Strother MacMinn, an ex-GM designer and long-time teacher at the Art Center College of Design, had this to say about Harley Earl: “[He] designed so you could walk around a car and be entertained the whole trip.” When it came to those two titans of General Motors design that are so often compared, Harley Earl and William Mitchell, Earl seemed to focus on flash while Mitchell focused on form. This is not a dig at Earl — it’s OK to like both methods. It is undeniable, however, that walking around any of Harley Earl’s designs will reward a viewer with something that they didn’t notice at a glance, as even a commonplace sedan such as this 1952 Oldsmobile 88 benefited from his attention to details. Harley Earl himself said that “if you drive by a school and the kids don’t whistle, back to the drawing board.” Hyperpack posted a gallery of pictures at our CC Cohort, and he captured all the reasons why the kids whistled at Mr. Earl’s conceptions.
The 1952 Oldsmobile itself was offered in three series: the Deluxe 88, Super 88, and 98. The A-Body-based 88 was no longer offered for 1952, leaving the OB-Body as the sole basis of all Oldsmobile models. Fans of Curbside Classic know that trying to decipher General Motors’ body schemes of the early 1950s is a complicated task, but it’s been tackled here before, and interestingly enough, the only other General Motors car to use the OB Body in this time period was the 1951 to 1953 Buick Special. The Super 88 shown here (the side trim is the giveaway) was Oldsmobile’s most popular model, with 70,606 four-door sedans being built for the model year. It had Oldsmobile’s famous 303 “Rocket” V8 under the hood in 160-horsepower four-barrel guise, matched up in this case to GM’s four-speed Hydra-Matic “Super Drive,” so all-in-all, this is probably the best representation of what an Oldsmobile man would buy in 1952.
An easy way to identify this 88 as a 1952 model is the centrally located “tooth” in the grille. It’s an easy tell — the 1951 model doesn’t have it.
People tend to forget how much Harley Earl was responsible for the basic concept of American automotive design. It’s easy enough to criticize his faults, and there were enough of them, but for his entire career he managed to differentiate at least five different brands (and GMC) that used common structures, giving them individual identities that most of those whistling schoolyard kids could easily identify. Pontiac had its “Silver Streaks,” Buick its toothy grilles and “Ventiports,” and Cadillac its fins. Oldsmobile went in for rockets and globes.
Period advertisements played up the “‘Rocket’ Action” V8 while Oldsmobile’s “singing sweethearts,” Johnny and Lucille, rode atop an actual simulated rocket in this specific (and fairly typical) Super 88 advertisement. Is anyone else picturing Major “King” Kong riding the nuclear bomb to its destination in Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove?
The ringed globe is a feature that showed up on hoods and steering wheels, the reason for which is a bit more of a mystery than the proliferation of rockets on flanks and in advertisements. Oldsmobile was certainly not an international brand, but reality and marketing are two words that rarely go together; regardless, the globe lasted a few more years before fading away, and it’s unlikely that you’ll find more intricate ornamentation on anything newer than 1960 or thereabouts.
And like them or not, the ornate taillights are not dissimilar from looking at the ornamentation on almost any older piece of architecture. Think about this: Someone had to draw this piece, and then someone had to make a pattern, probably out of wood, and probably by hand. Then, someone needed to figure out how to cast it in the most inexpensive and expedient way possible, yet with enough durability to last the expected life of the car. Then someone had to cast it and chrome it. Seventy-three years later, it’s still standing tall, if not a little worse for wear.
The bright trim on the outside of the gas filler door was an optional accessory. Mounted with screws to the gas filler door jamb, it was clearly ordered to break up the expanse of all…that…painted…quarter panel. I kid. Something this car isn’t short of is bright trim.
The quarter panel and rear door are the most entertaining part of the car, with their ornate, silly, and perfect “rocket” trim complete with an extra “wing” that extends all the way to to the character line’s dip on the door. A facet of the OB-Body that I prefer over the larger C-Body cars such as the Buick Roadmaster is the comparatively slim area between the belt line and the body’s character line. As much as I like a nice Cadillac or big Buick, I’ve always thought they looked far more ponderous than the less-expensive Buick Special and Olds 88. As the owner of a ’53 Special myself, however, I might be biased.
It’s also worth noting the segmented backlite, making its final appearance in the Oldsmobile line in 1952.
Not all of the gimcrackery, however, came by way of Lansing. These side window “awnings” were not uncommon add-ons, and they would be among the first thing I’d remove if I bought this 88. Nobody’s perfect.
The interior was not spared Mr. Earl’s watchful eye; from the electric-razor trim to the chic clock nacelle atop the dashboard, the Oldsmobile’s interior proves that the exterior designers weren’t the only ones who found themselves subjected to the famously temperamental styling chief’s instruction.
But it was all for the good of the car, and thus for sales. After all, what’s good for General Motors…on second thought, never mind. The trunk lid of this 88 mirrors the hood’s ringed globe, but adds an “88” emblem that’s bisected by a rocket, so even as it drives away, there is no mistaking the message: This is an Oldsmobile. It’s a little bigger and fancier than an A-Body Chevrolet or Pontiac, and it has a more powerful engine, a Rocket V8.
Your aesthetic ethos might not align with the great Harley Earl’s, but it’s hard to argue with his results, and nobody can argue that he didn’t love cars. He may not have been HR’s Employee of the Month these days due to his sometimes abrasive personality, but every account I’ve read says that he lived for his job and he did it well. He was a showman, an entertainer, and even the most common of his Oldsmobile sedans was the subject of his magic.
Related CC Reading
The History Of General Motors’ 1950 Body Interchange Program (by VinceC)
When I was about 6 years old, we visited some relatives in Washington state. They were a couple of my mother’s elderly aunts. One of them had a son (himself no spring chicken) who had an Oldsmobile much like this one, right down to the color.
That Oldsmobile captivated me, and I never forgot the emblem with the globe. The car was probably only 12-13 years old at the time, but it seems positively ancient to me. I think it was the first older Oldsmobile I ever remember seeing, which put my family’s modern Oldsmobiles into some context.
Actually, this `52 isn’t all that bad for being 73 yrs old! At least visually. Too solid to scrap, I’d do a mild restoration of it, and get the Rocket 303 V8 up to par. This one suffers from a serious case of “Korean chrome” –the quality lacking due to the Korean War effort 1950-52, bumpers ended up looking cloudy and faded in a hurry. By `53 the problem was getting corrected. My dad had a `52 Chrysler Saratoga sedan he said had the same issue.
I lived in Lansing in 1952. A neighbor was a foreman at the Oldsmobile plant. He told my father that the chrome plating process was reduced from 2 minutes to 45 seconds.
theres some serious pot metal on that car, and plenty of pressed stainless trim the overall effect is ok, cribbing globes from Triumph is interesting, Oldsmobiles were very hard to get in NZ they could be had but you needed green cash and plenty of patience and during the peninsular war no American brands came in anyway
Olds wouldn’t keep the globe logo much longer, but they did try to convey international-ness with a row of flags from the ’70s to ’90s. Usually these were arranged in a row below the model-name badge, but on the 1988 Cutlass Supreme the flags were arranged in a globe-like circle.
Hey, when one is in/on a rocket, circling a bit a the globe just might happen.
I still think it was a telling mistake in the long run for Olds to abandon the A body entirely. Not having kept a basic coupe or 2 door sedan for those who wanted a light, fast Rocket 88 and a station wagon was an early sign of difficulty keeping up with fast-moving market trends that would become a bigger and bigger problem for GM.
Wow ~ this is quite the survivor ! .
I wonder how many miles are on it and is it a runner / daily driver now ? .
The side view makes it look like a tarted up ’54 Chevy and I mean that in a good way .
-Nate
Those cool side window “awnings” let you lower the windows a bit in the rain yet not have water come in, i would absolutely leave them.
Pretty cool, but I’m partial to the ’50 fastback Olds. The rear fender detail on the ’52 is garish.
The “ringed globe” (actually mostly North America and Mexico) is a tribute to the Oldsmobile victory in the first Carrera Panamericana road race in 1950. The winner, Hershel McGriff, lived in Portland Oregon. He borrowed the Olds and drove to Mexico for the race. This was the Mexican component of the Pan American Highway, sponsored by the Mexican government. It is sometimes referred to as the deadliest road race of all time, with 24 fatalities in five years. The course was over 2100 miles. GM was very pleased with this unlikely triumph, and one result was using the globe emblem for a few years, although it is doubtful that most new car buyers were aware of what this stood for. At the race McGriff met NASCAR founder Bill France, who convinced him to race full time in NASCAR in 1954. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2006.
Interesting.
“He borrowed the Olds and drove to Mexico for the race.”
Can you imagine? Hey Charlie, can I borrow your Olds? I’m just gonna drive to Mexico.. and then race it for 2100 miles.
Cool, Thanks. See ya next Wednesday. I’ll fill the tank for ya.
That is my dream car right there
Some buffing of the paint and maybe some steel wool/CLR on the bumpers and grille along with a good bath would really improve the looks with almost no money.
My reply is such. I was 8 years old in 1952. My father had owned olds every year since 1949, but I can truly recall his 1952 98, painted Gray with a Black top.. it was a beauty. We lived in Durham NC and recall how people would stop to admire its passing. I guess the most memorable was going to Greenville SC to visit.. people walking on Main Street in Charlotte NC stopping to view its beauty… very impressive for a 8 year old boy. two lane roads were in the day,, and the passing gear on the Olds would clearly shoot fast by. It was admired by many. Quite the vehicle.