1971 Olds 442 4 speed Convertible - Telluride, CO

[kar3516]

This car is not mine and I don’t know the price as I haven’t called the owner (see phone number in pics).  
 

Hopefully an interested forum member  will call and confirm whether it is a legit original car or a clone.

I was out hiking with my wife today and we literally walked up on this car by the side of the road.  It was a very peculiar place to leave a collector car.   Interior looks original; car has definitely been repainted.  All panels are smooth and paint is reasonably nice.  Seams are decent as well.  I didn’t lift the hood…

 

[kar3516]

And here is a picture to better communicate where it was parked:

 

 

[Billety]

I like the handbrake. 

[alsancle]

Nice car!!!   Originally sold it Mass it might have rust for sure.  But a 442 Four speed convertible is a rare thing.

[TAKerry]

Nice looking car, beautiful setting!

Only criticism I have is Why didnt someone repaint that steering column?

[58L-Y8]

Go to Telluride, CO for the magnificent scenery and a peek at the lifestyle of the 1%ers, check out the 442 for fun.

[EmTee]

I knew someone who owned a '71 442 W-30 convertible (TH-400) in the mid-'70s.  It was black & gold and was stunning (and fast).  He used to race it at a nearby 1/8th mile strip.  He drove it hard and I had no idea at the time how rare it was.  I read later that there were only 198 '71 442 W-30 convertibles (Hemmings?).  I don't know the breakdown between 4sp & auto, but if this is a real W-30 you may never see another...

[kar3516]

2 hours ago, 58L-Y8 said:

Go to Telluride, CO for the magnificent scenery and a peek at the lifestyle of the 1%ers, check out the 442 for fun.

Yes there are many 1%ers here, but it is the most beautiful spot in Colorado in my opinion and the scenery is ridiculously spectacular.  The vibe is down to earth and nothing at all like Aspen.  Hotels in the fall are very reasonable except for festival weekends.  Many houses in Telluride are available for rent as well as the 1%ers don’t stay here but a few weeks a year.  Also you never know what might pop up on the main street in Telluride…one man’s plane is another man’s camper.

 

 

[kar3516]

3 hours ago, alsancle said:

Nice car!!!   Originally sold it Mass it might have rust for sure.  But a 442 Four speed convertible is a rare thing.

That sticker on the back window says Cape Cod under a shark.  How it got to Telluride and parked next to a late 1800s mine is probably a decent story.

[alsancle]

Which hotel is the coolest one in town?

[kar3516]

1 hour ago, alsancle said:

Which hotel is the coolest one in town?

We have stayed multiple times at The Hotel Telluride; it has very nice rooms along with a beautiful lobby and a great breakfast.  The location is within walking distance of everything but not as close to the center of town as the other choices.  Other good options are:  the 100 year old New Sheridan right in the middle of everything on Colorado Ave (main street); it has a fantastic vintage bar and a great restaurant.  The Camel’s Garden hotel and the Columbia hotel are about three blocks south of the New Sheridan right at the base of the Mountain Village gondola station and next to the San Miguel river.  In the winter these two hotels have the premium location due to their ski lift access.  The Peaks Resort is about 900’ above Telluride at the Mountain Village ski resort connected by the free and absolutely amazing gondola ride.  Both the Peaks and the Hotel Telluride have underground parking; not sure about the others.  A CCCA tour came through Telluride three years ago; many beautiful cars and they stayed at the Peaks Resort.  Be aware that many of these places close down for a month around October 20th when the gondola shuts down for maintenance in anticipation of ski season which opens in late November.  I hope this helps.

Edited August 31 by kar3516 (see edit history)

[58L-Y8]

16 minutes ago, kar3516 said:

We have stayed multiple times at The Hotel Telluride; it has very nice rooms along with a beautiful lobby and a great breakfast.  The location is within walking distance is everything but not as good as the other choices.  Other good options are:  the 100 year old New Sheridan right in the middle of everything on Colorado Ave (main street); it has a fantastic vintage bar and a great restaurant.  The Camel’s Garden hotel and the Columbia hotel are about three blocks south of the New Sheridan right at the base of the Mountain Village gondola station and next to the San Miguel river.  In the winter these two hotels have the premium location due to their ski lift access.  The Peaks Resort is about 900’ above Telluride at the Mountain Village ski resort connected by the free and absolutely amazing gondola ride.  Both the Peaks and the Hotel Telluride have underground parking; not sure about the others.  A CCCA tour came through Telluride three years ago; many beautiful cars and they stayed at the Peaks Resort.  Be aware that many of these places close down for a month around October 20th when the gondola shuts down for maintenance in anticipation of ski season which opens in late November.  I hope this helps.

I visited Telluride for the first time in the summer of 1971 or 1972 when it was still an undiscovered backwater old mining town that was mostly a hippie colony.  Old empty miner's houses were available for sale for less than $10K.  We Easterners were in awe of the spectacular massive box canyon and Bridal Vail Falls.  We had been through Aspen a few weeks before, noted the nascent ski area up on the mountain side, someone mentioned that Telluride would probably someday become what Aspen already was.   Though at the time, it was seemingly so remote, that seemed unlikely.  On the lookout for old cars, we were fascinated with Placerville Plymouth-Chrysler that had a junkyard of 1930's-'40's car visible out back.    Fastforward 45 years, I experienced Rip-Van-Winkle moments when I briefly had a look at what Telluride has since become. 

[kar3516]

20 minutes ago, 58L-Y8 said:

I visited Telluride for the first time in the summer of 1971 or 1972 when it was still an undiscovered backwater old mining town that was mostly a hippie colony.  Old empty miner's houses were available for sale for less than $10K.  We Easterners were in awe of the spectacular massive box canyon and Bridal Vail Falls.  We had been through Aspen a few weeks before, noted the nascent ski area up on the mountain side, someone mentioned that Telluride would probably someday become what Aspen already was.   Though at the time, it was seemingly so remote, that seemed unlikely.  On the lookout for old cars, we were fascinated with Placerville Plymouth-Chrysler that had a junkyard of 1930's-'40's car visible out back.    Fastforward 45 years, I experienced Rip-Van-Winkle moments when I briefly had a look at what Telluride has since become. 

Telluride is hard to get to compared to most other Colorado ski resorts.  I have a friend that visited Telluride many times in the early 1970s.  He said the town had more vacant lots than houses and that you could buy a nice house for $50,000.  The town has a tiny footprint due to the valley floor west of town being largely included in a no development conservation tract.  Values were extremely high before the pandemic and then more or less doubled.  Owning a house in Telluride and only using it one month each year is for the very wealthy.

[58L-Y8]

31 minutes ago, kar3516 said:

Telluride is hard to get to compared to most other Colorado ski resorts.  I have a friend that visited Telluride many times in the early 1970s.  He said the town had more vacant lots than houses and that you could buy a nice house for $50,000.  The town has a tiny footprint due to the valley floor west of town being largely included in a no development conservation tract.  Values were extremely high before the pandemic and then more or less doubled.  Owning a house in Telluride and only using it one month each year is for the very wealthy.

Remote is one of the appeals of that part of the state, though now greatly improved from 50+ years ago, even eked out a place for an airport.   There were probably more vacant lots then where evidence of houses that had been.   My old college friend recalls being offered a couple of Telluride miner shacks on small lots in the mid-1970's, one for $12K, the other for $7K.  Still kicks himself for not buying them.   

 

The Rio Grande Southern railroad served that mining district, was a struggling regional narrow gage by the advent of WWII.  No one could understand why the Federal Government loaned it $65K to keep a failing useless relic going...until August 6, 1945.  Those relics of the 19th Century carried the radioactive ores out for processing that changed the world profoundly. That railroad also created the Galloping Goose railbuses from '20's Pierce-Arrows.

[George Smolinski]

I called the seller. It's a clone. Engine is a 455. Rear housing says W27? The dealer in Needham, Mass. was supposedly one that built Olds race cars. This is not one of them. New front fenders, rear quarters, some mechanicals like brakes, power steering pump, etc. Seller bought it off a collector who was divorcing. Collector bought it in a church auction back east. Lots of receipts for work done. $65,000. And some of you thought $60,000 for the '70 Chevelle was high.

[alsancle]

1 hour ago, George Smolinski said:

I called the seller. It's a clone. Engine is a 455. Rear housing says W27? The dealer in Needham, Mass. was supposedly one that built Olds race cars. This is not one of them. New front fenders, rear quarters, some mechanicals like brakes, power steering pump, etc. Seller bought it off a collector who was divorcing. Collector bought it in a church auction back east. Lots of receipts for work done. $65,000. And some of you thought $60,000 for the '70 Chevelle was high.

The Chevelle was high.  If the car was real with paperwork you would have an easier time getting 90K  than 40K for a clone, regardless of how nice it is.   The guys that have money want something that checks every box.   There is always a market for cheap stuff as most people can't afford really nice stuff.   Then there is the vast middle where there are no buyers these days.  This car occupies that middle ground.

[drhach]

Now that that's settled, what's  a 1%er? I always thought they were outlaw bikers. It sounds like someone else has a new moniker.

[m-mman]

10 hours ago, drhach said:

Now that that's settled, what's  a 1%er?

The wealthiest 1% of the population.  

[Jim Skelly]

There were 110 '71 442 W-30 convertibles built.

[alsancle]

1 hour ago, Jim Skelly said:

There were 110 '71 442 W-30 convertibles built.

 

And a good one is 200K plus, correct?

[Jim Skelly]

I'd say a #2 would be about $85,000 - $100,000 depending on the color combination and options.  I don't know if a #1 '71 has reached 200k yet, but 150 is probable.  These are much rarer than a '70 Chevelle SS LS6.  The '70 W-30 convertible is considered to be more desirable due to the higher horsepower, but I think most would agree that the '71 has a better-looking grille. 

[kar3516]

I posted the car because I knew someone on this forum with the required expertise would take interest and make the call to determine whether the car was legit.  At least the owner readily admitted the car was a clone.  It would have been nice if it was the real thing.

[Jim Skelly]

I saw an ad for two in Hemmings in 1987 and attempted to buy the one in this color (Viking Blue) from someone in Canada.  It was advertised along with a red one.  There was no phone number in the ad, and no internet back then.  I wrote a letter to the address, and finally got a reply from the guy five months later!  As I recall, he wanted $13,000 for it and it had less than 40,000 miles.  The red one was a clone with the standard 455 engine.  For context, I had just purchased an El Camino that year that stickered for $13,789.  I passed on the 442 but still have the El Camino.

[Marty Roth]

On 8/31/2024 at 11:17 AM, alsancle said:

Which hotel is the coolest one in town?

We've stayed at the New Sheridan - very convenient location-

a bit pricey, but this is Telluride

[Shootey]

As an old timer, I remember that 1970 was the last year for lightly smogged GM cars. So 54 years later, does the market give a premium to pre-1971 cars or is it a non-issue since everything gets rebuilt anyway?

[alsancle]

1 hour ago, Shootey said:

As an old timer, I remember that 1970 was the last year for lightly smogged GM cars. So 54 years later, does the market give a premium to pre-1971 cars or is it a non-issue since everything gets rebuilt anyway?

70 is always a premium over 71 as all the HP ratings came down that year.   There might be some exceptions but none are coming to me right now.

[Marty Roth]

On a recent visit to downtown Telluride and Four Corners , Dale stands in the middle of the main drag-

and I’m touching 4 states

Edited September 2 by Marty Roth
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[theconvertibleguy]

That one looks nicer then the one I saw here in town. Hopefully the frame is a lot better then the one I saw.