As a result of the 1973 Oil Embargo, rising fuel prices, insurance rates and stricter CAFE regulations, performance took a huge hit in the mid-70s for all of the automakers. Even the beloved GM A-bodies were no exception. They saw more weight, less horsepower and as a result, decreased performance figures. Nicknamed the “Colonnade” body style, the A-body’s role had switched from muscled car, to personal luxury, in attempt to maintain sales numbers for a changing buyer demographic.
Despite this, there was still a minority of people who longed for the muscle car era, and at the very least, wanted their personal luxury coupe to at least look the part of street burner. However, performance still fell short and not many enthusiasts have saved these cars from permanent demise, so it’s not very common to run across a ’73-77 GM Colonnade A-body these days.
Thanks to the internet, you can have access to vehicles all across the country — namely — cars like this 1977 Olds 442. Up for grabs on eBay and sprayed in the fairly uncommon Lime Metallic and white stripe hue, it still rides on the original matching body color 15×7-inch Olds Rally wheels, with a cockpit that compliments the aforementioned white stripe.
Under the hood, is the small-displacement, Oldsmobile derived 260ci. (4.2L) V8 paired with an even more unheard of BorgWarner 5-speed manual transmission. Though it sound perfectly normal today, a 5-speed gearbox an American car in the late ’70s was an anomaly. Considered the W29 package, only 9,576 examples rolled off of the assembly line in 1977. Being weak on power, the car’s owner has upgrade the meek mill with Hooker headers and matching dual exhaust system for a bump in power and a nice soundtrack. Besides, what’s a 442 without dual exhaust? The current bidding is only at $8,000 as we type this, but we’r curious to see what the final selling price will be. Good luck!!
Rick Seitz is the owner and founder of AutoCentric Media, the parent company to Timeless Muscle Magazine, and has a true love and passion for all vehicles. When he isn’t tuning, testing, or competing with the magazine’s current crop of project vehicles, he’s busy tinkering and planning the next round modifications for his own cars.
