1986 Oldsmobile 4-4-2: The W42, and a Disputed Count

This record's own dek states that the W42 4-4-2 returned on the rear-drive Cutlass Supreme, with a 307 V-8 and a four-speed automatic. This record's own overview states that the 4-4-2 returned as the W42 package on the rear-drive G-body Cutlass Supreme, and that a tertiary account says the name now referred to the four-speed 200R4 automatic and that the 307 V-8 was the only engine.¹

This record's own key facts state that 1986 production is disputed, Consumer Guide's Complete Book of Collectible Cars printing an estimate of 3,000 while Ate Up With Motor puts it at a bit under 4,300, and that no Oldsmobile record was found for either figure. This record's own conflicts section shows both figures with attribution, notes that Consumer Guide explicitly labels its number an estimate, that Ate Up With Motor names no record but is close to an uncited 4,273 figure held as an unpublished lead, which may be its lineage, and that the record does not pick one over the other.^2,3

This record's own key facts state that the 1986 Oldsmobile equipment chart lists the 5.0-liter four-barrel HO V-8 as "included and available only with 442 package" on the Cutlass Salon, and that the fuel-economy sheet gives it ordering code LG8 and VIN code 9, paired only with the four-speed automatic. This record's own identification section states that VIN code 9 denotes the 442-only LG8, distinguishing it from Y for the regular 5.0 V-8 (LV2) and A for the 3.8 V-6 (LD5).

This record's own production rows document the Consumer Guide estimate of 3,000 4-4-2 packages, explicitly marked an estimate in the book itself, alongside a separately scoped 9,608-car Cutlass Salon coupe host-body total shown for scale only, since the catalogue does not say how many Salons carried the package. This record's own prices section documents the 4-4-2 package at $2,075, a $14,343 complete-car price for the package car, and factory prices of $11,728 for the Cutlass Salon coupe (K47) with the V-6 and $12,268 with a V-8.^4,5

This record's own options section documents the 442 package's contents on the Cutlass Salon: the 5.0-liter four-barrel HO V-8 with dual exhaust, a four-speed overdrive automatic, a 3.73 axle, and a Special Handling Package with rear air shocks, alongside Cutlass Salon options relevant to the 442, removable roof panels, an electric sliding Astroroof, a Four-Season air conditioner, a limited-slip differential, super stock chrome wheels, and P205/70R14 raised-white-letter tires. This record's own specifications section documents the same 3.73 axle ratio, an 18/25 mpg city/highway EPA estimate for the LG8 with the four-speed automatic, and an 18.1-gallon fuel tank.

This record's own interiors section documents the Cutlass Salon's standard interior as contour reclining front bucket seats, a console with a floor shifter, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, and a Rallye cluster with a tachometer, trip odometer, voltmeter, and temperature and oil-pressure gauges, though it gives no trim codes or colors. This record's own unpublished leads flag an uncited Wikipedia figure of 4,273 built, and a forum-only claim repeating that same 4,273 total while adding that 350 of the W42 cars carried the Z49 Canadian export package, a claim this record does not adopt as a competing production figure.