Two-Owner Original Survivor '65 Olds 4-4-2 Is Too Good To Miss, Even at 63k Miles

Whichever way we look at it, General Motors will get the laurels for creating the muscle car: either the midsized Olds 88 and Super 88 armed with the full-size Rocket V8 from 1949 or the Pontiac Tempest Le Mans GTO from 1964. Most gearheads prefer the latter – short of Oldsmobile loyalists – mostly because Pontiac fired the first shot in October 1963, when the GTO option was introduced for the 1964 models.

Oldsmobile, being a divisional superior to Pontiac (according to General Motors' hierarchical system), didn’t waste any time and came up with its version of a performance-oriented offer. However, three issues hindered the 4-4-2 success right from its inception. Two of those ill-fated reasons were related to the company’s wrongdoing, while the third came from across the road, bearing a blue oval badge with four letters.

Ford. That would be public enemy number one for the 4-4-2, and here’s why: Oldsmobile introduced the new package mid-model-year in April 1964. Unfortunately, the GM division chose the worst possible time and the worst possible place to do it: the New York World’s Fair. The exhibit was centered around a monument of modern civilization – the automobile – and Ford absolutely killed everyone.

Because April 17, 1964, will forever and inextricably be tied to the official release of the Mustang – probably the quintessential American automobile icon of all time. Next to this tidal wave of unimaginable proportions, an optional package for an Oldsmobile was like trying to catch a wild mustang with a cotton candy lasso.

But that wasn’t all: even without this unforeseeable barrier from Fate itself, GM also shot itself in the foot through a somewhat confusing marketing campaign for the Oldsmobile 4-4-2. The press release announcing the hot Olds didn’t say what the 4, 4, and 2 stood for. (By the way, it was spelled without the hyphens in that GM media announcement). Very little promotional literature was published, and sales documents didn’t even include the new option.

To make things even more confusing, the ‘442’ wasn’t identified as a 4-4-2 (Four-Four-Two) but as a B09 (Be-Zero-Nine) in 1964’s options list. That code would secure the Police Apprehender and Pursuit package and its small-block 330-cube V8 (5.4-liter) that put out 310 hp (314 PS). This was strike three for Olds when batting against Pontiac’s GTO.

Because the latter put muscle in the Tempest, with a full-blown powerhouse, the 389-cubic-inch (6.4-liter) V8 donated by the full-size Bonneville and Catalina. However, the GM edict that outcasted any car with more than 10 lbs of car mass per cubic inch of displacement was the line Olds didn’t dare cross in 1964. Thus, the 330-CID V8 was used – with a lone four-barrel carb, a fully synchronized four-speed manual gearbox (the only transmission available with the motor), and dual exhaust.

That is the origin of the 4-4-2 nameplate: four-barrel, four-speed, two-pipe. However, things changed a year later when the 4-4-2 was actually spelled that way and was advertised adequately for what it was: a performance package for the Cutlass. And there was more good news: a new engine with more power – the 400-cube V8 (6.6-liter) firing 345 hp (350 PS): Checkmate, 325-hp Pontiac GTO of 1965.

Since the standard tranny was now a three-speed manual, the 4-4-2’s original meaning was blown into smithereens, so Oldsmobile instead translated the hot numbers as 400-CID, 4V, dual exhaust. Naturally, being the best GM performance for the public (the Corvette was treated as a separate species, so its 375-HP fuelie doesn’t apply here), the Olds 4-4-2 sold well.

25,003 F-85s and Cutlasses with the ‘442’ option package rolled off the assembly lines, more than eight times the production of the original variant from a year before. Granted, the mid-year introduction of the primordial 442 wasn’t a sales booster, but 1965 was a far better deal for Oldsmobile.

More than half of the entire 4-4-2 production for 1965 fell on the shoulders of the Cutlass Holiday Coupe hardtop: 14,735. Ironically, the standard gearbox, the nameplate-defying three-on-the-tree manual, was the least preferred, with just 204 ordered. The four-speed fully honored its eponym at 8,140 units. Still, the big news was the availability of the Jetaway two-speed automatic. 6,391 Olds 4-4-2s came with this option.

Three more body styles were offered besides the two-door pillarless coupe: a four-door sedan, a coupe, and a convertible. Not to take away the merits of these three variants, but they were nowhere near as popular as the hardtop. And there is one original survivor to testify to this statement.

Bought new in March 1965 in Monroe, Wisconsin, the car had the greatest of lives. For starters, it stayed in the same family since it left the dealership. It never had the misfortune of mechanical illnesses, so the engine, transmission and heavy-duty 3.23:1 performance open rear axle still match their casting numbers.

No paint job in nearly six decades, and the 62,760 miles / 101,000 kilometers on the clock (obviously original) left some rust scars, but nothing serious. At least, nothing that can’t be fixed with (relative) ease, making the Olds an ‘excellent restoration candidate,’ according to the seller on eBay. At $14,200, this early muscle car is an excellent option for someone looking for classic fun without trading in the kids’ college funds.