1964 Oldsmobile 442

The Legendary Oldsmobile "442'...1964 is where the journey began. In 1964, Oldsmobile needed an answer to Pontiac's GTO, and it came in the form of the Cutlass 4-4-2. When Pontiac released its muscle car with the 1964 Tempest GTO, Oldsmobile responded. It took until mid-year, when Olds extended its "Police Apprehender Pursuit Package" to its new, intermediate-sized F85/Cutlass series, which also happened to share the Tempest/Le Mans chassis.

It used the top engine available: a 290-bhp 330-cid V-8, then added a high-lift cam, dual-snorkel air cleaner, and some other minor tweaks necessary to come up with 310 bhp. The engine's 4-barrel carb, in combination with the package's Chevy-built Muncie 4-speed  manual transmission and the car's dual exhausts, gave the new option its name, 4-4-2.

Offered up with any body style (except the station wagon), the 4-4-2 package added an extra $285 to an F-85 or $136 to the upper level Cutlass. A heavy-duty suspension with anti-roll bars front and rear, plus "tiger paw" tires was included. Testers called this new Oldsmobile the best-handling midsize car in the General Motors stable. It was no “Street Eliminator”, but the combo of a lightweight 330 V8 and a well-tuned suspension made the 442 the best handling American Sedan of 1964.

Mated with the standard 2.54:1 axle ratio, a Cutlass 4-4-2 turned a respectable 15.6-second ¼ mile at 89 mph. (By comparison, a 290-bhp Cutlass was two seconds slower to 60 mph and 1.3 seconds slower in the  ¼ mile.)

But as it turned out, where Pontiac successfully pitched its GTO to the youth market as a factory hot rod, Oldsmobile was more conservative in promoting its new muscle car. Even one of the few advertisements pictured a couple of cops in a four-door F-85 sedan that didn't even wear the tri-color 4-4-2 badge. Performance fans of the time just weren't used to looking at Oldsmobile , and only 2,999 4-4-2s were sold in its first season. By contrast, Pontiac moved more than 32,000 GTOs in 1964. But, as we now know in the years to come…Oldsmobile 442 fever grew with the buying public. And thus, the legend was born...