JANUARY 2011 Feature Article The Fabulous F-88 Please Note: As part of the "free" Olds Performance Club venue, we will not publish a formal monthly newsletter, but issue "Feature Articles" as members submit them or our staff produce them. This is the first in the new format. Enjoy. This article can be found on the web at www.wildaboutcars.com under News and Notes: Featured Articles; Oldsmobile Features. Timeless and tough. Compare this picture to those of the early '53-55 Vette and tell me which car you would have bought. The Sports Car Olds Should Have Had - Could it Have Saved Olds? Maybe you don't know what the F-88 was or you think I mistyped F-85; nope, I was right on with my nomenclature. You see the F-88 was that famous 1954 Motorama concept car that was auctioned off at Barrett-Jackson for over $3 million two years ago. You might ask how a 55 year-old show car could have saved Olds - after all selling the car for $3 million wouldn't have even made the footnotes in Lansing's budget in 2004, the last year of operation. Well, selling off an old concept car isn't what this article is about. What I am talking about is how the F-88's moving to production would have and could have changed Oldsmobile and even perceptions at GM. For those of you who either are yawning or think I'm nuts, please look at the picture of this car and follow along - humor me if you will. Let's talk a little about the car, and not about what happened just yet. You see, the F-88 was designed to be a real sports luxury car and it was designed concurrently with the Gen I Corvette. It was going to be released . .and GM Corporate killed it. 1 JANUARY 2011 GM Gets Sporty Buick had released their Skylark sports luxury car in 1953 to add "pop" to their newly introduced V8. Though a similar concept to the Corvette and the F-88, the Skylark was built on a modified Buick Chassis and was neither lightweight or anywhere near the idea of a sports car – think 1976 Caddy Eldorado Convertible. Olds, on the other hand, took the Buick and some of their own earlier styling exercises and went one better. They were thinking handling, performance and sharp leading-edge styling. Better than the early Vette, they had tapped into the performance market and saw that any sporty car had to have some zip and not just styling zap. The car was not supposed to be just another pretty face, but in fact The rear was a little over done, but not for 1954. Plans contained all the pieces of what we know the performance puzzle to be, existed for a more typical, molded in 3-piece bumper. albeit far away from what we know to be appropriate now, but for 1954, dramatic: 270 HP V8, 4-speed auto transmission, low center of gravity and BUCKET SEATS and a CONSOLE. Trust me, this was earth- shattering in the day. Unlike the Corvette of 1953-54, it had roll up windows and a working hideaway folding top! More importantly, the car was not a styling buck; you know, a fiberglass rendering on a non-rolling chassis with no power. No, the F-88 ran, drove and was completely capable of production, having been tested and evaluated during the period from mid-1953 until it debuted at the 1954 Motorama. It was so production ready that Harley Earl, GM's chief stylist, had a copy made for his personal use, which he drove for quite a few years! A third car had been produced and it was the "mule" used to test the car's roadworthiness. To put this car in perspective, in 1954 Olds stated that it was faster than any US production car and could out-handle and out break any thing on the road. If you look it its credentials, it was likely true, Fast forward to 1957 and consider this car with a 325+ HP 371 cu. in. J-2R engine and The car exudes power and looks as good as the Cobras think how it would have crushed even the FI Corvette with its 283 HP. of the 60's. So why didn't go to production? Did Olds lose interest? Did the penny- pinching accountants kill it? None of the above, Chevrolet did. When Olds indicated that they were considering the car for production, the howl from Chevrolet could be heard as far away as California. And consider also that the generation one Corvette, even with the V8 finally appearing in 1955, was considered a styling and sales dud, and you begin to get the picture. How Come the F-88? Before we go it death, even before it had a chance to live, let's tell the story of the F-88 and how it came to be. Back in the heyday 1950's, all the manufacturers were excited about power and performance, and all were releasing new and powerful V8s, flashy styling exercises and such to capture the public's imagination and promote their models. Olds, having had the V8 since 1949, and who at the time enjoyed a The interior is as timeless as the exterior, perhaps even more so. You wouldn't feel like you were driving a 50's reputation as GM's performance car, was somewhat ahead of the curve, car had the steering wheel been more modern. and saw no reason to do anything like that. Remember that Olds was considered the "engineering" division and had taken on experimental Note the power windows, pull open map pockets and ash trays. and early production "tests" for the last few decades, for example having worked to help develop the Hydramatic trans when Cadillac and Buick saw it as "to risky a venture" back in 1938. 2 JANUARY 2011 In 1952, Olds had access to the upcoming Corvette project and right away saw that that the car was already behind the curve with its pokey, underpowered, and pedestrian 6-cylinder, two-speed Powerglide, a bench seat, and the absence of roll up windows. This car existed because of a broken relationship between Cadillac and Briggs Cunningham. All of GM had followed the exploits of the Cunningham sports car, which came very close to capturing LeMans in 1951 and 52. The '52s showing had stung Cadillac because Briggs Cunningham had raced Caddys in '51 and then approached the Division for engines and support for the '52 venture. But Caddy foolishly discouraged this by trying to sell him their Note the modern style buckets, which did not appear on the Vette until '56 the console and shifter - and the engines at full list price! Briggs moved on to Chrysler and the legend of central stack that's only recently en vogue. This would the Cunningham and the Hemi was born. Thus, many in GM were have allowed left and right hand drive. champing at the bit, looking for a way to wipe the egg off their faces, and this upcoming Corporate sports car would be the towel. Olds recognized that a car like the Cunningham, with road racing power, great handling and good looks would do more for the Division's image than another spiffed up convertible - and the 1954 Starfire 98 was already slated for production. So the factory took a Corvette chassis and added all the ingredients for what they considered success. The car was to be a GM Motorama star - with the idea that if reaction was favorable, it would go immediately into production. To be sure this could be done, they road tested the car and made sure that everything on the Motorama example could be mass produced. They had the added advantage that Chevy had already done road testing of the chassis. Therefore, all of the interior trim, the electrical, the instrument panel and the running gear that could be was made from existing parts and pieces. They determined that what few items that they couldn't use from the 88-98 could be easily fabricated for what they considered a low-numbers, niche production vehicle. Oldsmobile's plan was to introduce the car at the 1954 Motorama, and unless the public opinion bombed out, set the car for 1955 production. Almost is Only Good in Horseshoes and Hand-Grenades Here is the central stack, when the car was under Even while the 1954 car was touring, to rave reviews, we might add, construction. Note the factory gauges in the central plans had already begun for the 1957 version, using the improvements stack. Second color picture shows the restored car. that would be seen in the 1958 Vette. Everyone at Olds (and Harley Earl at GM styling) was excited to consider that Olds would have the flagship performance car, with Chevy's Corvette considered the "entry-level" and with owners moving up to the Olds when they wanted more performance and luxury. But deep in the bowels of GM, and over at Chevrolet, another movement was beginning. Instead of the GM Founder Will Durant's concept of Chevy capturing new buyers with its pricing and no-frills approach and then passing the customers up the chain to Pontiac, then to Olds and Buick and Cadillac, some smooth talkers were deciding that the "new" way to capture buyers for GM was to lure them to a "cheaper" luxury car so that they would get a taste of the good things, and then if they wanted to move up, it would be because there was a lure for more power and Look how neatly the top stows.