Oldsmobile does not build many cars like the Oldsmobile 442: a 2-door coupe / 2-door convertible / 2-door sedan / 4-door sedan with 5.4 , built from 1964 to 1967 in the decade that gave the world the pony car and the mid-engined supercar.
Where it came from
The Oldsmobile 4-4-2 is a muscle car produced by Oldsmobile between the 1964 and 1987 model years. Introduced as an option package for US-sold F-85 and Cutlass models, it became a model in its own right from 1968 to 1971, spawned the Hurst/Olds in 1968, then reverted to an option through the mid-1970s. The name was revived in the 1980s on the rear-wheel drive Cutlass Supreme and early 1990s as an option package for the new front-wheel drive Cutlass Calais. The "4-4-2" name (pronounced "Four-four-two") derives from the original car's four-barrel carburetor, four-speed manual transmission, and dual exhausts.
It was originally written "4-4-2" (with badging showing hyphens between the numerals), and remained hyphenated throughout Oldsmobile's use of the designation. Beginning in 1965, the 4-4-2s standard transmission was a three-speed manual along with an optional two-speed automatic and four-speed manual, but were still badged as "4-4-2"s. Because of this change, from 1965 on, according to Oldsmobile brochures and advertisements, the 4-4-2 designation referred to the 400 cubic inch engine, four-barrel carburetor, and dual exhausts. By 1968, badging was shortened to simply "442", but Oldsmobile brochures and internal documents continued to use the "4-4-2" model designation.
Under the skin
Under the skin sits 5.4 other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. The gearbox is a 4-speed manual / 3-speed manual / 2-speed Jet-Away automatic / 3-speed Turbo Hydramatic automatic. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
Where it sits in Oldsmobile's history is not in doubt: it was built at Lansing, Michigan. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Plymouth Barracuda, the Porsche 911, the Ford Transit. Nearby in the Oldsmobile catalogue sit the Oldsmobile 88 and the Oldsmobile 98.
The money
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Oldsmobile 442 has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.