Four-Speed Project: 1965 Oldsmobile 4-4-2
For your consideration: The 1964-1967 General Motors A-Body is the most versatile collector car on the market. Allow me to explain. Four different GM divisions offered their own versions of the platform that had their own distinctive flavors. They all share general suspension components, so improving ride or handling is easy through the aftermarket. They will easily accept any common GM engine. They are a trim 200 or so inches in length. They are practical for daily driving or drag racing. The base models (especially Cutlasses and Skylarks) are relatively affordable. Some, such as this ’65 Oldsmobile 4-4-2 on Craigslist in Puyallup, Washington, are sought-after muscle cars worthy of complete restorations.
The first 4-4-2 of 1964 had a 330 cubic-inch small-block Oldsmobile, and the numbers “4-4-2” indicated that buyers got a four barrel, a four speed, and two exhaust pipes. The GTO cleared a path for Oldsmobile to break GM’s tacit corporate rules and stuff a 400 under the hood for ’65, and it produced 345 big-block horsepower, which was competitive with the GTO’s 389. Certainly a good number of 4-4-2s had the standard Jetaway two-speed automatic, but this one was clearly ordered for fun with a four speed and no air conditioning. Because the four-speed transmission was no longer mandatory, the “4” in 4-4-2 was said to denote “400 cubic inches.”
The seller says that the 65,000-mile car was recently purchased from its original owner and comes with some extra parts. The floorpans are good but it is not a rust-free car. I guess it all depends on your standards: If you’re from the Midwest, it’s probably a rust-free car; if you’re from the Southwest, probably not. This is the only picture of the undercarriage that the seller has included in the advertisement, so an in-person look might not be a bad idea.
The interior has seen better days, but the Hurst shifter, steering-column-mounted tach, and post-sedan bodystyle might hint at the car’s primary intent back in the day. The exterior color was apparently Mist Blue, so it has clearly had at least one repaint.
My gut is telling me that this is not the kind of car for a will-it-run-style refurbishment. The rear window surround will most likely need some sheetmetal work, and it’s shabby enough that it warrants some form of restoration. It most likely has an interesting past; will you be a part of its future? The seller has unfortunately left us grasping for a value, asking for a “nice offer” but “no ridiculous offers.” What that means is anyone’s guess, but thanks to T.J. for sending this old bruiser to Barn Finds.
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Comments
Great seller, he won’t name a price and couldn’t be bothered to push it out if the storage unit to take more and better pictures.
When sellers won’t name a price in their ad 9 times out of 10 they are fishing. Cars like this aren’t hard to research, pick a number, even if it’s high, it’s a starting point. If a seller places and ad with an asking price of “$1” or “make offer” will be quick to turn down an offer they don’t like, they are playing games, they are more interested in not leaving money on the table than selling a car and rarely give potential buyers a straight answer when it comes to what they’ll take.
Steve R
It doesn’t matter how much that I like a car, if the seller posts it for $1 then I won’t reply to their ad.
Tony, same here.
It’s becoming common to come across this pricing strategy at swapmeets, flea markets and garage sales. If it looks like a “professional” vendor I walk away, if it’s someone that looks like they were cleaning out their garage and might not have done any research I’ll often throw out a price, those sellers are often reasonable.
Steve R
Hey Steve I’m the seller of the car found out it was posted here from another interested buyer. I put a dollar not because I’m fishing for a sale it’s simply because I am not sure what the market is but if you’d like to know my price I’d be glad to entertain everyone guess. Between 4500-5k was the price to buy it and yes my pictures aren’t great that’s because I had limited time to push it out of the storage myself and the money was to pay the bills for my mothers health so thank you for comments you sure know the reasons.
Real Sherlock Holmes, you are
@Don – Why don’t you send it in so we can auction it for you?
I had a 65, 4 speed 442. I went to trade it and they didn’t want it because it didn’t have power brakes or power steering. I told them that they were right but it did have a lot of power to the rear wheels.
Is the word “fli**er” banned now? Is that like calling someone a “single cat lady”?
Jeez… how thin-skinned of the car world.
Let’s not forget the Sellers who raise the price on a desirable classic once someone takes the time to actually go see see it. A while back, I saw where a guy posted his experience after going to see a ’69 Camaro. I don’t remember if it was an “SS” or ’69 Z/28, but it was a factory four-speed and unmolested. Once he arrived at the Seller’s location, he was looking the car over and sitting in the driver’s seat looking over the interior. That’s when the Seller informed him the Camaro was $5,000 more than the price it was listed for and that he had told him over the phone. I presume he left, but I don’t remember if he said one way or the other.
The friend across the alley, whose brother had the ’64 XL R code, his 1st car was a ’65 ,442 like this. I don’t remember it having a 400, or a 4 speed, or dual exhaust, for that matter but was badged as a 442. It had 5, 442 badges, grill, trunk lid, both sides and one on the dash. Otherwise, it was a basic Cutlass. We thought it was a pretty hoaky idea, thinking this could compete with a GTO. After all, it was still an Oldsmobile. To be clear, these were no slouch. It could do 0-60 in 7.8 seconds, and the 1/4 mile at about 14.5 seconds at 89 mph. Slicks and headers got you into the 13s, automatics about a second slower, so on par with a GTO, but they sold 3 times as many GTOs( 75,000 compared to 25,000 442s) and while I read the 442 option only added $136, at about $2700, most went with the GTO.
Again, if this car was a lot cleaner, someone might go for it, but as is, I just don’t see a big future for these cars that need a total restoration.
I think my ’65 Skylark is reasonable at asking price of $15,900.
Very nice, SG!
And better looking.
Sweet silhouette 👌
I had a 65 442 with a 4 gear and loved it. It was fast and handled well other than the stopping situation. None of the 65 muscle cars had much stopping power but they did have the go.
This one would probably be a nice project but I think the owner is looking for a lot of money and the distance from me is a deal breaker.
I really like the 65 442. I’ve had a few 67 442s. This car needs a a lot of work and maybe a few more pictures before I would ever consider buying it. And without the price I would never consider it.
I had a 65 two door post like this one. My car was a 2speed,Powerglide.
When pushed down to passing gear it would nearly break your neck. I believe most of these were 2dr.hardtops or convertibles . Too old to start a project like this needs but sure would like to have another. Maybe next time around!