I found this 1955 Oldsmobile 88 on FB Marketplace (where else?) with an asking price of $4,500. In this day and age of hyper-inflation, that ask seems fairly reasonable. Or am I getting used to this "new normal"?
Poster of the ad claims the engine runs and the transmission "engages". Brakes don't work. Hey, it's no fun if there's no project involved.
This is a '55 so they hadn't standardized "PRNDL" yet. There's no "park" on these early Hydra's. You don't want your car to move when parked you apply the "parking brake". Note where "reverse" is. What could go wrong? Only 94,616 miles on this and I believe it.
Oldsmobile was the middle brand of General Motors vaunted mid-priced three that gave the Ford Motor Company and Chrysler conniptions. Whether it was advertising, branding, styling or a combination of all three, somehow GM was able to convince buyers that an Oldsmobile was worth a premium stipend over a Pontiac but not quite as much as a Buick would warrant. Even though there's little to differ an Oldsmobile 88 from even a Chevrolet.
Our blue bomb here is an entry level "88", two-door sedan. Not exactly my cup of tea as I'd splurge for a "Super 88 Holiday" that, in addition to a 202-horsepower engine, would also come with hard-top styling.
Then again, if this was a "Holiday", the ask on it would be two to three times higher.
Under her 68-year-old bonnet is an Oldsmobile "Rocket" V-8 engine. For 1954, Olds increased displacement from 1949's 303 cubic inches to a meaty 324. Something's funky, though, as the block and intake manifold are reddish-orange and not green. Interesting. Then again, who knows what this thing has been through over the decades. One thing's for certain, it is an Oldsmobile V-8.
Seeing this is an 88, if this is the original engine or a historically correct one, it made 185 gross-rated brake horsepower. I'd peg this, being generous, at about 110 net horses. No doubt this would be buttery smooth when running but she's not fast by any means. The slightly more powerful 324 in a "Super" wouldn't be a barn burner either. Well, by today's insane standards.
No way this interior is original to the car. No doubt someone had this done years ago. There's a certain charm to older, half-assed but well-intentioned restorations. Still, this button-tufted blue hell has to go.
Love how much leg room is in the rear on mid-50's GM cars. Was there anything GM did wrong back then?
When they downsized their intermediates for 1978, dimensionally those cars were quite similar to these. The big difference is these were substantially wider. These look much bigger than they actually are, and they don't suffer from "big on the outside, small on the inside" syndrome like most domestics did from the late '50's through the great downsizing epoch that began in 1977.
From a proportional standpoint, the extra girth made all the difference in the world. The 1978-1987 GM mid-size models all look stubby. Clumsy even. I just want to smear my face all over the sheet metal of this thiiick beauty. Wait. Did I just write that?
This is for sale down in northeast Maryland. Bonus, no rust issues to speak of although there's a fair amount of surface rust on the acres of chrome on this thing. Swap throw in power steering, add power brakes when you fix them, add a crate motor and a 700R4 and she could be a nice runner. Blue, button tufted interior and all.
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