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Are Rare Muscle Cars Your Obsession? This 1-of-1 1968 Olds 442 Droptop is Your White Whale

In spite of its less-than-cool reputation by the time of its demise, Oldsmobile used to be one of the cool, hip GM brands alongside Pontiac. Coincidentally, that, too, bit the dust only a half-decade later. But there's a certain unspoken hierarchy when it comes to the lauded Olds 442. We think this one-of-one 442 drop-top might just top it.
1 of 1 442 Olds Drop-Top 9 photos
Photo: Mecum Auctions
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The 1968 Chicago Auto Show was a landmark event in American automobile history. Most notably for its gathering of some of the most memorable concept cars of the 60s, like the Chevrolet Aero I concept that inspired the later and timelessly beautiful Mako Shark Corvettes.

It was also the debut of Dodge's Deora concept truck that'd go on to define Hot Wheels for decades. But also for AMC's flagship AMX mid-size muscle car. But mixed in among all of that was this perhaps the finest Oldsmobile 442 ever assembled. Say hello to Mod Rod. Figures as much that General Motors only managed to build one of these things.

For those among you not blessed enough to be raised around a muscle car culture, the second-generation Oldsmobile 442 lived a life a bit like a Brown Dwarf star, a full-sized, 3,400-pound American sports coupe that, over time, grew in size and mass before fizzling out as an option for the small, front-wheel drive Cutlass Calais. The moniker would cease forever thereafter. In a way, that only adds to the allure of 442s from the late 60s.

An allure that has its culmination in every one of this car's 400 cubic inches (6.5-liters), eight cylinders, and every square inch of this car's custom tri-color paint job complete with a contrasting yellow-on-brown interior that screams the late 1960s in ways that only early baby boomers can accurately understand. It hits the Mecum Kissimmee, Florida Classic Car Auction in January of next year.
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