The 1956 Olds 88 quietly killed a chore drivers had lived with for 16 years: its new Jetaway Hydra-Matic was the first Oldsmobile automatic that never needed the periodic band adjustment its predecessors required.
Median 90 hp across 138 similar cars
Lead trim: 88 324 cu in Rocket V8 (170 hp, 1954) · up to 240 hp
Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight1954–1956
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactThe 1956 Olds 88 quietly killed a chore drivers had lived with for 16 years: its new Jetaway Hydra-Matic was the first Oldsmobile automatic that never needed the periodic band adjustment its predecessors required.
The 1954 Oldsmobiles were completely restyled, remaining on the GM B platform with new longer, lower body shells, one-piece wrap-around windshields and rear windows and wheelbases increased to 122 in (length 205.26 in); base models reverted to being called simply 88 after a year as the DeLuxe 88, with the Super 88 the top of the range. The standard two-barrel Rocket V8 was enlarged from 303 to 324 cubic inches and raised to 170 hp, with Super 88s getting a four-barrel 185 hp version; for 1955 (heavily facelifted, with the pillarless four-door Holiday sedan added mid-year) horsepower increased to 185 for 88s and 202 for Super 88s, and for 1956 to 230 for 88s and 240 for Super 88s, the year a new four-speed Jetaway Hydra-Matic replaced the Hydra-Matic that Olds had used since 1940.
Collectors Spotted in the Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
6 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 88 324 cu in Rocket V8 (170 hp, 1954) | 1954–1954 | 5.3 L V8 | 170 hp | 295 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| 88 324 cu in Rocket V8 (185 hp, 1955) | 1955–1955 | 5.3 L V8 | 185 hp | 320 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| 88 324 cu in Rocket V8 (230 hp, 1956) | 1956–1956 | 5.3 L V8 | 230 hp | 340 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| Super 88 324 cu in Rocket V8 (202 hp, 1955) | 1955–1955 | 5.3 L V8 | 202 hp | 332 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| Super 88 324 cu in Rocket V8 (240 hp, 1956) | 1956–1956 | 5.3 L V8 | 240 hp | 350 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| Super 88 324 cu in Rocket V8 4-barrel (185 hp, 1954) | 1954–1954 | 5.3 L V8 | 185 hp | 300 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
Owning one
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Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
Its Regency version had a self-dimming driver's door mirror as standard, something even Cadillac did not fit as standard.
This Eighty Eight could talk: an optional computer-synthesized male voice warned you out loud if the coolant was low, the engine overheated, or you'd left the headlights on.
In 1988 it became the first GM car offered with a driver's-side airbag, twelve years after GM had dropped its earlier ACRS airbag system.
The 1977 downsizing hit hard — this full-size Delta 88 ended up riding on the exact same 116-inch wheelbase as the mid-size Cutlass sedan, and nearly 900 lb lighter than the model it replaced.
In 1974 you could special-order a Delta 88 with driver and passenger airbags — a rarely-picked factory option that made it one of the first production cars ever offered with them.
Oldsmobile named this car after a Cold War fighter jet: having already borrowed the Starfire name from an Air Force plane, it named the Delta 88 after the Convair F-102 Delta Dagger interceptor.
Early-60s 88s read speed off a 'speed bar' — a rolling cylinder painted green, yellow and red that scrolled past a window as the car sped up.
This 88 had a speedometer that color-coded your speed for you — green under 35, amber up to 65, red beyond that, decades before dashboards did this digitally.
A Ford stylist bought a chrome-heavy 1958 Olds as a daily driver, then rearranged its hood lettering to spell "SLOBMODEL" as a jab at the era's design excess.
The 1956 Olds 88 quietly killed a chore drivers had lived with for 16 years: its new Jetaway Hydra-Matic was the first Oldsmobile automatic that never needed the periodic band adjustment its predecessors required.
A fire at GM's own Hydra-Matic plant forced some 1953 Oldsmobiles to ship with a Buick transmission instead.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
It briefly served as senior sibling to Marquette, a GM companion brand cancelled after just one year.
Nissan hired former BMW engineers to help develop the 510's suspension, which is why period reviewers frequently compared its handling to the BMW 1600/2002.
A Trabant 601 won its class at the 1970 Monte Carlo Rally, with a second 601 right behind it in second.
The 600 was a stopgap: the P50's body over the 601's mechanicals, and for a while its estate was built alongside the new 601 saloon.
The G80 Sport brought a 370 PS twin-turbo 3.3 V6, a mesh grille and copper-tinted chrome with copper stitching to match.
The Vigor was sold only with a five-cylinder engine, an unusual configuration Honda used to fit a longer engine transversely under a short hood.
The GS/E coupe earned the nickname "German Charger" for its long hood, short deck stance borrowed from Detroit muscle cars.
This DeVille/Fleetwood was the first production car anywhere to mount its V8 sideways, Cadillac's front-drive gamble on the new C-body.