Everyone knows what the first muscle car was – the Pontiac GTO – but what came after it? What was the second car to join the 1964 Le Mans and its GTO high-performance package to the go-fast table? Oldsmobile picked up the gauntlet and launched the 4-4-2 (under the B09 option order code) in the spring of ’64.
The package was available to all F-85s and Cutlass models before eventually becoming a separate model in 1968. And while the muscle fad was strong in the late sixties, the base F-85 didn’t lose its footing. It offered a heavy-hitting, low-budget alternative to the 4-4-2 and Cutlass S, courtesy of the W-series package options.
The 4-4-2 fans had the W-30 and the W-32 to choose from, and both offered a 400-cube engine and plenty of upgrades to smoke rubber like it was free.
The Cutlasses and the low-key F-85 weren’t allowed to bear fully automatic guns, so they couldn’t be optioned with any of the go-fast parts of their big brother.
But Oldsmobile was smart enough to lend them a special package, the W-31 option.
Introduced in January 1968, the W-31 was offered on two-door Cutlass S models and on the F-85 as an add-on to the 350-cube V8, while the far more famous W-30 was paired with the 400-cubic inch V8 that stood for the first ‘4’ in the ‘4-4-2-moniker.
Naturally, in a day and age when mid-size muscle was the talk of Detroit, with Chargers, Coronets, Chevelles, GTOs, Torinos, GSs, GTXs, Road Runners, Judges, and all other iconic names in the business, the F-85 wasn’t exactly a treasure trove for buyers.
Only 8,440 were sold during the 1969 model year, a lot under the Cutlass’ performance (just under 195,000 units from the three lines combined – base, S, and Supreme).
And only 212 of those came with the W-31 package. The standard 350-cube motor was a considerate 250-hp@4,400 RPM, 355-lb-ft@2,600 RPM (254 PS, 481 Nm) V8 that made the most of a two-barrel carburetor, 9.0:1 compression, and regular gasoline.
A four-barrel carb, tighter squeeze ratio (10.25:1), and better fuel upped the horsepower to 310@4,800 and torque rating to 390 lb-ft@3,200 RPM (314 PS, 529 Nm).
The Force-Air W-31 setup added twin under-bumper air scoops, increased the compression to 10.5:1, modified heads, air cleaner, a high-output camshaft, larger ports (two-inch intake, one-and-five-weights exhaust), low friction engine bearings, and low-restriction dual exhausts.
Whether all that made the difference to 325-hp@5,400 RPM and 360 lb-ft@3,600 RPM or was just a different way of looking at the dyno sheets is another one of the muscle car era riddles.
But the bumped-up engine was right on par with the 400-cube V8 that was standard on the 4-4-2s with Turbo Hydra-Matic 400 three-speed automatic transmission.
Essentially, the W-31 was a W-30 treatment applied to a smaller engine (the 5.7-liter) instead of the regular 6.6-liter V8 that powered the 4-4-2. The humble F-85 (or ‘F-Eighty five,’ if you will) was a surprising sleeper since only a pair of small decals on the front fenders gave away its potential.
The spelling ‘F-Eighty five’ was the official script Oldsmobile applied to the dash and fenders. Check it out in the video below, shot by Lou Costabile last fall, where one of the few F-85 W-31s shines just as elegantly as it did 55 years ago.
The man who owns it is a big Olds fan (he worked for an Oldsmobile dealership back when General Motors still had all its five divisions active) who owned a number of 4-4-2s over the years. His car is a recent purchase – he bought it this year – and it certainly deserves all the attention.
It’s a concourse winner (983 out of 1,000 maximum points at a past edition of Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals) and 994/1,000 at the Olds Nationals.
I’m beginning to wonder what the judges held against it – see the gallery for a photo of the score sheets).
It's a frame-off restoration, but it still has the original owner's manual, protect-o-plate, and warranty pamphlet (with the first salesman's card stapled to it).
And that 350 under the hood? Although it looks like a plain-Jane 350, it has been professionally rebuilt, balanced, and blueprinted. Bottom line? 427 hp and 460 lb-ft of torque (433 PS, 624 Nm).
Because it is a W-31, it has a 3.91 'Anti-Spin' rear axle (which was an option for the M21 close-ratio four-speed manual gearbox).
The standard differential was a screaming 4.33, but a milder, street-friendly 3.42 was also offered. The transmission, too, is the original hardware installed on the assembly line in 1969, since we came to this topic.
Overall, the car has had four private owners before Ed Hettinger (the man proudly smiling behind the wheel in the video) bought it from a classic car dealership.
The Hurst shifter and the aftermarket gauges on the steering and under the dash should be enough to draw attention away from the obvious radio delete option.
The car was ordered by a drag-racing dealer back in the summer of ’69 with the precise purpose of going quick in quarter-mile increments.
That explains the lack of air conditioning and power amenities, like steering or brakes (the aggressive camshaft didn’t allow enough vacuum for a brake booster).
The car has been upgraded to front disc brakes, and Ed has had quite a bit of fun with it. The odometer read 40,664 miles (65,442 km) in September when Lou filmed the car, but the happy owner bought it with 39,736 (63,949 km).
