Sometimes car enthusiasts from Canada and northern American states travel south to Arizona or California to find clean, rust-free vintage cars to ship or drive home.
It seems one General Motors enthusiast did the opposite once upon time, though, travelling all the way up to Ontario to fetch this 1970 Oldsmobile 442 W-30 and bring it back to California.
This car, which will be sold at Mecum’s Indianapolis auction this week, was originally sold by Ontario Motor Sales, Ltd. in Oshawa, Ontario Canada – which is just a 10-minute drive from Oshawa Assembly and is still open today as a Chevrolet and Cadillac dealer.
At some point, this 1970 Oldsmobile 442 was shipped or driven down to California where it underwent a frame-off restoration at Mascar Classics in Costa Mesa. Despite the complete restoration, the car still looks just as it did when it left the showroom, sporting the factory-correct ‘Code 19’ exterior color scheme (Black with White Pearl stripes) and the factory correct white leather bucket seats. It also retains its original, numbers-matching 455 Oldsmobile V8 engine and M21 close ratio four-speed manual transmission.
This car is offered with many original documents as well, including the dealer shipping report, the ‘Rocket Report’ powertrain report and other original GM Canada paperwork. Mecum predicts it will sell for anywhere from $180,000 to $210,000 when it crosses the auction block in Indianapolis later this week.
What do you say, is this Olds 442 worth that kind of money?
Check out the listing at this link for additional information and photos.
Source: Mecum
Photos via Mecum
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Comments
Documenting an Olds is tough since much of the records were lost in a fire at GM.
How much it is worth is what people are willing to pay. The GTO Judge has been setting record prices as well as 455 SD TA’s.
I would never pay that much but if someone can get it then more power to em.
Drove a 442 as my first car in 1980 – thought it was a POS.
Of course driving in 1970’s Michigan meant you had more rust than paint 🙁
Another money grab by carpetbagging ‘collector car’ auctions. Joe-average, everyday people laugh at the ego-driven millionaire bidders at these events; LOTS more money than brains.
I say that is a beautiful car and I wish I had the money.
I had a 72 Cutlass S. Best car I ever owned.
Well worth the price. Any lower and people wouldn’t slow down for slow moving Priuses.
Too bad Oldsmobile is not around today ,we had 14 of them almost every model . they would by doing better the Buick IMO
Cars, at least some, are rolling art. Have you seen the price of “collector” art lately?
Was just a little too young to drive when these cars were new, but always enjoyed the whole era. Best looking cars and colors ever.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. A fair price is entirely dependent upon the psychological connection with a buyer whose pockets are deep enough to pay the bill. I had a couple of personal experiences with similar Oldsmobile’s in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. They were a lot of fun, before catalytic converters and unleaded, low-octane has became the rule. The fact is that today’s cars are infinitely more reliable, but nearly as expensive. Still lots of choices out there!
Magnificent. Can’t think of a GM front end design I’ve liked better.