top of page
Writer's pictureMitchell O'Brien

If I Could Be Any Car, I'd Be An Oldsmobile



But Mitchell..Lamborghini's, Ferrari's, Bugatti's, and McLaren's are all on the list of options here. Why an old frumpy Oldsmobile?


I'd like to take a moment to introduce to you the 1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme 442 W30. Featuring the fiberglass dual ram air hood, a performance-tuned 4 barrel carburetor, an earth-rumbling camshaft, and newly introduced lightweight aluminum intake manifold. The W30 model was also born with freshly designed high-performance cylinder heads. These beautifully rageful engine upgrades were proudly mounted on the absolute BEAST known as the Olds 455 rocket motor. Which, with the help of some well-engineered drivetrain components, launched this legend of a muscle car down the quarter mile in under 14 seconds and at over 100 mph. Something rather impressive in the year 1970, especially right off the factory line.


Now the 442 W30 was born into the same generation as the iconic Chevrolet Chevelle SS boasting a high-performance cowl inducted 454 cubit-inch monster under the hood, The Boss Mustang 302 with its lightweight(for the time) design and 302 cubit-inch motor that would one-day birth the 5.0 Mustangs so many love to this day, and the Hemi Cuda Plymouth captivated so many Mopar fans with. All throwing down very similarly impressive numbers on the track while standing proud for all their respective brands and fanbases.


"Elegance meets aggression: That’s American muscle." -Unknown

The beautiful things a 442 W30 brought to the table was that it featured every luxury option available at the time, in a world where all its competitors were shaving these options for their performance feigning consumers. All the while, the Oldsmobile carried all these extras down the track with ease, courtesy of the 455 cubit-inch ground-shaking powerplant hiding beneath those gorgeous hood scoops. With only around 3000 of the W30 option produced in 1970, they have become comparable to unicorns in the muscle car-loving world.


This automobile really was a thrilling masterpiece produced during the era of roller derby and bell-bottom pants. Despite the questionable fashion choices being made at the time of its birth..the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme 442 W30 is rolling around with something to teach us. Maybe "having class while getting @$$" isn't the best way to say it anymore..I'll put it this way: You can have that raw power and strength with the duality of beauty and finesse. That's a balance that's attractive to me for sure(read more about balance here), and I feel I can pull an analogy for healthy masculinity and even my journey through recovery out of there as well.


And that folks is why if I could be any car, I'd choose the 1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme 442 W30.


(P.S. The 2024 Maserati GranTurismo is a very close second)


28 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments

Rated 0 out of 5 stars.
No ratings yet

Add a rating
bottom of page