The Oldsmobile 442 — unquestionably three of the most feared numbers in muscle car history. A four-barrel carburetor, four-speed manual transmission, and dual exhaust were enough to get the blood pumping in the heart of any auto enthusiast in the 1960s and ‘70s. While most believe the 442’s legacy disappeared in the wake of the smog era, the truth is it was still very much alive.

The thing is, most legends don’t go down without a fight. After the V8-powered G-Body Cutlass 442 was discontinued in 1987, Oldsmobile was left without a halo car in its lineup. With a new decade on the the horizon, GM automakers phased out its rear-wheel drive performance offerings in favor of fuel-efficient, front-wheel drive economy cars. The Cutlass and its G-Body sibling Buick Regal, as well as the Pontiac Grand Prix and Chevrolet Monte Carlo, would soon undergo big changes.

Raised white letters and mag wheels were replaced with white-wall tires and hubcaps throughout most of Oldsmobile’s lineup. The Cutlass’ engine displacement was nearly cut in half as the torque-happy 5.0-liter V8 was replaced with a 2.8-liter six-cylinder. Its 40 horsepower and 85 pound-feet of torque disadvantage appeared to signal that Oldsmobile performance was all but dead.

While its safety, technology, and interior were much improved, the new Cutlass didn’t have the speed to match its aerodynamic profile. Though GM’s shift in focus from performance to practicality was arguably preferred by the masses, it certainly didn’t appeal to enthusiasts who once represented a significant portion of its target audience.

To meet the growing demand, GM automakers faced the tough task of offering comparable G-Body excitement on a new front-wheel drive platform void of the same performance architecture. Pontiac was the first to step up to the plate in 1989 with its Turbo Grand Prix and Chevrolet soon followed with its Lumina Z34.

Perhaps even more so than its corporate siblings, Oldsmobile needed to restore faith in the brand’s diminishing performance and liven up its elderly image. In 1990, it attempted to do exactly that with the debut of the Cutlass Calais 442 W-40 built on the N-Body platform.

No, this wasn’t your father’s Sunday driver that only screeched its tires trying to grab the last parking spot at church. With a high-output “Quad 4” engine and five-speed manual transmission, this tire-scorching 442 could fill the air with smoke faster than Mount Vesuvius.

The four-barrel carb may have been long gone, but the 442 stayed true to its name designation with a 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine with four valves per cylinder and two camshafts.

With 180 horses, the Quad 4 made more power than the departed 5.0-liter V8 under the hood of the G-Body 442 with only half the cylinder count. Just shy of 4,000 W-40 cars were made during its two-year production run until the W-41 option code debuted late in 1991, just months before the 442 was discontinued for good.

The W-41 was created so Oldsmobile could compete in IMSA road racing. To be approved for competition, Oldsmobile had to produce a minimum of 200 cars to sell to the public. For the hardcore enthusiasts lucky enough to reserve one, this was undoubtedly the 442 worth waiting for.

The W-41 option code is best described as a track-ready performance package for your Oldsmobile, as weird as that may sound. Bigger camshafts and a low-restriction exhaust increase output to 190 horsepower with a higher 7,400 RPM redline. An oil cooler was added to help keep temperatures down at the track, and a more aggressively geared manual transmission with a 3.94 final drive ratio greatly improved the W-41’s acceleration exiting corners on a road coarse. But more importantly, it helped Oldsmobile drivers put import drivers to shame from a stoplight.

The Oldsmobile rocket was back, and it could launch from zero to 60 in seven seconds flat and fly through the quarter mile in 14.7 seconds at 95.7 miles per hour, according to a Motor Trend road test.

While the W-40 and W-41 Oldsmobile pocket-rockets made in 1990 and ‘91 are often dismissed when analyzing the 442’s historic legacy, they’re certainly worth remembering as pioneers of front-wheel drive performance. When the future of GM’s sport-oriented coupes looked bleak, Oldsmobile showed enthusiasts that there was plenty to look forward to in a new age of performance cars.