1968 Hurst Olds Convertible

[SmallHurst]

The flapper wing that is shown was something that Hurst wanted to do to help in braking. The wing would only flap up when the brakes were applied.

Hurst also wanted to go with the Hurst Gold and black stripes for the '68 (that is the color my buddies convertable is ) but, it was too large a metalflake for the guns in the spraybooth to shoot (and I am imagining that would mottle like a B!tch) so they shot Peruvian Silver and black stripes. The Peruvian Silver was a Toronado only color. It is very easy to find and verify a '68 H/O because of the color code on the trim tag.

All of the '68 and '69 cars were assembled on the line at Lansing and finished at Demmer engineering. This was because of the extra work necessary on these cars but it also gave the credience that the engine swap was going on there and not on the line (remember, GM had the rule of nothing more that 400 cubes in an A body) And to tell the truth, the engines were installed on the line!!

[StealthBird]

[ QUOTE ]
The flapper wing that is shown was something that Hurst wanted to do to help in braking. The wing would only flap up when the brakes were applied.

[/ QUOTE ]

Rusty, I was just pointing out that the flipper wing was a novelty on the 68 H/O. The 68 H/O wing wouldn't have any effect on braking at all. It would however provide some downforce at high speed.

I'd be curious how Hurst planned to operate the wing.

1. Controlled by the brake pedal, with a cable to the rear.
2. Electrical solenoids to move the wing when the brake light switch was activated.
3. Vacuum operated with a hose running from the brake booster to the rear wing.

Considering this was a styling exercise, I wouln't be surprised if the wing was manually controlled by a dash cable, with plans to automate it later if they thought of putting it into production.

Those 1966 Chaparral cars were a sensation back then, and everyone (even kids toys) sort of had "wing mania" at that time, even Hurst.

[retengw31]

All the Hursts built on the assembly line as Hursts at Oldsmobile as part of the group builds were pretty much identical in two major divisions: A/C (W46) and non A/C (W45). The W45 non air ones were the really fast ones with a lot more gear and a lot less weight. All were automatics and no convertibles in those groups. There were both "post" cars(77 models) and hardtops (87) models in 1968 and only hardtop 87 series cars in 1969. Normal options that could be had on 442's and Cutlasses like power steering, power windows, audio packages, etc. were available on all. All were M40 automatics with power disc brakes.

The one of a kind 4 speed cars and convertibles were either built at Hurst or at Demmer from regular 442's. Many were vehicles supplied from Olds Engineering as we worked very close with Hurst at that time.

The "screaming yellow zonker" Rallye 350 was a W45 model and rumor has it that it was supposed to be the 1970 Hurst. Most people don't want to talk about that. Olds Engineering and Olds Marketing were in a power struggle then to control what the packages would be. Hurst sided with Engineering, who controlled all the performance programs at Olds up to around that point. The Doctor Oldsmobile campaign in 1969 was the first major marketing input to increase the marketing of the cars.

Both Hurst and Olds Engineering wanted more performance in the 70 model as not only was the W31 package available for that, but the 442 had the 455 in 1970. Marketing wanted the 350 to go for the less performance image,and more flash and bling like all of them did around that time and later. Engineers had been pulled off the hot rod/performance program as the emphasis on emissions took priority then. They didn't put up much a fight on the Rallye program.

There were 4 cars prepped for a management evaluation before the car was released for production. These were engineering test cars built from regular Cutlasses and F85's and two had the W31 engines and two had the standard 310 hp Cutlass engine. Marketing won out, and Engineering at least upgraded the standard 4 barrel high compression package at that time. It used the cam out of the 442 stick shift car to get a little more performance out of it.

The standard 442's finally used the 455's instead of the G block 400 and it wasn't necessary to have special models like the W31 and Hursts to preserve the Olds image on the strips with the factory and dealer sponsored teams. The low compression change in March, 1970 was the final nail in the coffin for the W31 program and it was cancelled.

Fun, exciting times, but like the endless summer, came to an abrupt end.