1968 Oldsmobile Hurst Cutlass Is A "Boulevard Bully"

We've seen a few of Car and Track's "super car wring-outs" before, but in the words of host Bud Lindemann this week's 1968 Oldsmobile Hurst Cutlass might be "the silkiest bomb ever nestled between four wheels". Hint: It's a good thing.

Before the actual road test of the 1968 Oldsmobile Hurst Cutlass featured in this vintage Car and Track segment host Bud Lindemann takes some time to speak with Jack Watson, the creator of the Hurst Cutlass and other famous vehicles like the "Hemi under Glass" cars. Although the road test that follows is from the early days of the program it features one of the fastest cars ever shown on the test track and some of the best "Lindemann-isms" we've heard yet.

The Hurst Cutlass was a low production aftermarket muscle car which featured, among many other performance upgrades, a 455 V8 under the hood. The 515 Hurst Cutlass' produced in 1968 were considered after market units because at the time GM would not officially produce an intermediate vehicle with an engine bigger than 400ci. While putting a 455 in an intermediate Oldsmobile was forbidden doing so in a Hurst Cutlass produced and sold by an "outside" performance company was approved.

As you can see the mixture of the 390 horsepower of the "muscular monster" under the hood combined with the intermediate body and various other Hurst upgrades created a "silver screamer". The Olds was good for a 13.24 second ¼ mile which remains very respectable today. According to Lindemann the car was a "Goin' Jesse" that was "one notch away from the twilight zone".

Drifting around the test track the Olds looks like an unbelievable amount of fun. Lindemann closes the test by telling us the Hurst "is more fun than a mau mau convention on a Saturday night" and is "the only way to fly". Although we aren't sure exactly what Lindemann was talking about, one viewing of this road test is enough to conclude we feel the same way.