Images by Ralf K, from the Cohort.
Cohort Pic(k) Of The Day: 1956 Oldsmobile ’88’ And Others By Ralf K
– Updated on August 3, 2025
Images by Ralf K, from the Cohort.
-
-
-
American Brands: GM 
American Brands: Ford 
American Brands: Chrysler 
American Brands: AMC, Jeep and All Others 
Automotive Histories and Misc. 
Asian Brands 
UK Brands 
Australian Brands 
European Brands 
Cars Of A Lifetime & Auto-Biography 
Buses 
Trucks, Pickups and Vans 
Design 
Trains, Planes & Ships 
Motorcycles, Trikes, Bicycles 
Engines, Transmissions and other Tech 
Tractors, Lawn Mowers, Off-Road Equipment 
RVs, Motorhomes, Trailers, Campers
I’ve said it on here before. Take that first pic of the Olds for example. It looks to be in quite solid condition. So why would someone just leave the car sit as such allowing it to slowly rot away with weed and soon to be trees growing up around and through it?
I can imagine that there would be a buyer willing to pay a fair amount for such a car before it gets too bad. So why hoard things like this? Oh well. To each their own.
A very solid Olds with just a decent paint job away from being a real keeper. I’m not so sure it’s abandoned. The tires look fairly new and while it’s sitting in grass, it’s not overgrown with brush and could be easily backed out to the road. Could be the owner just loves patina to the extreme.
That lead photo encapsulates how I feel looking in the mirror anymore, as a gentleman of a certain age. There are suggestions of the possibility I used to represent, now concealed by the patina of time, use and misuse.
“Sedan”? My eyes are telling me, it’s a hardtop.
The tires are pumped up and there’s a front plate. Maybe, someone’s simply storing it outdoors, with the intention of getting it on the road, if it isn’t already licensed and driving
This is the second time I have used factory names and it just creates confusion, so I edited the post’s title.
FWIW, in ’56, Oldsmobile referred to its 88 hardtops as the ‘Holiday Coupe’ (2-door), and the ‘Holiday Sedan’ (4-door).
Oldsmobile Division got it wrong a second time, given that Coupes weren’t supposed to have rolldownable rear windows. They would usually swing out like vent windows did, on real Coupes
It _IS_ a Hard Top .
Get it off the damn grass RIGHT NOW because that’s the #1 cause of rusting .
I like the 1951 (+/-) Dodge B1B pickup because I used to own one .
How come I can never seem to take a good photo when I see pix like this that are glorious .
-Nate
Used to be a similar olds around the corner from my house when I was a kid. House and car were abandoned. My brother and I used to play in the car.. Always thought the world emblem was cool in them.. Think it was on the steering wheel center and on the hood…
You were lucky to have one of those nearby. Abandoned cars were more attractive for kids than the abandoned refrigerators less fortunate children had to deal with
Whenever I see a photo of a seemingly abandoned car, I always wonder what was the one particular thing that took it out of front-line service. Was it a repair that suddenly became required? Or did another car replace it, and the owner decided to keep it around “just in case”. Which, as we all know, can turn into never, which leads to slo-mo destruction.
When I see these abandoned Volvos, I wonder if there is some guy in New Jersey who just needs a steering wheel or glove box door off of one of these wrecks. Tempted to part out some of the usage items and see if there are takers. I would imagine there is a Volvo forum or Facebook page devoted to hard to find Volvo parts.
We had a ’56 Olds Holiday 88 4 door in light and dark blue until 1992. It took months to find several brake parts in the late 70s. The steering gear leaked, a common ’56 defect, so it was replaced with a ’57’s. In the 80s, the local dealer had to get a retired mechanic to overhaul the Hydramatic. It had 14,000 miles when we inherited it in ’70. The fuel gauge never worked for us, leading to occasional empty tanks at inopportune times.
Nice Patina on Olds looks nice & strate ! looks like it could just drive off love the clean lines of the 4 DR HT & its rare if orig. solid color ( if orig. factory paint ) just would need mechanical reactivation & use as is !! how kewl that would be ! hope someone please dose just that !!……….