1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass W-30 4-4-2 - Lansing Legacy

Historically, the corporation was built around Buick. Quite a few divisions came and went before The General settled on its core six: Chevrolet, Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Cadillac, and GMC. This configuration would see what was probably the most important corporation in the world through its best years.
Each division had its own identity, its own turf, which the public understood. Chevrolet was the popular brand—high volume, high value. Cadillac was full-tilt luxury. Buick was step-up content. Olds was step-up content with advanced engineering, Pontiac was performance.
It was some nine years ago that the vast Lansing plant powered down for the last time, ending 107 years of building Oldsmobiles, a truly great marque. While some later Oldsmobile cars lacked inspiration, the automaker had many years when it hit the sweet spot.
Look no further than James Kryta’s stunning ’72 4-4-2 W-30. This was not an uninspired design in search of a purpose. It was a superb combination of performance styling riding the last wave of big-block–era power. For those searching for the peak of muscle car magic, it was already past for many names, but at your Olds dealer it was still possible to buy a magnificently shaped intermediate with all the great muscle car goodies: loud color, functional ram-air hood, factory mag wheels with raised-white-letter tires, rugged four-speed manual transmission with genuine Hurst shifter, buckets and console, stripes and spoilers, dual exhaust, and of course that foremost feature, a thumpin’ big-block V-8 with more cubes than Rubik. It’s a recipe for greatness that still stands, still works.

 

The interior of James’ W-30 is showroom fresh and inviting, from the immaculate white upholstery to the tastefully understated choice of options—like the underdash tape deck.

James found this loaded 4-4-2 W-30 for sale in Florida. A friend knew of it and mentioned it to him. James immediately went for it.
"The thing that drew me to the car was the color," he tells us. "Radiant Green paint was new and a one-year-only color."
It had no collision damage or heavy rust, but it was still pretty rough. The paint was faded, and it was pretty weary overall. But it had all its original components, from the correct Q-Jet carb to the aluminum axle cover.
So in June 2009, James rolled up his sleeves and stripped the rare Olds down to every last bolt and washer. This wasn’t just another restoration; James had a mission in mind.
"I wanted to bring Oldsmobile into the spotlight," he says. "I’d go to shows and Chevys or Fords would always win, and I decided to build an Oldsmobile that they couldn’t find anything wrong with."
As a long-time Olds enthusiast and restorer, James had his share of experience building first-class 4-4-2s. For this one he would pull out all the stops. Each small part was meticulously cleaned, prepped, and then test-fit. Any adjustments were made before it was repainted or plated.
That sounds like slow and expensive work. It was. "Only the finest reproduction and N.O.S. parts were used," James says. There are still good N.O.S. Olds parts out there, but they’re not cheap, and James says that for this project he used "a ton."
Work schedule was brutal. After working a full day at his business (Inline Tube), he tackled restoration chores in the evening. The idea was to do the very best at every stage of the job. Nile Wing of Wings Auto Art in Ionia, Michigan, was chosen as the paint and body expert.
"The trim was all carefully fitted to the body, and the body work done to the car so the trim fit like a glove," James explains. "All body gaps were improved, and the hood, fenders, doors, and decklid were massaged to improve fitment from the poor factory standards."

 

The Radiant Green on James Kryta’s 4-4-2 was a one-year-only color and one of the features that drew him to restore this Olds. Amazingly, bringing the car to show-quality perfection took less than a year.

Sounds extreme, but they didn’t stop there. James says, "Bumpers were hammered and dollied to remove all waves and ripples, then coppered and sanded to a mirror finish before chrome." Now that’s going the extra mile!
Every part, big or small, visible on not, was carefully examined.
"There is not one rust-pitted part on the car," says James. "All the original fasteners were replated. Every part was scrutinized. There were more than 2,500 hours spent on this car, including plenty of time spent on parts you’ll never see, like the back side of the bumpers and the underside of the seats."
Gary Rubrich, an experienced Olds racer, rebuilt the big W-30 455, and Pure Stock Drags cofounder and ace engine tuner Dan Jensen dyno-tuned it for maximum output and drivability. The factory rating for the ’72 model was 300 hp at 4,700 rpm, thanks to the net power ratings implemented that year.
All markings and color codes documented during disassembly were replaced. By February 2010 it was ready. First stop was Detroit’s Autorama, where the fresh Olds won its class and qualified for the 2010 International Show Car Association in Houston. The spectacular Olds has been a powerful force on the show car circuit since.
"The car has won Best Restored awards at 10 International Show Car series events," James recounts, "including two national ISCA Restored championships."
It also scored 997 of 1,000 points at the Oldsmobile Nationals, and won Best Oldsmobile at the Chicago Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals with an almost perfect score of 999 of 1,000.
But the original mission was to influence people about Olds and the wonderfulness therein. Mission accomplished. James says, "We have met a lot of really nice people along the way and have encouraged them to work on the Olds in their garages."
Between the impact at shows and among other muscle car enthusiasts, The Lansing Legacy appears very strong.
At a Glance
1972 4-4-2 W-30
Owned by: James Kryta, Shelby Township, MI
Restored by: Owner, John Kryta, Adam Nile, Gary Rubich, Dan Jensen
Engine: 455ci/300hp (net) V-8
Transmission: M20 wide-ratio 4-speed manual
Rearend: 3.73 gears with Anti-Spin differential and W-27 aluminum cover
Interior: White vinyl extra-foam bucket seat
Wheels: 14x7 Super Stock II
Tires: G70-14 Goodyear Polyglas
Period performance: 14.5 sec @ 92 mph (Motor Trend, Oct. ’71); 14.37 sec @ 98 mph (High Performance Cars, Nov. ’72)

---

’72 W-30 Spotter’s Guide
Bob Gerometta, our go-to Oldsmobile expert and guiding light behind the hugely informative website Wild About Cars, shared these facts about how to determine if a ’72 Olds is a real-deal W-30.
•The X in the VIN (for engine) denotes a W-30 car.
•The engine has an aluminum intake manifold that says "OLDS W-455" and casting number 407570.
•1972 was the only year since 1966 in which the W-30 did not come with red inner fender liners; they are black. However, the first 10 ’72 W-30s produced (in late 1971) supposedly came with red fender liners. At one time this was verified by Helen Early, the Olds History Center curator, who has since passed away.
•Quadrajet carb number 7042251 was used on automatics and all other 455s. The four-speed cars got Quadrajet carb number 7042953.
•All four-speed cars used the M20 transmission.
•W-30s used GA heads (the subscript A is as cast) with 2.072-inch intake and 1.625-inch exhaust valves.
•Since W-30 was an option on top of a 4-4-2 option for the ’72 model (much like the ’66-’67 models), a car could come equipped with few performance options other than the W-30 drivetrain.
•Since the 4-4-2 was an option and not a standalone ’72 model, there are no 4-4-2 identifiers in the interior. It has a Cutlass or Cutlass Supreme (for convertibles) badge on the glovebox door, the first time since the ’64 model that the car had no 4-4-2 designation in the interior.

 

By 1972 the muscle car era was waning, but you could still get a brutish 455ci big-block at the Olds dealership. In W-30 trim the big motor was rated at 300 net horsepower and 410 lb-ft of torque.

 

The interior of James’ W-30 is showroom fresh and inviting, from the immaculate white upholstery to the tastefully understated choice of options—like the underdash tape deck.