My father's barber claims his friend has a W Olds (he thinks it's a 31 car) that's been sitting in a field for years. It's a 1970 post car. He didn't know if it was a Sports Coupe or F-85. Anyway, he says it's got the spoiler, emblems and hood but it also has vinyl top trim. No vinyl and it's now in primer. The trim is gone but the holes are there for it. Current owner doesn't know much about it and this barber is a Mustang guy. I don't think it's real because I have never seen a vinyl top or 2 tone W car. Crazy things have happened back in the day. Heard about no stripes ordered on W's and Black cars with black stripes but never heard of a 2 tone W. Was there ever such a thing? This car is not for sale but I still might go look at it. Current owner is planning on restoring it but I have heard that before. LOL
Doesn't seem odd at all. You could get vinyl tops on a W car just like the other Olds's so getting a different color painted top seems perfectly possible since it was also an option on other cars. However, if they are redoing it for resale then they should think long and hard about doing the top in a different color.
100% agree...about the only 1970 that couldn't have a vinyl top was/were the Rallye 350's...Available on all else. The spoiler was optional also on coupe models. We build a few two tone cars with painted or vinyl tops...great sleeper race cars. Most famous of them was the Engineering test car used to develop the Ramrod program and a lot of other drive train and suspension stuff. It was Jade Gold with a willow green painted top. Was used in magazine articles, and also pictured on the Motion Markowitz ad that was in magazines. We also had a 73 442, 455 with a 4 speed, that was red with a white vinyl top and no M license plate....it showed up every now and then at local drag strips. :laugh: :laugh: :bglasses: :bglasses: Very neat unique car...rode in it once with a stock eliminator driver...man could that guy shift...thought I was good before that ride... Copy and record the VIN, also the Fisher dash plate. (Trace over the dash plate with a pencil is the easiest way. That will tell you which model it is (332xx=F85, 336xx=Cutlass S, 344xx =442)..4th and 5th digit gives the body style. (77=post coupe, 87=hardtop coupe)... If it is a W car, I think that would be coded on the Fisher dash plate...they started putting that on the Broadcast in 1970, not sure of the cowl/dash plate, but does have other info that can be decoded... You may get lucky and find a Fisher broadcast sheet under the carpet or behind interior panels. Also could check above the fuel tank for an Olds broadcast sheet either between the insulator and the tank, or usually between the insulator and the underbody...They're rare, but it has happened....sadly not on mine...
Thanks guys. I have only been into these Olds for about 8 years now so in a way I am still a newbie. Never seen a W personally with a vinyl or painted top. Good to know it was possible. Dave, You mention the trim tag might have info on the car being a W. What would I need to look for? We have a few W's and I didn't know you could tell by looking at the plate. Dad's 72 has the letter in the VIN that verifies it is a 30 and I thought that was the only year that a tag told the story. As for finding sheets, my luck doesn't run that good! I find them in GS350's, Skylarks and regular old Cutlass cars but when it comes to an expensive car I never can luck up. I did find tiny pieces of a sheet in the gold 31 but rats had destroyed it.
Neither the Trim Tag or the Dash ID plate will prove up a W car. Nothing W specific in there in 1970. But... >The vehicle ID sequence on the dash plate needs to have an "M" in it which indicates the car was built in the Lansing, MI plant. >The Trim Tag on top of the cowl needs to have "LAN" along the top line which also indicates the Lansing, MI build plant. This is the only plant that produced W-30's and W-31's but they also built regular 442s, Cutlasses, etc. So---The "M" and "LAN" are critical but not determinative/conclusive.
Thanks for the info. I didn't think there was anything specific on the tags. When I went to look at the first one we bought I remember not being able to find anything to prove 100% it was a W.
