Original owners reunited with Hurst/Olds
“Is the scratch still on the door?” an anxious voice blurted out. Sean Bransky cracked a smile and gripped the phone tighter. He knew he had found the original owner of his 1969 Hurst/Olds.
“It is and I'm hoping you have the story for me,” he replied.
That conversation had been decades in the works for the St. Charles resident who had been searching years for an original, untouched example of Oldsmobile's powerful muscle machine — the Hurst/Olds. The car was a collaboration between the automaker and Hurst Performance, a premier auto parts manufacturer.
Finally on his birthday last year, Bransky scored his Firefrost Gold on White coupe from its third owner in Davis Junction, a small town south of Joliet.
“It had all the right documents and especially the patina,” he said. What was missing was some back story — those important details behind each battle scar.
Desiring to know more and armed with those documents, an online search connected him to the original owners, Clark and Linda Wade. The subsequent phone conversation landed him a treasure trove of info about his new ride.
The Wades, who now live in Rock Falls in western Illinois, parted with their special vehicle in the early 1980s. They always wondered what became of it.
“From the moment they answered (the phone), it was evident they simply adored their car,” Bransky said.
In 1969, the newly married Wades sauntered into Peterson Motor Co., in Storm Lake, Iowa, to order one of the 913 Hurst/Olds made that year. They treated the rumbling classic gently over the decades, save for one late night, red-light romp.
Clark Wade told Bransky how he once raced a 1969 Dodge Charger RT 440 Magnum on the outskirts of town. “In his exact words, the Hurst ‘blew its doors off!' ” Bransky said.
Their discussion soon turned to the culprit behind that door scratch, whose exact origin had been lost over time. Wade shared how, shortly after the purchase, a massive tornado blew through their hometown and ripped the roof off their barn. A jagged two-by-four rocketed by the Oldsmobile and clipped the body.
“They didn't have the heart to repaint the door,” Bransky said. “They were so relieved it still showed, feeling it contributed to the vehicle's history.”
The Olds never was driven in winter but because of the plethora of gravel roads in rural Iowa, it had accumulated plenty of rock chips along the lower edges. The Wades purchased a new car in 1982 and, without garage space for both, made the tough call to part with the high-horsepower Olds.
As their phone call concluded, Bransky, sensing the Wades' deep auto affection, invited the couple out to the suburbs for a special reunion with their former four-wheeled flame.
“They immediately teared up,” Bransky said of the reunion. “It was like seeing an old friend.”
An emotional connection is easy to develop with such a brute street bruiser that's designed to rule the roads. Despite its rarity, Bransky makes sure to keep adding pages to its street story.
“The throttle response is mind-boggling,” he said. “It shifts so hard — you can't help but chirp the tires, and smile, every single time.”
• Share your car's story with Matt Avery at auto@dailyherald.com.