History of the Oldsmobile

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When it was phased out, Oldsmobile was the oldest surviving American automobile marque, and one of the oldest in the world, after Daimler and Peugeot. Two of Oldsmobile's models, mainly trucks, have now been given new life as Buicks, such as the Buick Terraza (formerly the Oldsmobile Silhouette) and the Buick Rainier (formerly the Oldsmobile Bravada).

Oldsmobiles were first manufactured by the Olds Motor Vehicle Company in Lansing, Michigan, a company founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In 1901, Olds introduced the Curved Dash Olds which sold 425 cars, becoming the first high-volume car of the day. Olds became, for a few years, the top selling car company in the United States. Ransom Olds left the company in financial difficulties and formed REO Motor Car Company. The last Curved Dash Olds was made in 1907, and in 1908, General Motors purchased the company.

After acquisition by General Motors, Oldsmobiles were marketed for their technical sophistication. The list of "firsts" is quite extensive: the first to use chrome (1920), the first to use a mono-block V8 (Viking, 1929) and the first American car with a fully automatic transmission, "Hydramatic" Drive (1940). They were frequently early with other features, such as automatic headlight dimmers, and the 1950's panoramic windshields. Their "Rocket 88" theme hood ornament treatment, was also the reference name for their advanced over-head valve V-8 engines, from 1949 onward. While not the first U.S. built passenger car to use front-wheel drive, Oldsmobile's Toronado was the first of its type to prove successful in the American marketplace. Oldsmobile introduced the first fully automatic transmission, "Hydromatic" in 1940. Their 1949 Rocket V8 engine was especially notable as the first mass-produced OHV V8.

Early Models
The 1901-1904 Curved Dash was the first mass-produced car, and was also the first American car to be exported. Oldsmobile set a land speed record of 54.38 mph at Daytona Beach in the 1903 Pirate. The 1903 Model R curved dash was the number one selling car in the United States, selling for $650. Ransom Olds left Oldsmobile in 1904. Oldsmobile advertising pointed out that keeping a horse cost its owner an estimated $108 a year, whereas the owner of an Oldsmobile spent an average of $35 per year in fuel and maintenance.

In 1908, Oldsmobile became the first manufacturer to begin using nickel, rather than brass, trim. The 1910 Limited Touring was a high point for the company. Riding atop 42” wheels, and equipped with factory “white” tires, the Limited was the prestige model in Oldsmobile’s two-model line-up. The Limited retailed for $4,600, an amount greater than the purchase of a new, no frills three bedroom house. For their money, buyers received goat skin upholstery, a 60 hp (45 kW) 707 in³ (11.6 L) straight-6 engine, Bosch Magneto starter, running boards and room for five. Options included a speedometer, clock and a full glass windshield. A limousine version was priced at $5,800. While Olds only sold 725 Limited models in its three years of production, the car is best remembered for winning a race against the famed 20th Century Limited locomotive, an event immortalized in the painting “Setting the Pace” by William Harnden Foster.

1912-1938
In 1912, Oldsmobile began using two-digit model designators, beginning with the Oldsmobile 40 and Oldsmobile 53. The first digit generally signified the body size and the second signified the year throughout the 1920s. The company introduced chrome-plated trim, on the radiator shell of their 1926 model. In 1929, the marque launched the V-8 powered Viking designed to help bridge the price gap between Oldsmobile and Buick, however the Viking was discontinued in 1930.

1939-1959
In the 1930s through the 1990s, Oldsmobile used a two-digit model designation similar to that used by the European makes today. As originally implemented, the first digit signified the body size while the second represents the number of cylinders. Body sizes were 6, 7, 8, and 9, and 6- and 8-cylinder engines were offered. Thus, Oldsmobile’s were named 66 through 98.

Olds dropped its "66" line before the introduction of its "Rocket" engines, leaving only the "88" and "98". In the 1950s the nomenclature changed again, and trim levels also received names that were then mated with the model numbers. This resulted in the Oldsmobile 88 emerging as base Dynamic 88 the better trimmed Delta 88, and the highline Super 88. Other full-size model names included the "Holiday" used on hardtops, and "Fiesta" used on its station wagon lines. When the "98" was retired in the in the early 1990s, its length of service was the longest of any model name in American passenger car lines.

Olds 1950s Styling
Oldsmobile entered the 1950s following a divisional image campaign centered on its "Rocket" engines, and its cars appearances followed suit in their themes. By the mid 1950s, their styling was among the first to offer a wide, "open maw" intake grill, suggestive of jet propulsion. Oldsmobile adopted a ringed-globe emblem to stress what marketers felt was its universal appeal. Throughout the 1950s, the make used twin jet pod tail lights, again, as a nod to its "Rocket" theme. Oldsmobile was amongst the first of GM's divisions to receive a true hardtop in 1948, and it was also among the first divisions (along with Buick and Cadillac) to receive a wrap around windshield - a trend that eventually all American makes would share at sometime between 1953 and 1964.

1957
GM styling as a whole lost its frontrunner status in 1957 when Chrysler introduce Virgil Exner's Forward Look designs. When compared side to side, Oldsmobile looked dated next to its price-point competitor De Soto. Compounding the problem for Olds and Buick a was styling mistake which GM called the "Strato Roof". Both makes had models which contained the heavily framed rear window, but Detroit had been working with large curved back lights for almost a decade - consumers disliked the roof and its blind spots forcing GM to rush a redesign into production on some of its models.

1958
Oldsmobile's only off year in the 1950s was 1958. The nation was beginning to feel the results of its first significant post war recession, and all U.S. automobile sales were off for the model year. But GM's senior makes of Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac received a heavy handed make-over of the weak 1957 GM designs, instead of something crisp and clean like Chryslers "Forward Look". The Oldsmobile that emerged in 1958 bore little resemblance to the clean design of its forerunners; instead the car emerged as a large over decorated "Chrome-mobile".

[Editors Note: The reader should be mindful that these articles are in the public domain and written by individuals of unknown motivation. This particular writer appears to be biased against General Motors in his statements about "weak 1957 GM designs". In fact, General Motors had some of the best designs of the year, many of which are still the most popular styles with collectors even today. The authors comments about the 1958 Oldsmobile are also overboard when you consider the fact that the 1958 Oldsmobile was very popular in its day because it had a lot of chrome.]

Popular Mechanics automobile writer Tom McCahill liked the cars performance, but felt that the outside appeared to be designed by two separate studios, working without knowing what the other was up to. Up front, all 1958 Oldsmobile’s received one of GM's heavily styled front ends and quad-headlights. Streaking back from the edge of the headlights, was a broad belt of consisting of two strips on regular 88's, three strips Super 88's, and three strips (top and bottom thin, inside thick on 98's) of chrome that ended in a point at mid-body. But the bottom of the rear fender featured a thick stamping of a half tube that pointed forward, atop which was a chrome assembly of four horizontal chrome speed-lines that terminated into a vertical bar. The tail of the car featured massive vertical chrome tail light housings; two chrome stars were fitted to the trunk lid.

Ford styling consultant Alex Tremulis (designer of the 1948 Tucker Sedan) mocked the '58 Olds by drawing cartoons of the car, and placing musical notes in the rear trim assembly. Another Detroit stylist employed by Ford bought a used 1958 Olds in the early sixties, driving it daily to his work at Ford; he had detached and rearranged the OLDSMOBILE lettering above the grille of the car to spell out SLOBMODEL as a reminder to himself and his co-workers of what "bad" auto design meant to their business.

1960s
In the 1960s, Oldsmobile's position between Pontiac and Buick in GM's hierarchy began to dissolve. Notable achievements included the introduction of the first turbo charged engine in 1962 (the Turbo Jetfire), the first modern front wheel drive car (the 1966 Toronado), the Vista Cruiser station wagon (noted for its roof glass), and the upscale 442 muscle car. Olds briefly used the names Jetstar 88" (1963-1966) and Delmont 88" (1967-1968) on its least expensive full-size models in the 1960s.

1970s-1980s
Oldsmobile sales soared in the 1970s and 1980s, with the Cutlass and Cutlass Supreme becoming the best-selling vehicles in the United States. Less impressive was the company's widely-used but problem-prone LF7 and LF9 Diesel V8s. In 1984 in fact, it was claimed that Oldsmobile was making more vehicles per year than the Ford Motor Company.

1990s
By the 1990s, Oldsmobile had lost its place in the marketplace. The performance cars Oldsmobile had been known for gave way to rebadged models of other GM cars, as GM had shifted the performance mantle to Chevrolet and Pontiac. GM tried to use Oldsmobile to showcase futuristic designs and as a "guinea pig" for testing new technology, with Oldsmobile offering the Toronado Trofeo, which included a visual instrument system with a calendar, date book, and climate controls. Later on, Oldsmobile introduced the Aurora which would be the inspiration for the design of all Oldsmobile from the mid-1990s onward. However, by this time, GM shifted Oldsmobile from a technology "guinea pig" to a manufacturer that filled the slot between Chevrolet and Buick. Oldsmobile also received a new logo and by 1997, all of the early-1990s models were gone (except for the Aurora, Bravada, and the Silhouette, which was redesigned that year) and new models were introduced with rounded designs, inspired by the Aurora. Even though the new (and final) Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme sold very well as did the Alero, but there was just not enough to salvage the slowly dying brand, and GM announced the brand's demise in 2000.

In December 2000, General Motors announced they would be phasing out the Oldsmobile brand, which had become the oldest surviving American automobile brand. The 2004 model year was to be Oldsmobile's last, with the last new Oldsmobile model being the GMT360-derived Bravada introduced in 2002.