The early ’60s fad of offering bucket seats and a console on full-sized cars had died out by the early ’70s, but in 1978, Oldsmobile decided to give it another go with a special Holiday 88 Coupe package for the two-door Olds Delta 88. This two-tone Holiday 88 is a first-year example of this seldom-seen, short-lived Oldsmobile model.
A lot of the credit (or, if you prefer, the blame) for the buckets-and-console craze in the United States goes to the early four-seat Ford Thunderbird of 1958–1960. Individual front seats were not uncommon in Europe, and they popped up on U.S. cars every now and then, but it was the 1958 Thunderbird that really made them into a phenomenon on this side of the Atlantic.
Ford’s original rationale was prosaic: To provide reasonable headroom under its low-slung hardtop roof, the “Squarebird” sank the footwells deep into the floorpan, with a prominent central tunnel that formed the backbone of the unitized structure. Since the tunnel could hardly be concealed, the Thunderbird designers made it a central thematic element, covering it with a center “panel console” that flowed into the dashboard and installing individual seats on either side. Most American cars of the time had bench seats front and rear, so the buckets-and-console theme was a dramatic change of pace that became a key part of the Thunderbird’s “We’re not in Kansas anymore” image. The public responded enthusiastically.
In 1960, the Chevrolet Corvair Monza demonstrated that adding bucket seats (even without a center console) made it possible for a compact economy car to be sold as a sporty coupe. The commercial possibilities were obvious, and seemingly endless, so within the next year and a half, nearly every domestic automaker got into the act.
Oldsmobile jumped onboard in 1961 with the limited-production Starfire convertible. This was not only the Olds entry in the “bucket brigade,” but also a belated riposte to the Thunderbird, which had been eating a certain amount of Oldsmobile’s lunch. (The four-seat Thunderbird was in the same price class as an Olds 98.)
Especially in the full-size lines, the buckets-and-console craze was just a fad, and like all fads, it soon ran its course. The Toronado still offered Strato Buckets through 1970 (although they were rare), but after that, Oldsmobile buyers who wanted bucket seats had to order a Cutlass S or Cutlass Supreme. By 1974, no domestic automaker still offered bucket seats on any full-size model, and buckets were no longer all that common on intermediates either.
Coincidentally, around the time bucket seats seemed to be fading out for good, Oldsmobile also bade farewell to the venerable Holiday name. Since 1949, “Holiday” had been Olds-speak for pillarless hardtops, but I guess they eventually decided it sounded too quaint. Oldsmobile still offered hardtops after 1970, but for 1971, the Holiday name went back on the shelf.
Then, in February 1978, Oldsmobile unexpectedly revived both these vanished concepts with a new Holiday 88 Coupe featuring … bucket seats and a center console. (Everything Olds is new again?)
The Holiday 88 Coupe was a mid-year introduction, so it was not included in many 1978 Oldsmobile brochures. Although Oldsmobile described it as a separate model, it was actually an option package, RPO Y78, offered only on the base Delta 88 coupe.
The Holiday 88 package listed for $276, which included the bucket seats, a sports console with floor shifter, a sport steering wheel, dual outside sport mirrors, and special color-keyed custom wheel discs.
The color-keyed Super-Stock III styled wheels on this car were a separate option, which didn’t require the Y78 package.
Oldsmobile gave this option a surprisingly big advertising push. In addition to running full-page print ads in a whole host of national magazines, Olds also took out a TV spot for the Holiday 88 Coupe.
I’d be very curious to hear more about the thought process behind the Holiday 88. The option itself cost Oldsmobile very little to add (most of the pieces were borrowed from the midsize Cutlass, so they were off-the-shelf stuff), but the advertising campaign can’t have been cheap, and the business case was not strong. Buyers of full-size domestic cars hadn’t shown any interest in bucket seats in years. Even in the Cutlass line, fewer than 20 percent of buyers were ordering buckets.
Most customers back then seemed to consider the optimum front seating arrangement for big cars to be the split bench with center armrest, like the 60/40 seat in this blue Delta 88 Royale. The split bench allowed individual adjustment for the driver without giving up the possibility of six-passenger seating when needed.
The most likely explanation I can see for the Holiday 88 is that Oldsmobile was hoping to pep up interest in the Delta 88 coupe. Buyers liked the downsized B-body cars — including the Custom Cruiser station wagon, Olds sold 277,181 of them for 1978 — but they strongly preferred the four-door models to the two-door coupe. Perhaps Oldsmobile product planners thought the Holiday 88 Coupe would give buyers a new reason to look at the two-door, even if they ultimately ended up with the more popular, bench-seated Delta 88 Royale.
Another possibility is that Oldsmobile needed to put the “Holiday” name on something they were actually selling in order to hang onto the trademark.
The Y78 Holiday 88 Coupe package didn’t include or require any actual performance pieces. In theory, you could order a Holiday 88 with the Buick 3.8-liter V-6 (which was standard on the Delta 88) or the ill-fated LF9 diesel V-8. The beige-and-gold coupe has the L34 Oldsmobile 350, a $265 option that originally had 170 hp and 275 lb-ft of torque with a single four-barrel carburetor. (The engine in this car has been converted to an aftermarket fuel injection setup.)
It had been quite a few years since Oldsmobile offered anything other than Turbo Hydra-Matic on the Delta 88. The 350 engine came with the TH350 automatic, which was a solid, reasonably dependable combination giving adequate if not very exciting performance. If you wanted more go, the 185 hp L80 Olds 403-cid V-8 was still available, along with an optional 3.23 axle in place of the sleepy 2.41 gears that came with most V-8 engines.
Because the Holiday 88 Coupe was an option package rather than a model, figuring out how well it sold is challenging. Oldsmobile didn’t break it out separately from the production totals for the Delta 88 coupe, and the Krause Standard Catalog of American Cars editors apparently didn’t realize that the Y78 option was available in 1978 at all. However, contemporary Automotive News data indicates that 9,477 full-size 1978 Oldsmobiles were sold with bucket seats, and I didn’t find any indication that bucket seats were available in the B-body or C-body Olds lines except on Delta 88 coupes with the Y78 package. If Oldsmobile really did sell that many 1978 Holiday Coupes, it would indicate that more than half of the 17,469 base Delta 88 coupes built that year were Holiday 88 Coupes — not bad for a mid-year introduction of fairly narrow appeal.
Oldsmobile continued the option for the next three model years, but buyer interest proved fleeting. An unfortunate editorial error rendered the Automotive News bucket seat installation figures for 1979 useless, but Standard Catalog of American Cars 1976–1999 puts 1979 Holiday 88 Coupe production at a modest 2,499 cars. Y78 installations for 1980 were either 3,490 (Automotive News) or 3,457 (Standard Catalog), followed by a grim 1,637 for 1981, the final year for the Holiday 88 option on the B-body cars.
One of the eternal frustrations for auto enthusiasts and auto historians is that the most interesting models and variants aren’t necessarily the ones most customers actually wanted. If 1978 buyers wanted bucket seats and a console shifter, they were more likely to buy a Cutlass Calais, or just shop elsewhere. (People don’t go to IHOP for bouillabaisse, after all.)
From a modern perspective, a B-body Holiday 88 Coupe is infinitely more compelling than a four-door Delta 88 with bench seats, but the latter was what most buyers preferred at the time.
However, there’s not much question which most people would rather have today. The beige-and-gold Holiday 88 pictured here fetched $15,750 when it sold on Bring a Trailer in August 2021.
Related Reading
Automotive History: The Bucket Seat Era Started Modestly In 1958 And Now Bench Seats Are History (by Paul N)
1973 Plymouth Fury Gran Coupe: The Last C-Body Full-Size Plymouth With Bucket Seats (by me)
In Motion Outtake: 1978 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale – Sunday Best (by Joseph Dennis)
Curbside Classic: 1979 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale – Mr. Average Makes A Final Appearance (by J P Cavanaugh)
Seems then Pontiac also offered briefly the bucket seats and console in the Bonneville/Parisienne.
https://www.oldcarbrochures.org/Canada/GM-Canada/Pontiac/1980-Pontiac-Full-Line-Brochure/slides/1980_Pontiac_Full_Line_Cdn-14-15.html
And Chevrolet still offered bucket seats in the Impala coupe for the Mexican market.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1712630748969016/posts/3939423866289682/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ifhp97/39485550534/in/photostream/
Ford as well. Also, note the primitive seat belts and lack of headrests. If .gov didn’t require them, they didn’t go in.
Buick also offered bucket seats in the LeSabre turbo V6 sport coupe starting in 1978 (and possibly on other models, I haven’t checked). But I knew someone who bought a new bucket-seat LeSabre sport coupe. Like the 88 and Bonneville bucket-seat interiors, the console and seats appeared to be from the new downsized A/G bodies, Century/Regal in this case, which is why all three of these brands didn’t offer buckets or consoles in 1977.
My take on these is that Olds (and Pontiac and Buick) may have feared some buyers who liked the hugely popular ’73-77 Colonnade coupes would find the resized ’78s too small, and figured those people would prefer the larger B body in sporty guise. Was the vinyl roof and rear side window treatment seen here unique to the Holiday 88? The rear quarter windows are smaller than on most 88s, and ape the look of the opera windows on Cutlass Supreme coupes.
The LeSabre coupe definitely offered buckets in 1979, but I found no indication that they were available on any full-size Buick for 1978. Contemporary Automotive News data (which was drawn from manufacturer surveys) listed them as NA for 1978. That data isn’t infallible, so I guess it’s possible Buick added buckets late in the model year, but they would have been an afterthought.
This doesn’t make sense to me because the Holiday 88 was a mid-year introduction, added after the intermediates were already on sale and doing quite well. (There was no tooling lead-up worth mentioning for the Holiday 88 because the only new piece was really the sail panel emblems.) Olds would have known that by the time their media buyers were booking ad space.
Nope, that was the difference between the full vinyl top and the half top, which choked off part of the quarter windows. Here’s a Delta 88 Royale that’s the same way: https://classiccars.com/listings/view/1237069/1978-oldsmobile-delta-88-royale-for-sale-in-new-braunfels-texas-78132-4950
My recollection must be fuzzy on the Buick turbo coupe – I knew someone who had a ’78 but am probably remembering buckets from the ’79.
Note that the Pontiac brochure is Canadian, but yes, Pontiac followed Oldsmobile in offering bucket seats in its B-body cars. (Automotive News indicates that a few were sold in 1978, although they were VERY rare.)
I recognize the bucket seats, shifter, and console which are right out of a Cutlass Supreme (model A, later G) two door which I had. The rally wheels usually included the handling package with sway bars front and rear. Made a big difference on how it handled cloverleafs and tight turns at speed.
My admiration for Oldsmobiles has grown over the years. Fine automobiles in their time.
I notice in the picture of the center console, it’s right in front of the heater ducts actually blocking them off!! I just finished a R and R of the center console of my 75 Cutlass Salon, and the heater duct is arranged to go around the console. Maybe in this case Olds didn’t spend enough development money on this feature.
It is equipped with GM-built engines produced by various divisions
I love it. This must have been right around lawsuit time when Oldsmobile buyers discovered their cars had Chevy engines.
I’m probably the outlier here, but I’d take that green 4 door sedan with a comfy split bench front seat with the armrest please.
When I was younger, of course I thought everything should have the bucket seats and center console. Then by my mid 20’s, I was a convert and realized just how much more comfort you could have with a flat floor that is open across. But a split bench with armrest is a must. Nothing worse than a full bench seat with no armrest and no recliners. Now that’s brutal.
Very enjoyable post. The Olds brochure (what a tome it must have been!) blew my mind. So many variations on each theme. As an aside, I simply don’t recall hearing or reading references to the “Holiday” variants as I was growing up. Just wasn’t paying attn. very well, I guess.
There’s one more Holiday variant to add to your list: the 1984-86 Cutlass Ciera Holiday coupe.
https://www.oldcarbrochures.org/United%20States/Oldsmobile/1984_Oldsmobile/1984_Oldsmobile_Mid_Size_Brochure/slides/1984_Oldsmobile_Cutlass-10-11.html
The Ciera Holiday coupe was dropped after the reskin of the 2-door Ciera for the 1987 model year.
We bought a new 88 Royale coupe in the summer of 1978. A very pretty blue on Super Stock wheels w/o vinyl top. Had a surprising hot rod rake.
The dealer had about as many Holiday 88s as Royale coupes. Looked at them for a minute but decided that the comfy velour sofa was more appealing.
The Holiday 88 continued thru 1981. The 1980 recession generally tanked new car sales so it’s hard to know whether it was unsellable or no one was buying.
Here’s a blue Delta 88 Royale Coupe, although it does have a vinyl roof:
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1978-oldsmobile-delta-88-royale-coupe-10/
This blue.
https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums/cars-sale-10/1978-delta-88-holiday-coupe-176770/
I liked the ’77-’79 88’s, before the ’80 restyle. I was vaugely familiar with the Holiday 88 Coupe, I knew Olds had an equivilant to the somewhat popular (at least I remember seeing a few) LeSabre Sport Coupe and that certainly seems to be what this car was. I would imagine with the L80 403 and the 3.23 rear axle the Holiday 88 probably ran quite well for the times.
The LeSabre Sport Coupe went basically the opposite direction: It had a special handling suspension and (starting in 1978) the turbocharged V-6, but it had a pretty ordinary LeSabre interior. The Holiday 88 had the whole buckets-and-console bit, but with the standard equipment (normally aspirated V-6, TH200, standard suspension), it was slow and kind of soggy.
Good point, the Buick LeSabre Sport Coupe was a real performace package while the Olds was more of a trim-only deal and it was up to the buyer to order the hardware. As I remember the Buick 350 and the Olds 403 were both optional in the LeSabre Sport coupe, and I am pretty sure the Olds console and floor shift were available as well. Those things were rolling off the same assembly lines nose-to-tail.
From 1978 on, the LeSabre Sport Coupe was available only with the turbo engine, not a V-8. It doesn’t appear you could get buckets, a console, or a floor shifter on any full-size Buick in 1978, although they were optional on the LeSabre Sport Coupe and base LeSabre coupe starting in 1979.
Yes, Car and Driver did a road test on a 350 Buick powered LeSabre Sport Coupe, and mentioned the 403 Ols was an option in 1977. As near as I can find out, the console/floor shift option was added in 1979.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/vintage-reviews/vintage-review-1977-buick-lesabre-sport-coupe-gran-sport-by-another-name/
Someone I worked with had a “84”, tudor. Remember them saying the “86”, they rented on a trip had a lot of rattles compared to the “84”. Thinking, don’t know though, the rental would a been a “4dor”.
We bought a new 88 Royale coupe in the summer of 1978. There were about as many Holiday 88s as Royale coupes on the lot.
AFAIK the Holiday 88 continued to 1981.
I noticed this detail on the green diesel 88 recently featured but it’s interesting how Olds still offered the muscle car era super stock wheels on these full size, forgive my crass phrasing, “old man cars”, but with a cumbersome center cap to cover the otherwise racy exposed lugnuts
Also what exactly was the difference between the super stock II and super stock III?
Color; II’s have the darkish gray ‘backing’ finish and III’s are the body colored variation.
Ah! That makes much more sense than I imagined!
What a sharp car. Id rather have a bench or 60/40 split with a column shifter though
A beautiful Coupe’, Oldsmobile in particular did a great job with the B+C bodied cars! It would have been cool to have either a sunroof or Maybe even T-Tops to ad to the sportiness! Convertible cars had basically been regulated out of existence by 78′ however I’m sure this was marketed as a Mid life crisis car, the buyer interested in this would have felt silly in a Corvette but a handsome Coupe’ with buckets was acceptable! Great article!!
Mom’s 1972 Buick Skylark Coupe had individual buckets with no console and column shift, which made no sense to me. Buick built a ton of them.