69 Hurst Olds ragtop for sale (1 of 2)

[Canuck]

I have seen three 69 H/O converts over the years:

Fisrst sighting
1986 Olds Nationals,Santa Clara CA. A fellow shops up with a tired 69 H/O Convert. It has gold carpet and suction cup marks on the trunk lid. his claim is its the original West Coast car. Car was tired looking with lots of dings and faded original paint.That is the car that is now for sale and subject of the original post.

Second sighting
1987 Olds Nationals,Lansing MI. The car shown was driven out from Arizona and owned by one Jim Battle at the time. The car was displayed in a special display of significant Oldsmobiles at that event. Speculation was it was a clone.


Third sighting
1997 Olds Nationals, Lansing. Car was presented with POP showing ownwrship by Hurst Engineering, purported to be George Hurst own car. Had an oversize ashtray mounted at the bottom of the drivers door panel. George liked his Cigars.This car had a regular antennae.

If you look at early photos from the spring summer of 69,you will see a few distinguishing differences of the cars. In some photos one Ragtop had a standard antennae and the other had a power antennae on the rear quarter.The CA car now for sale does not have a power antennae and the car in Lansing in 1997 did not have a power antennae.
www.jeffmeister.com

Anybody else recall seeing these cars in person.

[SmallHurst]

The car seen in '97 was also driven to Denver in '01 and Lansing in '02. This is my friends car. It has the documentation.

The story of the gold carpet car jives with what I have heard. A member of this site confirmed seeing this car in the last year in the aforementioned shape, still under the tree!

[RM Schimel]

Paul…thanks great insight. I was able to speak today with a nice fella from the auto broker representing the car in California. They are not disclosing any selling price for the car but are entertaining all credible offers. They have had significant interest from serious collectors around the country that desire to do a complete concours restoration of the automobile.

One of the interested parties includes a representative from the Colorado Gateway Auto Museum. They were the purchasers of the Oldsmobile F-88 at the B-J auction several years ago. I believe that F-88 has since undergone a complete nut & bolt restoration and is currently on display.

The broker I spoke with says they are in the process of obtaining more original paperwork including a build card from the original owner Richard Pierce. They currently only have a photocopy of the POP. But Mr. Pierce apparently has great deal of other documentation on the car.

A couple of interesting facts about the car include the shifter, which was a prototype along with transmission, both of which were being tested by Hurst performance and Oldsmobile. The items are said to be original to the car. The car is missing some original components including the numbers matching carburetor.

I am glad to see such an interesting car uncovered. It is such a historically significant auto…I hope the future owner brings it back to its original glory.

RM

[67 442]

This is a pic of the CA ragtop. Notice the pearl paint and gold wheels.

[69hurstSC]

[ QUOTE ]
This is a pic of the CA ragtop. Notice the pearl paint and gold wheels.



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I prefer to look at the trunk ornament..thanks. LOL

[olredalert]

------My memory is going blank, but were Hurst wheels out of production at this point??? ......Bill S

[SmallHurst]

[ QUOTE ]
------My memory is going blank, but were Hurst wheels out of production at this point??? ......Bill S

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Bill,
I believe that the Hurst wheels were last made in '68, but I could be wrong. The Hurst wheels were 14" only and the '69 H/O came out with a special 15" chrome plated SSII wheel and F60-15 Polyglas.

My friend that has the '69 'vert also has a '68 H/O convertable that is wearing Hurst wheels. It is also painted the way that George Hurst wanted to have the '68 cars painted. A large metalflake gold with blackstripes and decklid. The metalflake was too large for the guns at Olds so Peruvian Silver (a Toro only color) was used on the '68 H/O.

[RM Schimel]

What a fantastic photograph of the 1969 H/O ragtop that is. Absolutely love the pearl paint and the beautiful trunk ornament. Thanks Rusty for providing all the great info on these cars. This particular 69-ragtop car got me thinking about the 68-69 prototype Hurst Olds cars. It would be interesting to know more about them and if they still exist somewhere today? The 1969 H/O prototype featured on the Hurst/Olds club’s website with the large trunk airfoil is especially interesting.

Thanx RM

[Canuck]

Rusty
As your friend has the car that was in lansing in 97,can he shed some insight on the car from AZ once owned by Jim Battle.

Paul

[67 442]

The gold 68 ragtop is still around. I received a letter from the owner back in the 80s and now his son owns it. For more information I would suggest contacting Al Mantei @ mantei.com for more info.