Oldsmobile DOHC 455...Engine that never was

When you think of performance cars, Oldsmobile is not the first thing that pops into your mind. But there was a time in the late-1960s when noted automotive journalist Karl Ludvigsen made the now-preposterous claim that the W43 Olds 455 was “perhaps the most promising and impressive big-bore V-8 engines ever groomed for street and track use by any manufacturer.”

So if you’re thinking, “What’s the deal with this W-43, and how come I’ve never heard of its awesomeness?” read on.

ROCKET FROM LANSING

The original Rocket V8. Image: GM Photo Store
Find a sun-baked Old Skool hot rodder from the West Coast and he may give you an earful on the wonders of the Rocket V8. Along with Cadillac, Oldsmobile was the first to debut a high compression V8, which the burgeoning hot rod set heartily embraced. Why were they burgeoning?

Because when our servicemen came back from overseas after defeating Nazi slime, they were a restless, wild bunch who had a tremendous amount of technical know-how and were aching to use it. The “Flathead” Ford V8 (especially with a Mercury crankshaft) became the hot setup during that time, and engineers began creating and selling aftermarket parts to hop them up.

These motors appeared in just about anything one could get his hands on, although they often were installed in cheap, plentiful Fords from the 1920-30s.

And then Olds introduced the Rocket V8 in 1949. Offering up to 135 horsepower from 303 cubic inches, it put a stock Flathead to shame. It also was the first Olds to inspire a song since “My Merry Oldsmobile” in 1905 – Ike Turner and Jackie Brenston wrote an ode to the Rocket 88, Oldsmobile’s cheapest and lightest car equipped with the Rocket V8.

If you wanted to go fast in the early 1950s, it wasn’t unusual to go the Oldsmobile route and come out on top. Not until Chrysler’s HEMI in 1951 did Oldsmobile begin to feel the pressure and then, in 1955, with the small-block Chevy, it was all over.

THE W-MACHINES
Nineteen sixty-six saw the mid-year introduction of the W30 Force-Air package, which was the first of many “W” performance designations (F-85/Cutlass W31, Toronado W34, W25 fiberglass ram air hood, and W27 aluminum axle carrier and cover, among others).

So when Oldsmobile engineers began development of a super-high performance V8, it was only logical that it too would receive the W treatment, in this case W43. Development began in 1968 for a 1972 debut, but GM’s decision to lower compression for all its motors for the 1971 model year due to emissions concerns ensured that the W43 would not see fruition.