1970 Olds 442

by James Mays

At the very beginning of General Motors, the divisions competed against each other, launching rival products in each other’s markets, stealing sales and confusing customers. Under the iron rule of President Alfred P. Sloan, inter-divisional rivalry was all but eliminated. Each marquee was assigned a place on the GM hierarchy and each was given an image. Cadillac was positioned at the high end of the luxury market and Buick took lower end. Pontiac became synonymous with performance while Oldsmobile developed the reputation of being GM’s experimental division. If one wanted to drive tomorrow’s technology today, it would be found first on an Oldsmobile.

But lines blurred in the 1960s and competition between sister divisions was fostered and rivalry, once forbidden, grew suddenly intense. One of the very hottest GM cars to hit the street in 1970 was Oldsmobile’s 4-4-2 series. drafted from Cutlass and F-85 variants, the beefy 4-4-2 was welcomed into dealers’ showrooms for its third season as a five-passenger coupe, a five-passenger hardtop and a drop-top.

Sizzle is what 4-4-2 did best standing still. The swoopy two-door had been downsized in 1968, wheelbase shortened to the 112″ wheelbase it had when originally conceived as a Rambler-beating compact, back in 1961. Now fully evolved as a muscle car, engineers gave the Olds heavy-duty springs, stabilizer bar, special shock absorbers and wheels, special emblems, hood louvers, unique paint stripe, special tires and a high output engine. In 1968 the 390-hp version could go from 0-60 mph in just six seconds and did the quarter mile in 12.97 seconds. Oldsmobile was sizzle and steak.

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