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im trying to find some information on a vehicle that was given to my uncle. hes trying to sell the car now but we dont know much about it and how much it might be worth. its a 1988 Oldsmobile 442 Factory Drag car. lettered and everything. there is no VIN on the dash and 0 miles on the odo but i was able to find what looks to be its VIN on a label in the trunk.
1G3AR47VXEM330635 is what is on the label but there is no title for the car. it also says on the same label "ENGR. CAR #44327" not sure what that means
Well, I don't know what year the car is, but that VIN you posted is from a 1984 Cutlass Supreme with a 4.3 liter diesel V6. The "E" in the 10th position of the VIN signifies the 1984 model year and the "V" in the eighth position is the diesel V6. It's possible the trunklid is not original to the car. The lack of a VIN says that this might have been a "body in white" intended for delivery to a race team and not for street use.
thats exactly what im trying to find out. is there anything to identify this vehicle as one of those cars. the spot on the dash where the protecto plate would have been looks to be untouched as if one was never installed. idk if the trunk was replaced or not or if that VIN is actually for this vehicle.
thats exactly what im trying to find out. is there anything to identify this vehicle as one of those cars. the spot on the dash where the protecto plate would have been looks to be untouched as if one was never installed. idk if the trunk was replaced or not or if that VIN is actually for this vehicle.
GM sold bodies in white, which were shells. It could have gone to a race team or to a body shop. They did not have VINs, and without any documentation it's going to be difficult to prove what you have. If there is no VIN tag and no cowl tag, there's no traceability. Racers didn't care about that, they were not building collector's items. And the trunk lid sticker detracts from the 1988 story, so it isn't clear what you have. Note, by the way, that there was no such thing as a 1988 442. The experimental number is interesting, but I don't have any further info for you on that.
GM sold bodies in white, which were shells. It could have gone to a race team or to a body shop. They did not have VINs, and without any documentation it's going to be difficult to prove what you have. If there is no VIN tag and no cowl tag, there's no traceability. Racers didn't care about that, they were not building collector's items. And the trunk lid sticker detracts from the 1988 story, so it isn't clear what you have. Note, by the way, that there was no such thing as a 1988 442. The experimental number is interesting, but I don't have any further info for you on that.
i didnt know the 442 was not made in 88. Thats just what my uncle was told about the car. Hes looking to see what documents he was given with the car. Long story short is his neighbor gave him the car just before he passed away so we dont have much to go on.
what do you mean by “experimental number”
p.s. you have been a big help already so thank you
Sorry, I meant "engineering number". I see that now on the SPID in the trunk. I've never seen that before, but that callout is on the sticker with the 1984 VIN. You wouldn't happen to be in or near Lansing, would you?
The trunk sticker confirms the LT6 V6 diesel engine. I wonder if this is really an 84 diesel car that got converted to a race car and had a later model front end stuck on. Either that or the trunk lid is from a different car. MW9 is the 200-4R trans behind that diesel V6. D55 is console and A51 is bucket seats. That would have definitely been a strangely-optioned car. A/C also (C60). Looks like the trunk lid anyway was on a car intended for CAFE mileage testing.
I think the trunk being swapped with the car from that VIN is more likely. The biggest thing that makes me think this is an original race car is the missing protecto plate (and it looks like one was never installed rather than removed) and the odo not showing any miles.
I think the trunk being swapped with the car from that VIN is more likely. The biggest thing that makes me think this is an original race car is the missing protecto plate (and it looks like one was never installed rather than removed) and the odo not showing any miles.
The odo not showing any miles can also mean the speedo or dash were replaced and/or the cable not hooked up. The trunk lid was apparently metallic grey under the white. Any evidence of that elsewhere on the car?
Also you keep saying "protecto-plate". Do you really mean the cowl tag, which is a different thing? The P-O-P was not attached to the car. The 1980s cars used cowl tags held on with phillips screws, not rivets.
Also you keep saying "protecto-plate". Do you really mean the cowl tag, which is a different thing? The P-O-P was not attached to the car. The 1980s cars used cowl tags held on with phillips screws, not rivets.
Certification Tag, if you please. It IS a Federal Regulatory item, sir.
Certification Tag, if you please. It IS a Federal Regulatory item, sir.
Is "certification" tag the technical term for cowl tag? And if so, when did they become a federal requirement? I know that in the 1960s and 70s they were not, and to be honest, the 1980s tags, like the one on this G-body, came from the factory using phillips head screws to retain them, so not really tamper proof.
Cowl tags were not used in 1985 Cutlass, nor some 85 Monte Carlos for cars built in Arlington. All the Michigan built Cutlasses I've seen had cowl tags. Plant manager in Arlington said that they figured the SPID would take care of what the cowl tag showed, so for whatever reason, they weren't put on in 1985. Odd ducks to be sure. Holes are there, tags are not. Recall that cars weren't built with hardly anything past the GM warranty service in mind. They didn't worry about the car making it 40 years down the road. The G-body cowl tags weren't the same as the earlier, riveted on ones. It had minimal information, but it does contain the TPW.
As far as 1984, can't say which, if any cars didn't get a cowl tag. The required safety certification tag was the tamper-proof door sticker, along with the tire placard. A G-body cowl tag wasn't a federal mandate. The plates, if there, are held on with small, hex head sheetmetal screws.
If we assume the trunk belongs to the car, it's really an odd duck. Originally painted light briar brown metallic, with dark sable brown trim/interior, and as mentioned, it had A/C, the gauge package, tinted windows, rear defogger, floor mats, power bucket seat, power windows and locks, 14x6 chrome SSIII wheels with P195/75R14 tires, tilt wheel with cruise control, power antenna, 200-4R trans, AM/FM cassette, floor shift with console, sport mirrors, pulse wipers, 2.93 rear end. Pretty much appears to be a heavily optioned LT6 4.3L diesel Cutlass.
It would have looked very simlar to this, except with skinny tires and no vinyl top.
Last edited by 69HO43; June 7th, 2022 at 06:04 AM.
First off, I am not an expert on these cars, and I don't have any first hand information. I do remember looking at a lot of mid eighties Cutlass stock eliminator cars back then, and noticing that an awful lot of them had diesel dashes. As well as engineering cars, it could have been that GM ended up with these cars due to some sort of Lemon Law buy back situation, or maybe because they were attractively priced at auctions because of the diesel (which they were). Purely speculation. I wonder if Dale Smith is available for comment. I know he wrote a book about 20 years ago, but I have not read it, and don't know if he addressed these cars in the book. Classracer.com might be a good place to ask questions about these cars also.
Any buyback cars got crushed. GM didn't want any liability. In any case, this car doesn't have a VIN tag, so it was never sold to the public. The SPID shows that it was built as an engineering fuel economy test car.
June 5th, 2022, 10:15 AM
