San Francisco Street Sighting - 1958 Oldsmobile Super 88 Holiday Coupe

I don't make it to San Francisco much anymore. I've been out of college for several years, working full time, and now with the coronavirus pandemic going on I've barely gone anywhere for the past few months. These pictures are two years old but they continue a long-held tradition. When I go to the city I always try to see if our friend Fifties Guy has anything new. This visit was after I participated in my first Radwood car show in South San Francisco, where I shined up and displayed my 1999 Buick Regal GS. I'd already paid the bridge toll to be on the peninsula, so I headed up north for a little while. Sure enough, I was greeted by this all-original 1958 Oldsmobile finished in what I believe to be Champagne Mist Poly.

Livermore Street Sighting - 1955 Oldsmobile 88 Holiday

One of the defining characteristics of 1950s car styling is ostentation. Two- and three-tone paint jobs, tail fins, whitewall tires and lots of chrome trim everywhere are what most people associate with the era. But occasionally one comes across a car that does an awful lot with very little. I have come to really like the simpler designs of cheaper models that make do with less ornamentation. Some mildly customized cars like this 1955 Oldsmobile 88 can also pull it off.

Alameda Street Sighting - 1964 Oldsmobile Jetstar 88

Few cars have carried as many marketing names as the Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight. Some have been straightforward trim levels, such as DeLuxe 88 and Super 88, but Oldsmobile has long been associated with rockets, so much so that their logo was a stylized rocket for decades. The Rocket V8 engine sparked a lineage that would include the Rocket 88, Dynamic 88, Jetstar 88, and more puzzling Delmont and Delta 88s. Delta was the most enduring nameplate, lasting more than twenty years. Jetstar, as seen here, was the cheapest full-size Olds and the name was only used from '64 to '66.

San Ramon Street Sighting - 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale Holiday sedan

Not many old cars become local celebrities. This can change, of course, if they become known for being associated with a colorful local figure or have a fascinating past, or are just distinctive enough that they attract all manner of art students and photographers who think they look cool.

Alameda Street Sighting - 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale Holiday sedan

Rounding out this week's trio of beat-up 1970s Oldsmobiles is a 1973 Eighty-Eight Royale Holiday four-door hardtop. If you're familiar with the work of director Sam Raimi, you may know that he owns a yellow 1973 Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight sedan. The car featured rather prominently in the Spider-Man film as Uncle Ben's personal vehicle. This is not that car!
I have to ask: why aren't big family cars offered in cheerful colors like this anymore? If anything, it would give more people reason to refer to their car as the Banana Boat. There aren't many ordinary cars that wear the color yellow very well, but I actually like it on this one. Most family cars these days are beige or some greyscale tone between white and black. It's boring. Then again, the last custom-painted yellow late-model Honda Accord I saw looked stupid.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1972 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale Holiday coupe

This week we're looking at early 1970s full-size Oldsmobiles in less than concours condition. As I said in my previous feature of a 1970 Ninety Eight sedan, the more luxurious-sounding the name was on these cars, the worse they tend to look now. This one is a 1972 Eighty-Eight Royale Holiday coupe.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1958 Oldsmobile 88

1958 was an odd year for the automobile industry. Throughout the fifties, fins were in, chrome was the norm and bigger was better. But in 1958 something was different: quad headlights. Some cars wore them well (DeSoto), and some did not (Studebaker). Some have criticized the 1958 General Motors lineup of having poor styling compared to the generally good-looking (and only dual-headlight) 1957s. For sure, I wouldn't say that this '58 Oldsmobile 88 is fantastically gorgeous. Far from it. I've never been a big fan of most Olds designs from the '50s (and my favorite '58s are the Chevys and Pontiacs), but personal preferences aside, these cars have their fans.