1962 Oldsmobile Starfire - GM's First "Ford Thunderbird"?

General Motors took their time with an answer to Ford's four-passenger Thunderbird they introduced in 1958. Many believe GM's first salvo at the Thunderbird was the 1963 Buick Riviera. Others say it was the 1961 Oldsmobile Starfire. This Facebook Marketplace find is a 1962 Oldsmobile Starfire. 

I wasn't born yet so I don't have an honest, boots on the ground opinion of what may or may not have been the case. All I know is that seeing what a big GM fan I am, particularly anything they made between 1949 and 1972, it pains me to say that as handsome as this big old Olds is, it comes up way short viscerally compared to the Thunderbird, especially the new-for-1961 second-generation four-passenger Thunderbird better known as the "Bullet Bird". If, in fact, GM intended this car to actually go bumper-to-bumper with the Thunderbird. 

Timing being everything and giving my beloved (old) GM the benefit of the doubt, seeing what a gigantic hunk of cheesecake the 1958-1960 Thunderbird was, we can almost give GM a hall pass for doing little more than stuffing an Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 with as much stuff as an Oldsmobile 98 and calling it a day. However, I find it hard to believe that GM didn't know the 1961 "Bullet Bird" was on the way and they did nothing about it. 

GM either didn't read the tea leaves correctly or bean counters had too much influence swaying product planners away from a relatively new and untested market segment. Doesn't make the Starfire an unattractive car but either way, the Oldsmobile Starfire was no Thunderbird. 

The Starfire, named after the Lockhead fighter jet, was available only as a convertible for 1961, a hardtop coupe was introduced in 1962. The Starfire was not only equipped as well as a haughty Olds 98 but was chock full of space age and jet fighter design cues and had Oldsmobile's most powerful engine underhood. It was also the first American car to feature a floor-mounted, automatic transmission shifter. 

Our Marketplace find here was for sale with an asking price $5,200, I can't find it any more so, he says somewhat bewildered. seems somebody bought it. I don't know what price would have made me jump at this, might be my advancing age, but I don't find the romance of project cars\moneys pits appealing anymore. This one doesn't appear to be in that bad of shape, the faded paint makes it look worse than it is. The torn up interior concerns me, but as long as she's rust free, the buyer could have done worse.