Spotted this Olds on the way to my son’s concert tonight. There must have been a car show, as I saw a few other CC’s in traffic too far away to get a good shot.
CC Outtake: Ninety Eight Spotting
– Posted on July 27, 2012
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Curbside Classics Archives
That’s an exceptionally nice snap of that car on the go; the lens distortion really plays up its long deck.
Isn’t that the three-piece rear window that prompted journalists of the time to paraphrase Chrysler’s ad copy of the same year (1957) and quip, “Suddenly, it’s 1950!”?
That is indeed a great picture. On-the-run photography doesn’t get any better.
I like the color coordinated wheels, trim and white walls.
It occurs to me, I don’t think I’ve driven a car that wasn’t on radials.
“I saw a few other CC’s in traffic too far away to get a good shot.”
That happened to us on a recent trip to Iowa. We were in Montana someplace, and on an old highway that paralelled the freeway we saw something like two to three dozen cars, mostly 60’s and 70’s but a few older ones, kind of a cruise-night mix; they were all going in the opposite direction, mostly in groups of three or four. There must have been a rod run or some such event. The old highway was far enough from the freeway to preclude any decent photos.
I can include this shot of a nice 1957 or ’58 Chevy 4×4 pickup that stopped at the same rest stop in South Dakota that we did.
Wow what a peach. That’s a ’57, right? That has to be my all time favorite 50’s era car. That red accent line does it for me.
Always thought the ’57 Oldsmobile was one of the prettier cars of the era – even if the rear deck could could have used a 6-12″ shortening in length. But then, that’s rating a car by modern aesthetics. Back then, a short hood, long rear deck meant speed. Just the same, I always loved the reserve on these cars.
Not to show my age or anything but a kid in my class had one of these in 1959 or so. It was hot.
We used to hold drags at the old WW2 air strip. The first NHRA nationals in Great Bend (about a 100 miles away, I guess) were still fresh in our minds. This Olds was always in the running to win. Another guy with a 58 Impala with a 348 was always nip and tuck. There were others but I had no idea that some of those cars would almost develop an aura.
Next generation will be talking the same way about turbocharged civics and they will be just as right as I am.
The ’64 StarChief has NOTHING on this booty! To quote the immortal Spinal Tap: I cannot leave this behind!
Seriously, this is sweet set of wheels, love the 3 window set up!
I like the hubcap-less look, its looks like junior took the old mans 98 to the drag races.
Great looking Olds. It looks tough with no hub caps, like it came off the beaches of Daytona! And that roofline was and is an all-time classic. Great shot!
Of the shoebox years, the ’57 Olds would probably be my fave GM product after the Chevy. Buick, Cadillac, and (especially) Pontiac leave me cold. But what a difference Bunkie and Delorean would make when the ‘wide-track’ Pontiacs debuted up in 1959.
It’s interesting that ’55 – ’57, the best-looking cars ended up being the entry-level branded models from all three domestic manufacturers (Chevy, Ford, and Plymouth).
Sacrilege, I know, but I always liked this car way more than the 57 Chevy which I thought awkward looking, then and now. I grew up in the midwest and in the summer of 57 my Arizona cousins arrived in this same car, with possibly a blue stripe (I’m pretty sure the interior was blue). It had factory A/C, not something we saw much in those days. And a white steering wheel and a chrome-laden dash that was an Olds trademark up that point. Much more glamorous (and well made) than my Dad’s 57 Ford Fairlane 500 sedan. Never a fan of the three-piece rear window but the Olds was better looking than the Buick that shared it in 57.