Anyone ever hear of an Oldsmobile Hemi!

[340challconvert]

Anyone ever hear of an Oldsmobile Hemi!

 

[sir_veza]

I think the Oldsmobile engineers were experimenting with a hemispheric motor in the early 70's but it never went into production due to the Clean Air Act etc.

 

[Dfr3604cuda]

What's an Oldsmobile?

 

[budascuda]

This is a 1966 Tornado. the only note worthy Oldsmobile ever built.
The first American production front wheel drive car. (Parks was the very first in the 30s i think,)
It was an experimental car with a 425hp motor.
The transmission was a work of art and in 1967 Cadillac incorporated much of design and. the drivetrain (427 in 1967 but 472 in 1968/9 and 500cu.in. in 1970) into the Eldorado and the front wheel drive Eldos were born.

there was a few, but not tens of thousands.
When it first rolled out of the factory an executive of GM said that the car is a gentleman's hot rod.
The ones in black, look like a freshly pressed tuxedo, hot dam........

 

[fasjac]

I remember reading about it but, have never seen one in person.

 

[rikkitik]

View attachment 81908
This is a 1966 Tornado. the only note worthy Oldsmobile ever built.
The first American production front wheel drive car. (Parks was the very first in the 30s i think,)
It was an experimental car with a 425hp motor.
The transmission was a work of art and in 1967 Cadillac incorporated much of design and. the drivetrain (427 in 1967 but 472 in 1968/9 and 500cu.in. in 1970) into the Eldorado and the front wheel drive Eldos were born.
View attachment 81909

there was a few, but not tens of thousands.
When it first rolled out of the factory an executive of GM said that the car is a gentleman's hot rod.
The ones in black, look like a freshly pressed tuxedo, hot dam........

Not too sure you have this correct.
In '66, the Toronado was introduced as a new model (not experimental) for the '67 model year.
Both the Toronado, and Cadillac El Dorado, shared the same platform, (interestingly enough, GM's "E-body"). Both cars shared the same front wheel drive platform through 3 model "generations".
There were literally hundreds of thousands Toronados & El Dorados produced between '67 and '85.
The Toronado transmission was pretty much a TH400 transaxle adaptation, using a HyVo chain for power transfer.
The 1936/'37 Cord 810/812 had independent suspension and front wheel drive. Though not quite 2000 of those were produced.
I'm pretty sure nobody cares to learn any of the above.....lol, just wanted to correct the record.

 

[budascuda]

I own 3 1968 eldorados and one 1966 tornado, I love to learn as much as I can about these cars, .thanks very much. I always get Cord and Park wrong
I meant experimental as a figure of speech, there wasn't anything like it in the market at the time. And a lot was experimented on this car.
The tranny and the final drive (as they called it) WAS a work of art, everybody else had failed to solve the front wheel drive until then.
And as numbers, I think only about 15 thousand of 1968 Eldos were made, that's pretty low, I think, compared to 300,000 Mustangs!.
Now, 1967 to 1968 were the best years of eldorados in my opinion, not even the 1969 model could compare, anything after that was just tug boats.

 

[340challconvert]

Interestingly enough; an incomplete original experimental engine was for sale in 2011 for $19K

Insanely Rare W-43 455ci Oldsmobile Hemi Engine Up For Sale - Street Muscle

 

[340challconvert]

4 valves per cylinder

"This new cylinder head mimicked the Chrysler HEMI design, as such that it had rocker arms that were similar, but the head was of four valve design with two intake valves and two exhaust valves"

 

[rikkitik]

Wow! "Insanely rare" almost seems like an understatement.
It seems like "most" corporate experimentals got destroyed.
The combustion chamber almost looks like more of a "pent-roof" than a hemi.
VERY cool!

 

[sir_veza]

Not too sure you have this correct.
In '66, the Toronado was introduced as a new model (not experimental) for the '67 model year.
Both the Toronado, and Cadillac El Dorado, shared the same platform, (interestingly enough, GM's "E-body"). Both cars shared the same front wheel drive platform through 3 model "generations".
There were literally hundreds of thousands Toronados & El Dorados produced between '67 and '85.
The Toronado transmission was pretty much a TH400 transaxle adaptation, using a HyVo chain for power transfer.
The 1936/'37 Cord 810/812 had independent suspension and front wheel drive. Though not quite 2000 of those were produced.
I'm pretty sure nobody cares to learn any of the above.....lol, just wanted to correct the record.

I'm happy to learn this, it's very interesting and also part of our culture as car hobby folks. Thanks for posting!

 

[rikkitik]

This is a 1966 Tornado. the only note worthy Oldsmobile

Myself, well, I think the 1968 W-31 is a pretty noteworthy car, particularly for an Oldsmobile.
A somewhat rare, big valve Oldsmobile Cutlass 350, with a lumpy cam, that would spin up to 6000rpm (from the factory). Plus a handling package that would easily hang with most "sports cars" of the day.
A "different" Oldsmobile for sure.

 

[budascuda]

Rikkitik, performance wise, with 6k rpm factory engine it is definitely note worthy as you say, but look wise or styling, (just my humble opinion my friend) still similar to the cars of the era, no?
I mean, look at those tomahawks, dam......
There wasn't anything on the roads like that, was there?

 

[rikkitik]

Yes, I would agree, the Cutlass W-31, was just the typical generic Chevelle/GTO/Skylark body shell. Not much special there, but in the handling and overall balance, they did their homework (imho).
Usually, spinning an Oldsmobile to 6000, would get you an engine that would fit loosely fit in a 5 gallon bucket, and a bunch of oil on the ground. So the 350 was definitely a "one off" for them. Just thought it was a cool car. The bigger brother 442's never impressed me much though.
The Toronado however, did incorporate quite a few "advanced" engineering and styling concepts, and was a remarkable step.
Just my opinion.

 

[budascuda]

4 valves per cylinder
View attachment 81922

"This new cylinder head mimicked the Chrysler HEMI design, as such that it had rocker arms that were similar, but the head was of four valve design with two intake valves and two exhaust valves"

I was told by a friend that both GM and ford had their Hemi versions but they were actually wedge and not hemispherIcal.
But 19k is cheap for what it is.

 

[340challconvert]

The Olds and Eldo styles at the time were pretty revolutionary JMO

Rikkitik, performance wise, with 6k rpm factory engine it is definitely note worthy as you say, but look wise or styling, (just my humble opinion my friend) still similar to the cars of the era, no?
I mean, look at those tomahawks, dam......
There wasn't anything on the roads like that, was there?
View attachment 81933

 

[NoCar340]

One of my roommates in Atlanta was a big--and I do mean big, at 6'5" & 400lb--Oldsmobile guy. He owned a '71 W-30 that was built in January of 1970 for a GM executive. It was coded and painted a '70-only color (Azure blue). Everything was coded and documented. He used to wear a T-shirt with that engine and "Hemi-Olds" on the front, and all the engine specs on the back. I used to tease him about it: "If you can't beat 'em, copy 'em!" The first time he went on about being a 4-valve, etc. until I showed him an article about the Chrysler DOHC Hemi which was earlier and, like the Olds, a pent-roof chamber rather than a "proper" Hemi. Surrounded by 4 Mopar-brained roommates at the time, he eventually saw the error of his ways.

The Ford Boss 429 is often referred to as a "semi-Hemi" due to its Hemi-like chambers with small quench areas on either side. To my knowledge that's the closest anyone's musclecar engine came to the Chrysler design, itself not a "true" Hemi since the chambers are not actually half of a sphere. It's got the part that counts, though.

 

[sir_veza]

My interest was peaked! I googled the history of the Hemi back to WW2 when Chrysler developed the Hemi XV-2200 engine for the P47 Thunderbolt airplane.
How The First Chrysler Hemi Engine Wound Up In A World War Two Fighter Plane

 

[budascuda]

My interest was peaked! I googled the history of the Hemi back to WW2 when Chrysler developed the Hemi XV-2200 engine for the P47 Thunderbolt airplane.
How The First Chrysler Hemi Engine Wound Up In A World War Two Fighter Plane

Chrysler had a lot of innovations in it's past. I believe they should be advertised more often.
Plaster the walls in the dealerships, let people know and make new Mopar fans out of the young folks.

(Also, put a bullsy American (man or woman) in charge of
Chrysler)

 

[sir_veza]

Couldn't agree more!
Also all Chrysler divisions had some of the most incredible designers on the planet, especially in my opinion Carl Cameron who designed both the Charger and Challenger.