[red1975pacer]

Never heard of a 79 Hurst W30 4 speed car. I thought they all came with Hurst Automatics

[455Grandville]

Originally Posted by Ron Landis

I had a Cutlass Calais 260 5-speed loaded! Tilt, cruise, air, power moonroof, reclining seats. Can't recall for sure but think it was a '79. Folks called me a liar until I found a factory broshure which pictured the exact same car! I think I still have that somewhere. Also know of a '77 442 w/260 5-speed. Big car for such an anemic engine. Ron

Friend had a mint condition 76 (442) in high school with that combo; I think the 5 speed must have been weak and although he was rough on it (side stepping the clutch a lot) he went through three of trannys in just a couple semesters.

After nobody could locate another tranny when he blew the third, he offered it to me. I wish I had grabbed it and dropped a 455/4 speed in it; the salvage yards around 1990 had plenty of 455 Olds.

Even more rare than your '79 is a 4.3 V8 diesel with that combo; they did make a few -

Originally Posted by red1975pacer

Never heard of a 79 Hurst W30 4 speed car. I thought they all came with Hurst Automatics

Same guy above replaced his '76 with a 78 or 79 Olds 442 with a 305 / 4 speed combo , but it was the ugly body. Surprisingly, it ran pretty strong for a late 70s car.

[Lightfoot]

Originally Posted by red1975pacer

Never heard of a 79 Hurst W30 4 speed car. I thought they all came with Hurst Automatics

Originally Posted by 455Grandville;

Same guy above replaced his '76 with a 78 or 79 Olds 442 with a 305 / 4 speed combo , but it was the ugly body. Surprisingly, it ran pretty strong for a late 70s car.

That '78 A-body 442 was a whole different animal than the Hurst W30 that came out in 1979. I've seen plenty of manual trans examples of the former.
As you mentioned in reply #30 there is no documentation (outside of 6 Grrrs claim) of any 79-80 W30 Hurst 4-speed cars. And yes, they were 350 Olds powered. The only non-station wagon, non diesel A/G body from 78-80 to get more than 305 cubic inches.

Love this car

[Lightfoot]

I found a thread about a different '79 GP 4-spd that was for sale five years ago in Saskatchewan. This dude came up with a production number of 239.

http://www.turbobuicks.com/forums/pa...speed-car.html

[Lightfoot]

Originally Posted by Mustang_Don;

FYI,
I just got an email from Jim Mattison, PHS, and he had done some research on the subject and found out there were 239 1979 Grand Prix 4 speed made. This included the base. LJ and SJ model. The number for each model was not broke out. No T-top data was available
Take Care,
Don

OK, this was posted in 2006, so evidently that is where the Saskatchewan seller got his "research" in the 2008 'for sale' post.

http://www.pontiactalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=327

Post number 4 in the above thread contains the phone number of last year's eBay car (the black one with T-tops) which may still be in his posession.

[455Grandville]

Originally Posted by Lightfoot

That '78 A-body 442 was a whole different animal than the Hurst W30 that came out in 1979. I've seen plenty of manual trans examples of the former.
As you mentioned in reply #30 there is no documentation (outside of 6 Grrrs claim) of any 79-80 W30 Hurst 4-speed cars. And yes, they were 350 Olds powered. The only non-station wagon, non diesel A/G body from 78-80 to get more than 305 cubic inches.

Love this car

I'm told there were 350 (Chevy ?) powered ones for police car use and some might have been made for high altitude areas.
The guy who owned that 442 drove it to our 10 yr anniversary (2000) and it had been very nicely restored ; I suspect he still has it. I remember him saying it was just as quick in stock form as his 80 W-30 he also owned -

[Lightfoot]

Originally Posted by 455Grandville

I'm told there were 350 (Chevy ?) powered ones for police car use and some might have been made for high altitude areas.

Never heard that, but I suspect it is misinformation that has been repeated. Example; a Z-28 squad car becomes a 442.
If there were any police forces that wanted a '78 mid-size GM, I can't see why they would overlook the Malibu/Lemans, which were the least expensive.
Maine State Police had some '81 Malibus in their fleet but I'm 99% sure those were 305 4bbl equipped.

About 5-6 years ago there was a '78 Cutlass 442 4spd at a classic car dealer in Illinois. (internet)
It was advertised as a 350 (SBC), but no factory documentation, and no mention of the VIN to show proof of such.
The engine photo looked suspicious to me.

[455Grandville]

Originally Posted by Lightfoot

Never heard that, but I suspect it is misinformation that has been repeated. Example; a Z-28 squad car becomes a 442.
If there were any police forces that wanted a '78 mid-size GM, I can't see why they would overlook the Malibu/Lemans, which were the least expensive.
Maine State Police had some '81 Malibus in their fleet but I'm 99% sure those were 305 4bbl equipped.

About 5-6 years ago there was a '78 Cutlass 442 4spd at a classic car dealer in Illinois. (internet)
It was advertised as a 350 (SBC), but no factory documentation, and no mention of the VIN to show proof of such.
The engine photo looked suspicious to me.

The guy with the 78 442 said the 305 was the biggest offered for his car, he had a fetish for the 78 & up Cutlasses.
I had a cop car book and it mentions the 78 or 79 9C1 being offered with the same LM1 (350) as the Impala/Caprice/Nova.
Makes sense, since the Nova was on it's way out by 79 and it was a successful cop car and the Malibu would be the replacement.

[6 Grrrs]

Originally Posted by Lightfoot

I don't know a whole lot about the 79-80 Hurst W30 Cutlass but I would have presumed that option would only be available with an automatic transmission. Was it down graded from a 350 to a 260 by any chance (per factory mandate)?
If your friend's W30 is factory stick, it must be close to a 0ne of One.

I kept tabs on any factory stick cars from that era also, and remember one '78 Cutlass, maybe one Monte Carlo, and no GPs or Regals

Originally Posted by red1975pacer

Never heard of a 79 Hurst W30 4 speed car. I thought they all came with Hurst Automatics

Sorry for the confusion...This car is a Green W30 olds cutlass with a 4speed, not a White 'Hurst' car. IIRC it was a 305 SBC car when new. He still has the car, but hasn't driven it in years.