[Auto] Remembering America's first muscle car, the Oldsmobile Rocket 88

[Aronus]

The Oldsmobile 88, soon nicknamed â Rocket 88â due to its Rocket V8 engine, was first released in 1949. The 88 employed a number of mechanical elements which were new to Oldsmobile and GM. This included a revised version of the âA-bodyâ platform, which was also used on models such as the Chevrolet Chevelle and Pontiac Tempest, and the âRocketâ V8 engine, which started out as a 5.0-liter unit in the 88âs first generation and gradually increased in displacement until it was dropped from the lineup at the end of the modelâs eighth generation in 1985.

When it was first introduced, the Oldsmobile 88 took the spot in the lineup that previously belonged to the 78, a model powered by an inline-eight engine. This curious inline engine type did not survive long afterward, with most straight-eights being retired in favor of alternate options by the mid-1950s. The 88 continued to be a po[CENSORED]r model throughout Oldsmobileâs heyday. However, in 1985, the beginning of the modelâs ninth (and second-to-last) generation brought about a considerable downsizing with the demise of the Rocket V8 and a conversion to front-wheel-drive.

The model continued to exist throughout the 1990s but was a shadow of its former self, and was eventually discontinued in 1999. The last generation of the 88 is only notable for one piece of technological innovation found in the 1995 model, known as the Guidestar system, which was an on-board navigation unit and the first to be offered on a U.S. production vehicle.

 

Remembering America's first muscle car, the Oldsmobile Rocket 88