- Investigate the car to see if its worth bidding on
- Hurst Dual/Gate automatic shifter mounted in Sport Console
- Hurst/Hatch a lift-out, smoke-tinted safety glass roof panels
The ’68 and ’69 models are the most desirable
The story of the legendary Hurst/Olds started in during the 1968 model year when a specially prepared 455-cid Rocket V8 engine-equipped 442 model (built by Hurst Performance) was released to the public. These high-performance Peruvian Silver-hued machines really put the Oldsmobile Division in the thick of the muscle car arena and Hurst/Olds cars continued for 1969, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1979, 1983, 1984 and in 1988 it all ended. The ’68 and ’69 models are the most desirable in regard to collectability; however, there’s also interest in the others, especially to hard-core Oldsmobile fanatics.
Doing a random search on eBay
A Scottsdale, Arizona, resident is one such Olds fanatic and while he already has a collection of some of the rarest Oldsmobile muscle cars (including a flawless 1969 H/O) but when he was doing a random search on Ebay one day—and saw a 1975 Hurst/Olds on auction—he figured he’d investigate the car and see if it would be worth bidding on.
It turns out the car being offered had a mileage figure on the odometer was extremely low: just 1,770 miles! After researching a little about the rarity of a 1975 Oldsmobile Hurst/Olds, he decided to click “watch this item” and wait the few days until the auction was to take place, and then try and win the bid.
The Hurst Specialty Vehicle Division
1975 marked the sixth running of Hurst/Olds vehicles and based on the J-57 Cutlass Supreme at an extra cost of $1,095 to cover the conversion costs from the Hurst Specialty Vehicle Division (located in Brighton, Michigan).
There were numerous changes done to the cars, including these comfort, performance and identification extras:
- “Hurst/Hatch,” lift-out, SD safety glass roof panels
- fully padded half-top with closed quarter windows
- swivel bucket seats smoke-tinted
- Hurst Dual/Gate automatic shifter mounted in Sport Console
- performance Turbo-Hydramatic transmission
- custom hood ornament
- Hurst/Olds interior and exterior identification, gold accent striping
- HR70 x 15 RWL raised white lettering radial tires
- 15 x 7-inch Super Sport III wheels, in Custom Gold
Either a “W-25” 350-cid or “W-30” 455-cid Rocket V8 engine was offered in the package, and power brakes with front discs standard.
Optional equipment included: Hurst splash guards, auto alarm system, Hurst/Olds license plates, Hurst/Olds tachometer with memory system, Hurst/Olds Motor Minder vacuum gauge, and tamper proof wheel locks. Two outside color choices (Ebony Black and Cameo White) were available on the 1975 cars, with a total of 2,535 units built that year. Paint breakdowns were almost an even split between the (1242) black and (1293) white hues.
When the time came for the auction, he was on his computer and ready to bid, and he made a strategy to bid the amount he felt the car was worth, plus a little more just in case he was bidding against another Oldsmobile fan. eBay is fast becoming a popular way to buy and sell classic cars, and he was ready! With his finger on the “bid now” button, and with just seconds to go before the auction’s time was up, he clicked his finger (with his best price) and when it ended, he was the high bidder!
After sending the money and getting the paperwork, he was rather excited waiting for the truck to deliver his new prize. Once he saw it, he realized this car was indeed in fantastic condition, like it appeared in the on-line photographs, almost to the point of appearing like a brand-new car in a 1975 Oldsmobile showroom.
Come to find out the car was owned by a Nebraska Oldsmobile dealership and that’s where the car was displayed for 20 years, right in the showroom! In 1996 it was sold to a collector, and he owned it for 12 years before it ended up on eBay.
A road car with some class
The car is a W-25 version (with the 170-hp 350-cid engine) and TH-350 (M-38) transmission. There were 1324 1975 Hurst/Olds cars produced with the small engine, as compared to 1193 of the (190-hp) 455-cid versions. In both cases, the exhaust system consisted of a single exhaust with a catalytic converter and ran on regular unleaded fuel.
A Hurst/Olds with only 170 ponies under the hood? Sadly, yes. You’ve got to remember that this was 1975 and “performance” was all but dead in Detroit, and emissions were a big concern with the factories, mandated by new restrictions imposed by the US government.
Car Craft Magazine did test a W-30 version of the ’75 H/O cars in their August 1975 issue. Coined the “Batmobile” by the staffers, the Ebony Black test car was run down the quarter mile, with no preparation, exactly as it was delivered by the factory, to a run of 16.63 seconds at 82.84 miles per hour. This was a far cry from the originals that stormed onto the scene in the late 1960s to be sure.
But there was “changing priorities” by the time the 1975 models came out, with a eye towards comfort and appearance changes, plus the overhead removable roof hatches. Times were a "changin", and while the Car Craft crew could have loosened the belts, played with the timing, removed the air cleaner lid, shifted the car manually, played with air pressure, it all would be mute as surely the car would not have run any quicker down the 1320 feet that in the high 15-second range. What would be the point?
Oldsmobile was the nation’s #3 automaker in sales and the Cutlass series was their best seller. Convertibles were passé at this time and the new Hurst Hatch gave the Hurst/Olds some showroom appeal, along with the racy visuals of the stripes and special markings. These were not drag strip terrors by any stretch of the imagination, however they were not touted to be. “Spirited and Luxurious Motoring” were the marketing buzzwords in the 1975 Hurst/Olds Press Kit, which translates into: this is not a muscle car, but rather a road car with some class!
