STUMP PULLER

WELCOMETOOLDSMOBILE,CIRCA1972, when the new colonnade A-body was scheduled to arrive, but delays kept it at bay for a dozen months or so. In turn, the division’s stylists were in a mild quandary, forced into applying modest updates to help make a long-in-the-tooth, five-year-old body look kind of new. If that weren’t enough, the titanic market shift away from Detroit’s supercars relegated the once-venerable 442 back to option package status. In this case, it was W-29.

At its core, the W-29 was a handling and appearance package that could have been added to a Cutlass Hardtop, Cutlass S Sports Coupe or hardtop, or a Cutlass Supreme convertible. It also meant that the 455 big-block wasn’t mandated; your 442 could have been powered by a two- or four-barrel 350 with single or dual exhaust, in addition to the 455, now rated for 270 (net) hp. The 300-hp W-30 455 was a separate option that — akin to its golden days of yore — required