Nice '68 Hurst Olds on eBay

[StealthBird]

I think this car was discussed on some other sites too. I'm curious how much this car will fetch, being a beautiful resto, but with a non-numbers matching engine. I would think anything over $40,000 nowadays should at least be numbers matching! But I guess clone 69 Yenkos are getting $30K plus now, so who knows...

[SmallHurst]

[ QUOTE ]
I would think anything over $40,000 nowadays should at least be numbers matching!

[/ QUOTE ] I tend to disagree with on you for this particular reason (at least on H/O's). The 455 block was brand new in 1968 and 9/10ths of these blocks were ending up in land barge 98's, front drive Toronado's or hot Delta 88's. The hardest these engines ever got leaned on was when they were taking the boat to the lake. Enter the H/O! Factory rated at 390 hp and 500 ft/lbs of torque! What was the difference between the blocks of the H/O and the 98? Nothing! They reported some core shift on those blocks, but when you do not lean hard on them, this hardly rears its ugly head. If they did get leaned on, the block would often go away quickly and the dealer service replacement block came in. My car has a replacement block in it and I don't think any less of it. The '69 H/O advisor stated that there are a lot more with replacement blocks running around than with the original. Also, with only 515 '68's built, you are talking a very limited number (granted, not as rare as a ZL-1 or a Yenko) to be dolled out nationwide. That car would bring more than $40 K, but it won't. The reason, it does not have the flash and WOW factor that the '69 had.

[Belair62]

Its over 40k now...what "flash & wow" did a 69 have that is a lot different than a 68 ???

[DaJudge]

69's had a rear deck spoiler, forward hood scoops and a white with gold accent stripes. The 68 has a more sleeper look. Check the attached pic

[Belair62]

OK...forgot we were talking about Hurst cars...

[retengw31]

[ QUOTE ]
69's had a rear deck spoiler, forward hood scoops and a white with gold accent stripes. The 68 has a more sleeper look. Check the attached pic

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I think the guys that did the appearance package on the 69 spent too much time in the J.C Whitney catalog back then. Same ones smoked a little more rope and came up with the Rallye 350.

[TimG]

I know that the HO's in '68 and '69 were sent to Hurst without an engine. The 455 were put in after the car left the plant. I'm not sure if they put in an engine with some type of stamp or not. I confirmed this with a local owner of a '68 yesterday. He knows quite a bit about the HO's and has three. He just purchased a '72 442 from me.
There is a nice 1970 W30 on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...66511&rd=1

[StealthBird]

Tim, the 68/69 H/O's were delivered to Demmer Engineering (responsible for the conversions) with the 455 already in place. For several decades, within both Musclecar magazines and books, it was reported that Demmer Engineering transplanted 455's into 442's in order to bypass the GM mandate limiting A-body cars to 400 cubic inches. There were always rumors that these 442's, destined for the Hurst/Olds conversion, actually had 455's installed at the factory. Finally, a few years ago Jack "Doc" Watson confirmed this in an episode of "American Musclecar" when he looked at the camera and stated clearly that yes, the 442's were shipped to Demmer Engineering with the 455's already installed by Oldsmobile.

Dave H. can shed some more light on this too, as he was actually there when it happened.

Another long time myth that was finally blown apart was that the 1964 Car & Driver GTO, the one article that arguably launched the Musclecar Era, had a 389 Tri-Power. For 35 years, Jim Wangers stood by this story, so dozens of articles and books quoted him. However, in 1999, Wangers finally came clean in his "Glory Days" book and admitted that the 1964 Car & Driver GTO had a prepped 421 under the hood.

[GTO_DON]

Thats not true!! they definetly left the factory with the 455 in it. the vin number to the car is stamped on the block and was done at the factory. they were shipped in silver to demmer and thats where they did the paintwork and stripes. Its in the hurst heritage book.

[DaJudge]

My cousin had a 68 Hurst Olds and the VIN was stamped in the block and a few 69 Hurst Olds I have personally looked at had the VIN on the block as well. All Demmer did was stripe the cars, the walnut dash plaque and possibly the dual gate shifter. Gotta love the Hurst Olds