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Ken Leonard | all galleries >> Galleries >> Seal Beach 2005 Car Show > 1952 Oldsmobile Super 88 Four Door Sedan - Click on photo for extensvie write up
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April 23, 2005 Copyright 2005 Ken Leonard

1952 Oldsmobile Super 88 Four Door Sedan - Click on photo for extensvie write up

Seal Beach, SoCal

Nikon Coolpix 8700
1/273s f/7.2 at 9.5mm iso50 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time23-Apr-2005 13:07:53
MakeNikon
ModelE8700
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length9.5 mm
Exposure Time1/273 sec
Aperturef/7.2
ISO Equivalent50
Exposure Bias1.00
White Balance (-1)
Metering Modematrix (5)
JPEG Quality (6)
Exposure Programprogram (2)
Focus Distance

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DiamondG 06-Jun-2012 02:40
I can remember as a child the rocket88 How much is one worth today
Guest 06-Jun-2012 02:38
I can remember as a child the rocket88 How much is one worth today
clayton tugonon 31-Jan-2008 08:08
i have the same car but the trimings and decals are worn out,can you advise where to buy?
Rick Johnson 28-Apr-2005 02:48
1952 Oldsmobile Super 88 Four Door Sedan. What a fantastic photo and what a great car! If I didn't know better, I would say it is 1952 and this car has just been driven off the showroom floor by a proud new owner. This car is a pristine example of a rarely seen early fifties Oldsmobile. Collectors for the most part have shunned the '51's & '52's in favor of the first postwar 88's of 1949 and 1950.The car in the photograph was the best selling Oldsmobile in 1952 with 119,317 units produced. It sold for $ 2,462. It had a wheelbase of 120 inches. Under the hood was a 304 cubic inch high compression overhead valve V-8 developing 180 horsepower. It's very hard to distinguish the 1951 Super 88's from the 1952 model. The outer appearance of both models is virtually identical except that the 1952 model has a small verticle chrome bar in the center of the grille. I especially like that Ken included digital close up photos of interesting details like the Rocket hood ornament and ringed globe insignia on the front of the hood above the grille. GM cars of that era carried certain styling themes that automatically identified the brand to the public. Pontiac had chrome bands or "silver streaks" as they were known on the hood and trunk lid. Buicks had verticle bar toothy grilles, ventiports on the front fenders, gun sight hood ornaments, and a chrome sweepspear running the length of the car. Oldsmobile had a chrome Rocket hood ornament, a chrome ringed globe on the front of the hood and center hub of the steering wheel, a Rocket symbol on the trunk lid, an integrated massive chrome grille and bumper assembly, and a chrome "hockey stick" rear quarter panel trim. GM Chief Stylist Harley Earl loved chrome and lavished lots of it on GM cars of the fifties, especially Oldsmobile and Buick.
Oldsmobile advertising in the early fifties were found in magazines like Life, Look, Saturday Evening Post, and Holiday, featuring "Johnny & Lucille", the famous "Merry Oldsmobile" singing couple riding atop a huge Rocket blasting off for outer space. A typical advertising slogan was " See your friendly local oldsmobile dealer and.....make a date with a Rocket 8". "Johnny & Lucille" were also featured on television commercials singing...."What a thrill to take the wheel of a Rocket Oldsmobile !!!!!" There was no doubt about it, Oldsmobiles were one of the most popular cars of the early and mid fifties, and they were only outsold by GM rival Buick, and the low price three of Chevy, Ford, and Plymouth.

When the car in the photograph left the factory for dealer showrooms in 1952, Cadillac and Oldsmobile were the only GM cars with overhead valve V-8 engines. Buick was still using the venerable Fireball straight eight engine design from the thirties, Pontiac had straight eights and sixes, and Chevrolet was still using the stovebolt six. Buick Roadmasters and Supers would get V-8 power in 1953, celebrating Buick's Fiftieth Anniversary. Chevrolet and Pontiac would have to wait until 1955 to get a V-8.
Oldsmobile was known for innovation, having introduced the first fully automatic transmission in 1940 called " Hydramatic Drive". In 1948 Oldsmobile and Cadillac introduced their first series of new post war designs with overhead valve V-8's. In 1949, Oldsmobilebecame what might be called GM's first "Performance Division" with the introduction of the V-8 in the new smaller Olds 88 series based on the same body as Chevrolet and Pontiac. In the same year NASCAR formed a stock car racing division for new model cars and Red Byron won the first series championship driving a '49 Olds 88.
Oldsmobile's first postwar advertising of the new models used the theme "Futuramic" styling featured prominently in their magazine ads. But by 1951, with the advent of a completely restyled 88, and with the performance success of the high compression overhead valve V-8 known as the "Rocket Engine", the Rocket emerged as the new symbol in advertising and the Futuramic styling theme faded away. That performance image was given a big boost when a 1952 Oldsmobile Super 88 driven by Fonty Flock won the 1952 Southern 500 on Labor Day at Darlington Speedway in South Carolina. Darlington was NASCAR's first paved "super speedway". It opened in 1950 and was second in importance only to the Indianapolis 500 held on Memorial Day. The Darlington 500 mile race was by far the biggest endurance race for late model stock cars at the time and winning it was as prestigious then as it is now to win the Daytona 500.

Yes, the 1952 Oldsmobile Super 88 sedan in Ken's photgraph was your Father's, or maybe even your Grandfather's Oldsmobile. With Oldsmobile's popularity and sales in the fifties, sixties, and even into the seventies and eighties with its hot-selling Cutlass Supreme, it is hard to believe that GM shut the door on the Oldsmobile Division in 2004.
Oldsmobile had continuously produced automobiles since its origin in 1902 with the "curved dash" Oldsmobile, the longest run of any American car produced. Just recently GM announced quarterly earnings losses in the millions, and earlier this week, a recall of 1.5 million vehicles for possible safety belt defects. There are also rumors that yet another GM Division may cease production,,,,possibly Buick. I can remember when GM had a U.S. market share over 50%. The Big Three all together account for less than 50% of the American automobile market today.
For me, I like to look at these splendid pictures and remember a time when a car named Oldsmobile was a popular and respected member of the fraternity of cars on the American Road.
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