The birth of a classic (?)

[Richard Bartrop]

In case you ever looked at a '58 Olds and wondered what they were thinking, now we know.

http://www.deansgarage.com/2019/1958-oldsmobile-story/

[Bucky]

Great article! Thanks for posting it up!

[MrObsessive]

Back in the mid '60's when I was a (little) kid, my Uncle had a '58 Olds (98?) convertible. MILES of chrome and as a long as a city block or so it seemed to a five year old. One time my Mom kept laughing about something and she said that someone came out one morning and painted musical notes (with water colors) on the side of my Uncle's (her brother's car). It was years till I figured out that yes.............the side chrome on the '58 Olds looks just like a sheet of music!  

                                 

Edited July 27, 2019 by MrObsessive

[Deuces]

...And I bet the song was an old Chuck Berry number called.... Riding around in my automobile... I love that song!.... ??

[MrObsessive]

4 minutes ago, Deuces said:

...And I bet the song was an old Chuck Berry number called.... Riding around in my automobile... I love that song!.... ??

[Deuces]

?

[espo]

When I was in High School one of my friends father had a '58 Olds 88 station wagon in a new color that year that was very Purple. The car was only a couple of years old at the time but it just looked like it was designed by a committee that couldn't agree on anything.  The rear area was so big that we would put an old mattress in the back and leave the tail gate down. He'd wire the back up lights to stay on and we would drive the Farm roads in our area and shot Rabbits all night long. Just a couple of teen age guys with a 20 gauge shooting rabbits during the winter and the Rabbits were eating everything in sight. In the rural areas not far from Chicago there was a very large agrarian population. When I went back to visit in the '70's the old Farms were now all housing developments.      

[Mark]

If you think the '58 GM cars were bad, do some digging and look at what they were working on for '59 based on the '58 bodies.  Even some of the '59 designs based on the new bodies were pretty horrible.  I'm pretty certain Collectible Automobile and Special Interest Autos both ran articles on the development of the '59 GM cars.

[MrObsessive]

37 minutes ago, espo said:

When I was in High School one of my friends father had a '58 Olds 88 station wagon in a new color that year that was very Purple.

I have a now OOP resin of R&R's '58 Olds wagon and that's the color I'd like to paint mine. Did it look something like this?

I believe Olds called that color "Heather". It's certainly very '50's and suits the lines of that car for sure.

5 minutes ago, Mark said:

If you think the '58 GM cars were bad, do some digging and look at what they were working on for '59 based on the '58 bodies.  Even some of the '59 designs based on the new bodies were pretty horrible.  I'm pretty certain Collectible Automobile and Special Interest Autos both ran articles on the development of the '59 GM cars.

I've seen those design proposals and all I can say is.................UGGGGH!! Thank goodness the designers saw what Chrysler had coming for '57 which made them literally tear up and crush everything and start over. Some of those original '59 designs were simply downright HIDEOUS!

[MrObsessive]

I just did a little digging on my hard disc and I came across one of those pages of 'Special Interest Autos' which showed what GM originally had planned for '59. I don't think I'd want to be caught dead in any of these cars. NOT pretty at all IMO!

[Richard Bartrop]

I've seen those.  Early was definitely losing it by then.

[ChrisBcritter]

Hands up everyone here who's BMFed one of these:

[espo]

21 hours ago, MrObsessive said:

I have a now OOP resin of R&R's '58 Olds wagon and that's the color I'd like to paint mine. Did it look something like this?

I believe Olds called that color "Heather". It's certainly very '50's and suits the lines of that car for sure.

I've seen those design proposals and all I can say is.................UGGGGH!! Thank goodness the designers saw what Chrysler had coming for '57 which made them literally tear up and crush everything and start over. Some of those original '59 designs were simply downright HIDEOUS!

Hi Bill, My friends Olds wagon was a darker color, almost but not the same as a '60's Mopar Purple. Theirs was a solid one color car and had the lower line Hub Caps. The wagon in your picture is a far better looking car. If you build this please allow us to follow as you usually do.   

[NOBLNG]

On ‎7‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 12:06 PM, Richard Bartrop said:

In case you ever looked at a '58 Olds and wondered what they were thinking, now we know.

http://www.deansgarage.com/2019/1958-oldsmobile-story/

Those are some pretty cool sketches!

[chepp]

Thanks for posting this. The Dean's Garage website has lots of good stuff.

I was five years old when a neighbor across the street got a new '58 Olds in metallic gold. I don't recall which model or body style it was but it was probably a four-door hardtop. That thing was the gaudiest car on our street but I don't recall anybody commenting on it -- but I was just a little kid. In comparison, these were the cars at nearby homes at the time:

1. '55-'56 Ford wagon, '55-57 Chevy stepside pickup.

2. '55-'56 Ford wagon, '58-'59 Ford Thunderbird.

3. '51 Ford, '55 Buick (my parents).

4. Two '55-'57 Oldsmobiles.

5. Circa '54 Mercury, can't remember the other.

6. '57 Chevy, can't remember the other.

I'm not much of a fan of the Harley Earl era styling although there were some outstanding ones here and there -- I much preferred the Bill Mitchell era designs.

The purple on the wagon posted above reminds me of the same color on a '58 Buick of a family that I knew. Their house was lavender, too, as was their name.

[MrObsessive]

31 minutes ago, chepp said:

Thanks for posting this. The Dean's Garage website has lots of good stuff.

I was five years old when a neighbor across the street got a new '58 Olds in metallic gold. I don't recall which model or body style it was but it was probably a four-door hardtop. That thing was the gaudiest car on our street but I don't recall anybody commenting on it -- but I was just a little kid. In comparison, these were the cars at nearby homes at the time:

1. '55-'56 Ford wagon, '55-57 Chevy stepside pickup.

2. '55-'56 Ford wagon, '58-'59 Ford Thunderbird.

3. '51 Ford, '55 Buick (my parents).

4. Two '55-'57 Oldsmobiles.

5. Circa '54 Mercury, can't remember the other.

6. '57 Chevy, can't remember the other.

I'm not much of a fan of the Harley Earl era styling although there were some outstanding ones here and there -- I much preferred the Bill Mitchell era designs.

The purple on the wagon posted above reminds me of the same color on a '58 Buick of a family that I knew. Their house was lavender, too, as was their name.

Your car memories are a lot like mine, cept a little later era (mid/late '60's).

Across the street from our house a neighbor had a '55 Pontiac (Chieftan?) On the corner up from them they had a '58 Cadillac (Fleetwood 60 Special?)
Next door to us the first neighbors had no car, but then they eventually got a new '69 Chevelle (I think a 396).
Down the street a neighbor had a '59 Rambler and their next door neighbor at first had a '58 Chevy (Biscayne) and then later on had a '57 Olds.

Two houses up from us they first had a '53(?) Buick and then traded that for a '61 Invicta. Their next door neighbor had a '59 Ford Fairlane two door. My Mom didn't learn to drive until '67, and her first car was a '61 Falcon two door wagon. That one lasted all of six months or so, and she got rid of that and bought the then brand new '68 AMC Javelin (six cylinder).

On the corner was a race shop/garage (raced sprint cars at Williams Grove Speedway here in PA) and they had ALL KINDS of esoteric stuff you just don't see anymore. Fiat 600's, Renault Dauphines, a couple two seat T-Birds, I could go on!

Funny I can remember the cars from my old neighborhood from over 50 years ago, but can't remember where I left my keys!

[Richard Bartrop]

2 hours ago, chepp said:

I'm not much of a fan of the Harley Earl era styling although there were some outstanding ones here and there -- I much preferred the Bill Mitchell era designs.

I'm a Mitchell fan too.  He had an eye for line that had few equals, though there are a few Earl designs I like.