READY TO RUMBLE; 1969 OLDSMOBILE HURST/OLDS H/O 455.(NEWS)

Byline: DON KLEIN

TRANSMISSION AND shifter guru George Hurst had major mojo in the late 1960s and early "70s. A relentless self-promoter, he cut deals with competing manufacturers to produce Hurst-branded performance vehicles simultaneously, an act of automotive-marketing chutzpah rivaled only by Carroll Shelby.

But of all the marques that hopped on the Hurst brand wagonfrom Chrysler's gigantic 1970 300 H Hurst to the compact 1969 AMC/Hurst SC/Ramblerthe cars most associated with the Shifter King are Oldsmobiles. At the top of the Hurst/Olds food chain is the mighty H/O 455.

Introduced as a 1968 model, the 455 was a 442 on steroids. Some fan sites say the drivelines were installed at the factory, but conventional wisdom has it that Lansing, Mich., industrialist John Demmer was tapped to build the cars offsite to circumvent General Motors' 10-pounds-per-horsepower mandate. Either way, all agree that the production cars were based on a prototype conceived by Hurst and perfected by Jack "Doc Watson. Painted Toronado Peruvian Silver, these sleepers pumped out 390 hp and 500 lb-ft of torque, requiring no more race preparation than a few gallons of gasoline to clock quarter-mile times in the low 13s.

For year two, Olds added show to the go. All of the "69s were painted bright white with Firefrost Gold accent stripes. The cars got huge, functional twin ...