[HO455]

Hi Guys:

………Very intriguing Oldsmobile discussion – The W-30s were definitely aimed at the more affluent buyers. They were built with a little more luxury and quality than some of the others in the GM stable. But in regard to performance, right out of the box Olds W-30s were clearly in the game. They offered engines that were built with a great deal of expertise. Each engine was balanced & blueprinted. The cams were indexed for maximum performance. The bottom ends were treated to several procedures to increase strength and durability. Just take a viewing of the Muscle Car shootout from “Dream Car Garage” to see where Olds stacked up in pure stock form. I also have an original Roadtest program on video of the 1968 HO from the television broadcast "Roadtest Magazine" in which the 1968 HO driven by Jack "Doc" Watson turned 13.28s at 107 mph right out of the box. This would clearly put the 1968 Hurst Olds in range of the LS-6 Chevelle or Hemi cars. Plus we will not even get into the engines being developed by Oldsmobile from 1967 through the early 1970s. Oldsmobile was developing an elaborate automobile racing engine program starting in 1967. They were given the edit by General Motors to develop a world class motor sport program under the direction of Olds G.M John Beltz. General Motors chose Oldsmobile to head up the program because of their engineering position at General Motors historically. This program was in full development by 1970 but was abruptly killed because of the new emission guidelines now being enforced by the Federal government. The Oldsmobile 4 valve per cylinder 455 hemi engine(W-43)and the all aluminum DOHC 4 valve per cylinder 455 hemi engine(OW-43)that were slated for production in the 1970 W-Machines would have put the Chrysler hemi, the Ford cammer,the Cheverolet L-88 and LS-7 and Pontiac RAV engines far into the shade.