Labor Day weekend: and we’re having weather to die for, as we usually do in late August and all of September. Very dry, clear air, cool nights dipping well into the forties, and brilliant sunny weather, peaking in the high seventies. Mountain weather, I call it. Perfect for taking this ’69 Olds 442 for a spin up in the Cascades. We’re going to slow down our CC labors and posting tempo a bit, and get out and enjoy what I’m talking about, even if it isn’t in this red ragtop. Maybe the big 1940 Buick straight eight instead? Yes!!
CC Cohort channaher shot these at the same place as the other Big Americans we looked at last week.
Both are very nice and very desirable.
Having had a ’37 already, it’d be no contest for me: I’ll take the Buick. It’d be fun to see how much difference there is in a three year age gap. Right off the top, the 40’s had gone to the column shifter the previous year. 37’s still had the long stick in the floor.
I assume the 442 is nice, but I just cannot fathom the appeal of muscle cars. And they’re so bloody common.
Wish you’d have gotten better pictures of the Buick, instead of giving the Olds all the room. From what I can see, that is not a Special or Century. Something about the body is just a bit too big for the smaller lines. I’ll put my money on it being a Roadmaster.
I’m just some random guy walking past a gas station, but a better picture of the Buick? Been there, done that. (The previous sentence is a link.) The Buick has been on the lot for months, this 4-4-2 just showed up.
Thank you. So it is a Special after all. Very, very nice condition. Makes me wonder what they’re asking for it. Surprised that it’s been hanging around all that long. Either the price is unrealistic, or desirability in antique cars has changed a lot in the past couple of decades.
Looks like the windows are tinted on the Buick also… I would love to just stand next to the Fireball 8 and listen to the utter smoothness.
Exactly the same weather we have on the Maine coast right now. It doesn’t get any better. I think I’ll wind up the ’36 Chevy woodie, and do as you suggest. Not the Cascades, of course, but a fine drive around the countryside.
Yeah, this kind of weather makes me wish I was up in Orono visiting the mother-in-law.
It’s hot in Texas so I don’t think I’ll be driving a convertible or an old car without an AC. This is the one time (about 3 months worth) that I don’t care for the south. Give it a couple months and we won’t be using AC or Heat.
Where is that car and how much are they asking? Would love one in decent shape, cheap. Love that Rocket engine sound. Beautiful car.
I’m afraid that “cheap” and “good” are mutually exclusive nowadays….
That is indeed a beautiful Buick, but I have to say that I don’t have good memories of early 1940’s Buick sedans. I suspect that this is mostly based on riding from Tacoma to Seattle with my parents and another couple when I was about five or six. There were at least a couple of smokers, and the car’s ventilation wasn’t all that good.
Then, a good many years later, I remember riding in the back seat of the minister’s then-fifteen-year-old 1946 Buick sedan from Tacoma to Enumclaw. He was not a fast driver, and the rear end had the typical whine given off by not-well-cared-for GM differentials. That ride seemed interminable.
Not that I wouldn’t prefer the red 442 convertible in any case….
That’s it! A ’69 442 convertible like my dad owned from ’72-’80, although his was brown (remember brown cars?). The rocket tailpipe extensions were stolen regularly. If this has the original exhaust setup, meaning no crossover pipe, then the duals sound awesome, like two four cylinder engines in loping rhythmic sync for that signature Oldsmobile sound. If memory serves me, the 400 should be painted gold and the single snorkel air cleaner red. Damn I miss that car…
Wonder what the owner’s asking for it?
What will happen in 30-40 years time, when you don’t have classics like this to look back on – just SUVs and Camrys ?
There are still classics-to-be out there. Remember, in actual numbers muscle cars weren’t all that huge a part of the annual sales total. However, their survival rate is way beyond whatever was the big couple of sellers in a given year.
Not only that, but once the cars have lasted this long they tend to be in good homes.
I think I would take the Buick as well. For some reason, the 69 Cutlass is one of my lesser faves. I will let others do the red muscle car convertible thing.
The swirls in the paint on the Cutlass make me sad.
Pics like that make me mad that my ’72 Delta 88 convert still isn’t running.
@UncleMellow- In addition to some classics, there might stll be a few Corvette and Mustang ragtops, as well as Mercedes R107s, still rolling around.
I know they’re not everyone’s cup of tea, but the 1969 442 is my next to all time favorite, after the 1972 I owned.
I would be a very happy guy cruising around in that Olds…