In 1968 the first major Hurst/Oldsmobile collaboration vehicle started with a big block powered version of the Oldsmobile Cutlass 442. The final Hurst/Olds built in 1983-84 on the Oldsmobile Cutlass platform was slightly less of a performer, but it came with the wicked Lightning Rod floor mounted shifter that has confused passengers and stifled make […]
This next car sent me for a roller coaster of an emotional journey. It started with a simple thought; Hey, wow, finally a Hurst/Olds 442 with Lightning Rod shifters offered for a decent amount of money…next pic. Okay, the Lightning Rods are in place, red interior is dirty but intact. Next pic, wow, it comes with a bunch of spare engine parts, and even a spare engine block. Clicks next pic…oh…wait, that is a 2×4 holding the torque converter in place where the engine should be…oh. Find this 1983 Oldsmobile 442 Hurst/Olds offered for $3000 in Poughkeepsie, NY via craigslist. Tip from Cory.
There will be a time when the Hurst/Olds Cutlass Calais with Lightning-Rod shifters becomes a desirable classic where people bid big bucks on restorable hulks…but I don’t think we are there yet. However, I don’t like the idea of two Lightning Rod Shifter equipped Hurst/Olds are being left to the elements and arachnids. So, let’s save the oddballs from decay — and this next listing isn’t for just one Hurst/Olds, but it is for two! Find these two 1984 Oldsmobile Hurst/Olds Cutlass Calaises offered for $5000 in Pittsburgh, PA via craigslist. Tip from Cory.
The seller of this next car is asking a large sum of money for a Vega…and I normally don’t like posting cars that are this expensive, but the build is impressive. And the amount of money it would take to assemble your own version of this 383 stroker powered beast would exceed the asking price before you got to the custom fabrication of things like the rear-mounted trans cooler housing. Oh, and did I mention that it has — LIGHTNING ROD SHIFTERS?? Find this 1973 Chevrolet Vega Wagon offered for $22,500 in Millville, NJ via craigslist. Tip from Rock On!
The other week we had a nice Hurst/Olds equipped with Lightning Rods that got me excited because those shifters are the big thumbed-nose to all the people at NHTSA who spend their days trying to figure out how to force people to drive hideous self driving airbag infused bubble pods. I am American, and if I want to barrel down the highway at 100 mph, eating a greasy burger in a styrofoam container, drinking cancer causing diet Coke, while mashing the loud pedal in a V8 powered wagon with a set of Lightning Rod shifters that would perforate a crash test dummy’s rectum in a roll-over quicker than you could say “European headlamps,” — then that is my God given right enshrined in the 9th Amendment to the Constitution of these United States of Murica. Freedom! Find this 1983 Chevrolet Malibu Wagon offered for $10,900 in Rosyln Heights, New York via craigslist. Tip from Rock On!
I burnt through a few brain cells trying to figure out what to call this next car. I know it was the product of a collaboration between Hurst Performance (company that invented the Jaws of Life) and Oldsmobile…but everybody on the internet just calls it the Hurst/Olds, which is not a proper name because this is technically the Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais Coupe (not Cutlass Ciera, that was a front drive pile o junk) with the Hurst/Olds option…so why the Olds name twice in the name? I don’t know and stop interupting me, I was just getting to the part why you should be interested in this car. The Lightning Rod shifters? Yes. We’ve all come to the conclusion that manual gearboxes are superior to autos, but sometimes an auto comes along that is to bizarrely complex that it becomes interesting. Keep reading. Find this 1984 Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais Hurst/Olds offered for $10,500 in Kunkletown, PA via craigslist. Tip from Rock On!
The original Hurst/Olds 442 was released in 1968 with Rocket 455 V8 power and a Hurst shifted gearbox, but by the time the 1984 version was released, the engine had been downsized to a 307 LG8 V8 and it now used a 4-speed auto. Before the purists break out the sharpened clutchforks, the 83-84 Hurst/Olds is still fun to drive because it used a thing called the Hurst Lightning Rod shifter, which looks like something you’d use to arm/fire a giant planet destroying laser beam from your fully operational intergalactic battle station. Find this 1984 Oldsmobile Cutlass Hurst/Olds 442 with Rocket 455 power here on eBay currently bidding for $9,200 with 3 days to go, located in Cleveland, OH.
In 1968 the first major Hurst/Oldsmobile collaboration vehicle started with a big block powered version of the Oldsmobile Cutlass 442. The final Hurst/Olds built in 1983-84 on the Oldsmobile Cutlass platform was slightly less of a performer, but it came with the wicked Lightning Rod floor mounted shifter that has confused passengers and stifled make […]