Written by independent automotive journalist Steve Statham

It’s all about the numbers: This 1970 Oldsmobile 442 convertible is on its way to the 2017 Las Vegas Auction.

When it comes to American muscle cars, it’s all about the numbers – the bigger the better. The most desirable machines have always been the cars with the largest-displacement engines, the thumpin’ torque and horsepower numbers, the highest compression ratios and hood scoops that could ingest the maximum volume of air.

Muscle cars weren’t for the timid, and for most of the 1960s, the manufacturers engaged in a constant race to one-up each other. Each year brought bigger engines and wilder racetrack-oriented features. Whether on cruise night or at the drag strip, there was no such thing as too much.

On that scale, the 1970 Oldsmobile 442 (numbers again!) is a perennial favorite. The example to be offered at No Reserve at the Barrett-Jackson Las Vegas Auction brings the big numbers, as well as the open-air fun of a convertible top.

To get a sense for where the 1970 442 fits into the overall scheme of things, consider that no other muscle car had a larger displacement engine than the 442’s 455ci V8. The dawn of the new decade was when General Motors lifted its previous internal restrictions on engine sizes in its intermediate cars. The 442, along with the Pontiac GTO and Buick GS, shed their 400ci V8s for 455ci versions of their respective V8s. Considering that the 442 had been launched in 1964 with a 330ci V8 and 55 fewer horses, Oldsmobile’s high-performance intermediate illustrates as well as any car the trajectory of the Detroit horsepower wars.

The 455 that came standard in the 1970 442 had a 10.5:1 compression ratio and produced 365 horsepower and 500 ft/lbs of torque. Those giant hood scoops? Completely functional, part of the W-25 package that included a lightweight fiberglass hood with forced air induction, chrome hood tie-downs, and low-restriction air cleaner. As Oldsmobile itself stated in its sales brochure for the ’70 442, “There are all kinds of hood scoops around. Many of them are just for looks. And a lot of others might just as well be.

“Dr. Oldsmobile figures if you’re going to do something, you ought to do it up big. That means designing and testing air grabbing scoops that are big enough and placed forward far enough to really do the job.”

The 442 convertible that will roll across the block in Las Vegas has another numerical angle working for it – matching numbers. The car has its matching-numbers 455 with Turbo 400 automatic transmission. It has undergone a frame-off restoration, and is loaded with options, including air conditioning, dual-gate shifter, 3.23 posi-traction rear axle, Super Stock I wheels with raised-white-letter Goodyear G70-14 Polyglas tires, open-face alternator, bucket seats with console, sport mirrors, AM/FM radio, sport steering wheel, factory gauges, power steering and power disc brakes.

Those options are on top of the 442’s standard equipment, which included the FE-2 suspension with heavy-duty springs, shocks and control arms, plus front and rear stabilizer bars, full dual exhaust, Strato bucket seats, side and rear striping, and a woodgrain applique on the dash and door panels.

Few would argue that the 1970 442 is one of the best-looking muscle cars to ever roll out of a GM factory. From the sweep of the fenders to the distinct vertical bars in the grille, the 442 is a looker. This example, with its Aegean Aqua color with white hood stripes, white convertible top and Ivory interior, is a particularly handsome combination.

Getting back to numbers for a final time, there’s one number in the muscle car world where it’s okay to be low – and that is the production number. The 442 was a popular muscle car in 1970, but most were the Holiday hardtop model. Oldsmobile only built 2,933 442 convertibles that year, and you can be sure that the great bulk of them haven’t survived the decades.

In Las Vegas, someone is going to bid and find they’re holding the lucky number on an extraordinary Oldsmobile.

For up-to-date information on this vehicle, click HERE. For a look at all the cars on the Las Vegas Preview Docket, click HERE.