Fins were “in” by ’59, and this 1959 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Holiday Sport Sedan features wedge-shaped fins following a straight line from the front fender tips to these high-rise oval ports at the stern. The Space Race was on, and if your ride wasn’t decked out with giant fins, you were past your prime, Daddy-O. This Olds may have lost some luster, but it’s straight and not busted or rusted too badly. All in all it’s full of promise for the right buyer. Check out more pictures and details on Facebook Marketplace, where this Prophetstown, Illinois road yacht can be yours for a mere $3500. The glass alone might bring that much. Thanks to reader Zappenduster for spotting this Interstate schooner.
The widely split dual headlights aren’t my favorite styling choice on this Ninety-Eight, but they do strike an imposing face. The chrome has some shine left and the extensive collection of trim seems present and accounted for. Three more inches of wheelbase (126.3 vs 123), belt trim extending into the rear door, and wraparound rear trim reaching forward nearly to the wheel well (among other details) distinguish the high-rolling Ninety-Eight from the 88. Thanks to the library of brochures at lov2xlr8 for some information.
The Ninety-Eight gets this “hand-buffed leather” and cloth upholstery. This one has power windows and a power seat to boot. That spindly two-spoke steering wheel testifies to the luxury of power steering. This ain’t no farm wagon, bub.
The 394 cid (6.5L) V8 makes 315 HP (gross) and 435 lb-ft of torque, spinning a high-tech four-speed Jetaway 315 automatic transmission. According to AACA, some had 1:1 third gear with an overdrive fourth and some had a close ratio setup with 1:1 as fourth gear. Maybe our Olds experts can comment on which came with this ’59.
This view shows off the full-length spear-shaped fin, set off by two tone paint on some models. My ultimate Route 66 ride might be a ’59 Oldsmobile or ’59 Pontiac in this body style with the wraparound rear window, with plenty of room for three friends to pay for gas. I’ve nearly missed the Centennial, but maybe someday! Can you think of a more fintastic Interstate cruiser?
My dad bought a ’60 98, pretty much like this car except the fins were a lot smaller. Solid white with deep maroon interior. For it’s size it was really fast. This one needs a bunch of work but I’d bet on a lot of fun on a long cruise.
I’m going to be a broken record here. But. I’ll say it again, of all the ’59 GM models Olds has my favorite tail fin design. And just stop and think about how different all the tailfins were between Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac, Olds and of course Cadillac. Nowadays, its pretty hard to tell what make car you’re looking at until you get up close to the name badge for the most part. These 4 door hardtops are good looking cars. I don’t know what the fate of this Ninety Eight is going to be, but man it would look good painted and restored.
It’s amazing that the tail fins are so drastically different between divisions when you consider that they had to share the same door stampings to save money. I think only Olds (?) had to add an additional piece to the door tops on some models to have the fin blend properly.
Thats right!!! I remember reading about that, I want to say it was the door of a Buick? I had completely forgotten about that.
The GM Y-body compacts of ’61 had similar shared doors with vastly different front fender and rear quarter treatments.
Oldsmobile had to use additional attached pieces on the doors of some 1959 models. This quirk was a direct result of General Motors corporate platform sharing. For the 1959 model year, GM rushed a massive redesign across all five of its passenger car divisions to combat Chrysler’s popular “Forward Look” styling. To cut down on tooling costs and development time, all full-size 1959 GM cars (Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, and Cadillac) shared the exact same inner front door stampings and basic door contours, which were originally optimized around Buick’s body lines.
Because each division wanted highly distinct exterior styling, they had to modify the shared structural core externally:
1) The Fin Challenge: Oldsmobile designed a long, flowing “Linear Look” for 1959 with a prominent body peak and a soft, horizontal “oval” fin extending along the rear quarter panel and matching the belt line.
2) The Solution: Because the standard corporate door tooling did not have the specific sculpted ridge or belt line profile required to match up perfectly with Oldsmobile’s unique rear fin, designers added specialized die-cast metal caps or chrome extensions to the tops/outer skins of the doors. These extra trim assemblies effectively reshaped the door lines, allowing the prominent character line to flow seamlessly from the front fender, across the doors, and straight into the rear quarter-panel fins.
Without these extra add-on pieces, the shared corporate doors would have visibly mismatched the unique character lines of Oldsmobile’s sheet metal.
Source: Rare Classic Cars & Automotive History
I had a ’59 98 that was red with white top. That 4 door was beautiful and fast.
I don’t think the motor or transmission ever gave any problems. Been a long time but I cannot remember any issues.
I also miss the days when a car could be easily identified by the nameplate or lettering on the quarter panel or front fender. Mind you, that’s back when there was enough room between the back of the front wheel well and the front of the front door to allow for for the ID. A longer name like Ambassador or Bonneville would have to use some small lettering on today’s vehicles. ;)
Too far gone to be a viable project, too expensive for a parts car. If this is someone’s dream car, it might be worth the effort. For someone looking for an old car to drive around, there are turn key 4 doors from this era through the mid-80’s that need little to nothing that can be found for not much more than this cars asking price.
Steve R
Yeah, but how many of them are going to be ’59 Oldsmobile 98’s? Someone will snatch it up and hopefully do some justice for this road giant! I think that given that all of the parts are there, and I don’t notice any significant dents, I’d say that it is a viable project.
What about someone that just wants a cool older car to drive around? Why should they consider this car above something turn key for not much more money? No one ever makes that case. This car might make sense for potential buyers that want this exact year, make and model, but that’s not the person I’m describing.
Did you look at what’s left of the floor? What are the odds the frame escaped a similar fate.
Steve R
Would be cool to get running, throw some Indian blankets on the seats and just enjoy driving it as is.
Just checked my old copies of the “Chinese Calendar”. It confirms that 1959 was the “year of the fin” with Cadillac being the ultimate variation. Rumor has it GM had some extra fin material and created the tail fin first and then found a body they could attach to the fins, the creation–the ’59 Cadillac, Emperor of the tail fin era!
Damn, another one! Make one out of two. There oughta be enough usable parts. GLWTS.
With a little give on the asking price, this could work! Not much difference between this and the ‘60 98 that I owned. They give you lots of space with which to work. I like it.
Another car that might have the Maypop tires on it ;)
This would be a great car to add to my collection.
Baldinis by Maypop
It’s got the vented floor pans, too. My, it’s got most of the aftermarket “modifications.”
$3,500!! That’s cheap for a car that’s all there and ready for a refresh! I too would get it running
and driving and then redo the rest
when money and time allowed it.
And nothing from the late ’50s says rocket ship like this car does. The 394 was a good powerful engine that responded
well to the rodder’s touch. The J-2 option was quite the ticket if you wanted to go fast back then
but you always had trouble with
the linkage which was vacuum
operated. The center carb was
used to move the car in most
situations while driving around town while the other two kicked in once you floored it. They looked ready to blast off even parked. Now, if I only had the cash and a place to work on it.
Hope someone out there buys it
and gets it running again. It’s just too good to part out or scrap.
I totally agree with you this car is worth spending money to gradually bring back to its old days not to mention the cheap price
get it running and safe, pop some caps on and cruise it.
Exactly.
Lovely looking car. 1959 is my favourite year for the Olds 88 and 98. I hope this car runs and drives well under its own power.
I did not know that the J-2 option was available on the 394 cubic inch engine ??l. Thought it was only on the 371 cubic inch engine !!!
You’re probably right ’cause the J-2 was only offered in 1957 and 1958. It wasn’t there for the 1959 models.
I really like the “flat top” 4 door sedans that GM put out in this era. All the glass, wrap around windshield and back glass, and the spindle pillars. I’m so used to seeing ’59 Caddy fins, that I forget about the Oldsmobile. I think I like these better than any of the other GM cars. I have also really liked the steering wheels on these. Space craft wise, take the lower full width panel below the trunk lid, make that the stop and tail lamps and send some short flames out of the “original” tail lamp holes. OK, time to take my meds!
This Oldsmobile is certainly priced right with all its got going on. Don’t mind 4 Dr’s at all, as long as it’s a Sports Sedan Hardtop like this one is. Also looks like it has the flat top roof designs in those yr cars and that wrap around, rear glass is so nice. Glad it’s in the wrong part of the country for me, because she has loads of potential.
Somehow, I can Invision this one as a lowrider…. Someone needs to give it some love.
This car would look great with a new paint job maybe black or burgundy good set of wheels.
I agree black cherry or dark maroon with black chrome SS Cragars.
Yeah, that would be good. Some cream color with a red roof also might look good. Someone could even turn it into a John Deere tribute by painting it John Deere green with a yellow roof! ;) Other cars may be better subjects for that…sort of…upgrade, though.
Rust bucket!
I don’t know if it was carburation or the transmission but if you made a panic stop, coming to a complete halt, so did the engine or at least that was my experience riding in Dad’s ’59 when a bicyclist went against a signal light one night. Put it in park and restarted. Nobody injured.
I can see license plates and flattened coffe cans on these floorboard.
Wreck it with anything 2010 or newer (80% of traffic?) And this will fold in on the driver.