1966 Oldsmobile F-85 Cutlass 2-Door Holiday Hardtop

Oldsmobile's 4-4-2 was the best-balanced musclecar of 1966, no doubt due to its rear sway bar. But it wasn't short on horsepower either, as 400 cubic-inches producing 350 hp was standard - and 360 hp was optional via the RPO L-69 option's troika of 2-barrel carburetors.

Since the 4-4-2 was a performance package based on both the F-85 and the more upscale Cutlass, the option list provided opportunity to tailor-make a car - anything from a lightweight racer to a nice cruiser could be ordered.

During the model year, Oldsmobile introduced the W-30 package for L-60 optioned cars. Built as Olds' best hope for those who raced on the dragstrip, the package gave a hotter cam and valvetrain, battery placed in the trunk, mandatory close0ratio 4-speed and 4.33 gears, and a special air cleaner with hoses running to the parking light cavities to grab air - one of the first factory 'ram air' offerings for a street car. Only 54 were built, with perhaps 100 more dealer-installed. This unrestored example is #4 of the 54 factory cars.

Oldsmobile continued to offer the W-30 package with its unique air cleaner and tubes through 1969 - the first time 'W-30' was branded on the body. During 1970-72, the option used air induction via conventional hood scoops, and by then the W-30 had established itself as a car with which to be reckoned. However, no later W-30 was quite as wild or as special as the 1966 original.