1972 Oldsmobile 442 Sports Coupe

Ever since the 1911 Indianapolis 500, an automaker had been selected to provide official pace cars and event vehicles to showcase their products. By the early 1970s, this tradition was in jeopardy. After the 1971 race, a Dodge Challenger was involved in a spectacular televised collision while entering pit road on its return from pacing the field after a yellow flag.

Wanting to keep the tradition alive, George Hurst of Hurst Performance Products stepped up with a new-for-1972 edition of the Cutlass-based Hurst/Olds. This marked the first time in Indianapolis 500 history that an automotive parts supplier (not a major car manufacturer) paced the race. In keeping with the tradition, the pace car was a convertible, driven by 1960 Indianapolis 500 champion Jim Rathmann, making his second appearance at the wheel of the pace car.


The 1972 variants, just like all prior Hurst/Olds models, continued to offer a blend of bold muscular styling, sporting luxury, and exhilarating performance. In total, just 629 examples of the 1972 Hurst/Olds were built. 130 were convertibles, 220 were hardtops, and 279 were sunroof-equipped hardtops. All examples were painted Cameo White, accented by reflective 3M gold stripes. All of the cars were given the top 455 cubic-inch V8 engine offering 270 horsepower. They had a W-25 Force-Air induction, Turbo-Hydramatic 400 automatic transmission, and a 3.23:1 rear-axle ratio.

This particular example is an original W-45 1972 Hurst/olds hardtop and is 1 of 220 non-sunroof cars built. It was given a restoration in 2009/2010 and has newer paint and correct reflective gold striping along with all the other correct decals. The engine has just 5,000 miles of use since the restoration work was completed. A set of freer-flowing tubular headers is currently installed.

By Daniel Vaughan | Feb 2014