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Car’s ID

Oldsmobile 442, 1971

Vehicle Identification Number (VIN): 344871M123846, meaning:

This is an authentic 442, one of 6,285 Units manufactured in 1971. Decoding the VIN can be understood here.

The car was factory-produced with the following original specifications (only main ones are listed):

The Early Years

The first owner was Dr. Munzer Kabbarah, a resident of my city (Tripoli, North Lebanon). He toured many Middle Eastern countries in this 442 at the time, such as Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. He took good care of the vehicle but sold it after repeated engine overheating. The car has not left Lebanon after that.

Dr. Munzer provided the 3 photos shown right below and gave me his consent to have them published on my website. The photos show the vehicle in its factory white-on-blue color.

The Late 70s

Dr. Munzer sold the car to Omar Ghalayini in 1978, who changed the car color to black-on-red and sold it to Salah Zaki in the same year. While being recklessly driven by one of Salah's friends, the vehicle sustained a severe frontal damage as shown below.

From 1980 to 2008

I bought the car from Salah in 1980 and was blamed by my parents for buying ‘a piece of junk’. I admit it was in a bad shape. It just put the hook on me, swallowed all the savings I had, and all those I made over the next 8 years.

In 1981, I did some face-lifting (grilles and front bumper). 442 body parts were hard to find in Lebanon so I requested an importer to get me the parts from salvage yards in USA. He did not do his job properly an I ended-up with Cutlass parts instead. The importation took 6 months considering prevailing civil war at the time.

In 1983, I changed the color to black & gold. The paint turned matt in no time, and that’s what you get when you don’t go to the expert. A lesson was learnt.

In 1985, I turned my attention to the engine compartment and the exhaust system which were in a mess. I started with the intention of doing a minor overhaul and ended-up doing a really major one.

The block had to be bored to 0.04" over. The GM Agent in Lebanon was extremely helpful and I still appreciate the long hours he spent searching for my needs in his warehouse. He couldn't find standard pistons but was able to retrieve a set of TRW "High Compression" pistons (11:1) lying under layers of dust for years. He also found a "High Performance" camshaft and recommended it in case I go for the HC pistons. I went for both.

The TH-400 underwent a major overhaul too. It took about 2 weeks to assemble the whole thing including the new custom-made exhausts.

For months after running the engine again, I remained puzzled about its bahavior: trembling when idling, picking up abruptly on its own after slightly pushing the accelerator pedal and holding it still, and thrusting the car violently when I step on it. Once unleashed, the engine feels like resisting deceleration when brakes are applied. After doing some reading and without reaching the expert level, I realized that my standard 442 has moved a few steps towards the "performance" zone, though high performance was not exactly on my action list. I got a quarter-mile (400-meter) performance of 150 kph in 15+ seconds, which is not bad for something achieved unintentionally. I did this trial only once, and below photo was taken in the spring of 1985 to mark this achievement (Yes. That’s me on the hood). Other than changing the oil & filter when due, the engine remains undisturbed till present date.

Weren't there some setbacks? Indeed there were. Fuel consumption became a nightmare, so did fuel quality requirements in terms of Octane content. Even with the best available fuel, the Carbon Monoxide (CO) level remained catastrophic, and I'm glad that old cars are exempted from the new strict CO legislations in Lebanon. I also had to forget about quiet peaceful rides. With its thundering exhausts, the car wouldn't settle for anything less than Soprano. If you have a taste for muscle cars, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.

I dedicated the next three years to searching for body parts in salvage yards all over Lebanon, reading about body restoration, and implementing what I’ve read. I stripped the car inside out and did most of the restoration works on my own, then had the body painted by an expert. Tires and wheels were also replaced. The effort didn't go in vain, and below photos taken in the summer of 1988 speak for themselves. The red color is powder-based and lacquer-coated. 1988 was also the year of my graduation from the American University of Beirut with a Bachelor Degree in Mechanical Engineering.

I must however admit that I could not manage to restore everything because 442 body parts availability remained a prime challenge. Besides, the car went into long-term parking mode in 1990 (11 months a year) when I had to leave Lebanon to work in the United Arab Emirates as my yearly vacation was limited to one month.

The car got itself a new future owner when my first son Misbah was born in 1996.

I've seen a few other 442s in Lebanon. This one is really something else.

2009

In 2009, I surfed the internet and found a world of 442 parts, thus solving my problem. I found most of what I was looking for at the online stores appearing in the Links Zone below, all offering affordable solutions to Oldsmobile collectors with worldwide delivery. Well, "affordable" is a bit debatable. When you're determined to invest in a personal project, expensive solutions become "relatively" affordable as opposed to getting stuck.

With this breakthrough, I’m not worried anymore. I'm not saying that the car became in a perfect shape so don't get me wrong. There's still a lot of work to be done and I keep working on it. My one-month-vacation per year is however quite narrow for completing the tasks I have in mind.

2010

Replaced the front grilles with the correct ones (photos below, taken in July 2010).

2011

When I bought the car in 1980, one of the things that impressed me a lot was some secret feature in its TH-400 that prevented shifting from the second gear to the third one before reaching a speed of 70+ kph. However, can you imagine what this meant if I wanted to drive the car at low speed in the city or in heavy traffic? It meant second gear only, 4000+ RPM, not enough speed for engine cooling, and ultimately overheating. Was this what made Dr. Munzer hate the car and sell it? Very much possible.

In 2011 I researched this matter in an attempt to make the car behave like normal ones and I found the answer. The governor of the TH-400 had to be replaced. It took me 30 minutes to replace it and I was finally able to go for quieter rides with the wife and kids, without overheating. I kept the old "evil" governor aside for my son.