Denoting a four-barrel carburetor, four-speed manual transmission and dual exhaust, with a gussied up 330 cubic-inch V-8 and firmer suspension than stock, it was essentially the same package Oldsmobile sold to police departments. They even sold it as a four-door in 1964 although legend has it less than ten were made. Was this America's first sports sedan?
Somewhat amazingly, Oldsmobile offered a "442" originally and continually through 1980 before putting the moniker on a four-year hiatus from 1981-1984. They brought it back in 1985 after Oldsmobile's partnership with Hurst ended that sired the 15th and 16th anniversary celebration of the venerated "Hurst\Olds".
After production ended on these 442's after 1987, Oldsmobile brought 442 back festooning it to a limited run of Quad-4 powered Calais' in 1990 and 1991. After that, "442" was gone forever.
Not that it mattered, but our '87's "4-4-2" could denote a four-barrel carburetor, four-speed automatic transmission and dual exhaust. That four-barrel carburetor, a Rochester Quadra-Jet, bolted to a slightly warmed over, 307 cubic-inch Oldsmobile V-8. The Olds 307 either a bored version of their deadly-dull 260 cubic-inch boat anchor of 1975-1982 infamy, or a de-stroked version of the famed Oldsmobile "Rocket 350". Frankly, I've always thought it was the former rather than the later. Your opinion or knowledge base may vary. See dealer for details.
Regardless, in a 442, it made all of 180-horsepower and 245 foot-pounds of torque, same as a '83-'84 Hurst\Olds save for the fancy, dare I say silly, Hurst "Lightning Rod" shifters. Seeing a 442 tipped the scales at some 3,500 pounds fully loaded, zero-to-sixty was a matter of eventuality as opposed to rapidity. At least it was somewhat quicker than a non-442 Cutlass.
In the Car and Driver article on GM's "Modern Muscle" triumvirate, David E. Davis wrote that it seemed the 442 didn't have its heart in whatever it was it was trying to be. He did gush about the Monte Carlo SS and he said the Buick Grand National had an engine that deserved more car.
I never followed up and inquired about this thing. I searched again for it recently and it was gone. Honestly, I have little use for another old bomb that needs a lot of work and I'm not about to drop the $20,000 to $25,000 or so on one that's in mint condition.
I guess some things never change.
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