That July, Burrell was promoted to chief motor engineer for the division. Each PayPal payment or donation button may also incorporate a tracking pixel called "pixel.gif" (which loads from paypalobjects.com). This 1952 Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight is a well-priced classic that gives you some of the best styles around. The final 1990 configuration was rated at 140hp (100kW) at 3200 rpm and 255lbft (346Nm) of torque at 2000 rpm. Brand new box. Hemmings Motor News has been serving the classic car hobby since 1954. While the 260s were not very powerful compared to the larger 350 and 403 V8s, fuel economy was almost as good as the base V6. The 394 replaced the 371 in Super 88 and 98 cars for 1959 and 1960 and a detuned version was used in the 88 for 1961 and the Dynamic 88 for 1962-1964. The introduction of the "Rocket 8" V-8 for the 1949 Oldsmobiles was perhaps the pinnacle of his achievements, incorporating in its overhead-valve design such features as five main bearings,. All Oldsmobile V8s were manufactured at plants in Lansing, Michigan while the engine block and cylinder heads were cast at Saginaw Metal Casting Operations. 15-16 MPG is great even by modern standards, for a 300+ HP engine. Learn more. If not, it may be a little more difficult, short of pulling the heads. The 455 big block Olds V8 was replaced in 1977 with the 403cuin (6.6L) small block, which used a 4.351in (110.5mm) bore, the largest ever used in a small-block V8, with the Olds small-block standard deck and 3.385in (86.0mm) stroke. R.M. Some consider Rocket 88, recorded by Jackie Brenston in 1951, to be the first rock and roll song. The 403 is fundamentally the exact same block as an Oldsmobile 350 V8, however it features a larger bore. It has been noted to go up to $100,000 at some auctions. Overhead valves did not suffer the same problem, which gave them the potential for much higher compression ratios. The 260cuin (4.3L), 307cuin (5.0L), 330cuin (5.4L), 350cuin (5.7L) and 403cuin (6.6L) engines are commonly called small-blocks. (author diagram). 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. Owned that vehicle till 1970 and traded in due to a bad dual chamber fuel pump for $350. Original revolutionary Hydra-Matic SUPER DRIVE 3-speed automatic transmission, spare tire, and a couple of extra chrome wheel covers. The output of the 307cuin (5.0L) wasn't particularly high in terms of horsepower. (2,969 cc) six with a compression ratio of 12.5:1, where most contemporary engines had ratios of no more than 7.0:1. The 1950 Oldsmobile Rocket 88s were considerably cheaper than the 49s, although that was largely because Hydra-Matic, which had been standard equipment on all 1949 V8-powered cars, reverted to being a $185 option. Did G M make a 1949-50 olds 88 or 98 4 door fastback ? 76. Thanks! The engine had 10.25:1 compression and a single-barrel carburetor. Call 800.979.0122, 7am-10pm, everyday. (Thats a lesson that many Jaguar and Porsche owners have learned the hard way.)[/quote]. Make: Oldsmobile Model: 88 Year: 1956 Engine: 455 Rocket Engine - Turbo 400 - Foose Mags - Airbags Suspension. 4-barrel models used 9.25:1 compression in 1957 and 10:1 in 1958 for 277hp (207kW) and 400lbft (540Nm) and 305hp (227kW) and 410lbft (560Nm) respectively. Barr believed the Oldsmobile engine was a direct derivative of Cadillacs design, although he conceded that Cadillac also benefited from some of Oldsmobiles work. The Vimeo Cookie Policy also provides information about how Vimeo users can control the use of third-party analytics and/or advertising cookies in connection with embedded Vimeo video players. In an OHV engine, the valves are placed directly above the combustion chamber, which greatly improves breathing. Yes, the Hydra-Matic had a parking pawl, which was engaged by selecting reverse with the engine off. Oldsmobiles reign as the hottest performer in the land proved to be short-lived. 1949 Oldsmobiles proclaimed that they had Futuramic styling (theres even a Futuramic badge on the front fenders), but it was updating a basic body introduced in 1941. Big block Oldsmobile Rocket 442 crate engines are also available. Each of those engines had its own peculiarities, but they were all in the mold of the Oldsmobile Rocket engine. Apart from the Oldsmobile Aurora, the Aurora V8 was also used in the Shelby Series 1. The demise of Olds is yet another dreary episode in the ongoing story of GM losing its way. 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). They had long since lost genuine autonomy anyhow. BMEP, IMEP), you will immediately see that bore/stroke ratio does not directly effect engine power. ), When you list the OHV Detroit engines that came along after the Rocket, the DeSoto Hemi of 1952 and Plymouth Poly of 1956 may merit mentioncant recall if the 1955 Packard V8 got its curtain call. (. Logging in sets the wordpress_logged_in_xx, wordpress_sec_xx, and/or wordpress_xx cookies, which store the user's login credentials to allow access to the administrative dashboard and other administrative functions; there may be multiple iterations of each cookie. (4,214 cc) L-head straight eight. Raises and Lowers - 4 Leg Suspension - New Paint Job 2 Tone Black & Copper - New Starter - New A/C - Cloth Bench Seating - New Battery - New Flowmaster Exhaust - MSD Ignition - Headers - $5000 of Mechanical Work Just Done in. 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Concord, NC 5 years at carsforsale.com 3 27,900 1955 Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight - Concord, NC sedan automatic The 425cuin (7.0L) big-block was the first tall-deck "big block," produced from 1965 through 1967. 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. If better fuels became available, both the Cadillac and Olds engines had the theoretical potential for compression ratios as high as 12:1. To mitigate these problems, both Oldsmobile and Cadillac adopted an overhead-valve (OHV) layout. It was the only GM engine to meet US emission standards using a carburetor all the way up to 1990. Although Oldsmobiles official involvement in racing was limited, the Rocket 88 promptly proceeded to clean up in competition. 2027; John Katz, Racing the 88, Special Interest Autos #145 (January-February 1995), reprinted in The Hemmings Book of Oldsmobiles, p. 88; Jamie Kitman, The Secret History of Lead, The Nation March 2000; Allen Hunt, Horsepower from Detroit, Part IV: Cadillac, Oldsmobile and the horsepower race, Car Life Vol. All 425 engines were fitted with forged steel crankshafts with harmonic balancers. You are correct its even a Studebaker Avanti, not the later Avanti II. 4th Edition (Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2002); Maurice Hendry, Hillbilly Genius: The Great Boss Ket,' Special Interest Autos #51 (June 1979), pp. Our sources for this article included the Auto Editors of Consumer Guide, Encyclopedia of American Cars: Over 65 Years of Automotive History (Lincolnwood, IL: Publications International, 1996); John R. Bond, Car of the Year: The 1949 Cadillac, Motor Trend November 1949, reprinted in Cadillac Automobiles 1949-1959, ed. The Rocket 88 model name was dropped after 1957. In short, the flatheads breathing ability is only mediocre. Since the advance design group envisioned a 1949 introduction for their new engine, the project was dubbed SV-49. Ate Up With Motor and its embedded content providers may use cookies and/or similar technologies and collect personal information about site visitors as described in the Privacy Policy and Cookie Notice. For consignment a Rocket design Oldsmobile 88. Total Oldsmobile sales for the 1949 model year, including exports and Canadian production, were almost 294,000, a 64% improvement from the year before. Thanks for the great write up on the history of one of the most influential engines in the automobile industry! iThemes is one of the Liquid Web family of brands; iThemes and Liquid Web are trademarks of Liquid Web, LLC.). 1988), pp. Classifieds for Classic Oldsmobile Rocket 88. Coincidentally, Cadillac had been working since 1936 on a very similar OHV engine to replace its familiar monoblock flathead V8. They normally expire after about one year. Flory, J. Your wording in the flathead section (acts directly) suggest the valve stem tip rides the cam lobe in a flathead. Output was 185hp (138kW) and 320lbft (430Nm). Power was 81 hp at 3000 rpm. The optional heater-defroster cost $85 that year, the optional base radio $96. Vintage lovers are ready to spend any amount of money to get hold of a Rocket 88 of 1949. Note the quadrant for the Hydra-Matic atop the steering column. It didnt have an actual Park position until the advent of the controlled-coupling Hydra-Matic in MY1956. Fabulous article. Burrell examined a wide range of configurations, but the one to which he continually returned was a 90-degree V8, which he judged as offering the best compromise between power potential and physical size. This is a session cookie that verifies that the user has entered valid user credentials pending receipt of the correct authentication code; the cookie normally expires when the user closes their browser (or other user agent). Those were the good old days. As an aside, the Oldsmobile was bought by doctors, lawyers, bank managers, shop owners, construction entrepreneurs and the like. Im not sure about the early Hydramatics but later ones, 54-56 you put in reverse to park. Home / Cars for Sale / Oldsmobile / . It was rated at 350 horsepower (261kW) and 440lbft (597Nm) of torque with a Rochester 4-barrel, and 360hp (268kW) with the L69 tri 2-barrel option in 1966. ), These third-party cookies may be set in connection with embedded video players for content hosted on the Vimeo video platform, for purposes such as (without limitation) managing video settings, storing video preferences, providing certain functionality (e.g., allowing you to pause a video at a particular point), associating your video viewing and other activity with your Vimeo account (if you have one), showing you advertising, ensuring proper functioning of the service, preventing abuse, and/or compiling user analytics data. Were Oldsmobiles ever sold in Brazil in any significant numbers? 16, No. (PayPal.com, PayPal, and all logos related to the PayPal services are either trademarks or registered trademarks of PayPal, Inc. or its licensors. The Oldsmobile 88 (marketed from 1989 on as the Eighty Eight) is a full-size car that was sold and produced by Oldsmobile from 1949 until 1999. Im wondering how many weeks of informative evening reading I can enjoy from your articles. 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. Trim Rocket 88 1951 Oldsmobile 88 Futuramic 88 Rocket 303 V8 Hydramatic custom $16,900 1948 & 1949 Cadillac Fastbacks, Special Interest Autos #11 (June-July 1972), pp. The big-block engines initially used a forged crankshaft with a stroke of 3.975" for the 1965-1967 425 and 400 CID versions; starting in 1968, both the 400cuin (6.6L) and the 455cuin (7.5L) big blocks used a stroke of 4.25in (108mm), with crankshaft material changed to cast iron except in a few rare cases. Richard A. Lentinello (Bennington, VT: Hemmings Motor News, 2002), pp. The 4 barrel versions had a larger diameter harmonic damper, the 2 barrel only a balancer hub without the rubberized outer ring. Then in 1955 Chevrolet introduced their ohv V8 (as did Packard, Plymouth and Pontiac) and changed the game again. The Cadillac engine and the Chrysler FirePower had more power out of the box and as much or more potential. (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. (For each of these cookies, "xx" will be a cryptographic hash.) Motor Trend (July 1950) mentioned getting 18.8 mpg at a steady 50 mph and a 1950 Olds entered in the Mobilgas Economy Run bettered 20 mpg. Following the Automobile Manufacturer Association ban on factory supported racing, power ratings went down for the 1959 and 1960 88 models: 270hp (200kW) and 390lbft (530Nm) for 1959 and 240hp (180kW) and 375lbft (508Nm) for 1960.

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