The "Other" Mid 50s GM

When you think of General Motors cars from the mid 1950s you naturally think of those ubiquitous Tri-5 Chevys. The Chevy Bel Air made from 1955 through 1957 has become one of the most common classic cars to grace shows. But the truth is, other GM brands made very successful cars during that same period.

Oldsmobile introduced the 88 in 1949 as a replacement for the 78 model and introduced the world to the brand new Rocket V8 engine. This 303 cubic inch engine on a relatively small and light car produced a great deal of racing success and totally changed the perception of Olds as a conservative automobile to that of a high performance machine.

Almost immediate success came in NASCAR where the Rocket 88 won six of the nine races in its division in 1949. The success continued the following year where it won 10 of 19 races. It wasn't until the Hudson Hornet came along that anyone came close to supplanting the Olds.

In 1954 the second generation came along with a complete cosmetic re-style. Cosmetically, in keeping with GM's trend of poaching each others parts bins, the new 88 shared similar looks to those Bel Airs as well as to the Pontiac Star Chief (http://turnerbudds-carblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/mid-fifties-star-from-pontiac.html). Beneath the hood, Olds grew the Rocket V8 to 324 cubic inches that on the base models generated 170 horse power. The Super 88 punched 185 horse power with a four barrel carburetor.

Over the next two years Olds continued to grow the engine and by the time the 1956 Super 88 seen here came along, the engine was turning out 240 horse power. And while such performance made the 88 models successful, Chevy was still the entry level line for GM and maintained the lion's share of sales during these years.

Still, these mid-1950s 88s offered up such luxuries as an optional padded dash for safety (at a cost of $17) and a brand new four speed Jetway Hyrdra Matic transmission which replaced what Olds had been using since 1940. Seeing one of these magnificent cars is a reminder that there was more to GM than the Bel Air during the 1950s.