Oldsmobile used the W designation for its most muscular models, those fitted with outside-air induction, hotter cams, select-fit engine parts, and other power-making modifications. These were the beasts featured in magazine ads of the era as creations of the mythic Dr. Oldsmobile. Our cover section this month includes three of these hard chargers.
The first is a 1970 4-4-2 W-30, arguably the pinnacle of Olds’ muscle might. That was the year GM finally dropped its displacement limit on midsize cars, so Oldsmobile engineers were free to put a torquey, 455-inch V-8 in performance models. The W-30 versions were tuned to produce even more power than their non-W brothers. This particular car not only has that top-line powerplant but is finished in one of the most visually stunning paint schemes Olds offered: Twilight Blue Poly with white stripes.
The W-30 option was new for 1966, and our second car in this special section is one of just 54 produced that first year. This former drag racer has been restored to a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” appearance thanks to a two-tone paint scheme.
Third, we have an example of the small-block W-machine, Olds’ W-31. This one is a Cutlass S model that (almost) exactly replicates the car a sailor ordered while serving in Vietnam. He enjoyed his W-Machine until the 1970s gas crisis put an end to the fun. After years of trying to track the car down, he now drives its virtual twin.
Each of the Detroit Three is represented with features in our Muscle section this month. From the Mercury division of FoMoCo comes a 1968 Cougar XR7-G and the Shelby-influenced history of these Dan Gurney models. GM is represented by a 1970 Pontiac GTO Judge in a color scheme that was never meant to be. And speaking of crazy color schemes, we have a psychedelic day-two 1969 Dodge Daytona that has to be seen to be believed!
For our tech story this issue we get behind the wheel of Corky Coker’s personal 1967 Camaro convertible to test Coker’s new Firestone Wide-Oval radials—tires that give you the vintage look of a bias-ply but the modern performance of a radial.
All this and more will be in the Sept. 2017 issue of Muscle Car Review magazine, on sale at a newsstand near you Aug. 11.
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