The full doorframe and fixed B-pillar
identify the F85 host vehicle under this
Rallye 350. The upscale Rallye 350 Cutlass
could be had with the pillar or as a pillar-
less hardtop. The Rallye 350 Cutlass-S
Rally was strictly a hardtop. Four-door
models, wagons, and convertibles were
forbidden. A total of 3,547 Rallye 350s
were built, of which only 160 were F85
pillar coupes like this one.68 CAR CRAFT NOVEMBER 2019
Y
ou never know what’s going
to turn up in the junkyard. This
month, we’ve stumbled upon a
very special Oldsmobile that was meant
to throw the insurance man a curve.
You see, unlike today’s completely
insane muscle car marketplace—
where typical buyers of these 550–
840hp road kings age between 40 and
140, always pay their insurance bills
on time, and seldom do crazy things
on public roads—the muscle car move
of the ’60s was a first-time-around
deal. Sort of like Woodstock, a big
experiment.
Kids with heads full of Hendrix,
Joplin, and Dr. Leary took the wheel of
high-horsepower youth machines for
the first time ever, with often tragic
consequences. By 1970, the insurance
industry was losing money and began
a clampdown.Oldsmobile’s Sticker Supercar Was Out to Beat
the Insurance Crunch By Steve Magnante / Photos: Steve Magnante
JUNKYARD CRAWL
Quickly, it cost as much to insure a
Street Hemi or Six Pack Mopar, Boss,
Shelby or Cobra Jet Ford, LS6, RA IV,
Stage I, or W-Machine from GM as it
did to pay the monthly contract on
the car itself. The muscle car’s future
looked grim.
Enter the junior supercar. Here, small-
blocks and extra graphics filled in for
multiple carburetors, solid lifters, and
7-plus-liter displacement levels. That
was the thinking behind Oldsmobile’s
’70 W45 Rallye 350 package. Available
on any F85, Cutlass, or Cutlass-S
two-door hardtop or pillar coupe for
a measly $157.98, the Rallye 350
came only in eye-blistering Sebring
Yellow paint that covered just abouteverything, including the bumpers,
standard issue N66 Super Stock II
wheels, fiberglass W25 hood (right off
the big W30 4-4-2), and W35 trunk
spoiler. Olds dealer propaganda touted
the Rallye 350’s base price of $3,252.84
was $67.16 less than a comparably
equipped Plymouth Road Runner—the
original budget muscle car.
We stumbled across this decrepit,
screaming-yellow zonker during a
waltz through Sendell’s Auto Special-
ties in Shelbyville, North Carolina
(704/434-6759), a GM-centric salvage
yard specializing in ’62–’88 models.
Tune in as we explore this 1-of-160–
built F85-based Rallye 350!GROOVY FACTOIDS
- Oldsmobile launched the 4-4-2 in
1964, the same year Pontiac made
history with the GTO. So why isn’t
the 4-4-2 praised today as a debut-
year muscle car? It boils down to the
fact Oldsmobile product planners
toed the corporate line restricting
engine displacement to 330 ci.- In 1968, a full 52 percent of
America’s population was under the
age of 25. The youth market was red
hot. Fear of rejection undoubtedly
explains Oldsmobile’s 1969 ad
campaign inviting America to “come
see the Young-mobiles from
Oldsmobile.”
- In 1968, a full 52 percent of