1979 Hurst Olds W-30 Cutlass, it's a supreme G-Body junkyard find of the rarest kind

Striking junkyard gold with a 1979 W-30 Hurst/Olds. What's an unmistakable Oldsmobile beauty doing in a place like this? It's like seeing a tramp stamp (lower back tattoo) peeking out above the skirt on the preacher's daughter. On Easter Sunday, no less. Somebody needs to respect this car's rare lineage, made possible by 'Doc' Watson, "father" of the Hurst/Oldsmobile. I know it's hard to look away when you see things you shouldn't see, especially in certain places. I'm not talking about the tattoo.

The crown jewel in this 1979 H/O Hurst is the Dual/Gate, his and hers shifter mounted in the Oldsmobile sport console. 1979 was the last year for the Hurst Dual/Gate shifter.

Linda Vaughn, where are you?

Linda Vaughn

  This rare rocket, one of 1,165 in Cameo white, is a W-30 Cutlass that landed in a Woodstock, Alabama junkyard sans two gold 14x6 wheels and missing most of its dignity. If you squint your eyes, can you imagine Linda Vaughn, the legendary Miss Hurst Shifter, of tight, gold jumpsuit fame, strolling around this junkyard W-30? The golden-haired, former Hurst spokesmodel would be stomping mad. "How dare someone deface a Hurst shifter knob!" an indignant Vaughn might say, after seeing the stripped Dual/Gate shifter handle protruding through the crusty center console. 
  Thirty-two years and an untold number of abusive owners rode roughshod in this '79 Hurst/Olds. Looking at the aftermath of such neglect is shameful to H/O owners everywhere.

1979 Hurst/Olds rocket has landed in an Alabama junkyard.

Hurst gold is expensive 
  In 1979, the Hurst/Olds edition Cutlass, tattooed with W-30 decals and H/O emblems, was anything but cheap. A $2,054 option, or a 34% markup, was added to the Oldsmobile Cutlass coupe’s base $5,800 sticker price. The W-30, Hurst/Olds option price was a lot to chew on at the end of the disco decade. Well-heeled, H/O title holders stacked the option list even higher, exceeding the '79 Corvette's hefty $10,220 sticker price. Some Cutlass H/Os left dealerships with astounding $11,000-plus sticker prices.

W-30 Olds contour reclining front bucket seats have spilled their guts.

Why limited production of Hurst/Olds?

  Due to stringent EPA regulations, which required certifying engine/transmissions combos with specific models, Oldsmobile couldn't mass produce H/Os with Oldsmobile's largest engine – the 403-cubic inch V8, since it wasn't certified for the Cutlass. This marked the end for 455-cubic inch H/Os (I know, the 455 was already gone) but Oldsmobile found a loophole in the EPA’s plan, which also kept the GM bean counters happy.  

  As long as fewer than 2,500 vehicles were built, any engine/transmissions combo currently built by Olds could be used in the Cutlass. Oldsmobile decided to equip all Hurst/Olds with their 170hp 350 V-8 engines and Turbo 350 automatic transmissions. Not stout by today’s standards but no slouch for late-’70s V-8s. 

  The Olds 403-cubic inch engine, used in Olds Eighty-Eights, Olds Ninety-Eights and  ‘79 Pontiac Trans Ams would have been a better choice for upholding the Hurst/Olds biggest factory cubic inch tradition. The down-sized Cutlass on the G-body platform seemed destined for a small block from the beginning.  

537 H/O Cutlasses were equipped with Hurst Hatch roof panels in 1979. This one was not.

How rare are Hurst/Olds?
   Production of the ‘79 Hurst/Olds was limited to 2,499 buyers. The special edition H/Os were offered in Ebony black with gold trim (1,334 produced) and Cameo white with gold trim (1,165 produced). The rarest '79 H/Os were three built by Hurst Performance with gold-anodized Hurst Hatch roof panels. A total of 537 H/Os had the non-anodized Hurst Hatches. Our junkyard H/O is a solid roof survivor with solid floor pans to match.
  Less than 16,000 Hurst/Olds were built between 1968 and 1988. The H/O option was available on '68, '69, '72-'75, '79, '83 and '84 model Olds Cutlasses. In 1988, four H/Os were special ordered and built by 'Doc' Watson to salute the last production year of the rear wheel drive Cutlass. This is the first Hurst/Olds I've seen at a junkyard. It's a rare find that likely won't last long before it meets the crusher.

  If you see a rare car at the junkyard send photos and info to junkyardlife, email junkyardbull@gmail.com

Squared-off Cutlass header panel remained until a redesign in 1981 introduced the shovel-nosed grille.

Junkyard scavengers, Ron Kidd and Anthony Powell, bench race the specs of the battered '79 W-30 Hurst/Olds.

97,081 miles on the odometer of this junkyard 1979 Hurst/Olds. Dig the push button cruise control switch (lower left) on the dash?

1979 Hurst/Olds were factory equipped with Goodyear 205/70R14 tires.

Rallye cluster gauge option found on all 1979 Hurst/Olds.

Would-be drag racers hammered away on the right lane of the Hurst/Olds Dual Gate automatic shifter without fear of slamming the tranny into reverse at 50 MPH. Been there, done that.

W-30 is the engine option code for Hurst equipped Oldsmobiles.

Hurst/Olds "H/O" sail panel emblems have been peeled away.

1979 Hurst/Olds featured 14 X 6 inch (N78 option) gold painted cast aluminum sport wheels. These wheels were offered in 1978 but weren't gold.

Rocket emblems were black on all 1979 Hurst/Olds, red on all other Cutlasses. This detail may confirm your Olds is in fact a W-30 Hurst/Olds.

  If you see a rare car at the junkyard send photos and info to junkyardlife, email junkyardbull@gmail.com

Six Muscle car era Chevelles find new owner, now these collectibles for sale again

Call it Chevelle-topia for guys looking to score a cheapish '68-'72-style GM A-body. A Birmingham, Alabama wrecker company hauled six Chevelles out of one little old lady's back yard recently. You see, she didn't need them, and Dean Chitty, of Fosters Wrecker Service, was happy to tow them away. I'm not sure what Chitty paid for them, or if she paid Chitty, to haul the six Chevelles off her property. I just know a six-Chevelle deal like this doesn't come around very often.     

A true 1969 Chevelle SS yard find.

  Among the moldy and rusty muscle cars is a red 1969 big-block 396, 4-speed Chevelle that appears to be the pick of the litter. Despite a missing windshield and drive train, the '69 Chevy is a solid project car for someone wiling to replace the floorpans. Chitty was asking $3,500 for it on Craigslist.

  Take a look at the six Chevelles from the yard find we missed. I know, it hurts, but if ever there was incentive to hunt for old cars, this is it.

Fosters Wrecker was dropping off Chevelles like it was the 1970s again. 

Save a Chevelle
  Chitty's assortment of Chevelles have their fair share of rust-through, holey quarter panels, rotted floorpans and leaky rear window channels but the basis for several restorations is possible. If you search Craigslist in Birmingham, Alabama, Chitty may still have some Chevelles or another project, like this Dodge Challenger,  inside his fenced lot. 

  Keep your eyes peeled and you may score the next deal before someone else scoops it up.

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Four round tail lights are found on all 1971-1972 Chevelles yet GM redesigned the front end to have only two headlights. What gives?

Classic '71-'72 Chevelles are finding favor among hobbyist not willing to pay the 1970 Chevelle entry price. 

Yard find sixty-nine Chevy SS without its legendary 396 engine. 

1969 Chevelle SS vin# 136379K478082. 7th digit (K) indicates Kansas, City, Mo. assembly plant.

Chevelle SS steering wheel with basic gauges means you could be looking at an 'SS' clone.

Chevelle parts are piled high amid the '69-'72 model GM A-bodies.

Note the Chevelle's (left) rusty roof courtesy of the stylish vinyl top option. 

Looks like a Chevelle prison yard.

SS stripes can make the crustiest 1972 Chevelle look tough.

A Heavy Chevy? No, just wrecker bait 1972 Chevelle headed for a temporary home at Fosters.

This 1972 Chevelle looked as mean as a junkyard dog.

A brown fender and a red fender give this yellow 1972 Chevelle some junkyard swagger.

1970-'72 Chevelles have an unmistakeable roofline.

Fosters Wrecker is often a hot bed of junktique classic cars. 

This brown 1970 Chevelle is ready for an engine and a roll bar.

Check out the production numbers of the popular '68-'72 Chevelles. Try finding an original V6 1970 Malibu convertible.

1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972 Chevrolet Chevelle production numbers

Your guide to 2-door Chevelles.

1968 Chevelles
  9,733 (V6), 2,919 (V8) - 300 Sedan
  5,661 (V6), 3,769 (V8) - 300 Deluxe Sedan

  4,534 (V6), 6,803 (V8) - 300 Deluxe Coupe

  20,561 (V6), 180,401 (V8) - Malibu

  835 (V6), 6,959 (V8) - Malibu convertible 

  55,309 (V8) - SS

  2,286 (V8) - SS convertible

     

1969 Chevelles
  8,235 (V6), 5,620 (V8) - 300 Deluxe Sedan
  3,321 (V6), 7,181 (V8) - 300 Deluxe Coupe

  14,724 (V6), 286,162 (V8) - Malibu

  484 (V6), 8,443 (V8) - Malibu convertible 

  86,307 (V8) - SS, coupes & convertibles

     

 1970 Chevelles
  6,119 (V6), 8,003 (V8) - 300 Deluxe Coupe

  12,256 (V6), 289,622 (V8) - Malibu

  381 (V6), 7,141 (V8) - Malibu convertible 

  53,599 (396-V8) - SS, coupes & convertibles

  8,733 (454-V8) - SS, coupes & convertibles

  

 1971 Chevelles
  6,660 (V6), 17,117 (V8) - Coupe

  6,220 (V6), 189,970 (V8) - Malibu

  0 (V6), 5,089 (V8) - Malibu convertible 

  19,293 (V8*) - Z15 SS option, coupes & convertibles

  9,502 (454-V8) - Z15 SS option, coupes & convertibles

 1972 Chevelles
  6,993 (V6), 22,714 (V8) - Coupe

  4,790 (V6),207,598 (V8) - Malibu

  0 (V6), 4,853 (V8) - Malibu convertible 

  24,946 (V8*) - Z15 SS option, coupes & convertibles

  5,333 (454-V8) - Z15 SS option, coupes & convertibles

*In '71 and '72 a Chevelle SS (Z15 option) could be ordered with these engines:

  L65 - 350-2 BBL

  L48 - 350-4 BBL

  LS3 - 402-4 BBL

  LS5 - 454-4 BBL  

Source: ajgeneral.com

     
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1935 Auburn 653 sedan stolen from veteran Birmingham, Alabama auto parts dealer

 

Help find this 1935 Auburn 653 sedan. Joe Montabana, long-time owner of Joe's Auto Parts in Birmingham, Alabama, had his rare 1935 Auburn 653 sedan stolen from a residence at Georgia Road and Messer Airport Highway in Birmingham, Alabama on Saturday, September 4, 2010. Montabana and local authorities request any information that will assist in locating this classic Auburn sedan.

  Montabana owned the cream-colored '35 Auburn, chassis number 5359A, since the early-1960s. One of 6,316 vehicles built by the Auburn Automobile Company in Auburn, Indiana for the 1935 model year. Montabana and his wife, Pat, purchased the car from the proprietor of Abernathy Furniture in Birmingham, Alabama. "Mr. Abernathy drove the car to work every day, before we bought it," said Pat. The Montabanas also cruised in the six cylinder, three-speed car for many years before retiring it to occasional car show use. 

  The Montabanas, who will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary this year, have struggled with some health issues, which took precedence over the Auburn's recent upkeep. The Auburn has been stored under a meager shed which provided scant protection for the 75-year-old classic.

  The couple fear the worst but hope someone has seen their beloved Auburn. "I hope it turns up," says Joe. "That was a fine car and I don't want anything bad to happen to it."

If you have any information

  Contact Detective Cobb (205) 254-1782 at the Birmingham Police Department  and refer to case number: 100917765. 

1935 Auburn serial number

The serial number of the car is 5359A, engine number WF7648. 

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1955 Chevy Nomad barn find: A family's painful reminder of loss

1955 Chevy Nomad wagon wears patina of pain. The year was 1977, when a then-21-year-old Charles G. began a restoration of his beloved 1955 Chevrolet Nomad hot rod. Charles removed the Nomad’s engine and transmission as he began to tear the car down for a complete rebuild. A few weeks later, a tragic accident claimed his life while working on high voltage lines for the power company. His family, still reluctant to talk about the details of his death, will never forget the loss they experienced so many years ago. Charles’s 1955 Chevy Nomad, now owned by his brother Rick, remains in a state of suspended restoration, just as he left it in 1977.

Chevrolet built just 8,386 Nomads in 1955.

Buying the wagon
  Rick, Charles’s older brother by 18 months, recalled his earliest memories of his brother's Nomad. “Charles worked at a convenience store in Center Point, Alabama around 1973. His boss owned the Bel Air Nomad with a built 327-cubic inch V8 and a 4-speed trasmission." When Charles first laid eyes on the souped-up Chevy it grabbed the seventeen-year-old’s attention. It’s likely Charles, like many teens during the gas crunch of the early-1970s, scored a deal on the Nomad. His convenience store clerk pay was just $1.60 per hour, the minimum wage in 1973. His boss was more than happy to be rid of the gas guzzling beast. 

1970s hot rod '55 Nomad has seldom been seen the last 30 years.

Hot rodding and street racing
  Fat rear tires and chrome five spoke rims served street racing duty on Charles’s 1955 Nomad. “I don’t believe he ever raced it at a track,” said Rick. For a '70s street cruiser, this Nomad packed the attitude of a boulevard bruiser. Bucket seats, a must-have for draggin’ a wagon, replaced the factory split back bench seat in the Nomad. The upscale styling of the Nomad was turned on its side and revved to wide open with a teen driver at the wheel. There is no doubt that Charles enjoyed wrenching on and racing his Nomad. That fateful year, of 1977, he had begun working on his plan to restore the car.

All Tri-Five Nomads were top of the line Bel Air models.

Parked since the 1970s
  Decades later, layers of red oxide primer and red, white and turquoise paint scab the mostly rust-free Tri-Five. The engine and transmission, removed in 1977, have been scattered into darkened corners of the cinder block garage that has housed the Chevy since the early 1990s. Prior to that the Chevy was parked in a field for more than a decade beside Rick's and Charles’s parents' house. A neighbor, who couldn’t stand the sight of the neglected Nomad, begged the family to shelter the classic Chevy for several years. 
  “When I first saw it, all it needed was a paint job,” said Marvin, the well-intentioned neighbor, “It would’ve looked good with just a little work.” Marvin offered to help move the car and eventually persuaded the family to haul the Nomad into an old garage. Rick has since moved the Nomad and its multitude of parts several times. Each time, keeping it parked indoors.

Mottled layers of white, red and turquoise paint cover the Nomad's dash and steering column. 

Future plans
  Rick would like to restore the Nomad but doesn’t have the funds to “do it right, right now.” Also, you can forget about making an offer on the car. Selling his deceased brother’s Nomad will never be an option. The emotions swelled in his voice when I talked to him about the classic wagon. “The car means too much to me, and I can’t let go of that.” Charles’s family will continue to hold on to his old hot rod and memories of good times. “If I don’t get around to fixing it up,” Rick says, “I will leave it to my son.”

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1955 Chevy trim tag paint code 612 for India Ivory over Regal Turquoise.
Style No 55-1064DF used for '55 Nomads.

The '55s body is relatively rust-free under the many layers of peeling paint.

Nomad parts removed by Charles in 1977 fill the rear of the wagon.

Turquoise and white interior continued the Nomad's original exterior paint scheme.

1955 Nomad doors are not interchangeable with 2-door sedan '55 Chevys.

A neighbor begged the family to move the '55 Nomad  to a garage.

1955 Nomads were the only year that Tri-Five Nomads had completely open rear wheel-wells. Fat tires were easy on, easy off. Try that on your '55 sedan.

Rear bumper was removed when Charles prepared to restore the Nomad. 

1955 Chevy fender eyebrows were prone to rusting way back in the 1960s. This '55 Nomad spent a decade parked in a field before being moved to a garage.

This 1955 Chevrolet Nomad's restoration has been on hold for more than 33 years.

1955, 1956, 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air Nomad Production – Tri-Five guide

• 1955 Nomads – 8,386 total
• 1956 Nomads – 7,886 total  
• 1957 Nomads – 6,103 total

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