While we’re on the subject of the blossoming of the Oldsmobile Ninety Eight, why not a brief look at its in-house competition.
Although the Starfire badge originally denoted Ninety Eight Convertibles during 1954-56, and the full line for 1957, the name reappeared on a specially trimmed B-body convertible in 1961. In 1962 it got a hardtop coupe companion. Like all 1962 B bodies, the wonderfully detailed “Convertible” hardtop roof was fitted to the Starfire. All models gained a broad sweep of aluminum trim stretching nose to tail that would be the dazzling hallmark of the Starfire exterior.
On the inside you received the same luxurious leather, chrome and carpet paradise that should have included a pair of Ray Bans for glare as standard equipment too. Each footwell for 1962 had chrome ribs on the carpet, just in case the dashboard or tachometer embedded in Chrome didn’t blind you. For sitcom trivia buffs, Denise Huxtable’s first car on The Cosby Show was a 1962 Starfire. For 1963, the coupe gained a unique roof, shared with the 1963 Grand Prix.
And here’s where you can really start to wonder what sense the Starfire really made. After a peak of nearly 42,000 cars in 1962 it slowly tapered off in demand until it exited the Oldsmobile line up in 1966.
Although crisply tailored, they didn’t make the same visual impact (or influence) as the Grand Prix it was so closely related to. It didn’t help that the visual impact of the Grand Prix came at about $600 less than the Starfire Coupe.
At least for the largest base sticker price in the Oldsmobile line up ($4,742) you got all of the finery Oldsmobile offered at the time, along with a plethora of sporty details like a console, bucket seats and a rather ill placed tachometer. In addition you received all the power goodies, standard leather and a 345 horsepower 394 Rocket that was able to blitz to 60 in 8.5 seconds, despite the hamstrung Roto Hydra Matic “4 Stage” automatic. Enough for Oldsmobile to claim the Starfire was a “Sports Car” in advertising.
How the defintion of “Sporting” has changed. In 1963, it would be feasible to claim an 18 foot long full size car capable of running at illegal speeds on the interstate highway system were sports cars. But by 1963, it faced even more competition from the dazzlingly unique Riviera, the cheaper Grand Prix, the Thunderbird, and a host of other big box bucket seat cruisers from the Chrysler non letter 300s to the Ford Galaxie 500 XL and Mercury Marauder.
You could even outfit a Ninety Eight Coupe with bucket seats and a console in 1963. All of those items were Starfire exclusives in 1962. And you get a sense that General Motors product planning went awry a lot earlier than most people assume. The redundant cars that would eat each other alive started with the specialty models, and soon made their way to the mainstream offerings. Once you stripped away every actual difference (engines, transmissions and interior design), there really wasn’t a reason to choose one over the other.
At least the Starfire was a good looking dead end.
I always considered the 63 Starfire absolutely gorgeous. My grandmother had a silver-blue 63 Super 88 2 door hardtop which was also a really sharp looking car.
I think that the Starfire came out along with the Grand Prix and Buick Wildcat in 1962 so that each of the mid-priced brands would have a luxury-sport car. I think that they were going after the Chrysler 300 demographic.
Buick got the Riviera the next year, and left the Wildcat as a trim package for a couple of years. Pontiac, of course, mined the heck out of the Grand Prix lode, which made sense because it would not be getting a variant off of the Riviera or Toronado.
The Starfire stayed thru 65, but I don’t think that Olds pushed it that much knowing that the Toronado was coming down the pike. Starfires were expensive, and Olds people (in my experience) were pretty practical folks. Starfires were pretty rare in my area. But that 63 is just beautiful.
The Starfire actually hung on through 66, though the car was virtually carbon copy of the 65. It was a wonderful car, but had competition not only above it in the Olds hierarchy (Toronado), but also below it in the form of the Jetstar 1, which was a de-contented and less chrome laden version of the Starfire that was offered in 64 and 65.
The Pontiac Grand Prix was $600 cheaper than the Starfire only on the basis of using Morrokide vinyl upholstery as opposed to leather and the fact that major items standard on the Starfire cost extra (but most often ordered) on the GP such as Hydramatic transmission ($226), power steering ($100) and power brakes ($40). Also the GP only came as a hardtop coupe while the Starfire could be had as a Holiday Coupe or convertible – the latter also coming standard with power windows and seats, both optional on the coupe). Oldsmobile tried to compete head-on with the Grand Prix by introducing the Jetstar I coupe in 1964 but it didn’t sell as well as the Pontiac or even the Starfire and dropped after 1965. The problem was that in 1964, Oldsmobile had three full-sized bucket-seat sport coupes including the Jetstar I, Starfire and Ninety-Eight Custom Sports Coupe – none of which sold all that well. Also, Oldsmobile had upsized the F-85/Cutlass from a compact to intermediate for 1964 and the bucket-seat Cutlass Holiday Coupe was the best-selling F-85 and easily outsold all 3 of Lansing’s big sporty coupes, just as sporty car buyers were moving from full-sized to intermediates and sporty compacts such as the new Ford Mustang which stormed the scene in mid-1964. By 1966, the personal-luxury niche had moved from the Starfire to the new front-drive Toronado and the ’66 Starfire (only offered as a Holiday coupe) for its final year was cheapened in interior trim and standard equipment to the level of the 64-65 Jetstar I to make room for the Toro and then dropped with little fanfare. The Starfire/Jetstar I sport/luxury concept would continue at Lansing with the mid-sized Cutlass Supreme and 442 along with the full-sized 67-68 Delta 88 Custom and the 69-70 Delta 88 Royale along with the 78-81 Holiday 88 coupe.
This was yet another car “I coulda had” when I turned 16.. My uncle was selling one that had a 455 swapped into it. He was the 2nd owner of the car and other than the non original engine it was stunning. Yet again Dad wouldn’t allow it.. My money or not.. Instead (again) I wound up in a 80 Grand Prix with the 301 based 265 and Metric 200.. It wasn’t all bad in the GP, at least the air worked…
Ah. Another ride down Memory Lane…from my seat on the curb.
A neighbor’s wife had one of those…a convertible. Brown with a white top. Four kids and she still thought she was hot.
Later, she traded for a black 1966 Olds…convertible again, white top again. Traded her husband for another member of their wife-swapping group, also.
My buddy and I would always shake our heads in disbelief when we saw one of these on the road about town – one was white, I remember all too well – it was that long, wide aluminum strip that killed it for us. We referred to cars like this as “chrome tanks”, and I like chrome trim, but this and many like them were just too much. Everything Chevy offered in the period 1962-64 on the other hand, turned us on back then, not GM’s other offerings – well, maybe except for the F-85’s of that vintage!
Actually, I thought that most of the wide strip on the 62 was silver paint with stainless/chrome on the borders and for that big hunk in the middle of the door. I could be remembering this wrong, though.
I agree with you – the 62 never really did it for me, either the Starfire or the other big Olds’.
I’ve seen a fair number of these at local car shows, and, if I recall correctly, the strip on the 1962 model is brushed metal. It certainly is a dazzling sight, especially on a 1962 model that is painted either black or light metallic maroon.
Interestingly, Brooklin issued the 1963 Starfire hardtop in maroon…I immediately bought it, as scale models of Oldsmobiles are rare.
I owned a 1962 Olds Starfire GT convertible. The car was barely over a decade old and I purchased it for $500! It was in ‘as new’ condition with the exception of the drivers window. It wouldn’t go down. All the windows (6) including the wing windows were electric. The wing window in the drivers door worked…so I removed the door panel and switched the elec. plugs into the motors. The wing window still worked and the main window ‘still’ didn’t. Motor by elimination. I purchased a used ‘DELCO’ motor for $5 and replaced it. Perfect! My car had electric top, factory air, pw, ps, pb, 6 way power leather seat, factory tach, 394 Ultra High Compression engine, console automatic, electric trunk, wonderbar on the FLOOR and one on the RADIO (2), automatic dimmer switch on the dash, safety sentinal in the speedometer window and probably some things I’ve forgot. Cream exterior with the white interior…..taught my girlfriend how to drive in that car…..with the top down, it was one of the most gorgeous cars you ever laid eyes on!
Kudos again, Laurence! You found another (in the many) Bay Area gem of a car for today’s story example. Shining example, literally. I could tell this was a “NorCal” car from the license plate sequence . . . SoCal plate issues had all the odd-ball letter combinations (the “I”s, “O”s “J”s and so forth on the hallowed 63-69 issue plates).
I was half expecting a Connell Oldsmobile (Oakland), Van Ness Oldsmobile (S.F.) or Scripture Oldsmobile (San Rafael) dealer’s frame on that grand looking ’63.
Closest thing we ever had to a Starfire was a used ’63 Ninety-Eight my Dad was looking at when shopping for another car. I was about six – he ended up buying a new leftover ’65 Dodge Custom 880 shortly after the new year 1966.
Perhaps a “GM greatest sin” article on the POS Roto Hydra-Matic. I had a ’61 Catalina that in my junior year of high school in auto-shop, the 3-speed Roto Hydra-Matic picked that moment in time in class in the service bay while idlling to hemmorage it’s ATF all over the shop floor. Big laughs! Sad that this vintage Starfire (and Grand Prix) didn’t get the dual-range four speed Hydra Matic . . . (exclusive to Bonnevilles and 98s by then, I suppose).
I think only Cadillac and the Bonneville had the dual range for 1961-63/64. I forget if Cadillac switched over to the Turbo Hydra Matic in 64 or 65 though.
Even with the Rotos issues there seems to be a lot of 1961-64 Oldses still running the streets. The Red Ninety Eight from earlier today is a weekend driver, and the Starfire above was in for a general tune up, and at the same time I saw that there was a 1963 Dynamic Eighty Eight for sale on a lot not far from where the Starfire was. Price? $7,500. Why am I so broke….
If I recall correctly, Cadillac switched over to Turbo-Hydramatic in 1964, and the remainder of the divisions, except for Chevrolet, followed suit for 1965 with their full-size cars. For many years, Chevrolet continued to offer only Powerglide with the lower-level V-8s.
As to why there are still a fair number of 1961-64 Oldsmobiles still in service – while both Pontiac and Oldsmobile used the same Roto Hydramatic, Oldsmobile made several changes to improve durability. In those days, the various divisions still had enough autonomy to do that sort of thing.
OK Laurenece! (I blew my sobriquet/nomme du guerre).
Four speed Hydra-Matic was in the “C” bodies (sans Electra 225 since Buick had “Flight Pitch” or “Twin Turbine” Dynaflow) including the Olds 98 through ’64 and the Pontiac Bonneville – Bonneville only.
Inclined to agree Olds divison and it’s divisional and geographical distance from Detroit proper most likely did improve upon the Roto Hydra-Matic. Come to think of it, I never knew of this vintage Olds drivers having tranny issues, but, myself in my youth, and others I knew who had similar Catalinas/Venturas and GP’s of this period did have beaucoup transmission failures/problems.
THM became available mid-year ’64 on Cadillacs (standard early on in the Fleetwood and Eldorado only) – and ’64 Electra 225 had it – as Buick division had a big hand in the development of THM. Available across all GM divisions (big block cars for Chevy anyway beginning w/mid year switch from the 409 to the Porcupine 396) in ’65.
If any Curside Classic readers from San Rafael read this, and are familiar with San Rafael High Auto shop and went to school there between the late ’50s and late ’70s would remember “Blame Burnt” Mr. Moore, the auto shop legend.
I thought that the Ninety-Eight used the Roto-Hydramatic, too.
They did. I mistakenly used to think otherwise, but I’ve seen the error of my ways. Roto it was.
Both the Bonneville and Star Chief retained the dual-coupling four-speed through 1964. Cadillac started phasing in THM in 1964, but the Fleetwood Seventy-Five kept the four-speed through 1965. I’m pretty sure that was the last GM use, although Rolls-Royce kept building its licensed version of the earlier dual-range (single-coupling) H-M until 1978.
Good gravy! This is hardcore Oldsmobile porn! How about some 442 love? I’m missing my old girl today…
I weep for Oldsmobile. To paraphrase Roman Emperor Augustus; “Quintili Vare, Oldsmobile redde!
I always thought of the Buick Wildcat as a more direct competitor to the Starfire than the Riviera in that it came with buckets and console while the majority of Rivs had benches.
“majority of Rivs had benches”
Really??? All the ’63-’66s I’ve
seen, in person and online, have
bucket seats.
The really confusing marketing conflict for the Starfire was the 1964-1965 Jetstar I. This was essentially a de-contented Starfire, available only as a hardtop; it moved the Starfire’s standard Hydra-Matic and power assists to the options list to allow the base price to be by more than $500. I assume it was intended as a more direct answer to the Grand Prix. Unfortunately, it was still over $100 more than a GP, and if you looked closely at the options list, you might have noticed that adding the automatic and power assists to a Jetfire I would actually make it a little more expensive expensive than the Starfire!
To really muddy the waters, Olds simultaneously introduced the Jetstar 88 line, which had nothing to do with the Grand Prix/Starfire personal luxury concept; it was an economy version of the Dynamic 88 with the small block engine and running gear from the V8 Cutlass.
I’m sure this must have looked good on paper, but you can guess how well it turned out. The Jetstar 88 did so-so business (it was an interesting idea, but it was only about $70 cheaper than a comparable Dynamic 88, so unless you were really keen on better gas mileage, there wasn’t much point), the Jetstar I sold poorly, and the Starfire got lost in the shuffle.
They actually continued selling the Starfire through 1966, although the introduction of the Toronado made it kind of a moot point.
I remember reading in one of those Hemmings books (the one about Oldsmobile) about how bad a deal the Jetstar was compared to the Pontiac Catalina, especially from 1965 on when it morphed into the Delmont 88. You always got the more powerful 389 and your optional automatic was either the Roto or Turbo Hydra Matic while your only choice for a few seasons with the Jetstar was the “Jetaway” 2 speed Automatic. Plus they had Cutlass sized brakes in a car at least 500lbs heavier.
I think at the same time a LeSabre was similarly a bad deal since you got only the 300 V8 paired with the “Twin Turbine.” It was like getting a really really fancy Impala. What’s really curious about Oldsmobile is that for 1964-65 it was one of 3 Eighty Eights: (1964) Jetstar, Dynamic and Super (1965) Jetstar, Dynamic and Delta becoming a separate series. I wonder who the Jetstar really appealed to, or why there was a need for 3 (well, including the special coupes 5) distinct Eighty Eights by 1965.
But the 1965 Starfire was a pretty good looking car. my dream stable would probably be a Starfire from every year, except the decontented ’66 model.
That article talks about both the Jetstar 88 and the Jetstar I, although it’s ostensibly about the latter. The Jetstar I was the Grand Prix fighter; it had the 394 and the same running gear as other 88s, with 11-inch drums. The Jetstar 88 had the Cutlass engine and brakes, with the two-speed Jetaway automatic.
In some respects, the Jetstar 88 wasn’t a bad idea. The 330 small block was perfectly adequate for family car duty, and probably more economical. The two-speed Jetaway, with variable-pitch stator, was not a match for Turbo Hydra-Matic, but compared to the Roto H-M, it was probably a toss-up. The main sore points were the brakes and the fact that it just wasn’t that much cheaper than the Dynamic 88.
The Jetstar I was just odd. It’s not a bad-looking car, but I can’t say I’d choose one over a Grand Prix, which cost less, even with the decontenting, and could be had with more powerful engines. And list price aside, most of them were probably sold fully loaded, at which point it wasn’t a great deal compared to the Starfire, unless you just didn’t like the Starfire’s trim.
One of the few cars to have fins on the front as well as rear fenders?
Would concur w/Ate up W/Motor on the Jetstar I – I remember the marketing for it was supposed to have been a “budget”, per se, alternative to a Starfire or Grand Prix. In the day $100-$500 per model difference meant something, and the Jetstar was supposed to have appealed to that buyer who wanted the ‘almost’ real McCoy but for a few dollars less.
Suppose the whole impetus for Olds to offer a Jestar I was like Chevy offering Impala Sport Coupe vs. an Impala SS. In today’s hindsight, it seems kind of like a “why bother” exercise. Of course, Olds may have thought the same in ’66 when the decided to stop the whole Jetstar/Starfire mess and pair down their full-size offerings and (as it turns out correctly), concentrate on making their mid-sze offerings (Cutlass LS) more upmarket.
I do remember Buick offering the small 300 2-barrel (Special/Skyark iron) V-8 with Twin Turbine (actually the B-O-P Jetaway 2-speeder) common in “A” bodies and low-priced Olds and Buick offerings during the mid-late 60s. Price point equipping and marketing – that’s all. A 2-speed LeSabre with the small 300 nailhead for ’65 and ’66 realy was an Impala with lipstick.