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Old 08-06-2010, 12:33 AM
HO455 HO455 is offline
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Default Re: 1970 442 W-30 Ragtop in black

Hi Guys,

I have been way from this site for ages but this thread is great and interesting reading. Man those Level One restorations look absolutely incredible. I remember seeing the Peter Klute black Judge at an auction several years ago and it was super nice then so it has got to be stunning now. The black & white 1970 W-30 looks just beautiful. Was the 1970 W-30 convertible his car also at one time? I spoke with Lee Pearl the owner of the gold W-30 convertible a couple years ago. He was a big Olds collector. At that time he was selling a 1970 W-30 convertible four-speed car that was fully documented but it was still in need of a restoration from what I remember. Not sure if this is the same car or not?


Interesting discussion on the 1970 442 W-30s. As one who was always a staunch 1970 guy-I have really grown to love the 1971-1972 W-cars as much-if not more. I have known several serious Olds collectors over the years and they always preferred the 1971-2 cars. I think the 1971-2 cars are a bit more refined and the grills are more sophisticated and nicer looking. And had the emission thing not stuck GM, Oldsmobile was planning and scheduled to offer the various all aluminum four-valve hemi engines as top options on the W-machines. I spoke with Dale Smith on a couple of occasions and he said they also had aluminum hemi small blocks completely developed & ready to go. I have several Olds parts catalogs where they even have the hemi engines part numbers listed, which I thought was cool. Also in 1971 the M-22 trans became the standard option, which was nice. But again it’s one of those great what if stories. But if things had worked out as planned—I doubt we would even give the 1970 W-30s a thought today!

Not sure I agree with the take on the 1970 Judges clown car thing—I guess it is one of those cars you either love or hate. But for me I will always love the 1970 Judges as I rode in a brand new Palladium Silver RAIV four-speed car that our next neighbor bought. It will always be a fond memory for me. I was probably only seven at the time so it had always stuck with me.

Anyway—great thread and I agree with Tom …keep the 442 stories coming! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/[/img]

Take Care!
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