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Picked up this W-41 from the original owner. Has 13,800 miles on it. Don't let the picture fool you, it is really rough. I will have to put a lot of time into this one to get it to where I want it. She was a really sweet lady and started crying when I was loading it up. I felt bad. She calls it her baby.
204 of them made. Yes, she was the original owner. It was her special car but till yesterday she didn't even know how special it was. She did not know what a W-41 was. She just thought all quad 442's were the same. She was talking about a black one that she seen many years ago and was glad she has a red one. I told here all the W-41's were red and the W-40 come in 4 colors. She looked confused so I explained how the black one would not have had W-41 on the front fender. She had no idea.
Wow, I didn't know about these cars. Very nice, enjoy! Reminds me of the Buick Lesabre T-Type cars only your w41 is rarer. There was the 1986 Buick Lesabre grand national only 112 made.
Wow, I didn't know about these cars. Very nice, enjoy! Reminds me of the Buick Lesabre T-Type cars only your w41 is rarer. There was the 1986 Buick Lesabre grand national only 112 made.
I really like these looks wise, the Olds as well in this 2 door body style. Too bad GM didn't do these as the next gen RWD cars. That W41 was interesting car and good performance for the time.
Proves once again that even in the doldrums years GM knew how to build interesting high performance cars that were equal to anything the Germans and Japanese were peddling.
They just didn't know how to market them and sell them to the snobs who believed only the Germans and Japanese were capable of building interesting high performance cars.
Not that Ford and Chrysler were making any better headway against them with their own very capable offerings. Anyone who ever sat their *** in a Daytona Z or SVO knows the cars could do it.
So...what IS the difference between a W-40 & W-41?
I'm a newbie.
The standard Quad 442 was a W-40 but they did not put that label on the car. All W-40 had gold stripes. The W-41 was a step higher than the High output Quad 4 with special cams, computer chip, transmission and 3.94 gears and silver stripes and ABS brakes. These were a 14.7 second car show room stock with stock tires. These were specifically build for IMSA and SCCA racing. They have to make a minimum of 200 for them to qualify as a production car and they made 204.
Picked up this W-41 from the original owner. Has 13,800 miles on it. Don't let the picture fool you, it is really rough. I will have to put a lot of time into this one to get it to where I want it. She was a really sweet lady and started crying when I was loading it up. I felt bad. She calls it her baby.
Depending on how rough it really is, I'm not sure that was an Opps Eric
Originally Posted by rocketraider
There were how many of those built? and you have how many of those?😀
W-40 was the option code for the quad 442. They all had a high output Quad four, and it was only available with a manual transmission. That combination was provided in other GM makes. The W-40 was also only available on the Calais S or NF-27 body. W-41 was the option code for the High output Quad 442. In '91, the only year the W-41 was built, there were 1364 Quad 442s built, and only 204 W-41 cars.
Wow, I didn't know about these cars. Very nice, enjoy! Reminds me of the Buick Lesabre T-Type cars only your w41 is rarer. There was the 1986 Buick Lesabre grand national only 112 made.
The Lesabre T-Type was a pretty cool car with quite a few special parts. I never understood why Oldsmobile did not offer something more mainstream like the W-88 cars. The Lesabre GN was something entirely different.
The Lesabre is also an H body car, where the Calais is an N body car.
I never understood why Oldsmobile did not offer something more mainstream like the W-88 cars.
Probably had something to do with being the Division that brought front wheel drive back to the American car market. They may have wanted to make sure no one forgot that, so built a hot little FWD number. Besides, Quad4 was the only Olds-built performance engine they had and a 88 body would have worked it to death. An 88 owner wasn't likely to take to a high revving buzzy four either.
They may have wanted to make sure no one forgot that, so built a hot little FWD number. Besides, Quad4 was the only Olds-built performance engine they had and a 88 body would have worked it to death. An 88 owner wasn't likely to take to a high revving buzzy four either.
The target buyer for the "88" model was not performance oriented and it's no wonder why they did not offer a performance engine, let alone one with three pedals. The "88" did not offer three pedals, and only a six cylinder.
I was comparing the Lesabre T Type, which was not a performance but an appearance package, to the Olds "88". I don't know Oldsmobile didn't offer something similar, especially since they were using the "88" model on the NASCAR circuit.
The quad four was essentially a whimpy four cylinder and truly a "high revving buzzy". Any body besides the N would work it to death. The curb weight of the Calais was 2481 lbs. The Cutlass Supremes' weight was 3378, yet they still offered the same LGO high output quad four and MM5 transmission in the W body.
BTW, if they had offered three pedals on the "88", the curb weight was 3194 lbs
Depending on how rough it really is, I'm not sure that was an Opps Eric
W-40 was the option code for the quad 442. They all had a high output Quad four, and it was only available with a manual transmission. That combination was provided in other GM makes. The W-40 was also only available on the Calais S or NF-27 body. W-41 was the option code for the High output Quad 442. In '91, the only year the W-41 was built, there were 1364 Quad 442s built, and only 204 W-41 cars.
That's a good question. At some point, they switched from the Calais to the Achieva in SCCA competition.
My 4dr, 5sp, Quad 4 Calais S was one of the most fun cars I've had.
That's a good question. At some point, they switched from the Calais to the Achieva in SCCA competition.
My 4dr, 5sp, Quad 4 Calais S was one of the most fun cars I've had.
I agree. I have owned many W-30 cars, Jetfire, Dynamic 88's, all sorts of Oldsmobiles and for a strictly driving enjoyment, nothing has ever beat the Quad 442 model for me. I truly enjoy driving them. Now for shows, nothing beats the Jetfire for me.
I remember back in Dec. 1990 I ordered a 1991 Calais SL with the 160hp Quad 4, and when I brought it in for my 500 mile check up the dealer "just happened to have" a red 1991 W-40 that just arrived in the lot. We hopped in it and I took it for a test drive, despite me being insanely hung over from the night before. Loved the car but despite the salesman's hard core pitches to ditch my newly purchased SL for it, several things held me back from making the deal. First, the W-40 is/was based out of the Cutlass Calais S. What that meant was you got a very basic, plain interior and it did look really cheap, and no pass thru from the back seat to the trunk. This was something of which I needed for my upcoming long haul driving from Maryland to NJ every weekend. Second, I knew I was going to put on 100,000 +++ miles on the car within 3 years (which I did and then some) so that would kill the value of it in short order.
Looking back, I surely would have liked to have traded for the W-40 but I'm glad I didn't as it wouldn't have deserved the pounding I gave the SL in the next 6 years I owned it.
When I was looking (ages ago!) for a replacement for my then recently totaled DD 1991 Quad4HO Grand Am (I was T-boned), I looked high and low for Calais Quad442’s, and Grand Am’s withe the Quad4HO drivetrian.
I ended up with another 1991 Grand Am - and flew out to Fresno California to pick it up!
The last time I showed my Grand Am it had a Rocketparts transmission, Rocketparts “cheater” cams, rocketparts extrude honed intake, and was topped off with a W41 IDI cover.
These cars are a whole lot more fun than many people care to realize!
When I was looking (ages ago!) for a replacement for my then recently totaled DD 1991 Quad4HO Grand Am (I was T-boned), I looked high and low for Calais Quad442’s, and Grand Am’s withe the Quad4HO drivetrian.
I ended up with another 1991 Grand Am - and flew out to Fresno California to pick it up!
The last time I showed my Grand Am it had a Rocketparts transmission, Rocketparts “cheater” cams, rocketparts extrude honed intake, and was topped off with a W41 IDI cover.
These cars are a whole lot more fun than many people care to realize!
I’m glad you’re fixing this (second!!?!) one up!!
For sure lots of fun. I truly enjoy driving these cars. Sadly, I don't have the space to keep all my car so one had to go. This one I sold and took a deposit on. just waiting for him to pick it up. I will really be sad to see this one go but it is the only car I can really let go of at this time.
When I was looking (ages ago!) for a replacement for my then recently totaled DD 1991 Quad4HO Grand Am (I was T-boned), I looked high and low for Calais Quad442’s, and Grand Am’s withe the Quad4HO drivetrian.
I ended up with another 1991 Grand Am - and flew out to Fresno California to pick it up!
The last time I showed my Grand Am it had a Rocketparts transmission, Rocketparts “cheater” cams, rocketparts extrude honed intake, and was topped off with a W41 IDI cover.
These cars are a whole lot more fun than many people care to realize!
I’m glad you’re fixing this (second!!?!) one up!!
There is another really nice one for sale right now. It is in Michigan. He has 25K on it.
June 11th, 2022, 03:36 PM
Any body besides the N would work it to death. The curb weight of the Calais was 2481 lbs. The Cutlass Supremes' weight was 3378, yet they still offered the same LGO high output quad four and MM5 transmission in the W body.
