I was bringing dinner home tonight and passed this–a 1960 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 hardtop coupe sitting on a car carrier. Or is it a launch pad?
Oldsmobile had this “rocket” theme going since 1949, but the 1959-60 models really did look like rockets on wheels! And pointing it skyward like this actually makes it look as if it’s about to blast-off into outer space!
1957-60 Oldsmobiles are my favorite Oldsmobile models of all time! It was quite a surprise to see one just around the corner from me, boldly silhouetted against the night sky!
“… 1957-60 Oldsmobiles are my favorite Oldsmobile models of all time!… ”
Me too Stephen; me too. My COAL #2 was a 1957 88 Sedan.
I really love the 60 Olds! Your nighttime shot (which is fabulous, by the way) immediately reminded me of an aunt and uncle’s 1960 Catalina sedan in that exact color combination. That copper paint must have been trendy given all the ads you found featuring that color.
Your shot takes me immediately to the lyrics of a not-well-enough-known jazz song from the 50s – Destination Moon
“So away we steal in a space-mobile
A supersonic honeymoon
Leave your cares below, pull the switch, let’s go!
Destination moon”
The ’59-60 Olds (and all the GM big cars really) looked over-the-top but somehow still incredibly graceful. They seem to be the height of the era when stylists had almost free rein over car design, before things like aerodynamics, space efficiency, and safety took precedence. The ’61s, while also very attractive, were less exuberant but more rational, smaller on the outside, roomier inside, and shorn of things like the jet-fighter windshield.
I recall when Oldsmobile started using their final logo, a circle (actually slight oval) with a pair of slanted lines through it, the stated reason for the change was that the previous rectangular logo looked nothing like a modern rocket, and younger people who didn’t know what it was supposed to be thought it looked more like a chicken leg or a peace sign than a rocket.
It was also dated but not retro, rectangular logos were “out” in the ’90s – especially ones taller than they were wide – while round/oval ones were “in”.
At the same time Oldsmobile discontinued using their original “Olds Motor Works” logo which had been brought back as a secondary one in the ’70s and graced the vinyl-covered formal C pillar of many a by-then-clapped-out Brougham.
I don’t follow logo design that closely, but clearly one thing that was “in” in the ’00s that’s out now is the gradient-enhanced 3D look. Several brands – Ford and VW to name two – upgraded their old logos with this look, sometimes taking advantage of modern technology to print or display it. But now, more basic, simple, 2D logos are in style, with BMW, VW, and Nissan amongst those that have recently adopted it (GM has both gradient and non-gradient versions of their new logo). I think Apple may have been the trendsetter here – early iPhones and Macs of the era took advantage of their ultra-high-res displays to create icons and other details that almost looked wet, as if light was hitting it at just the right angle. Later they were redesigned with “flatter”, simpler designs..
The German rocket is a V2, supersonic. The V1 was a subsonic flying “buzz bomb” per the sound of its air breathing engine. A V1 looked like a small plane.
Both were nasty weapons to be on the receiving end of as the Brits could attest. 🙁 DFO
Antwerp got it’s share too.
Didnt Musk take that idea seriously a while back but couldnt get hold of a Rocket88 and used a Tesla instead?
“…Silhouetted…”
I see what you did there.
Do my eyes deceive me, or are the wheel covers on the subject car from a ’66 Impala?
The look like the ones my Dad had on his ’66 Chevy.
And yes, as DFO says above, the rocket is a V2.
I think Dynamic 88 is one of the greatest car names. Replaced by Delmont 88.
Lead character Tom Lopaka drove a 1960 Olds 88 Convertible in the early ‘60’s detective show Hawaiian Eye.
Nice job of letting your imagination go with this uptilted Olds.
A friend of my brother had one of these, in the late 60s. It was obviously a family hand-me-down, and undoubtedly I appreciated it more than he did. Why couldn’t someone have handed me down one of these?
Nice find! I’m still in awe of the fighter jet-inspired wraparound windshield used by all big GM models in 1959-60. It was Harley Earl’s swan song.
That copper color was the same as used in the 1959 Chevy Bel Air tested by IIHS against a 2009 Malibu.
I’ve mentioned this before. but my aunt who lived with us at the time was about to purchase a 1960 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 in the fall of 1960 after her ’59 Chevy Bel Air was stolen and totaled in Wildwood, NJ. We discovered our 1935-era garage was too small to accomodate the Olds. As luck would have it, the newly introduced 1961 Olds was downsized just enough to fit. Her bubbletop Dynamic 88 became one of the very first 1961 models of any kind in our neighborhood.
I ve seen the future of cars as a kid, my best friends dad (I saw this guy last week that I’ve known all of my life) had a 4 door pillarless Coupé here in Holland.
It was magic for me it was more from a different planet then the DS, this Olds was light metallic blue with a completely blue interior, the dash was blue, the carpets and the steering wheel.
It had courtesy lights, an automatic gearbox, electrical operated front bench, air conditioning, I mean AIR CONDITIONING a radio with a wonder bar electric windows it was Marilyn Monroe against a coughing Gauloises smokimg Edith Piaff, dad’s 403 (Columbo) Diesel Sedan that had one lousy interior light and made machine gun noises when the engine was runnjng cold and always always that Diesel vapor in the interoor.
The Olds ninety eight was by far the coolest thing on the planet
My father had a 1959 4 door pillarless Oldsmobile and kept it for a few years then bought a 1960 like the one featured. It was lime green with a white top. We liked the way the speedometer changed colors the faster he drove.
I was the proud occupant, and later driver of my father’s 1960 Super 88 Fiesta Station Wagon. This “family trucker” brought us from NJ to Vermont regularly from 1965-76 when semi-retired due to rust and rebuild issues that I learned body and engine work to repair. After 167,000 miles and unfortunately frame collapse,she was consigned to be scrapped but not before her many excellent parts and chrome trim were salvaged to restore at least 3 other cars! Wish I could have it again along side my 2 ’63/64 Caddy convertibles..equally “rocket- worthy!!
Back in 1984 in high school I had a 1966 Delta 88 green on green with the big block 425 in it not the best on gas but road like dream with many car parties on the inside love that car
What a beautiful car and the 1st. picture is so well done .
-Nate
Don’t forget those bizarre “Body by Fisher” print ads from ’58 and ’59. The GM brand cars (missing the front clip) looked like they were being launched into the Twilight Zone! The tail lights somehow were leaving jet trails, as if that was their intended purpose.