[Fr. Frank]

If you look at the advertising for a 1966 Olds 442 (my very first car), for only that one year it stood for 400 cubic inches, 4 barrel carb, and dual exhaust. My 442 in fact came equipped from the factory with a Powerglide 2 spd automatic, which I changed to a M22 4-spd I took out of a Firebird.

The very next year, 1967, and from then until 1969, the advertising for the 1967 442 advertised it as 4 bbl, 4 spd, dual exhaust, although it retained the 400 ci "Rocket" big-block motor, (which it would keep through 1969). A frequent motor swap was to the 425 ci oversquare "tall deck", because of the very desirable forged steel crank and balancer, and availability of an Offenhauser 6-pack setup for that motor.

The 442 kept the 400 ci motor until 1970, when the 442 came equipped with a 455 ci big-block, 4 bbl Holly double-pumper or big ThermoQuad, 4-speed tranny, and dual exhaust, except for the "W33" Hurst Edition 442 which came with a TH350 auto tranny with dual-gate shifter and factory F60-15 tires.

The real 442 always had a motor whose first numeral was 4, a carburetor with 4 barrels, and dual exhaust. They did not always have 4 speed transmissions, even though most people thought otherwise.