What a gorgeous car........and what a smooth V8...Americans are so lucky to be able to access such superb automotive works of art......which is what Americans care were from the very later 30s( Lincoln Zephyr) to about 1957. Thanks from Australia Les Griffiths
Now THAT'S what a motor oughta sound like, a quiet smooth whisper when idling. None of that "rumbling" noise. Though I know a lot of people like the rumble, you gotta ask yourself: "Would anybody buy it new with that rumble racket when at idle?"
THAT truly is " my Daddy's Oldsmobile" . It's one of the first cars that I drove in the 60's when I first learned to drive. He always bought used Olds'. He would do all the repair work himself: ball=joints, u-joints, control arms, or whatever came up. Quite the haggler, he also sold British imports in the evenings part-time. His real job was building Polaris Submarines at Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, CA. (one of the few Civilians to ever attend Nuclear Power School). Dan in Mesa, AZ.
My dad owned a 57 olds for his first car. I've heard all about it. He's always talking about it and has expensive models of it to boot. , His words, (you'll never forget your very first car). He now is 73 years old. Got the car when he was 16. Drove it 3 years. Never had a issue. Wishes he had it.
What a nice example of an "upper end" 1957 Detroit survivor. Our family had a '57 Olds Super 88 2 dr. sedan (with post, my dad didn't believe in hardtops!). It was solid turquoise with turquoise interior. It also had the factory spinner hubcaps if I remember from old home movies. I don't know the c.i.d., but the quoted horsepower was 277. I'll always remember that. Here's a story I love to tell: The local bank manager, Sid Marcantel, had just bought a '57 Chevy with the well advertized "Power Pak" option: a 283 with a 4 barrel with some other modifications, like a hot cam, solid lifters and such. He had read a magazine article about the surprizing performance of the Olds compared to his Chevy. He challenged my dad to a flat out drag race on highway a bit out of town with very little traffic. They raced TWICE and dad beat him in the Olds both times! I don't know any of the details beyond that. The bank manager and his Chevy were humiliated, considering it was HIM that made the challenge to begin with!
1957, Olds made both a Golden Rocket & Super 88 in both sedan & Holiday sedan. The Holiday version came as a pillarless hardtop four door or as a coupe. The Golden Rocket/Super 88 Fiesta wagons also had no pillars. Golden Rocket was base, Super midlevel, & Holiday optional for each. Next up were the longer, top-of-the-line Starfire 98 & its Holiday sedans & coupes. All model lines had the Holiday pillarless "hardtop" sedans & a convertible. Base: Golden Rocket 88/Golden 88 Holiday Golden Rocket 88 Fiesta Mid: Super 88/Super 88 Holiday Super 88 Fiesta Top: Starfire 98/Starfire 98 Holiday This year featured gold-sprayed 371” Rocket 88 engine in both four-barrel & J-2 triple 2V carburetion; no 2V came til ’58 when they capped fore & aft carbs. The J-2 had 3 Rochesters; 1 linked & 2 vacuum-dumped, non-progressive linkage (front & rear gummed up from non-use). They also had a J-2R & J-2-W1 “export engines” with whatever Olds’ Bill Holt & Pete Estes could get away with as a factory engine part for Lee Petty (Olds gave all their parts a number so Bill France wouldn’t call them cheaters). You may have a thin, high 10-1 compression head gasket which some say were part of the package. Dimpled valve covers mean you have rare, semi-legitimate Isky or Crane solid-lifter cam & adjustable rockers for clearance. Most multi-carb J-2’s came on the luxurious 98’s or the small, light, & sporty Golden 88 3-speed column shift 2-door sedan (an early Olds Road Runner-type). Then France saw they went too fast & pulled the plug on them anyhow..
Wow, you are definitely the automotive person to talk to. My wife inherited a 1957 Oldsmobile 98 from her father, but she’s recently passed. It’s up to me now to restore it for our daughter. My father-in-law drove it in the garage in 1969, took apart the engine to rebuild it, and never had a chance to finish it. He worked long hours as a multi-plane animation cameraman for Disney. The Olds stayed in that garage until we moved it to our place over 40 years later. I don’t know much about it other than what I was told over the years; I guess I expected to learn more when my wife and I began the restoration; I never thought I’d lose her. I don’t know if I should make it stock or update it to make it safer for my daughter. I think I have all the matching parts (The heads and block.)
I know this is a year old post but you seem to know more than the average bear. My question is I bought a 1957 Olds Holiday 98 with a four barrel carb.in San Francisco in the 60s. The salesman said the car was one of only 400 made that year. I loved that car so much I can't write about it. Was the salesman blowing smoke or truth? Appreciate you. Dan O'Connell, Kingman AZ
Love 5he car, but I have never seen a J2 emblem. Our family had a super 88 J2 and it had no emblems. It was a fast car, but the center main carb setup didn’t exactly make it save gas. I’m calling bs on the emblems. Sweet car.
The 3-carb setup tended to e very troublesome with gs leaks and even fires. A friend has a 60 Cadillac Eldorado convertible with 3 deuces. He's been plagued with headaches as long as he's had it since sometime back in the 90s.
@@johnhowardesq I can't tell if it's a chrome emblem or painted on. If it's a chrome emblem, someone went to a lot of trouble to make it and, as fr as I can tell, it doesn't belong there. They would have to be removed. For some reason, dealer cars are almost always compromised in some way.
Love this Design&Color!❤👍👍👍!!
I had a 1957 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 and I loved that car.
What a gorgeous car........and what a smooth V8...Americans are so lucky to be able to access such superb automotive works of art......which is what Americans care were from the very later 30s( Lincoln Zephyr) to about 1957.
Thanks from Australia Les Griffiths
Now THAT'S what a motor oughta sound like, a quiet smooth whisper when idling. None of that "rumbling" noise. Though I know a lot of people like the rumble, you gotta ask yourself: "Would anybody buy it new with that rumble racket when at idle?"
THAT truly is " my Daddy's Oldsmobile" . It's one of the first cars that I drove in the 60's
when I first learned to drive. He always bought used Olds'. He would do all the repair
work himself: ball=joints, u-joints, control arms, or whatever came up. Quite the haggler,
he also sold British imports in the evenings part-time. His real job was building Polaris
Submarines at Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, CA. (one of the few Civilians to
ever attend Nuclear Power School). Dan in Mesa, AZ.
My dad owned a 57 olds for his first car. I've heard all about it. He's always talking about it and has expensive models of it to boot. , His words, (you'll never forget your very first car). He now is 73 years old. Got the car when he was 16. Drove it 3 years. Never had a issue. Wishes he had it.
I W I S H I
I Wish I Still Had It. 😢 that’s a phrase we older car guys use most often.
The under-dash floor lighting was such a unique and elegant touch at that time.
What a nice example of an "upper end" 1957 Detroit survivor. Our family had a '57 Olds Super 88 2 dr. sedan (with post, my dad didn't believe in hardtops!). It was solid turquoise with turquoise interior. It also had the factory spinner hubcaps if I remember from old home movies. I don't know the c.i.d., but the quoted horsepower was 277. I'll always remember that.
Here's a story I love to tell: The local bank manager, Sid Marcantel, had just bought a '57 Chevy with the well advertized "Power Pak" option: a 283 with a 4 barrel with some other modifications, like a hot cam, solid lifters and such. He had read a magazine article about the surprizing performance of the Olds compared to his Chevy. He challenged my dad to a flat out drag race on highway a bit out of town with very little traffic. They raced TWICE and dad beat him in the Olds both times! I don't know any of the details beyond that. The bank manager and his Chevy were humiliated, considering it was HIM that made the challenge to begin with!
Much better looking front end than the 57 Buick.
1957, Olds made both a Golden Rocket & Super 88 in both sedan & Holiday sedan. The Holiday version came as a pillarless hardtop four door or as a coupe. The Golden Rocket/Super 88 Fiesta wagons also had no pillars. Golden Rocket was base, Super midlevel, & Holiday optional for each. Next up were the longer, top-of-the-line Starfire 98 & its Holiday sedans & coupes. All model lines had the Holiday pillarless "hardtop" sedans & a convertible.
Base: Golden Rocket 88/Golden 88 Holiday Golden Rocket 88 Fiesta
Mid: Super 88/Super 88 Holiday Super 88 Fiesta
Top: Starfire 98/Starfire 98 Holiday
This year featured gold-sprayed 371” Rocket 88 engine in both four-barrel & J-2 triple 2V carburetion; no 2V came til ’58 when they capped fore & aft carbs. The J-2 had 3 Rochesters; 1 linked & 2 vacuum-dumped, non-progressive linkage (front & rear gummed up from non-use). They also had a J-2R & J-2-W1 “export engines” with whatever Olds’ Bill Holt & Pete Estes could get away with as a factory engine part for Lee Petty (Olds gave all their parts a number so Bill France wouldn’t call them cheaters). You may have a thin, high 10-1 compression head gasket which some say were part of the package. Dimpled valve covers mean you have rare, semi-legitimate Isky or Crane solid-lifter cam & adjustable rockers for clearance.
Most multi-carb J-2’s came on the luxurious 98’s or the small, light, & sporty Golden 88 3-speed column shift 2-door sedan (an early Olds Road Runner-type). Then France saw they went too fast & pulled the plug on them anyhow..
Great read, you really know your stuff Fred!
Wow, you are definitely the automotive person to talk to. My wife inherited a 1957 Oldsmobile 98 from her father, but she’s recently passed. It’s up to me now to restore it for our daughter. My father-in-law drove it in the garage in 1969, took apart the engine to rebuild it, and never had a chance to finish it. He worked long hours as a multi-plane animation cameraman for Disney. The Olds stayed in that garage until we moved it to our place over 40 years later. I don’t know much about it other than what I was told over the years; I guess I expected to learn more when my wife and I began the restoration; I never thought I’d lose her. I don’t know if I should make it stock or update it to make it safer for my daughter. I think I have all the matching parts (The heads and block.)
I know this is a year old post but you seem to know more than the average bear. My question is I bought a 1957 Olds Holiday 98 with a four barrel carb.in San Francisco in the 60s. The salesman said the car was one of only 400 made that year. I loved that car so much I can't write about it. Was the salesman blowing smoke or truth? Appreciate you. Dan O'Connell, Kingman AZ
Man, you've done your homework and know your spec's! Thanks for the info. My files don't go back that far!
What a thrill to take the wheel of my rocket Oldsmobile! She's a real beauty! Thank you for uploading and sharing!!
What a beautiful car. Amazing.
Perfect beautiful amazing looking car beautiful colours thanks friend merry Christmas
My Dad had one in the early 60s. All white. I think just an Super 88
My 6th grade best friend's father drove this car with the same colors!
Oh what a beautiful Oldsmobile 💙 😈
Beautiful!!! GM was Lacquer back then and checking was a pain to see.
What amazing car for someone to own and cherish.
Oldsmobile sempre lindo
Beautiful!
I love it.
Olha que carrão lindo esse clássico automotivo valeu pela postagem irmão sensacional 👏👏👏
Love 5he car, but I have never seen a J2 emblem. Our family had a super 88 J2 and it had no emblems. It was a fast car, but the center main carb setup didn’t exactly make it save gas. I’m calling bs on the emblems. Sweet car.
Whatprice
The 3-carb setup tended to e very troublesome with gs leaks and even fires. A friend has a 60 Cadillac Eldorado convertible with 3 deuces. He's been plagued with headaches as long as he's had it since sometime back in the 90s.
Is it an emblem or painted on? I can't find any evidence of that appearing on a 57 oldsmobile with Tri-Power. I think someone took artistic license.
@@1940limited I am talking about a chrome emblem, on the fender. I never have seen this until recently. I think it is something someone invented.
@@johnhowardesq I can't tell if it's a chrome emblem or painted on. If it's a chrome emblem, someone went to a lot of trouble to make it and, as fr as I can tell, it doesn't belong there. They would have to be removed. For some reason, dealer cars are almost always compromised in some way.
We Like 👍 it
❤️&✌️
Excellent
Wow nice nice 👌 ❤😂
Cool ❤😂👍.
I didn't see "Starfire" anywhere on it.
I believe a star fire for that year meant it was a convertible
How much you asking for it
U couldn't Affordmy trade in
300 HP IS NAT TO BAD IT WOOD BE BATOR WED 550 HP.