A Day at Pettibone Park La Crosse Wisconsin with a 1956 Oldmobile 88 Convertible
La Crosse Wisconsin is known as "God's Country" with the Mississippi River valley and thousands of acres of woods and farms surrounding the area.
Come with us as we spend an afternoon in La Crosse Wisconsin at Pettibone Park with an Oldsmobile 88 convertible.
1950s Oldmobile Classic Car History
Oldsmobile entered the 1950s following a divisional image campaign centered on its 'Rocket' engines and its cars appearance followed suit. Oldsmobile's Rocket V8 engine was the leader in performance, generally considered the fastest cars on the market and by the mid 1950s their styling was among the first to offer a wide, "open maw" grille, suggestive of jet propulsion. Oldsmobile adopted a ringed-globe emblem to stress what marketers felt was its universal appeal. Throughout the 1950s, the make used twin jet pod-styled taillights as a nod to its "Rocket" theme. Oldsmobile was among the first of GM's divisions to receive a true hardtop in 1949, and it was also the among the first divisions (along with Buick and Cadillac) to receive a wraparound windshield, a trend that eventually all American makes would share at sometime between 1953 and 1964.
In the 1950s the nomenclature changed again, and trim levels also received names that were then mated with the model numbers. This resulted in the Oldsmobile 88 emerging as base the better trimmed , and the highline . Other full-size model names included the "Holiday" used on hardtops, and "Fiesta" used on its station wagons. When the 98 was retired in 1996, its length of service was the longest of any model name used on American cars.
Car provided by owner Steve Newtal
Photos by Sean Callahan & SoCal Beaches Magazine www.socalbeachmag.net all rights reserved-
Early Oldsmobile history
Ransom Eli Olds
1957 Oldsmobile Super 88
Oldsmobiles were first manufactured by the Olds Motor Vehicle Company in , a company founded by in 1897. In 1901, the company produced 425 cars, making it the first high-volume automobile manufacturer of the day. Olds became the top selling car company in the United States for a few years. Ransom Olds left the company in financial difficulties and formed the . The last Curved Dash Olds was made in 1907. purchased the company in 1908.
The 1901 to 1904 was , made from the first automotive assembly line, an invention that is often miscredited to and the . After Olds sold the company in 1899, it was renamed Olds Motor Works and moved to a new plant in Detroit. By March 1901, the company had a whole line of models ready for mass production. Unfortunately, a mistake by a worker caused the factory to catch fire, and it burned to the ground, with all of the prototypes destroyed. The only car that survived the fire was a Curved Dash prototype, which was wheeled out of the factory by two workers while escaping the fire. A new factory was built, and production of the Curved Dash commenced.
Officially, the cars were called "Olds automobiles," colloquially referred to as "Oldsmobiles." It was this moniker, as applied especially to the , that was popularized in the lyrics and title of the 1905 hit song "." From then on, the company and its products were known as Oldsmobile. Some two decades later, it was apparently the reputation of the vehicles that spawned a revival of the song for another round of popularity, essentially "returning the favor."
1956 Super 88 Convertible Pettibone Park La Crosse Wisconsin
Oldsmobile in the 1950s
Oldsmobile entered the 1950s following a divisional image campaign centered on its 'Rocket' engines and its cars appearance followed suit. Oldsmobile's Rocket V8 engine was the leader in performance, generally considered the fastest cars on the market and by the mid 1950s their styling was among the first to offer a wide, "open maw" grille, suggestive of jet propulsion. Oldsmobile adopted a ringed-globe emblem to stress what marketers felt was its universal appeal. Throughout the 1950s, the make used twin jet pod-styled taillights as a nod to its "Rocket" theme. Oldsmobile was among the first of GM's divisions to receive a true hardtop in 1949, and it was also the among the first divisions (along with Buick and Cadillac) to receive a wraparound windshield, a trend that eventually all American makes would share at sometime between 1953 and 1964.
In the 1950s the nomenclature changed again, and trim levels also received names that were then mated with the model numbers. This resulted in the Oldsmobile 88 emerging as base the better trimmed , and the highline . Other full-size model names included the "Holiday" used on hardtops, and "Fiesta" used on its station wagons. When the 98 was retired in 1996, its length of service was the longest of any model name used on American cars.
GM styling as a whole lost its frontrunner status in 1957 when Chrysler introduced 's "Forward Look" designs. When compared side to side, Oldsmobile looked dated next to its price-point competitor . Compounding the problem for Oldsmobile and Buick was a styling mistake which GM called the "Strato Roof". Both makes had models which contained the heavily framed rear window, but Detroit had been working with large curved backlights for almost a decade. Consumers disliked the roof and its blind spots, forcing GM to rush a redesign into production on some of its models.
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