Origin of The 442 Name
A common misconception is that designation "442" referred to the displacement of the engine in cubic inches. The name 4-4-2 came from the attributes of the 1964 model:
1964 (Original meaning)
4: Four Barrel Carburetor
4: Four On the Floor
2: Dual Exhausts
1965 (First year of automatic and three speed manual transmission option on 442)
4: 400 Cubic Inch Displacement
4: Four Barrel Carburetor
2: Dual Exhaust
With the 4-4-2 moniker established, later editions did not officially follow any adherence to features stemming from the numerals "4-4-2". 1965 was the last year Oldsmobile officially defined 442 designation. In the models years after 1965, any connection between the 442 name and the features was just coincidental.
Read more about this topic: Oldsmobile 442
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