"It's All About the Numbers" is a running series of articles within the 'Thunder & Lightning' newsletter by Judy Badgley, original director of the H/OCA. Over the years Judy has provided a wealth of information with wide ranging topics from Production figures, Tires, Glass & Insurance. New articles will be posted as they appear, please enjoy the prior articles below. The articles are stored in .pdf format and can be accessed by clicking on the page icon in each 'Numbers' description below.

No. 30: April is National Volunteer Month. The Volunteers of the Hurst/Olds Club of America are the absolute best. These people make our car club a success. I would like to use this article to say thank you to those that volunteer and tell you a little about them and what they do for you.

No. 29: National Hurst/Olds Day is over and continues to be a success. This was the 10th year for that event and it has grown over the years in popularity. With Waverlyn Karch’s guidance and leadership and with your enthusiasm, it will continue to grow. Recently there have been questions as to why we have this event and how the date was selected.

No. 28: The 1969 Hurst/Olds hit the streets and the strips 40 years ago this year. They were as outrageous to see as their predecessor, the 68 H/O was understated.

No. 27: Insurance and Paperwork, important items to remember!

No. 26: Let’s talk engines. An engine is a mechanical device that converts force into motion. In the context of propulsion systems, an air-breathing engine is one that uses atmospheric air to oxidize the fuel provided. Now for the purpose of this article, let’s see how engines and “NUMBERS” relate.

No. 25: Hurst Performance was incorporated 50 years ago, in 1959. Those that were impacted by this beginning are celebrating this milestone. That includes the members of the Hurst/Olds Club of America.

No. 24: This article is dedicated to the evolution of “going topless”!!!! Have I got your attention? Please read on.

No. 23: Over the last 20+ years we have worked on many restorations. Not all of them have been our own, some are for customers through our business and some have just been helping friends. One item that didn’t receive much attention was glass. This issue of NUMBERS, I will “look through the glass”!.

No. 22: Jon Wessel has dedicated this issue to the 40th anniversary of the 1968 Hurst/Olds. 40 years ago these “sleeper” cars were the talk of the dragstrip and the streets. I decided to use this NUMBERS column to share with you some details of our 1968 Hurst/Olds.

No. 21: Doug and I have always done as much traveling as we could. We are always looking to see what is “just over that hill”! As long as I can remember we have played the license plate game. You know, the one where you keep track of all the different states. This is a fascinating game and “kids” of all ages love to play.

No. 20: The details of this party are in the last paragraph of this article. I hope you will take time to read about the history of our Club AND to join us to celebrate 25 fantastic years.

No. 19: You have probably all heard the reference to 1-of-a-kind or 1-off. How do these phrases relate to a Hurst/Olds? All of our H/O cars are special. When individual auto manufacturers are building thousands of cars annually (millions in the 70’s), that makes our cars rare and highly collectible, but what about 1-of-a-kind?

No. 18: The year 2008 is a milestone year for the Hurst/Olds and the Hurst/Olds Club of America. The production of the first Hurst/Olds took place 40 years ago this month. The H/OCA was organized on Labor Day weekend, 25 years ago. This IS our year!

No. 17: Hursty is retiring. If you haven’t had the opportunity to attend a national meet, you may not know who Hursty is. This article will change all of that!

No. 16: Have you ever noticed the differences in paint shades when the H/O’s are all together at a meet? This can be attributed to many different factors. I would like to share with you some observations as well as some paint codes and formulas.

No. 15: The 23rd Hurst/Olds National Meet is over. It was a success, as were all of the previous meets. What makes it a success? Everybody that attended had a really good time. We enjoyed the company of old friends, made new friends and had an outstanding display of Hurst/Olds.

No. 14: I’m sure you have all heard the phrase “size doesn’t matter”! Well in some cases it really does. If you are talking about tires and wheels, size is very important. The size affects the speedometer reading, the odometer reading, gas mileage, the speed of the engine RPM’s, and the shift points of the transmission. It also affects the kind of take off you have from a stop. If you have smaller tires than called for, the car will take off faster. Now let’s talk about what the Hurst/Olds are supposed to have.

No. 13: In the last “NUMBERS” article published in the Thunder and Lightning, I mentioned there were 2 years of Hurst/Olds production that were not a happy relationship between Hurst Performance and Oldsmobile. I wrote about 1988 in the last issue and here is the story about the 1979 H/O.

No. 12: 1988 was the end of an era. Oldsmobile began building the Cutlass in 1961. This car was their introduction into the small car market. The Cutlass was so popular it led the industry in sales and popularity for many years. Popularity can also have its bad side. The Cutlass was #1 on the list of “most stolen” cars for several years in the 80’s.

No. 11: September of 1983, a group of 16 enthusiasts signed a charter, we were a Chapter of the Oldsmobile Club of America. The original Board was Director, Judy Badgley; Editor, Wayne Mason; Secretary, Lois Janetzke; Treasurer, Jim Carlson. By January of 1984 we had grown to 41 members located in 15 states.

No. 10: There seems to be a lot of interest currently about “ authenticating” the 1972 Hurst/Olds. I have been receiving phone and email questions about 72 H/O’s without the W45 or W46 stamping (OK so it isn’t just about the numbers, sometimes you have to include letters!) in the Fisher Body tag.

No. 9: Today’s economy seems to keep costs at the front of our minds. Many are struggling to keep food on the table and clothes on their bodies. However, there is an enormous following in the auto collector field at the auto auctions.

No. 8: 1968 was the 1st production year of the Hurst/Olds. 500 of these special cars were to be built. 500 was the magic number to be considered a production car to allow racing at the dragstrip in those classes. This number was increased at some point of production. An additional 15 H/O’s were built to satisfy the sales orders from the “world’s largest Oldsmobile dealer”, Story Oldsmobile in Lansing, Michigan.

No. 7: The 1984 Hurst/Olds was the largest production year of the H/O’s to be built. They were also the last “official” year of Hurst/Olds to be built. By “official” I mean that they were designated a Hurst/Olds when they went down the assembly line at Oldsmobile. There was a total of 3500 built and they were painted silver, similar to the first Hurst/Olds production cars. The stripes were black with red trim.

No. 6: Memorial weekend and the Indy 500 race will soon be here. I thought you might like some 1974 Hurst/Olds Pace Car trivia to impress your friends at your “500” party.

No. 5: How many 1968 Hurst/Olds’ are still out there? You can pick any year of H/O, and that same question has been asked. The other part of that question is, how many of a particular year are owned by members of the H/OCA?

No. 4: There are a lot of numbers on our cars. They all mean something to somebody. It might be the person assembling the car that needs to install a part with a particular number, according to the assembly sheet. It might be the final inspector that needs to make sure the car has all the components required according to the assembly sheets. It might be the policeman that is checking the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) to see if the car he is checking is stolen or wanted for some reason. All of the numbers mean something to somebody for some reason.

No. 3: Numbers matching. How many times have you heard that statement? Do you know what it means?

No. 2: It seems that most of the questions asked about the Hurst/Olds are related to options. How many of a certain year H/O came with a particular option. Example- How many 1979 Hurst/Olds’ had T-tops; or sunroofs; or power windows; etc.?

No. 1: The Hurst/Olds Club of America has maintained a Research Library for nearly 20 years. In those years I would estimate about 99% (a number) of the inquiries are about numbers.