Even in markets where fuel is substantially more expensive than in the U.S., fuel efficiency is widely regarded in purely economic terms. I can see it now. Its a true barn find. . Classic Car Deals (844) 676-0714. The heavily domed hood would continue through 1953. *. (author diagram). Displacement was 259.5 cubic inches, with almost square bore and stroke. 303CI ROCKET V8, 4SPD AUTO, COOL, ICONIC 50S STYLING, 4-DOOR CONVENIENCE, CLASSY. 770-738-7111. Comments may be moderated. Although Oldsmobile (as well as Buick and Pontiac) had used eight-cylinder engines for more than a decade, Cadillac was not happy about the idea of Oldsmobile offering an OHV V8 and convinced corporate management to deny Oldsmobiles request for development funds. By late 1956, many Olds dealers learned about the problem. Classic Oldsmobile Rocket 88 for Sale. Both are well-documented, albeit relatively short-lived. The starting gun of that race was sounded by Oldsmobile, with its advanced new overhead-valve V8 and the new mid-size model that shared its name: the 1949-1950 Oldsmobile Rocket 88. The cookieconsent_status cookie recorded whether or not you consented to analytics tracking and told the website to hide the notification banner; this cookie normally expires after about one year. For additional technical information about the cookies used by the analytics service, see their "Google Analytics Cookie Usage on Websites" page; for your reference when reviewing that page, we did not use Google Analytics 4. In a 1972 interview with Michael Lamm, then editor of Special Interest Autos, former Cadillac chief engineer Jack Gordon lamented the trend to ever bigger and thirstier engines, noting that he had tried unsuccessfully to convince oil companies to develop ultra-high-octane fuels so that Cadillac could adopt more fuel-efficient high-compression, small-displacement engines. Hemmings Motor News has been serving the classic car hobby since 1954. (4,214 cc) L-head straight eight. Comments may be moderated. The grilles under the headlights of this 1950 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 are for the ventilation system, replacing the traditional pop-up cowl vent. For sale 1967 Oldsmobile Delta 88 custom, 2 door hardtop. In 1962 and 1963 Oldsmobile built a turbocharged version of the 215, designated Turbo-Rocket. 324 rocket v8. 1962 OLDSMOBILE 88 CORE SHORT BLOCK ENGING 8-394 860673. CC-1634303. NASCAR held nine Grand National races in 1949, of which stock Rocket 88s won six. 74-81; Bob McVay, Oldsmobile Starfire Road Test, Motor Trend Vol. The popularity of the flathead Ford engines depended heavily on the first two qualities. The 1976-1979 Cadillac Seville was equipped with a version of this engine featuring an analog Bendix/Bosch electronic port fuel injection system, making this the first American mass-produced car with EFI as standard equipment.[18]. Call 800.979.0122, 7am-10pm, everyday. From 1961-1963, Oldsmobile manufactured its own version of the Buick-designed, all-aluminum 215 cubic inch (3.5L) V8 engine for the F-85 compact. I never had one apart to that extent, but my understanding from the theory of operation is that there is a pivoting pawl that will engage a toothed wheel when the engine is stopped with reverse selected. SPECIFICATIONS Engine: OHV 90-degree V-8, cast-iron block and heads Displacement: 303-cu.in. Your wording in the flathead section (acts directly) suggest the valve stem tip rides the cam lobe in a flathead. As part of this I ran across a very interesting 1934 paper by a GM engineer Chris H. Bouvy and would like to know more about him and whether his design method was used within GM. The 260 was designed for economy, and was the first engine option above the 4.1 ChevroletI-6, then later the 3.8L Buick V6, which was standard fitment in many Oldsmobile models by the late 1970s.
1957 Oldsmobile Golden Rocket 88 - RK Motors 9, No. The Nash was driven by Roy Graham a wrestling referee at Dallas Sportatorium who also had the Nash dealership in Corsicana TX. The Buick version of the 215 V8 went on to become the well known Rover V8, which still remains in limited production, utilizing the Buick-style pistons, heads, and valve train gear. It used a 4.126in (104.8mm) bore and 3.975in (101.0mm) stroke. 1950 Oldsmobile Rocket 88. If you look up the concept of MEP (e.g.
The Story of the Oldsmobile "Rocket" 88, America's First Muscle Car 1955 Oldsmobile 88.
303 Oldsmobile V8 Parts | Speedway Motors The Chevrolet Corvair Spyder Turbo, likewise a forced induction i.e turbo-powered car, predated the Oldsmobile Jetfire Turbo, however by only a few weeks[citation needed], thus being the world's very first turbocharged commercially sold vehicle. 34-41; Arch Brown, Richard Langworth, and the Auto Editors of Consumer Guide, Great Cars of the 20th Century (Lincolnwood, IL: Publications International, Ltd., 1998); F. Gibson Butler, History of the Rocket Engine, originally written 15 November 1977 and excerpted in Desert Rocket Report: Newsletter of the Oldsmobile Club of Arizona October 2004, pp. 1955 Oldsmobile Super 88, 324-V8, 4 bbl carburetor, engine free, I have owned this since 1973, good 4-speed hydramatic transmission, interior useable, nice dash. FOLLOW MARKET. Its output of 0.45 hp per cubic inch was 7% better than the 0.42 hp per cubic inch of the popular and widely produced 100hp (75kW) 1949 Ford Flathead V8. spark ignition engine for high-compression studies. (6,460 cc), which was about the limit of the original block design. Me at the age of 70 in the back seat with a 21-year-old blond. The shape of a flatheads combustion chambers also limits its maximum compression ratio (the amount the fuel mixture is compressed before burning). It was advertised with gross power and torque ratings of 312hp (233kW) at 4600 rpm and 415lbft (563Nm) at 2800 rpm. Each PayPal payment or donation button may also incorporate a tracking pixel called "pixel.gif" (which loads from paypalobjects.com). The Rocket, along with the 1949 Cadillac V8, were the first post-war OHV crossflow cylinder head V8 engines produced by General Motors. The idea of keeping the brand names on a model-specific basis is not illogical (although again its contrary to current brand management philosophy), but it would present all manner of practical problems, not least that it would invite the ire of people who had previously paid money for a sales franchise for that brand. It had the same 0.921in (23.4mm)-diameter lifters of the first-generation Oldsmobile engines, rather than the standard 0.842in (21.4mm), which let engineers increase the camshaft's ramp speed for more power, 385hp (287kW), without sacrificing idle or reliability. This motor is blue which makes me think its been gone through. This problem did not appear until the engine had over 50,000 miles (80,000km) on it. The Rocket 88 would see consistent improvements over the next two decades or so. Even with the standard Hydra-Matic transmission, the 88 was capable of 0-60 mph (0-97 km/h) in a bit over 12 seconds and could reach an absolute top speed of 97 mph (156 km/h). It is arguably the best engine Olds made in the muscle car era, although it never made it into a "muscle car". 1956 Oldsmobile 88 4dr St Rod, new gas tank, new brakes and tires, rebuilt front end, good body, new paint, nice patina, good original interior, rebuilt . It shared the same compression ratio of the Toronado Rocket at 10.5:1. The second generation of Oldsmobile V8s was produced from 1964-1990. The engine built in the 1955 Super 88 and 98 models delivered 295 horsepower. (We should note, however, that Packards final L-head eight of 1954 used an 8.7:1 compression ratio with no apparent loss of refinement, although the fact that the 359 cu.
Oldsmobile V8 Engines - Street Rodder Magazine - MotorTrend Additionally, the 403 had windowed main webs, which reduced the internal strength of the block in the crankcase area. com/ newsletter/ 2004-10_OCAZ_Newsletter.pdf, accessed 15 June 2015; Helen Jones Earley and James R. Walkinshaw, Setting the Pace: Oldsmobiles First 100 Years (Lansing, MI: Oldsmobile Division of General Motors Corporation, 1996); John Gunnell, ed., Standard Catalog of American Cars 1946-1975, Rev. The new V8 was also more powerful: Rated output climbed from 110 to 135 gross horsepower (82 to 101 kW) while torque increased from 213 to 283 lb-ft (289 to 383 N-m), allowing an Oldsmobile 98 with Hydra-Matic to reach 60 mph (97 km/h) in a brisk (for 1949) 13.5 seconds, with a top speed of 96 mph (155 km/h). The Rocket Engine Story by One Who Was Thereby Gibson Butler.
A Detailed Look Back At The Oldsmobile Rocket 88 (4,705 cc) and were designed to take advantage of research that had been done by GM Research VP Charles Kettering on high-compression engines (of which well have more to say below).
Outlawed by NASCAR: - 1957 Oldsmobile J-2 | Hemmings Apart from the Oldsmobile Aurora, the Aurora V8 was also used in the Shelby Series 1. Millionaires would drive the few Cadillacs. Thanks, I have enjoyed reading your many excellent articles. This is not an official website of any automaker or automotive brand! To learn more about how Google may use information collected by the Google Analytics service, see their "How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services" page, the "Information for Visitors of Sites and Apps Using Google Analytics" section of the Google Analytics "Safeguarding your data" help page, and the Google Privacy Policy. [citation needed] The 1977-1980 350s have lighter castings, including a thinner block with large "windows" in the main bearing bulkheads,[citation needed] and have crack-prone cylinder head castings[citation needed] manufactured by Pontiac Motor Division (castings are marked "PMD"; these heads were also used on the 260),[citation needed] and a lightened crankshaft. (These cookies are not usually set for administrative users, since comments they submit while logged in are associated with their user ID number and user profile information rather than a manually entered name and email address.). Even modest restorations can quickly get out of control, cost-wise, so be careful that a $2,000 bargain doesnt become a money pit. See these additional Auto Museum Online articles on the links below Concord, NC 5 years at carsforsale.com 3 27,900 1955 Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight - Concord, NC sedan automatic (I quess that would be total Olds minus Olds 76 model.). The Olds 403 was used by Buick and Pontiac in addition to Oldsmobile until its discontinuation after 1979.
1949 - 1960 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 - Top Speed Assuming your car has its original engine, its the version Oldsmobile called the Skyrocket, which was differentiated from the base Rocket by its four-barrel carburetor and gross ratings of 330 hp and 440 lb-ft of torque. . Call me a square,[I am a square], I say you dont denigrate a proud heritage. (The idea of Olds as the import-fighter brand obviously had its own problems.) These changes increased torque to 250lbft (340Nm) but lowered power to 170hp (130kW), while lowering the RPM at which peak power and torque was achieved. A long piston stroke gives more torque, which means better engine response at low speeds. For additional information about how Google uses cookies and/or other technologies that may collect and/or process personal information, see the "Technologies" section of their Google Privacy & Terms site and the "Our advertising and measurement cookies" section of their Google Business Data Responsibility site, which includes a detailed list of cookies associated with Google advertising and measurement products. Diagram of a typical pushrod/rocker-arm layout of an overhead-valve engine. Some auction action surrounding 1956 Oldsmobiles tells a similar story:
History of Oldsmobile and Its 10 Best Cars - Top Speed We'll start with Olds and return to Caddy in another article. A smaller 260cuin (4.3L) V8 was created for the new Oldsmobile Omega in 1975 by decreasing the bore to 3.5in (89mm). However not practical to drive around pittsburgh, pa. To many hills for that single chamber master cylinder. Richard A. Lentinello (Bennington, VT: Hemmings Motor News, 2002), pp. Any interest in better fuel economy was quickly forgotten; gasoline was cheap and speed sold more cars than parsimony.
1950 Oldsmobile 88 | Hemmings [citation needed] Production of the 260 V8 ended in 1982 when the 307 became the only gasoline V8 in Oldsmobile's line. Learn more. [citation needed] Most 260s were coupled to the Turbo Hydramatic 200 transmission,[citation needed] but a 5-speed manual transmission was also available in some vehicles. Since the valves of a flathead are also in the block, the camshaft can actuate the valves directly. Phone: 480-285-1600.
Rockets, Vikings and Your Old Man - Engine Builder Magazine Power was 81 hp at 3000 rpm. The short stroke allowed the engine to rev more freely while the wider bore provides more room for larger valves, which further improves breathing. 1951 Oldsmobile Rocket 88. The engine is also known for its reliability, smoothness and quietness. Power for the base engine was up to 315hp (235kW), even though compression was down a quarter point, to 9.75:1.[9]. ), Diagram of a typical pushrod/rocker-arm layout of an overhead-valve engine. From your research, do you have any information on Bouvy? iThemes is one of the Liquid Web family of brands; iThemes and Liquid Web are trademarks of Liquid Web, LLC.). Biggest mistake I still think about that automobile. Big block Oldsmobile Rocket 442 crate engines are also available. The overhead valve engine concept offered both power and efficiency, with an improvement in fuel economy (estimated at about 10 percent better than prior engine designs). These cookies manage your cookie and privacy preferences. Power increased the final Rocket was rated at 345 gross horsepower (257 kW) but fuel economy eroded. Well, are you presuming that the 88s actual career in stock car racing or road races like the Carrera Panamericana somehow dont count? Hoo, boy, you better run away right now). Produced from 19681980, the Rocket 350 was entirely different from the other GM divisions' 350s. ), If one was trying to tally how many Rocket engines were built in Olds cars in 1949-50, do you have those numbers? Liberation is a trademark of Red Hat, Inc. registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and certain other jurisdictions. To learn more about the specific cookies used and/or to fine-tune your available choices, click "Privacy Preferences" at the right. Brand new box. Adding turn signals, backup lights, windshield washers, and heater tacked an additional $112 to the price these items wouldnt be standard for several more years. The first Oldsmobile V8 was of a flathead design that was developed by Northway Engine Works before GM assumed operations. He saw the potential in an engine design offering increased compression. This is incorrect, in the context of wider vs. narrower bore sizes with the same displacement.
Oldsmobile Engines For Sale | Used, Rebuilt, & Remanufactured (PayPal.com, PayPal, and all logos related to the PayPal services are either trademarks or registered trademarks of PayPal, Inc. or its licensors. Neither of GMs new OHV V8s had an exceptionally high compression ratio at first Oldsmobiles was 7.25:1, Cadillacs 7.5:1 but that was mostly a reflection of the low octane of the gasoline of the time. Of those sales, 100,273 were the Rocket 88. The OHV V8 was still a large engine externally, but it was shorter and lower than the straight eight and weighed quite a bit less. Awesome vehicle many great high school memorys. The final 1990 configuration was rated at 140hp (100kW) at 3200 rpm and 255lbft (346Nm) of torque at 2000 rpm. In the event we receive any compensation and/or other valuable consideration for any other content presented on this website, the nature of that compensation or consideration will be disclosed as part of the applicable content and/or otherwise adjacent to it. Maybe just intake or vacuum leak. The original Oldsmobile V8 was to have been marketed as "Kettering Power" after chief engineer Charles Kettering, but company policy prohibited the use of his name. The cookies normally expire in about 10 days, and are not set at all if you do not access any password-protected content. If better fuels became available, both the Cadillac and Olds engines had the theoretical potential for compression ratios as high as 12:1. Nice Article thank you for preserving our history. However, the only badging identifying it as such was a simple "88" underneath each taillight. Theyll also be able to suggest sources for parts, which can be a big issue. 1967 Oldsmobile Delta 88. (Google, Google Analytics, and other related marks and logos are trademarks of Google LLC. From the 1950s through the late 1970s, each GM division had its own V8 engine family. However, the cookie may remain on your device for as long as the settings of your browser (or other user agent) permit. If you change certain aspects of the site's appearance using the accessibility sidebar, it may set these cookies to manage and remember your settings. In 1949, your main alternative new car choices were the bug-ridden 49 Ford and Mercury, whose engines would need a lot of hopping up to get anywhere near the level of the 88. The practice of keeping model names alive even though applied to a vehicle with little in common with the original seems to annoy no one but me, [example Impala], why not keep division names alive and apply them to selected models. Did G M make a 1949-50 olds 88 or 98 4 door fastback ? The company produced its first V8 - an L-head design . Just didnt have any power. The 303 was produced from 1949-1953. C. G. It also used the .921in lifter bore size of the Toronado Rocket. I would certainly agree that the Rocket V-8 was overshadowed pretty quickly, in part because Oldsmobile didnt pursue the competition or performance avenues to the same extent Pontiac did in the late 50s. Vintage lovers are ready to spend any amount of money to get hold of a Rocket 88 of 1949. If you delete or disable these cookies, your existing preferences will be lost and you may not be able to save your privacy settings for this website. The development testing, however, had been done using the smaller B-body Olds 76 as a test mule.
1955 Olds Rocket 88 / Photos, Specs, Model History - Auto Museum Online From 1950 through 1974, the 88 was by far the most lucrative line throughout the division, largely due to the entry-level versions like the 88 and the Dynamic 88. Free shipping for many products! [22] The 260 V8 received VIN code "F" and had a sales code of LV8. What these activities have most in common was that there was an awful lot of engine-swapping going on. It was used by every domestic GM automobile marque except for GMC and Saturn. It didnt have an actual Park position until the advent of the controlled-coupling Hydra-Matic in MY1956. Even still, the same design philosophy carried with it throughout its production run.
The Rocket Engine History - 1957 Oldsmobile Golden Rocket 88 1952 88 and Super 88 V8s used a 4-barrel carburetor for 160hp (120kW) and 265lbft (359Nm), while 4-barrel 1953 versions raised compression from 7.5:1 to 8.0:1 for 165hp (123kW) and 275lbft (373Nm).
1956 Oldsmobile Classic Cars for Sale - Classics on Autotrader An 88 also won the first grueling Carrera Panamericana, the 2,176-mile (3,500-km) Mexican Road Race. in. Ate Up With Motor's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy may be revised from time to time. Revisions to the engine for 1986 included roller lifters with a slightly smaller camshaft (.435"/.438" lift and 194/210 duration at .050"), new heads with smaller, swirl-port intake runners, floating piston pins, and larger piston dishes for lower compression (8.0:1 v. 8.4:1). It was the only GM engine to meet US emission standards using a carburetor all the way up to 1990.
1951 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 VIN: 517K2919 - CLASSIC.COM A BRILLIANTLY written article! 1957 also offered the "J2" option, with three 2-barrel carburetors atop the 371 cubic inch V8; making this a true luxury performance . (If you need to review or change these settings after you accept, you can do so from the Privacy Tools page.) First, their volumetric efficiency is poor. 18-23; Jim Richardson, Rocket Power: Oldsmobiles 1950 convertibles: The rocking 88 versus the jazzier 98, Special Interest Autos #188 (March-April 2002), pp. The "Rocket" name disappeared from the air cleaner identification decal after 1974. Those were the good old days. Then in 1955 Chevrolet introduced their ohv V8 (as did Packard, Plymouth and Pontiac) and changed the game again. Barr believed the Oldsmobile engine was a direct derivative of Cadillacs design, although he conceded that Cadillac also benefited from some of Oldsmobiles work. Displacement swelled from 303 Ci or 5 liters all the way to the gargantuan 455 Ci 7.5 liter V8 in the early 70s. Two distinct versions of the 400 CID engine were made: The 1966-1967 4-4-2 400cuin (6.6L) V8 was a short stroke engine which featured B and C cast large-valve cylinder heads and hydraulic lifters of larger diameter, as well as push-rods of different length and diameter than the standard Olds Rocket V8. The B-body Oldsmobiles rode a 6-inch (152mm) shorter wheelbase and were 11 inches (279 mm) shorter and 3.6 inches (91mm) narrower than the C-body 98 and weighed 250 pounds (227 kg) less. Yup Oldsmobile, Cadillac, and Pontiac plus some GMC vehicles, some 1954-on Chevrolet pickups, 19501954 Lincolns, a bunch of independents (Hudson, Kaiser, Nash), Rolls-Royce, and Bentley, among others! It was the first mass-produced OHV V8, in 1949. (WordPress and the WordPress logos are registered trademarks of the WordPress Foundation in the United States and other countries. The effective dates of the current versions are: Paid advertisements and/or sponsored links on Ate Up With Motor will be identified with words such as "Sponsor," "Sponsors," "Sponsored Link(s)," "Sponsored Content," "Ad," "Advertisement," "Advertisement(s)," or "Paid Promotion" (and/or by images or icons containing such words). The Rocket 88 won six of nine NASCAR late-model division races in the 1949 season and 10 of 19 races in 1950. That never happened; by the fifties, the industry was far more interested in advertised horsepower than gas mileage. Im not sure where you stop4 more new engines in 1958 (Chevy W, Mopar B, FoMoCo FE, Lincoln M.E.L. By contrast, both the Cadillac and Oldsmobile V8s were oversquare, with a wide bore and a short stroke. 5 vehicles matched Now showing page 1 of 1. . The Cadillac engine and the Chrysler FirePower had more power out of the box and as much or more potential. In any case, the early postwar period saw the emergence of the California customizing/hot rod scene; the advent of the fiberglass kit car body manufacturers such as Bill Tritts Glaspar (Tritt was retained briefly by GM as a consultant in 1951 when they were considering building a lightweight fiberglass-bodied sports car); and the birth of modern motorsport in the US with the founding of the SCCA and the advent of road racing as the most popular form of competition.
1955 Oldsmobile Eighty-eight For Sale 42 Used Cars From $2,900 California residents also have the Right to Opt-Out of the sale of their personal information see the Do Not Sell My Personal Information page. wider bore provides a greater surface area on which the forces of combustion can act, improving power Offenhauser 3200 49-53 Olds Rocket Dual Quad Intake, Small Port $889.99 Ships Free . Nonetheless, both Oldsmobile and Cadillac deemed it a good compromise. They normally expire in just under one year, but you can delete the cookies in your browser (or other user agent) at any time. Oldsmobile was basically offering three full-size vehicles in 1949, but the 88 was a little bit special. Classifieds for Classic Oldsmobile Rocket 88. This was not an official assignment; he was simply exploring ideas for his own interest and amusement. Unless youre building a rod, its often worth it to spend more upfront for a car thats in better condition. On that level, the Oldsmobile Rocket engine didnt make it, but thats with the benefit of hindsight. Most 394s used 2-barrel carburetors, but special high-compression 4-barrel versions were available starting in 1961. Instead, influenced by the Space Race between the United States and the USSR, the legendary Rocket was born, available in Oldsmobile's 88, Super 88, and 98 models. PLEASE DON'T SUBMIT COPYRIGHTED CONTENT YOU AREN'T AUTHORIZED TO USE! They call mine the black ace and they have a club division in the oldsmobile club of america. The wahFontColor and wahBgColor cookies, which are set if you alter the site's color scheme, normally expire after about 14 days, but you can remove them immediately by clicking the "Restore Defaults" button on the sidebar. In the spirit of trying to improve a fantastic article. The 303 was available from 1949 until 1953. 88. At the risk of shameless self promotion, you might also be interested in the recently revamped article on the early Hydra-Matic, which most Oldsmobiles of that vintage had. The factory painted "small-blocks" gold or blue (flat black on the late model 307cuin (5.0L)),[1] while "big-blocks" could be red, green, blue, or bronze.[1]. Cadillacs OHV V8, released around the same time as the new Oldsmobiles, was itself an important and influential engine that earned Motor Trends first Car of the Year Award, but it was the Oldsmobile Rocket 88 that started an avalanche.
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