Sixth in a series of Top 10 Muscle Cars: 1969 Hurst/Olds 455

Nov 21, 2023

I’m going to admit straight up that selecting which Oldsmobile to crown worthy in my Top 10 Muscle Car list was the toughest selection of the entire feature article series. This is because to be qualified for inclusion, the manufacturer had to be fully aware of its muscle heritage, which automatically eliminates what many enthusiasts feel was the very first muscle car ever, the 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 Coupe.

Therefore, my pick for the next Top 10 Muscle Car of all-time is the 1969 Olds Hurst/Olds, just inching out the 1968 version. Both are worthy of the nod, but the white and gold paint and “in your face” performance amenities made the ’69 Hurst/Olds my Top 10 selection.

Before we get into the specifics of our selection, a bit of Olds history is needed.

Ransom Olds founded the company in 1897, and during its heralded 107-year history, 35.2 million Oldsmobiles were built. In the end, Oldsmobile was the longest-surviving American automobile brand.

In 1949, Olds was awaiting V8 engine immortality. This new ’49 Olds featured an all-new V-8 that would run over 140 mph in a straight line, although the only thing the factory cared about was producing a popular, family style vehicle powered by its first overhead valve V8.

Accordingly, both Cadillac and Oldsmobile introduced overhead valve V8 engines in ’49, with Caddy’s being a 160-horsepower 331-cubic-inch design while Olds relied on the smaller, 135-horsepower 303.7-cubic-inch scheme.

Once the hot rodders realized what the new Olds offered, the Rocket V8s ruled the drag strips for many years through the early to mid-1950s. Quarter mile times got quicker as the Rocket V8 evolved, producing 170 horsepower in 1953 before a cubic-inch growth spurt to 324 inches in 1954 at 185 horses. In 1955, the Olds Rocket developed 202 horses, and then 240 in 1956. Before the end of the decade, the Olds Rocket grew to 394-inches in 1959 putting out 315 horses. Be it a dragster, gasser or stock car, Olds was the class of the field.

Further, the Oldsmobile found great success on the oval racetracks, winning six of the first nine NASCAR races ever held in ‘49. The Olds marketing group then utilized a new advertising slogan “Make a Deal with a Rocket 88” in 1950 leading to perhaps the first ever rock and roll song about an Oldsmobile called “Rocket 88” and performed by Ike Turner’s “Kings of Rhythm” in March of 1951.

The 88 nomenclature was successfully used by Olds for its many models including Delmont, Delta, Dynamic, Jetstar, Starfire, Holiday, Fiesta, Super, Celebrity, and Royale. The badge was always numerical, ala 88, until “Eighty Eight” was spelled out beginning in 1989.

Staying with performance, which this “Top 10 of All Time” series is all about, the early drag and oval racers quickly found out that the new Rocket 88 V8 engines were at the heart of a winning combination. Regardless of discipline, from street to drags to ovals, the Rocket 88s were top shelf cars especially when hopped up.

Thus, onto the Hurst/Olds muscle cars.

The engines in the Hurst/Olds 442 style models of 1968 and 1969 were both 455 cu in Rocket V8 engines, but they had somewhat different specifications and power ratings. Normal 442s were limited to 400-inch V8s as per corporate directives, while Hurst/Olds was not really a 442 but a Hurst/Olds conversion finished up out of factory. Like last week’s GTO feature, the Hurst/Olds included some behind the scenes shenanigans going on, especially when it came to overcoming the midsize class “nothing bigger than 400 inches” corporate mandate. The principals were George Hurst himself, Jack Watson a Hurst employee, and Demmer Engineering in Lansing where the Hurst/Olds conversions came to life.

The 1968 Hurst/Olds arrived with either a 3:08 or 3:91 rear gear, the latter being the drag race enthusiast pick. The 455 featured special, large valve D-code cylinder heads that produced 390 horsepower and a whooping 500 lb. ft. of torque. A single and in my opinion small 750 cfm 4-barrel Rochester Quadrajet carburetor fed the cylinders and as for production, just 515 of these initial Hurst Olds were built all finished in silver with black stripes.

The list price of the 1968 Oldsmobile Hurst/Olds is difficult to calculate as it was a limited production 442. The best I could calculate comes in at $4,173, which was about $1,000 more than the regular 442 model.

There is a distinction of the 455s used in 1968 non-airconditioned Hurst Olds and those with air conditioning (very few) of W-45 and W-46 engine codes, respectively. The W-46 had a milder hydraulic cam, C-Code cylinder heads and a smaller 735 cfm Quadrajet. Still, both engines were rated at 10.5 compression and 390-horsepower.

Onto 1969, and the Hurst/Olds really came into its own, albeit not in the high production category as just 912 were ever built. Different in both looks and performance, the ‘69 engine had a 380-horsepower output and a dual-snorkel ram air setup with two big hood scoops that sat way above the normal hood line.

Every 1969 Hurst/Olds again came in one color scheme, but this time it was white with three gold stripes. These gold stripes were then outlined in black for a stunning final exterior statement. For ’69, the list price came in at $4,376, which was again very expensive for its time.

Both 1968 and 1969 models came with the turbo 400 automatic with a Hurst Dual Gate shifter. There were no Hurst/Olds models in 1970 and 1971, and when it returned in 1972 the Hurst/Olds found a low compression 455 under the hood thanks to government directives on the use of lower octane non-leaded fuel and an overabundance of factory “clean air” contraptions that effectively ended the muscle car era.

In 2004, General Motors dropped the Oldsmobile brand due to declining sales numbers. Still, Oldsmobile’s history is full of bright spots as the Olds Cutlass was several times a best-selling model, overall, in the ‘70s. Other notables include a first-ever fully automatic transmission in 1940; front drive “Motor Trend Car Of The Year” Olds Toronado in 1966; winner of the first ever Daytona 500 in 1959 with Lee Petty; numerous NASCAR championships; Olds F-85 with its all-aluminum 215-inch V-8 from 1961 to 1963; and Olds Vista Cruiser wagons with unique skylights that first appeared in 1964.

In my book, however, it’s the Hurst/Olds memories that are still top of mind. As a subscriber to Popular Hot Rodding magazine, I remember their test of the Hurst/Olds in ’69 and it ran 13.8 at 103 MPH on street tires with a 3:91 gear.

Today, there are many Oldsmobiles at car shows and drag races allowing fans a continual association with the brand. As for me, I’ll take either a 1968 or 1969 Hurst/Olds any day of the week, even though that 442 logo standing for “four barrel carb, four-speed transmission and two (dual) exhausts” doesn’t ring true when it comes to the Hurst/Olds. Clearly, there were no 4-speed Hurst/Olds models officially built, which is a bit uncanny as Hurst made a name for itself as the granddaddy of 4-speed shifter linkage upgrades.

Only four muscle cars left in this Top 10 series, so please stay tuned.

Greg Zyla is a syndicated auto columnist who welcomes reader input on auto nostalgia, collector cars and motorsports. Write him at [email protected] or snail mail to Greg Zyla, Roosevelt St., Sayre, Pa. 18840.

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