This is a new book written by Dale Smith that is a must read for anyone interested in the factory racing support in the 60's/70's, and some very straight talk about why Olds went down. Dale was the man to know at Oldsmobile and was in charge of the Olds promotion racing efforts in not only drag racing, but the Pure Oil mileage runs, Pike's Peak, Indy and Nascar. Great stories and pics in there on all the topics. I bought a copy Saturday at the Olds meet in Lansing and spoke with Dale for a little while as he signed the copy. He's in his mid eighties now and doing pretty well. He didn't remember me, but we've crossed paths 2 or 3 times over the years and had a good laugh over recounting the night that the Hairy Olds went off the track in flames at Motor City Dragway. He mentions that in the book. Not sure how to get a copy, but he gave out a business card with his email address, so I'd start there: dalesmith442@msn.com
new Olds 442 was to come out....... Don't know if anyone else had heard this or not but the new Pontiac GTO was originally to come out as an Olds 442:shock: I have a supplier whom we deal with who also deals with GM on a regular basis. One of the engineers inside GM had told him that Oldsmobile had done all that was needed to get the 442 re-released to the public:3gears: When Olds found out that they were getting the axe, Pontiac took the concept:af: and Oldsmobile deleted the car out of the computer databaseou:
Re: new Olds 442 was to come out....... I had heard something similar, but it was GM that deleted everything, Olds was down to only a dozen or so marketing people and administrative assistants for the past few years. Lots of others at GM benefited greatly when Olds was busted up. DRCE engine went to Pontiac (along with Warren Johnson and the entire Olds drag team), Aurora engine at Indy was killed by GM when they tried to do it by committee, many others. If you get a chance to read Dale's book, you'll get a good indication of why GM hated Oldsmobile. Here's a quote from Page 40 and 41 where he talks about a weak General Manager of Olds that actually followed a GM edict against racing in 1978 and killed the Olds Nascar Program (which was tearing up everything in 1977): " Our general manager succcumbed to this loosely enforced ban and shut down all racing activities. He did nothing to work around the ban even though the dumb bastard was sitting on top of the racing world with Junior Johnson in Nascar and Warren Johnson in drag racing. He reminds me of the general manager we had in 1959 who shut Olds down while Pontiac and Chevrolet went on their merry ways." "These general managers have the minds of people who get their jollies by using their authority to obstruct and get in the way of creative people with sensible ideas. Unfortunately, they exist in all forms of life and get to be heads of organizations by being oddball personalities. Had a John Beltz (deceased of cancer in 1972), Pete Estes, John DeLorean, or Bob Stemple been in charge in 1978, I would have medals pinned on me instead of being treated like a weak piece of ****." Pretty straight talk. Great book. Talks about the aluminum 350's, too.
THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN AN OLDS?!? I MUST get his book. In fact, I have already e-mailed him, and I copied 4 of my friends on the e-mail. On General Managers, I never worked there, so I'll name names. The GM in 1959 was Jack Wolfram, and he was tough, just like the element Tungsten (or Wolfram, as it is known as in the U.K.) From what I read in a couple of sources, including the book "Setting the Pace - Oldsmobile's first 100 years" he was a real a-hole. But he did like some performance stuff, like the J-2 package and the turbocharged Jetfire. He was GM from 51 to 64, so he must have liked some performance stuff; he probably didn't want to ruffle any big feathers at GM corporate HQ, so there was no "Super Duty" program like at Pontiac. Note that even THAT was shut down in early 1963. The other GM was Bob Cook, who was an Olds lifer but was really more of a production expert. From what I read, he seemed like a nice enough guy, but probably again didn't want to ruffle any feathers. He was GM from 74-83; he may still be living. The decisions by these guys probably didn't help Dale Smith do his job, and so probably pushed Dale's "hot" button. But I would still side with Mr. Smith. One MUST have a performance presence if your division is to be the engineering and technology leader. Plus, I'm more of a "f-corporate" kind of guy anyway. I am trying to imagine what impact a new Olds 442 would have had on the market. It boggles the mind! ou: I mean, Olds (along with Mopar) were the leaders in FWD performance in the late 80s and early 90s. I myself almost went with FWD by ordering a non-A/C Achieva SCX W41 in 1992. I thought about it, then I decided, NO WAY. It has to be rear-drive. Anyway - they had the vehicles! ou: o No:
REO museum? If you don't get a response back from Dale via email, try going through the REO museum in Lansing. I'm sure they either sell it there, or can assist you in getting a copy.
