Here is my 1973 Oldsmobile 442. I purchased her in July of 2000. Parked along the side of the road with a For Sale sign in the windshield, was about as subtle as a frying pan to the face. I've been a 442 guy since I was about 5 years old and got my first ride in a 1970 W-30. After that ride, I was hooked. I had to have a 442. Fast forward twenty years, 1973 442s are affordable, 1970 W-30s aren't. After a very small amount of discussion over the price, she was mine.

The car was not is the best condition when she first got home. Your driveway had a better reflection than the paint. Dirt was about five inches thick, well, I'm sure you get the idea. The pics you see are after a significant amount of elbow grease. It's a good thing I could see the potential under all that filth. The best thing about the car is that it was all there. Normally, vehicles like this have been mutilated. Engine swaps, cheap chrome kits, other assorted bad things...I expected to see the worst lifting up the hood. To my complete amazement, I see the "Oldsmobile Rocket 350" sticker staring me in the face.

I'll be honest, I was slightly disappointed for about a half a second that it wasn't a 455 car, but beggars can't be choosers. There are significantly less than the 9,777 of these built in 1973 still kicking. How many are on this website? Enough said.
Check out those factory Oldsmobile valve covers. Ever see those before? Numbers matched on the block, too.

Once I started doing some research on this car, I found this list of options interesting. There weren't any! Seriously, the only options on this car were the W-29 "442 Appearance and Handling Package",  the special order Omega Red paint, and the SSIII rims. Other than that, this is as base a car that could be built. Oh well, what can ya do? I know! I'll drive it!