Great Vintage W-31 Story
Sunday, 21 August 2011 00:00
Jim:
Thanks for your email. I do miss that W-Machine. I sold it in 1974 to get the down payment on our second house. We moved from Wheaton to an unincorporated area off County Farm Road between Roosevelt and North avenues called The Northwoods.
The picture with (a much younger) me and the car at speed were taken at a local autocross. I road raced the W-31 at Blackhawk Farms Raceway near Rockford. Whenever I made a change to the suspension, tires or wheels I took the car to an autocross to make sure nothing would be squirrelly at Blackhawk.
I currently own a 1967 Cutlass 442 that I restored as well as a Scarab Z ( a real factory car not a kit) but one day I'll find another W-31 and play again.
You are in Naperville -- I used to test engine and trans/clutch mods on Butterfield Road (that was before it was built up).
Plus, after Sunoco took away their 260 blend in 1972, I used to gas up at DuPage County Airport -- that was when you could still drive up and buy avgas. But by 1974 the combination of lower octane gas and the W-31's compression and cam timing -- it was nearly impossible to enjoy the car anymore -- but WHO KNEW what we know today !!
You should visit the Wild About Cars.com web site (www.wildaboutcars.com) lots of good stuff for us Olds guys. Registration is free and the tech library for Olds will blow you away. Also, in the magazine section is the 1969 Car & Driver article on the W-31 which convinced me I had to have one !!
Craig
Last Updated ( Sunday, 21 August 2011 09:45 )
