Oldsmobile began brewing its OHV V8 engine during the 1945-1946 union strike that shut down GM production. Without much to do, Oldsmobile engine developer Gilbert Burrell sketched several new architectures, including a 90° V8. With approval and funding from the top brass, the project moved forward under the code name SV-49, with “49” designating the year that Oldsmobile planned to introduce its new engine. By 1946, a 287 CID prototype was running, later to be enlarged to 303.7 CID. Meanwhile, Cadillac had also been working on an OHV V8 and requested that it be the only division allowed to use the new configuration, to set its cars apart. Olds was sent back to the drawing board but eventually, it was obvious that to achieve the company’s performance bogeys, the OHV V8 must move forward. While the engine was brilliant, the notion of installing it in a lightweight body was simply capital. The 88 platform was smaller than the 98, enabling the new Rocket 88 to achieve groundbreaking performance – zero to sixty in 13 seconds, and a top speed of nearly 100 mph. The car gained fame in NASCAR races, and a convertible version was the 1949 Indy 500 pace car. Here on craigslist is a 1950 Oldsmobile 88 club sedan, with an asking price of $39,000, representing a hefty premium over most examples thanks to its beautiful survivor condition. She can be retrieved from Visalia, California. T.J. sent over this tip for us – thanks T.J.!
The 303.7 cu. in. V8 develops 135 hp and in its day, put most of its competitors to shame. The evolution to overhead valves was the key to higher compression ratios – proven by Charles Kettering, founder of Delco and later, GM’s head of research. Mated with another of Oldsmobile’s inventions, the HydraMatic transmission, the engine ushered the Olds 88 to thirty-six divisional wins in NASCAR from 1949 through 1951. An Olds 88 won the inaugural Carrera Panamericana in 1950 as well. The introduction of the Hudson Hornet put a stop to Olds’ winning ways, but the car accrued a notable record all the same. The seller indicates that his car runs and drives very well; the odometer reads 55,000 miles.
The interior is clean save for wrinkled upholstery. Deluxe trim cars received a dashboard clock, seen above the radio, which itself was an expensive option. Note the settings atop the steering wheel for that HydraMatic – what’s missing? Uh-huh – “Park”. You’ll be using the parking brake on the 88. This car is equipped with a vintage spotlight – a nice touch.
The new post-war Oldsmobile design was courtesy of Harley Earl and given the catchy name “Futuramic”. The body shed its running boards and a variety of styles were available, including a station wagon. Today, collectors confer the highest prices to the wagon and the convertible. Coupes will sell for around $25k to $30k, while sedans are hard-pressed to break four figures. This fastback sedan is unusually beautiful, reportedly still in its original lustrous black paint coat, but I think this price is a bit aggressive.
Again, throwing caution to the wind, 2 comments in a row, if I may correct the author, I believe the hydramatic did have a “park”. It was reverse when the motor was off but I’d use the parking brake too. Not to repeat from the ’53 post, but after the war, Olds was the hottest stick. While Olds gave other makes in racing plenty to sweat about, it was not even close to being the most popular. Hudson? Nope, Ford, Chevy, Packard? Nope. The most popular race car in the early to mid 50s was without question Plymouth. For the average person, however, not much on the road could beat a V8 Olds.
The Hydros in my ’52 and ’53 Kaisers did not have a “Park” position. IIRC, they had “R, N, D and Lo.” Like HoA, I left ’em in Reverse when I parked, and used the parking brake.
Great transmissions, though. Four forward speeds, smooth as silk, reliable.
This Olds is tempting. Fortunately (given the climate around here and lack of a garage), it’s a bit too pricey for me.
Tranny pump driven by drive shaft: you could “bump” start ’em.
Also, parking downhill the front wheels were turned right and wedged on the curb.
Parking uphill the wheels were turned left and wedged in the gutter against the curb.
The driver slid across the seat and exited on the right at the curb.
No curb? The wheels were turned to have the car roll away from the road.
Hi Richard,
I saw Broderick Crawford on Highway Patrol exit his Buick many times like this while watching the television series. It was the oddest thing to me, as we never learned to do that in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
I enjoy reading about “back in the day” comments, so please don’t stop.
My grandfather talked up the model T my entire childhood. Including details like taking coals from the stove and putting them under the block so they could thin out the oil and start them in the winter.
Crazy what old timers did to start cars
. I worked for a old timer in 63 I was 13 taught me a few tricks at his American gas station
It is interesting that the two makes so successful in the early fifties motorsports scene, Oldsmobile and Hudson, no longer exist!
Or plymouth
I bought a 50′ Chev 2 door Bel Aire —-automatic , 235 cu, inch truck engine but can’t recall the “park selection” but at my age I can’t remember what I did yesterday!! LOL
Lee Petty, father of Richard, successfully raced a 6 cylinder Plymouth in the early to mid 1950s.
I’ve only seen black and white photos of the one my dad owned,it was maroon,lake pipes, and pinstripes that said cherry bomb on rear quarters..
Oh yeah I forget it also had Dodge Lancer hub caps
Paolo, please comment more often
Very nice indeed.
Interestingly, Bill McCoskey helped me to find the Caddy version of this for a friend. She and her family (husband and 2 teenagers) now have it on a rotisserie as their family project.
Really like the lines on these!
So Cool!
Accolades to Michelle also for the great article.
This is a general reply, as once again I can’t find any general reply window in the comments here.
I don’t know what market price is for something like this. But if it is in fact original paint I would gladly pay a premium for a nice original paint job over the very unoriginal looking (for the era) base coat/clearcoat job you see on most restorations these days.
When I was a kid we all marveled at the hand rubbed lacquered paint jobs! Lacquer paint went the way of the dodo bird. Base Clear is so much easier to apply. I worked for Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes for 5 years and had the chance to compare lacquer and base coat – clear coat done by a master painter. It was hard to tell the difference. There is a company in Roxboo, NC called Obsolete Paint that specializes in finding Lacquer paint.. I am 72.
You got to love those “Torpedo-Backs”!
Ahh, If it had a 3 speed stick, it would be my dream car back in the 1950’s
I own a ’50 cpe with a manual 3sp stick.It looks completely stock with the exception of a modified ’58 J 2 etc.etc.
Great Car. Olds was just starting to establish some
Modern Designs when they shut them down in 2004.
The 50’s are hard to beat!!
I don’t know about the 50 but concerning the park gear , reverse was the park position in my 55 super 88, strange and I would have never figured that one out but an old mechanic clued me in on it ,if you have one of these try and see if it works for you.
It was. I first learned that on my friend’s 52 Cadillac.
My Dad’s 1956 Super 88 had “Park” on the gear lever. It had P-N-D-S-L-R . His 1963 Dynamic 88 was the same. I used to laugh at my older brother when he put the all the way down and went backwards instead of forward!!!
I don’t think I ever worried or thought about having Park in my ’50. It was a crazy car for an 18-year-old. Driving out to my Uncle’s farm was so much fun and then show off my Rocket 88 compared to his 235ci six 49 Chevy fastback in the same body style. Two years of great fun but I was too hard on the car. Pressing it and North Dakota winters killed my 88. Many times I still miss that 88.
Yup, The Olds 88 was called the “Chevy bodied Olds” and was much lighter than the standard Olds 98. :-) Terry J
These are great cars. Wish this had been a later model with the one piece windshield. I remember growing up in Birmingham and having a few friends that worked at both Old’s dealerships and they told me of a few people coming back in to have a one piece windshield. There was one “49 that came back.
Everybody have a good day,
Bill
BIUMMERBILL.. If I recall correctly this model started out with a two piece windshield but as production proceeded during the model year it was replaced with a one piece windshield. They cam e both ways.
That is one beautiful automobile.
“Well you hear those jalopies all the
noises they make. But nothin’ beats the sound of my rocket 88.”. Sorry folks, just couldn’t help it. Used to see these all the time as a kid in the early ’60s. Even my Uncle Norm had
one albeit a 4-door sedan. Didn’t take
much to make the Rocket howl either.
Just add 3 deuces and a big bad cam
and you really had something. Nice
but pricey– especially with a recession coming.
You gave me an idea, fix it up as a period correct hot rod. Got a couple questions- it looks like it has some sort of two stage air filter, what’s that? Also, there is a blue plastic box on top of the left wheel well. That does not look period appropriate.
I don’t know about the 2 stage air cleaner but that Blue Box is most likely the Voltage Regulator . This fastback Olds is very nice, I’d love to own it .
Had a ’49 (circa 1962) that was missing the carb and air cleaner. This was before the internet so you couldn’t just Goggle it and see what the set up was. Ordered a new carb from JC Whitney and when it came I was dumbfounded. What the heck is this? It was a big back draft carb. Look art the picture. :-) LOL. Terry J
Just as moosie said. Voltage reg
That is an “oil bath” air cleaner… vapors from oil in the bottom of the cleaner would ‘condense’ on an aluminum mesh and would collect dust as the air rushed over it.
Beautiful Olds! Where would you find a nicer example?
President Richard Nixon owned a 1950 Oldsmobile. He mentioned that in his “Checkers” speech, ca.1952.
and he wouldn’t lie…. !
Nothing compared to the lies coming out of that house today.
That first generation Olds V8 ran from 1949 through 1964 in 303,324,371 & 394 configurations. The hot set up in the 60s was to put a 371 or a 394 in an early ’88 like this one. Easy swap and could get you 345 hp (257 kW) and 440 lb⋅ft of torque. The famous Stone Woods & Cook Willys gasser ran a big Olds and B&M Hydramatic. Even the new 60’s “muscle cars” of that time had to be a bit careful on a Saturday night when confronting and old beater V8 Olds 88. Could cost you and your new car’s reputation. :-) Terry J
That old Hydro did definitely have park. It was reverse/park, if the engine was not running the park pawl would engage after the oil pressure dropped off, with the engine running the oil pressure in the hydraulic system would prevent the park pawl from engaging. A unique setup, but park will not work with the engine running.
I had a 55 Pontiac and the “Park” was Reverse. I well remember, when getting out, you slapped the stick all the way down, which was Reverse. I also remember the 6 volt battery. But even with a two bbl. it was a very fast car. My brother had a 50 Olds and the only problem he had with it, (automatic) living in snow country in the mountains, when “flying” to go up “Our” hill, half way up it would down shift and bury it’s self with the awesome power. Not like a “Stick” where you could stay in one gear.
My 53 Lincoln has this tranny, had to get a owners man to fully understand it
Would that still have been the 337 flathead in 53?
No ,my 53 has a 317 inch ,overhead valve motor rated ar 205 horsepower. Same motor the won that pan-am race with
Interesting, never knew about the absence of a “PARK” since we were a Buick family. My Dad’s ’48 Roadmaster with Dynaflow did have a PARK position–I still remember the sequence: PNDLR. That’s beautiful Olds.
To BIMMERBILL: if a one-piece windshield means that much to you, get the nearly identical 1951 — the last year of this style (Smile). My next-door neighbour had one of these 1950 88s, new, in 1950. I moved in 1955, and he still had it — a deep metallic green. He got a new Mercury golden-metallic tan sedan in 1953, parked beside the ’50 Olds (wonder if that indicates,anything) — sure loved the popular MUSIC in both 1950 and 1953! The 1949 Oldsmobile had a bit less chrome trim above the tail-lamps and other minor differences — but the 1950s were prettier than the ’49 and ’48 Futuramics, in my view, as someone who experienced the three years (and then, 1951) new, in the context of that time. I would beg a new owner NOT to build any “period-correct hot rod” out of this lovely surviving example! I cannot afford it, but it would be nice to own — even though the sedanette is not exactly my favourite body-style — especially in the case of the 1950 Buick! ’50 Buicks seemed to be EVERYwhere! Don’t trust my memory? — get any black-and-white photograph of a street-scene from the 1950s — and count how many 1950 Buicks you see!
Harrison Reed,
Sorry you totally misunderstood my text. I was just commenting about the one piece windshield. I had friends that had this car. And yes I would love to have one but I have nine cars at present and no place to put another. I just sold my ’49 Cadillac sedanette that I bought in high school a few months back. You did mention seeing a lot of ’50 model Buicks at your local drive-ins. I am85 and don’t remember seeing any except boys that did not have a car and they were driving their mothers big four door sedans. I had a friend that bought a ’49 Buick Super sedanette and I would not ride in it until he took off the sun visor which I still hate. That is a personal thing with me and I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.
Everybody have a good day and good luck.
Bill
Bill, sorry if I mis-understood. Don’t know about drive-ins — I was speaking of street scenes. I much preferred the looks of the 1949 Buick, and I could not understand why they did what they did to Buick in 1950. All I meant to convey to you, was that the 1951 Oldsmobile 88 was nearly identical to the 1950 Oldsmobile 88 — EXCEPT for the one-piece windshield in the ’51. I’d love to have a four door 1949 Buick Roadmaster, unrestored, unmolested, low mileage, and still beautiful. The gas-tank filler was hidden under the left tail-light. You and I are NOT far apart in age (smile). But I have only one car. But I have hundreds of RECORDS you’d remember!
Harrison,
You got me on that one. I don’t know how many LP’s I have but the stack is about twenty inches high. You know the old saying about the road to hell was paved with good intentions, well my intentions were to record all of them on cd’s but as much as I love music I do not listen to music as much as I did earlier in my life. I have over 7200 on my computer and it is just like listening to radio without commercials. Only problem is at my age I forget to turn them on. I did copy a lot of them over the years from the library
By the way my ’49 Cadillac had the gas fill under the left taillight, just push the button.
Have a good evening Harrison.
Bill
Lost my collection of LPs that stacked a little less than 4 ft high in hurricane Irma in ’17. That hurt. My ’53 Studebaker had a ’49 based engine and transmission and I had a floor shift on the four speed automatic. Took a while to figure out the park part of it.
Thanks, BIMMERBILL! I have more 78s than anything else — partly because I continued to buy 78s throughout the 1950s, until they were discontinued, instead of buying the 45s. Many of mine also are from the 1946-1949 years. I have a number of 45s — though not too many new popular records interested me after 1959. And I have lots of L.P.s, both 10″ and 12″, many monophonic from the 1948-1958 years; mostly stereo after that. Both popular and classicsl music. I listen to records on a daily basis. I’m all alone now, so no-one else if forced to tolerate hearing them. And I can hide from that infernal frantic noise they call “music” these days! I might have a lot of the same records that you do (smile).
And get off my lawn.
I bought a 1949 Olds Rocket 88 club coupe in 1979 with 1964 plates stored in a garage. Cylinder heads cracked and in need of a full restoration. Fixed up over the years. Got to learn about all of the racing history and the glory of a V8 power and 4 speed automatic. Lever front shocks made it feel like the front tires were lifting off the ground. Looking thru the comments, my thoughts are that the listed car is a 1949 as it has a 2 piece windshield. I believe that changed in 1950. I have not looked at the vin or maybe this was already commented on. Cool car but ambitious price as it is not a convertible or wood wagon.
I think maybe 1950 mid year? My apologies if this has already been addressed
Slam it, LS, six speed coil overs, 20″ alloys. I jest. Leave this one alone. It’s survived because some one cared.
Long may that continue.
It’s 1970. I’m a16 yr old car nut gas monkey in the summers. In my late grandfather’s commercial garage , in the corner, sits a 1950 Packard Ultramatic, in absolutely pristine condition. My dad SELLS me the car for 250.00 dollars….about 2,000,00 today.
After twenty years it’s condition mirrored this Olds condition after seventy four years. So granted it’s a much older car today Yet I have to wonder where the seller got the ask from.
If it’s a fishing expedition only someone prepared to buy it who steps up will know what the seller will take. Putting it on C-list seems counterproductive. The seller ought to run it through one of the televised auctions and he would quickly find out what it’s market worth is with the deep pockets of auction buyers bidding.
I would pay you a C note to stop calling it C-list
NOT a 1949, Craig Wood. The 1948 Olds 98, the first Futeramic, had very thin fins over the tail-lamps. In 1949, the Futuramic came to the 88, and the chrome above the tail-lamps grew a bit. In 1950, the 98 changed entirely, much as Buick and Cadillace did also. But the 88 remained futuramic. The amount of chome trim grew, especially above the tail-lamp: this IS a 1950. In 1951, the 88 had its final Futuramic year, virtually identical on the outside to the 1950, the sole obvious change being the one-piece windshield. Craig, if you look at the chrome above the tail-lamps on this one, and you remember your ’49 clearly, you will see the difference. Hope that clears it up.
I could be mistaken but I believe the late 50’s had the one peice windshields. Came before the 51’s came out.
Wow, 45 comments so far! This car has hit a major nerve and that’s great. My brother wanted a project for his high school graduation present so our parents got him two 1950 Oldsmobile “coupes”, one with an engine and a parts car. As the story often goes, it ended up being too much work and he sold them. The next owner got one of them put together and it was fun to see it around town, but it was a bummer that it wasn’t still my brother’s car.
John mccue, you might be right! I recollect these cars, new; I’ve not made a “study” of them since what I saw in the showrooms. But I also remember the utter SHOCK of the summer in 1948, when the 1949 Fords came out — and they were unlike anything we had seen: automobile manufacturers back in that time, anxious to be “leading” into the future, often brought the next year’s model out in the middle of THIS year! Anyone recollect the 1947 Studebaker — “first by far with a postwar car”?
To bobhess: I deeply grieve for your 2017 loss!!! My records and other things feel “essential” to me — some of which I have been listening to for more than eighty years (Yes, I was getting records before President Biden was born!). I cannot imagine such a loss. But at some point, I will lose my life at my age; fortunately, my son, who has heard them all of his life, also loves my records. I have copied many of them onto audiocassettes and CDs for him. Wish I knew you and had the records you used to have — I would do the same for you. But, records from 1940 to 1962 probably do not interest you. I also have my father’s records from the ‘teens and ‘twenties. I heard them growing up and learned to love them.