1970 W-30 convertible

[StealthBird]

I saw this while browsing the Hemmings site, and it looks very interesting. 1 of 264 made, and very complete.

http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/carsforsale/oldsmobile/442/1571820.html

[PeteLeathersac]

Cool car and story but other than parts w/ the car is the W30 confirmed w/ any paperwork etc?
Dealer info shown doesn't appear to include it?
VIN 344670M231306

<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/hmmm.gif
~ Pete

[Canuck]

Cool car and history.

[DW31S]

Kinda resembles the former &quot;Paul Mayo&quot; race car now owned and restored to original by Ron McHugh.

[442w30]

Made Hemmings &quot;Find of the Day&quot; too!

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2013/...0-2/?refer=news (http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2013/05/06/hemmings-find-of-the-day-1970-oldsmobile-4-4-2-w-30-2/?refer=news)

[Fast67VelleN2O]

Isn't that WAY under the money for a W30 vert?

[DW31S]

There are some definite good and bad points about this one. Most I guess, well maybe some, outweigh the others. The colors, while rare are not the most desirable. The Pace Car history adds to the history, but the wreck (totaled at on point) and the 150,000 miles sure don't. I am not knocking the guys car at all, no one loves Oldsmobiles more than I do, but if that car requires any major restoration work, (the seller admits to some battle wounds), then you can become upside down REAL QUICK. A good restoration shop would probably want $50-60k to do that car, then your in it for a buck and a half, and IMO, would struggle to sell it recouping your investment. PLUS, The major part of the W-30--THE ENGING-- is gone. If you research what restored, matching numbers, freshly restored '70 W-30 AUTOMATICS with questionable paperwork are selling for, I think you will see my point. The audience of lookers is huge, the amount of interested, qualified, buyers isn't. I wish the seller all the best and hope the car does go to the right person.

[442w30]

The #match engine is still between the wheelwells, per the ad's description. Not sure where you got that idea.

[HO455]

Hey Mike-cool W-30 with an interesting history &amp; color combo. Maybe the Thornton’s will pick it up and run it through the next Barrett-Jackson auction. <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/wink.gif

[DW31S]

Earlier in the ad it clearly states the &quot;F&quot; heads were missing, carb., distributor, were from 1973, and had headers. It does say matching block. Those are pricey, and an important part of a W-30 package. Later in article descriptions says &quot;F&quot; heads and exhaust manifolds were found. No mention of correct and &quot;possibly correct dating&quot; on those items. Nowhere did I read that carb. and distributor were found.
I am not knocking this car , and it is truly a rare car. However, IMO, unless the originally missing items that were found are &quot;correctly dated&quot;, and a &quot;correctly dated and coded&quot; carb. and dist. are located and installed, the car can't be a &quot;born with&quot; drivetrain. In the world if $150-250k Oldsmobiles, if ALL the important items are not present and installed, the buyers will balk. Will they WALK? Maybe not, but again IMO, without those &quot;W&quot; specific items the knowledgable, qualified, buyers will shy away from an &quot;over the top&quot; sale.
If it were mine, I'd hunt down those &quot;tough&quot; parts, if only to add to the list of &quot;W&quot; stuff that IS there.
No argument here, just my take on this car.i

[442w30]

Per the ad:

- Correct F-heads, OLDSMOBILE 455 aluminum intake, and &quot;W &amp; Z&quot; manifolds are on the motor

- Correct white/blue/blue/blue scheme with original factory-installed/matching engine and OW transmission

[DW31S]

I am not arguing here. Please don't think I am. But, no mention of dates on those parts and the carb. and distributor are missing. I would love to see the car restored--- it absolutely deserves to be. All I'm saying is that some important, &quot;W&quot; specific parts aren't present and some that are COULD have wrong dates. I would love to see the sell and be restored by a Level One or Thornton type resto. I don't have a spare $150k laying around or I'd buy it and do the car. I could have the missing parts in a few phone calls, but my pocket would be a lot lighter. We're all still friends!

[442w30]

Hey no worries. <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif

But most of the important (and pricey) W-items are there.

[DW31S]

Hey 442W30, have you ever seen the car I referred to in my earlier post-the ex Paul Mayo race car? That car is now owned by a friend of mine named Ron McHugh and his restored to a very high level. The reason I ask, is because the colors on this car and Ron's are somewhat unique. Ron's car has the blue stipe, which like the one pictured here has been the topic of several conversations. Ron's car is a stick, and has a history of NHRA titles and records. There can't be many '70 W-30 Conv. with that color scheme. It would be neat to have them both done up and shown together. I am unsure about the Dover Pace Car history here. I wonder how hard it would be to research that part of this car's past, and duplicate the lettering. Pricing on these upper-level cars can be unsure to say the least. Do you restore it as new? Do you restore it as raced or paced in this case? I own an original dealer raced car (pic below) that is not restored (and doesn't need to be) so that question is one that I won't have to ask myself.
The car here does deserve to be restored to a high level, and it is a special car in many ways. I wish good luck to the seller and the next owner/caretaker.

[442w30]

Ron's car has a black top, interestingly enough. Mine is blue.

There was another white/blue car on Hemmings last year although I don't remember if it was documented - I think it was. It was based around West Chester, PA. That makes three I know of. For some reason, Azure Blue seems to be more popular with the blue stripes.

Bowers Signs has no photos of my car and the photo you've seen is the only one I've found so re-lettering it would be a difficult undertaking.

[robber6910]

Not sure if it was the real deal but I passed a body shop down in the Bronx yesterday that had a '70 vert with 442 and W30 badges on it. Car was sky blue w/wht top. Had gauges mounted through the front hood and old school crager ss wheels on it with fattie's on the back. Overall looked like a nice ride. Would've loved to jump out and take a closer look but was on my way to pick up my kids.

[442w30]

l know there was a car from Queens in a similar color combo that appeared on eBay last year.

[442w30]

Now on eBay!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1970-Olds...#ht_2432wt_1182 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1970-Oldsmobile-442-W-30-convertible-DOCUMENTED-DOVER-DOWNS-PACE-CAR-/281111019095?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&amp;hash=item417385be57 #ht_2432wt_1182)

[DW31S]

Seems like its stuck at $50k.

[442w30]

With the holiday and last-min bids, we'll see. Either it'll push or it won't, but it's worth more than 50.