Oldsmobile Hurst/Olds - 1968

1968

The first Hurst/Olds was the 1968 Hurst/Olds. It shared its body with the regular Oldsmobile Cutlass and 442, but had a unique Peruvian Silver and Black paint scheme. The Hurst/Olds was powered by a 390 horsepower (290 kW) W-45 (without A/C) or W-46 (with A/C) 455 cubic-inch Rocket V8. These engines were similar to the 400 horsepower (300 kW) W-34 455 engine offered in the Toronado and the 390 horsepower (290 kW) W-33 455 option available on the full-sized Delta 88. The W-45 and the milder W-46 engines differed in camshaft and cylinder head selection. The 455 was mated to a code OW three-speed Turbo Hydramatic 400 transmission with console-mounted Hurst Dual-Gate shifter that permitted automatic or manually ratched shifting.

515 production examples of the 1968 model were built in 2 body styles. There were 51 club coupes and 464 sport coupes manufactured.

The Hurst/Olds was the only GM intermediate-sized car to offer an engine larger than 400 cubic inches thanks to a corporate policy at that time which prohibited the divisions from putting larger engines in cars smaller than full-sized models other than the Chevrolet Corvette. Oldsmobile got around the 400 cubic-inch limit by implying that the engines were installed by Hurst, not Olds. In fact, the special drive train and ram-air package (shared with the W-30 and W-31) was installed at the factory. The cars were then taken across town (Lansing, MI) to Demmer Engineering where the remainder of the unique Hurst components were added. This included the black accent paint with hand-applied white pinstripes, the real walnut dash trim, H/O emblems, and of course the Dual Gate shifter and mini-console.