1958 Oldsmobile Super 88 Holiday CoupeOldsmobile Super 88 Holiday Coupe

In every car show, there is that one car that really takes your breath away.  It is not necessarily the oldest, the prettiest the most expensive nor the rarest.  It is the one that just for some unknown reason just stops you dead on your tracks.

     Last June I had a privilege to be part of the Oldsmobile Nationals, and in that show I fell in love with 1958 Oldsmobile Super 88 Holiday Coupe.

For  1958 GM was promoting their fiftieth year of production and introduced Anniversary models for each brand.  The 1958 model is best known in Oldsmobile as the year of the “Chrome Mobile” thanks to the tremendous splattering of chrome trim on the body, particularly on the higher priced Super 88 and Ninety-Eight models

Super 88 were powered by a four – barrel 300hp version of the Rocket V8 engine.  The J-2 option featured three two barrel carburetors and 310 hp. This was coupled with the flexible 4 Speed Hydra - Matic transmission, which bumped the car’s 0 – 60  time to less than 9 seconds.  A new option for 1958 was a “Trans – Portable” radio that could be removed from the instrument panel through clove compartment and used as a portable radio for beaches, picnics etc. thanks to portable batteries. A revised instrument panel was highlighted by a new deep-dish steering wheel with “horn bars” replacing the long standing horn ring still common during that period.