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July
2002
1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme
Owner: David
Phillips, Somerville NJ
Webmaster's note: Obviously I have fallen behind in keeping the Car of the Month up to date. The truth is that I have not received many quality submissions! (If you would like your car to be featured, just see the instructions below!) Hopefully this will get me back on track for a new Car of the Month in August.
Oldsmobile was chosen as the Indy 500 pace car for just the third time in 1970, although Olds would go on to pace the race a record-setting 11 times. The car selected was the 1970 Olds 4-4-2, a high-performance version of the Cutlass. For the race, Oldsmobile provided 160 cars for speedway use — 77 4-4-2 convertibles and 83 Cutlass Supreme convertibles1. An additional 626 pace car replicas were manufactured in 1970, 268 4-4-2 convertibles and 358 Cutlass Supreme convertibles.
David Phillips' Cutlass Supreme is in fact one of the 83 cars used by the speedway for the 1970 Indy 500. It is car #17 and was used by John M. Ryan, VP of the speedway. The round decal on the rear quarter panel identifies the car as an Indy 500 festival car, signifying that the car was used in the pre-race parade. As you can see, Dave's car even has John Ryan's name above the front wheel well.
Dave
purchased this car in November of 1999. The car was originally owned
by an Indianapolis resident, then traveled to Kentucky and Michigan before
Dave took the car home to New Jersey. The car has (as of mid-January)
96,776 miles on the original engine and transmission. The car has a
350 c.i. four-barrel engine, as well as the standard pace car package which
includes a 4-4-2 notched rear bumper with dual trumpet exhaust tips, letter
E cast on the front and rear cylinder heads, and the code Y-74 stamped on
the cowl id plate. Although he doesn't participate in car shows, Dave
says he tries to attend the local cruise every week, where I'm sure his car
draws plenty of attention.
1. This information was provided by David Phillips. I have heard different numbers from different people.
For being selected as Car of the Month, David has won his choice of a Johnny Lightning 1/64 scale diecast car from the gift shop or an 8x10 information card on the 1995 Corvette or 1996 Viper pace cars. If you would like to have your car considered for Car of the Month, please send a short write-up (about 3-5 paragraphs) of your car and several photos to (If you do not have a scanner, I can provide a mailing address for you.) Please provide as much information as you can on the car, its background, and other interesting facts, and remember that the more information you provide, the better your chances of being selected!
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