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Stealth…..Did Pontiac also create the world in seven days????
To call Pontiac GMs only performance division is a fantasy.
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I never said that. Pontiac was GM's performance division, I never said they were the only GM performance division.
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As far as Oldsmobile… the division has historically always been known as the engineering and innovation brand of General Motors. Under the creative leadership of John Beltz, Oldsmobile was experimenting with every possible high performance engine, transmission and car design imaginable in the sixties.
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Oh really...
Olds didn't have DOHC engines by 1964, or 3 and 4-valve heads by 1966, or hemispherical heads on a detuned race engine by 1966, or sophisticated Overhead Cam engines by 1966, or factory modified altered wheelbase drag cars by 1965, or factory built AF/X drag cars with 2x4 intakes putting out 450+ hp back by 1963, or factory built cars with aluminum body panels and bumpers by 1962/1963, or a production 2-seat fiberglass sports car like Corvette (and Pontiac almost had their own in 1964), or an Olds built sporty car like a Mustang, or exotic aluminum 2-piece exhaust headers, or wild NASCAR bred bathtub intakes, or aluminum rear ends by 1963....
I have a great deal of respect for Oldsmobiles, but Oldsmobile was a follower, not a leader. You need to take your "Olds blinders" off, and learn what the other manufacturers built, then maybe you'll understand that Oldsmobile was behind (or at best equal to) Chevrolet, Pontiac, Ford, and Mopar in almost every area.
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Every reputable auto writer credits Oldsmobile as being the first division at General Motors to produce the modern style high-compression OHV V-8 with the Rocket engine developed by Charles Kettering in 1949.
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Try looking on NON-Olds web sites and see who is credited with the 1949 OHV V8. According to the "History Of General Motors", the official book produced in co-operation with GM, Cadillac engineers (and Ed Cole) built the first OHV V8. You're entitled to your own opinions, not your own facts. By the way, Kettering retired in 1947. He wasn't with GM in 1949.
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The Oldsmobile brand was always marketed to a more discriminating, sophisticated and affluent buyer. The 442s, Hursts and W-30s were marketed to buyers who were often in their late thirties or early forties. The buyer’s were mostly doctors, lawyers or successful executives that wanted a luxury/performance car that would carry the clubs nicely in the trunk with the top down, while heading to the country club to play eighteen.
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I'm talking about performance cars, you're talking about plush interiors and golf clubs? Yep, those items will get you street and dragstrip credibility!
As for your "street-race kiddie crowd" comment, yep, you're right. Chevy and Pontiac led the way. So I agree with you, Chevy and Pontiac guys street and drag raced, and Olds guys ate Grey Poupon and filed their nails for their next round of golf. The image you just portrayed of an Olds buyer (affluent, doctor, lawyer, golfer, executive) is EXACTLY what Oldsmobile marketing was trying to change in 1968, and that's because Oldsmobiles were thought of as stodgy old man cars at that time.