dnmfranco

Dave you need to away from this seller and move to something with paperwork or as many have said purchase a clone. I have seen this car personally in Meriden and it is anything but a W-30.

pcard

Dave: if, when you purchase your car, you change the colour, interior or other options, I would not alter the cowl tag or any of the car's documentation. While it may not be illegal, to do so will diminish the car's integrity.

When I bought my car I was not looking for a "collector"; I wanted something to enjoy and drive. I changed the colour on my car, the interior, the seats as well as many other options, but left the cowl tag as original. This was for two reasons: one was I did not want to ever represent the car as something it was not, and I also wanted to document the history of the car. Its journey was as important to me as what it is today.
I did want to maintain "correctness" in that I spent great effort to make sure that whatever changes I made would be compatible with what could have rolled off the line 46 years ago. I went so far as having two factory stickers made up: one represents the car as it was built, and the other as it is after restoration. I display both of these at every show.

I get the impression that you are not so much looking for a collector car, but rather something you want to cruise in. If so I would support the other posts here which suggest getting a good solid, easy to find car, at a low cost and then turning it into what you want to drive. You would turn the angst of trying to outsmart the counterfeiters into the joy of building something that is your own.

joe_padavano

I have to weigh in here.

A correct, documented 1969 W-30 convertible is worth well into six figures. When you spend that much on a car, you have a piece of art, not a driver. Do you really want a trailer queen?

An undocumented "W-30" for $75K is a waste of money. It will never bring what a real car would be worth (at least, not until documentation is "discovered"... ), and from a driving enjoyment standpoint, you will have paid twice as much as if you had simply bought a really nice 69 442 convert and added the W-30 parts. At $35K-40K, the latter sounds like the path to a car you can really enjoy.

Octania

"simply bought a really nice 69 442 convert and added the W-30 parts"


Right on.
Huh, where did I hear that before??


Oh, yea, when I suggested the OP embrace the tribute thing. Get "a" Cutlass convertible, buy replica D heads, new red inners and OAI.... insert your four TWENTY five engine- I can make you a casting number that will make it appear to be a G400 or a F455 or a 260 if you want.... enjoy the hell out of it.

Octania

My car for example
1968 442


OW trans, offered only on W30 and perhaps H/O, right?
VIN stamp on OW trans matches the car


Therefore, the car is a W30.
Period.
It is necessary and sufficient for the Auto Trans W30.


Unless you want to talk alterations, which are not present here. In that event, then anything and everything might have been altered, and all bets are off.

joe_padavano

Until these started showing up on ebay...

dnmfranco

My point is one cannot without paperwork substantiate with 100% certainty that it is authentic.

Of course OW tag is essential in the autos and one can make an educated guess based on that and other criteria.

Lastly, personally I am not saying your car is not legit, I obviously have no way of knowing.

Sadly as Joe indicated these tags are floating around

StickW31

Thank you Dean for clarifying this, I did bring John's block to a machine shop that I frequently do business with. Block was hot tanked and inspected for cracks. Upon completion of work my name was marked on block for identification purposes for pick up.

BangScreech4-4-2

I meant to make no such association and apologize if anybody inferred that from what I said. Let's just say that anybody who offers to phony up a car in the ways described by the OP is best avoided.

dnmfranco

Agreed couldnt make this stuff up lol

Diego

Stumbled upon this but don't know if it's been discussed (too lazy to read through):

http://significantcars.com/cars/1969oldsmobile/

BangScreech4-4-2

That car has more than a few issues, starting with the weird silvered headlights, trunk stripes and a red motor. And the fact that they are being coy about giving a price tells me that they want top dollar, even though the condition wouldn't merit it. And that's if it turns out to be legit -- I notice they made no mention of any kind of documentation, either.

joe_padavano

Wow, what a mess under the hood. I'd like to know where it won awards.

It may very well be a real W-30, but there's a ton of expensive details that need to be corrected. The incorrect M/C, aftermarket intake, incorrect carb, headers, nuclear red engine paint (including the valve cover breather)... Note the A/C heater control valve on the back of the intake. Where did THAT come from? On the other hand, D heads and what look like OEM red inner fenders, not repros.

I'm guessing "$Inquire" means B.J. pricing for a car that needs a lot. This is a case of the last 10% of the work will take the other 90% of the time...

Diego

Funny . . . I never really thought of it as coy - I think of it as "We have what we think is a desirable car and to weed out the have-nots, we're gonna force you to ask us for our over-market-value price."

1969w3155

A complete color change, as the data tag says that it was Aztec Gold with a Black convertible top and a Gold interior.

BangScreech4-4-2

A real "survivor".