How right you are! I was just reading up on this particular Olds and it was one comprehensive and wicked package for a small block!! I'll never understand why they weren't more popular......
I knew about the 350-powered Ram Rods back then because I was a big-time Olds fan until I got my 340 Dart Swinger in 1969. IMO, the reason the Ram Rod wasn't more popular was because the factory was pushing the 442 so hard as the "performance Olds". 1968 was also the initial offering of the Hurst Olds package and all of those were big-block 455s. Big blocks were the popular items being pushed for performance by each of the Big 3 back then:
396 Chevelles and Camaros, Buick GS Stage 1, Royal Pontiac's 428/Royal Bobcat GTO, 455 Hurst Olds
1968 was the first year for the 428 Cobra Jet Mustang and Torino, and the Shelby GT500KR ("King of the Road"). Also, don't forget Lt. Frank Bullitt's 390-powered Mustang GT.
Mother Mopar's 383 Road Runner, Mr. Norm's 440 GSS Dart, and the availability of the 426 Street Hemi starting in 1966
If you wanted to project your drag-racing vibe to the street, you had to have a big block. But I sure had fun beating up on a lot of those heavier big-block powered cars on the street back then with my quick-revving lighter 340 Dart.