As proof that the mind-altering drugs popular in the late Sixties and early Seventies had made their way into mainstream American marketing, there was Dr. Oldsmobile. The good doctor was not a physician, but a mad scientist—as the story goes–responsible for making Oldsmobile’s muscle car, the Cutlass 4-4-2 and W-Series coupes, the performance machines they were. And, truth be told, they were pretty good.
1970 Oldsmobile 4-4-2
History
There is surprisingly little written about Dr. Oldsmobile, but the campaign ran inconsistently from 1969 through 1971, and focused primarily on print ads. That said, the good Doctor did appear in a TV commercial or two, though this author could find no examples of the broadcast campaign to share.
The campaign featured a madman (the good doctor) who went crazy, and in Frankenstein fashion created muscle cars there were something more than ordinary. And, indeed, the Cutlass 4-4-2 with the W30 package was one of the muscle-car era’s more impressive efforts, featuring, at its 1970 peak, up to 370 horsepower when mated to the available 4-speed manual transmission.
Dr. Oldsmobile
Strangely, Olds published plenty of ads for the 4-4-2 and W-Series Cutlass variants that did not include Doctor Oldsmobile. Seems odd, as, along as you had created a Frank Zappa-looking engineer character in a lab coat, we think you should work the guy hard moving the metal.
While history would apply the Doctor Oldsmobile moniker to a gentleman known for designing after-market cylinder heads for the brand’s beefy 455-cubic-inch engine, he was not originally associated with campaign.
Impact
Given how much money the Chrysler Corporation spent advertising Dodge and Plymouth muscle cars during the same era, it comes as no surprise that Doctor Oldsmobile is now little more than a footnote in big book of automotive performance history. Still, we’re glad the ad folks at Oldsmobile enjoyed a little recreational party time, and saw clear to share Doctor Oldsmobile with us. The Doctor meant well, he just didn’t have much staying power.
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1970 Oldsmobile 4-4-2 Pictures
Click below for enlarged images
The 4-4-2 was a handsome thing. Love the Oldsmobile chrome-and-power integration.