Regular Jay Leno’s Garage viewers are probably accustomed to the Oldsmobile 442, as a well-preserved 1966 442 beforehand appeared on the present. This time, although, Leno is that includes a really completely different tackle the 442 nameplate.
The 1991 Oldsmobile Quad 442 W-41 was one of many final makes an attempt to deliver again the hallowed nameplate after its heyday of the Nineteen Sixties. Like the unique 442, the Quad 442 was a efficiency model of a extra humble mannequin, on this case the Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais. Oldsmobile didn’t stuff a strong V-8 below the hood, as within the authentic 442, although, as Jeff Szafraniec, proprietor of the W-41 highway automotive and race automotive proven within the episode, explains.
In the late Eighties, General Motors started working with exterior engineering corporations to develop a high-performance 4-cylinder engine for its many small front-wheel-drive fashions. The outcome was the Quad 4 dual-overhead cam inline-4, a 2.3-liter model of which powers the Quad 442.
While that will not sound as thrilling because the V-8 engines that powered early 442s, the Quad 4 has a formidable resume. GM put in a twin-turbocharged model—producing round 1,000 hp—within the first-generation Oldsmobile Aerotech prototype, which four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt drove to a world closed-course pace report of 257.123 mph at a Texas check monitor in 1987.
Around the identical time, GM additionally started constructing Quad 4-powered Calais race vehicles for SCCA competitors. The SCCA didn’t like groups racing—and successful—with a non-production engine, which is what truly prompted GM to construct a Quad 4 Calais highway automotive, Szafraniec explains within the video.
The outcome was the Quad 442, which launched in W-40 type (referencing the W-30 code used on some earlier variations of the 442) for the 1990 mannequin yr, with the W-41 following for 1991. The W-41 produced 190 hp, up from the W-40’s 180 hp. It additionally received completely different suspension tuning and completely different gearing for its 5-speed handbook transmission (no computerized was supplied). Racing variations received a solid crankshaft and titanium connecting rods, a 240-hp output, and lacked creature comforts like air-con.
The one-year-only W-41 is among the rarest 442 fashions, with solely about 200 constructed. All vehicles had been inbuilt March 1991, however the race automotive proven right here wasn’t delivered to its group till 1992, based on Szafraniec, indicating some vehicles sat on supplier heaps for awhile. There was admittedly loads happening performance-wise at GM in 1991, with all the things from the C4 Corvette ZR-1 and GMC Syclone competing for lovers’ consideration.
It might not have made a lot of an impression when new, however the Calais-based 442 continues to be a captivating a part of the nameplate’s historical past. Watch the complete video for extra particulars on this 4-cylinder 442.
This article was initially printed by Motor Authority, an editorial accomplice of ClassicCars.com.
