1971 Oldsmobile 442 Joe Mondello 455 Olds

Here for your viewing pleasure is the 1971 Oldsmobile 442 that my dad bought in Mar of '85. It's much better to raise hell with the car on camera once and get to rewatch the video a million times than constantly be out riding it's ass. I'd like to be a custodian of the car in my time and maintain it for my son and future generations to enjoy. Mondello was the last one inside this 455.
There I was, all of 9. Dad proclaimed that he was buying something from the Hot Rod auction down at the Cincinnati Convention Center. I expected some kind of 30s/40s hot rod. Something like my Uncles 32 Ford with the 364 nailhead buick dual 4 setup, 4 speed etc. Nope, a puke cream '71 Olds 442. Car was complete with green vinyl top and gold brush painted engine. I had no idea what the car was and had no interest. I was let down... Dad bought the car. He swapped the plates from the family Suburban out in the parking garage and off we went. We exited the building and pulled out onto the street. My dad said, "lets see if it's a real 442..." He snatched up the weezy little column shifter, dropped her into 1st and smashed the go pedal. The car melted a tire and convinced me right then and there... things would be ok in the Somers world of cool cars... Within a few weeks, a group trip to Edgewater Dragway was scheduled and the car was able to cut a 14.27 et. At the time, the car was a bread and butter 442 with AC, open 3.23 gears and not so much as a tach in the cluster. Hell idiot lights at best... It wasn't long before the car was apart. Danny Asbury had taken on the challenge of removing the vinyl top and changing the body color to a beautiful dark green. Debold was responsible for the first rebuild of the original 455. I can remember the car coming back from Debolds in '86. I watched from my bedroom window as it was fired up on the trailer. No dog house, just the radiator shroud/assembly. It had a 2.5" exhaust with turbo mufflers at the rear axle and nothing else. It was pure music. Soon there after, The car was back together. Danny finished his wet sand work and the car was ready for the street. It wasn't long before my dad was bored with the show car scene. Lawn chairs and summer heat didn't quite offer the excitement he was looking for. There was a trip to Tri-State Dragway in Hamilton Ohio. My dad was having issues with the open differential. His best time that day was somewhere in the 16 second range.. He borrowed a set of slicks within a week or two and returned. The car was basicly stock at the time and clipped a 13.60. After not too long my dad had caught the bug and had the car running 12.7. He decided that 12.0 was the goal. He didn't want to have to install a roll bar per NHRA rules breaking into the 11.99 and quicker range. He was able to put the car on the 12.05 mark. Somewhere around '89 at an Olds meet up at Norwalk Ohio, Joe Mondello of Mondello Performance spotted the car. Somewhere in the mix he made a deal with my dad to purchase the car for his wife Mary. They eventually got the deal done. The car was loaded up in an enclosed car hauler and delivered to California. I eventually saw the car on the Back of Mondello's catalog. It was in a magazine in the Early '90s. They quoted it running 12.60. Mondello had built a '67 425 based 455 with the .921" lifters for his wife Mary. They had re-installed the AC and put 3.42 gears in it. I was in the military at the time and in school out in Petaluma Ca. I had thought about stopping in several times to see the car down in Paso Robles but never did. At the time I was driving a '79 Malibu Wagon with an Olds 330(with Mondello parts) 3.73 gears and decent stall. I should have stopped in... Fast forward to Jan 2018. friend of mine from the Olds world had been helping Mrs. Mondello clear things out from the cylinder head porting business as well as other personal items including some cars.One of the guys suggested that the green 442 might be the Somers car. Dave Worthington contacted me about it. It didn't take long to confirm that this was my dads car. Fortunately I was offered an opportunity to purchase the car. After some work and planning, we brought the car home to Florida. The car is a time capsule from the early 90s. I have made a few minimal updates to allow the car to live in the Florida heat and modern gas. Other than that, my goal is to maintain the car as it was when Joe Mondello was wrenching on the car. There are many subtle details to see on the car. I would love to ask Joe a load of questions but will have to do with what is there as a map. Notice the milled carb and primary venturies. Lots of little details. Enjoy.