Automotive History Online

Featured Automobile of the Month

August 2006

1954 Oldsmobile F-88

On January 29, 2005, a 1954 Oldsmobile F-88 grabbed an all-time record at the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction in Scottsdale, Arizona, with a winning bid of $3,240,000—including bidder's fees. The General Motors concept car lasted through a fierce bidding war to become the highest selling car ever at the Barrett-Jackson auction, besting a 15-year record of $2 million for a 1932 Hispano-Suiza J12 Binder.

"While most of its brethren were destroyed after their debuts at GM's Motorama shows, the gold-toned Olds survived this fate to become one of the most historically significant vehicles of its era," said Craig Jackson, president and CEO of the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction. "Many automobile historians consider the roadster to be one of the greatest expressions of automotive design to ever come from North America."

The seller of the F-88 was Gordon Apker, an avid classic car collector and member of the advisory board for the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. MSN Autos had a chance to speak with Apker about the F-88 a few years ago.

Built for the 1953 Detroit Auto Show, the F-88 was Oldsmobile's answer to the Chevrolet Corvette. The Corvette had just been introduced, featuring a 6-cylinder engine, 2-speed automatic transmission and no windows. Meanwhile, the F-88 sported an Oldsmobile Rocket 88 V8, 4-speed Hydromatic transmission, and power windows and door latches. Designed by Harley J. Earl, the F-88 was roughly the same size as a Corvette and sporting a fiberglass body, the F-88 is considered by many to be the epitome of automotive forward-thinking of the 1950's, with its open top and lightweight structure.

"This car would have outsold the Corvette, and would have changed history," claimed Apker. With its lightweight fiberglass body, it would have out-performed the Ford Thunderbird as well as the Corvette. However, because Chevrolet had so much clout at the time, being the producer of more General Motor's products than any of the other divisions, it was able to convince the board of directors at General Motors to kill the Oldsmobile project, and as a result the F-88 was never built.

According to Apker, GM officials ordered Oldsmobile management to destroy the F-88, along with all plans and documentation. The collector said there were actually two concepts built, but one burned when the engine caught fire and no one could figure out how to open the hood and extinguish the flames. Meanwhile, some of the Oldsmobile executives could not bring themselves to destroy the product of 18 months work, so they ended up selling the car and design to E.L Cord. Cord's plan for recreating the car ended when financing for the project fell through. Ending the future of a new Cord.

Passed among a number of different owners, the F-88 eventually ended up in Apker's possession. In the latter part of the 1990's he leased the concept to Oldsmobile for their yearlong centennial celebration, and while showing the car it became damaged in transit. The GM division then paid to have the car restored, so Oldsmobile ended up completing work on the car they had started almost 50 years earlier. Source- MSN auto's

I have used the roll over technic on all of the smaller photos to show the before and after of this remarkable car.

1954 Oldsmobile F-88

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