Back when GM was really rolling, Michigan had GM towns. Every town was a Chevy town, but Pontiac was a Pontiac town, Flint was “Buick City,” and Lansing was the home of Oldsmobile. That time has generally passed, but I still carry the torch for all those brands, owning at least one of each. Except Oldsmobile. Let’s take a look at this barn-find-turned-daily-driver 1952 Super 88 and see what I’m missing out on.
I’d like to take a test drive in this ’52 Super 88. It shares a body with my ’53 Buick Special Riviera, but it’s clearly a totally different mechanical experience. It has a 160-horsepower 303 V8, a 30-horsepower advantage over my straight eight. It has the four-speed Hydramatic compared to my Twin-Turbine Dynaflow, which is sometimes called Dynaslush but is actually not that bad. It has an open driveline so you don’t have to struggle with a torque tube every…single…time you have to work on the driveline.
Sounds pretty good so far; this Oldsmobile might even be painted the original color of my Special. The current owner of this Super 88 has been using it as a daily driver, and its extra power would be a real benefit, although I could press the Special into daily-driver duty if it didn’t involve any expressway driving.
You either like the styling of early ’50s cars or you don’t. Obviously I do, and the difference between Oldsmobile and Buick comes down to details. The 88 is filled with rocket imagery to express its marketing heritage; the Buick has sweepspears, portholes, and grille sneers. The Super 88 does have a three-piece backlite whereas my Special had one-piece glass, but it probably doesn’t matter much at this late date.
It’s unfair to blame oil leaks on any one car, but if the garage floor has anything to say, there may be a few oil leaks from this Oldsmobile. I know my Special will leave its mark from the Dynaflow (always has to some extent…it might be time to pull that torque tube again). Old cars leak a little if you use them; how much is always the key. It’s a neverending battle.
The interior will need work if the new owner doesn’t like the blanket look. Keep in mind, it’s very hard to find original materials for these cars. I’m having my Special’s upholstery redone by a local shop very soon, but I’m using non-factory materials in near-original colors.
I hope an Oldsmobile is in my future (’66 Toronado, please), but I don’t like owning repeats, and this Super 88 looks very similar to my Special. I still love it, and I hope that someone out there does, too. It’s currently on Marketplace in Oregon, and the seller is asking $9500 or best offer (and will consider trades). Thanks to Zappenduster for the tip!
Expressway comment is interesting as this car will hit 100 mph as it sits. Nice package here what with being a hard top and a great color combination. If you want more HP bore it out to 311 ci, street cam, big 4 barrel carb and dual exhausts then you really have something. In my case it made a great drag engine with the 4 speed automatic behind it in my Studebaker coupe. It also was a great NASCAR car and the only one that could stand up to the Hudsons initially.
I agree that the 88 will have no problem with expressway speeds; I was talking about my Special. It prefers the 60-65 mph life, which doesn’t quite add up with current speeds out there.
A very nice example of an Olds from it’s pinnacle in engineering! Personally I’d take an Olds V8 over even the Cadillac’s 331 V8. And being the hardtop coupe, it has the latest (for `52) in design people wanted. However, I’d lose the visor, and paint this in a different shade of blue as powder blue is not my favorite. Otherwise, I’d restore it to showroom stock VISUALLY, but I’d be tempted to tweak the 303 just a bit with a hotter cam, 4bbl., and duals. Oh, and a set of period-correct whitewall cokers!
I would keep the visor. From what you posted on down in your response, I can understand why you, and others, would want to remove the visor. It is a wind drag at the speeds you would want to drive it. I am at the age, and dealing with eye issues, where that extra visor would work great for me. But, each to his own.
Amen, brother. In Wisconsin, we had Janesville, where the 100 millionth GM vehicle was built, a Chevy. My gripe all along about foreign cars, was not the quality, but what it did to our economy. Buyers of foreign cars seemed to forget, all these cities with auto plants, and all the related industries supporting that plant, gave many a decent living. We built our own, we bought our own. Let the Asians buy their own cars, see? That’s the rub. Without America, these countries would perish. That’s where this car comes in. To the great folks of Lansing, I’ve met folks that their lives were devastated, upended if you will, when Olds went out. When this car was made however,, things were indeed a hummin’. Korea was in full swing, always a shot in the arm for an economy, and many GIs left their Rocket 88s behind to serve in that worthless quagmire, dreaming of a new Olds upon return. Little brother surely trashed the old one. I know it looks frumpy, something Ebenezer Scrooge might drive, but make no mistake, the Olds 88 was THE hottest stick out there. It has been deemed the 1st factory muscle car, although that term was still years away. This car could do 100 mph out of the showroom, sucking most through the air horn. V8s were still few and far between, and 6 cylinders still dominated most passenger cars. You had an Olds 88 coming up in the mirror, it was best to let them pass. I read, this car cost $2395 new, when a Ford Mainline was about $1700. $700 bucks was a lot of extra money then, but didn’t deter over 213,000 buyers, the 4 door sedan the most popular, but did manage to sell over 40,000 2 doors, all with V8s, I read. This was Oldsmobiles moment in the sun, literally dominated race tracks, but not for long. Olds didn’t enjoy this kind of performance until the early 80s, where GM sunk a ton of money into NASCAR and NHRA with Oldsmobile. John Force drove an Olds, in fact, they all did. There wasn’t much nicer than an Olds 88. Some lucky buyer will find that out for themselves.
Exactly the way my dad thought, along with his 3 brother in laws,WW 2 Vets and one Korea/ Vietnam. All had American cars,my dad everything Sears…appliances, tools and mowers.
Fast in the day for sure. My daily driver in 63 was an 88 Deluxe 303 with 3 on the tree. I raced that car at the local drag strip Deerpark, Washington and routinely ran 17.2 to 17.5 at 79 to 81 mph in the 1/4 mile. Yup the Hudson’s in L stock were hard to beat.
My 88 was a 1953.
Rocket 88 by Ike Turner keeps going through my head. The back end especially makes this car look fast sitting still. Good luck to the buyer.
If only the blanket material had extended to the front seats, the car’s potential might have been realized.
I bought a ’52 Olds 88 in 1964 for $100. I built a great dune buggy out it for many fun days in the desert.
Very cool car. New upholstery would be nice- but the cost might make those saddle blankets look ok.
Same color combo as Dad’s ‘53 Caddy. I’d take the Caddy with the 331 over this- but this is no slouch.
Love your car.
Wish I could buy it.
Amen Howard! Should’ve used that
argument when I ruffled the feathers of those UK guys a few posts ago when we were talking about that ’39
Thames van that day. No slam on them, but we used to build ’em better
here than anywhere else in the world.
You can say that I’m prejudiced if you
like, but it’s only American products
for me. There were unions in our area
that actually forbade their members
from buying an imported car. The
Machinist’s union sent my Mom a nasty letter when they found out she and Dad bought a new Toyota Carons
sedan in ’71. They even gave her grief
about driving my Packard limo to work while I was on the road playing music. They threatened to expel her
From the union if she kept the car.
They politely suggested she buy a Ford Pinto or Chevy Vega if she wanted something good on gas.
Sad to say it, the girls (my SIL and
niece) talked me into buying a KIA
K-5 sedan last year. And yes, I did embarrass them when I asked the
salesman if our car was built in the
states or not. At least with an American car, you didn’t need a computerized lug wrench to change a
tire or pay $300-$500 every 3 months
for an oil change. You used American
made wrenches to loosen the drain plug in the crankcase and change your own oil and maintain your car
yourself on Saturday mornings when
you didn’t have a honey do list that
weekend. They want over $1000 to
change the horns on my K-5 sedan!
I was told by the service tech that to
replace the horns, the engine, along
with the tranny have to come out of
the car to do that. I was also told that
the job would take 2-3 weeks to complete! At least with an American
car you unplugged the wiring from
the horn, used your Craftsman hand tools, and removed the offending horn, and replaced it yourself. THAT’S why I like American cars! I’m
This Olds has survived just the way it is. Don’t change its character. I’m sure if the hardtop could talk it would say” leave me be”.
Dad was an Olds guy and had a black ‘52 but it was a four door. It’s my earliest memory of any of his cars. I don’t recall riding in it but certainly did. He traded it around ‘61 for a used ‘59, later a ‘63 and ‘68. Olds was king back then and it’s so sad that the legacy GM brands have vanished.