Oldsmobile has built many interesting cars during their century of automotive production. The 1901 Curved Dash model got the ball rolling, and today's Aurora is one of the most advanced American cars to ever turn a wheel.

But for those of us raised on large pushrod V8s, drive-ins and tire smoke, the muscle car period between 1964 and 1972 holds the most attraction.

 

And what is it that makes the cars built during that time so desirable? Performance, with a splash of image, of course, both of which were readily available if the car buyer of the day knew what options to check on the order form. Which brings us to the point of this article.

 

We're going to review a few of the more exciting options that, when applied to the garden-variety F-85, transformed the basic commuter A-body into a snarling, asphalt-ripping W-Machine. By the way, not all the performance codes used by Oldsmobile began with "W", but most did, and we'll include the few that didn't because they meet the spirit of the W-codes if not the exact letter. Let's get started.

 

B-09: Sure, start with an option that doesn't begin with W! Since this option code designated the very first 442 in 1964, this is the perfect place to start. The 442 actually started life as the Police Pursuit package. Which, believe it or not, resulted in 10 4-door 442s being built (no word on whether these were known as 4442s). Anyway, what this code got the buyer was a 330 cubic-inch V8 with a 4-bbl carb (rated at 310 horsepower), a 4-speed transmission and dual exhaust -- hence the name (4-bbl, 4-speed, dual exhaust). Also thrown in the mix was higher rate springs, front and (surprisingly) rear sway bars and heavy-duty cooling.

 

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