OLDSMOBILES FTW!

No, they did. I don't remember exactly how it worked, but I believe you pulled a stick for each gear, like a Lenco.

It's a normal PRND321 gearbox, with 1 and 2 on separate levers instead of below D on the normal gate.
 
[video=youtube;-ZmGZnmvSCM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZmGZnmvSCM[/video]

Something is wrong when the British provide a simpler solution. Jag had sequential shifting options on their automatics.
 
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My SC400 had something that worked like a ratchet shifter. You would start with the trans in L, shift up to 2, and then put it in drive.
 
Something is wrong when the British provide a simpler solution. Jag had sequential shifting options on their automatics.

Lightning Rods were only put in the '83 and '84 Hurst/Oldses to showcase the design of Hurst's new drag racing shifter. All the previous models came with dual-gates.
 
How has this not been posted yet?



400hp on the front wheels in 1966. Gross HP I'm sure, but still. It needs to be from 1966 because popup headlights. The newer ones look all wrong.
 
And it had little torque steer to boot.
 
Mmm, Toronados.
 
How has this not been posted yet?



400hp on the front wheels in 1966. Gross HP I'm sure, but still. It needs to be from 1966 because popup headlights. The newer ones look all wrong.

I love those old Toronados. A neighbour of mine used to have a bunch of old Oldsmobiles, including my family's old '78 Cutlass wagon. He also had an old Toronado in light green. He had it for sale for a long time, but unfortunately it was already gone by the time I was old enough to drive.
 
Nah, some old fart probably bought letting sit in his garage never to be driven again. Fuck that.
 
I've always loved Oldsmobiles, at least the older RWD ones. I owned this '84 Cutlass a couple years ago:
IMG_20110930_161242.jpg


Had a mild 350, TH350 with a shift kit, 3.23 limited-slip rear end. Glorious sounding long-tube headers and dual 2.5" exhaust. Bought it cheap with the intent to fix some minor mechanical issues then sell it again. Wound up driving it for several months before parting with it and I wish I'd never sold it.

More recently I drove this boat around for a month:
IMG_20120507_122429_zps91402017.jpg


Bone-stock '73 Olds 88. 455, TH400, probably 2.73 rear end. Exterior is a little rough but the interior is near perfect. Just floated down the road. One of my coworkers lent it to me for a few weeks while I was between cars. I'm still trying to convince him to sell me the thing. It's really nothing special, but it gets a lot of attention.

That guy is a bit of an Olds nut. He's also got an early '80s Caprice with a 450hp 455, built to handle as well as a land yacht can. That build was practice for his next project, an '80s Cutlass with a 700hp Olds 455. He's currently got the chassis and short-block for that car together. Probably be years before he's done with it though.

Probably not that drastic of a change. Maybe more like 300hp. Consider that they did drag 4,500lb FWD Toronado's to 60mph in around 7 seconds. A bit faster than a late-model 250hp CVPI that weighs 500lbs less.
 
Yeah, they HP drop would not be that drastic.
 
In 1972, GM started using net ratings to measure their hp. The 455 in the Toro was rated at 250hp, down from 350 the year before. (It was rated at 375hp in 1970, but compression ratios were lowered starting in '71.) So, yeah - 285-300hp net, roughly.

The key figure in acceleration, though, is torque. That ranged from 475 lb-ft to 510 lb-ft. That would have dropped by a similar amount - say, 375-410 lb-ft.
 
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