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Today's Special Feature:
When you bought a new Oldsmobile in 1960, you received one of these 30,000 mile guarantee certificates (Special thanks to Mario Konig for sending me a scan of his!). It's kind of interesting comparing it with a contemporary new car warrenty...particuarly when you look at the maintaince intervals required in it. Oldsmobile required that you have the oil changed and chassis lubed every 1000 miles (!) to keep the warranty in effect. It's hard to imagine taking your car in that often for service...they also require that the lubrication products be from the Standard Oil Company of California. I think this is another indicator that petrolium products of that period varied a lot more in quality than they do today. The warranty basically covered the engine and transmission, with the express exception that it does not cover failures of plugs, gaskets, the cooling system, or obstructions in the oil system (the plugs I assume are the block freeze plugs, not the spark plugs). So, if you blew a head gasket I guess you were out of luck. Ironically, these cars are rapidly approaching the half-century mark, and yet there are still a lot of them on the road. Like most cars of the period, Oldsmobiles were a quality product and made to last.
Car magazines in 1960 were strikingly similar to those you find on the shelf in any grocery store today...they had the same sort of tech articles, reviews, and of course the advertisements. Aaaahh, the advertisements. Proof that some things never change! My favorite by far was the J.C. Whitney ad...I swear they still sell some of that stuff today. The "Engine Rebuild in a Can" was pretty pricey back then though at $4.95. It's amazing that after 50 years they can still sell that stuff. Anyway, the test drives found in these two magazines offer a fascinating look at what people thought of them at the time. Hot Rod seemed more impressed by the '60 Olds than Motor Life, which is kind of surprising given the performance nature of Hot Rod, and the more luxury oriented nature of the Oldsmobile. One other thing that caught me off guard--they reported a 0-60 time of only 9 seconds (!) and a standing quarter mile time of 17 seconds at 83 MPH. Pretty impressive numbers for a stock car that weighs over 4000 pounds. Maybe the drivers at Hot Rod were better or something but Motor Life reported a 0-60 time of 11.2 seconds...they were both driving essentially the same car (a stock Super 88 Scenicoup). That's a pretty significant difference...weird. One other thing that really caught my attention after reading these is that the quality of fuel back then must have been significantly worse than today. They reported people having detonation problems running regular gas with 8.5:1 compression (!). At any rate, they offer a fascinating look at what it was like to take the brand new 1960 Oldsmobile out for a test drive.
Click on the magazines to open a PDF version of the articles. LARGE FILE WARNING!! The HR article is almost 3 megs, so if you're on dialup you'll be there all day waiting for it. I scanned these at 150 DPI so they would have enough resolution to be able to read them, while keeping the files at least somewhat manageable. Even on DSL it takes a minute to load. I've also noticed some sort of snag with them loading in Firefox. Firefox users may want to just open an Internet Explorer window to view them if you have any problems. I'm working on fixing it right now, but for the time being you have to use IE to view them.
Special Feature: A '60 Olds remembered...with a 3 speed manual! Today's Special Feature comes to us courtesy of Dave Yaros, who was kind enough to write me with some memories of his own '60 Oldsmobile two door hardtop, which had a factory 3 speed manual tranny. He wrote a great story, so I'll just let him take it from here.
ROCKETEERING REMEMBERED Oldsmobiles have been a part of our family all my life. The first I can remember was a two-tone grey '48. The originator of this Olds tradition was my grandfather. A few of the Oldsmobiles my parents revered and acquired were "pre-owned" by him. In one of his novels Jean Shepherd, a writer of nostalgia fiction and the now cult classic movie "Christmas Story," fondly recalls the sound of the Olds pulling in the driveway. I too remember the unique purr of the straight-8, hydro of my dad's '48 backing up the drive, telling me supper time had arrived. The '48, a veritable tank, was hardly the only Olds to have a reserved space in our drive. In addition to the sun-visored '48 there was another visored 1952 88 4-Dr. Sedan with Van Auchen bumper guards, a classy '53 Holiday, a '57 98 Hardtop, a 1961 98 Hardtop, a '63 Dynamic 88 rag top, a '65 Cutlass and a 1967 98 vinyl-roofed, boat. I can still see that look of pride and contentment in the ol' man's face whenever he drove the newest Olds home from the dealership. He exuded an "all is right with the world" attitude, even though the purchase meant taking on a 48-month auto loan, which was not that common 40 years ago. One hunk of Lansing iron stands out vividly from the rest. My privilege was to be its second owner. The first, my older brother, apparently neither understood nor appreciated this exquisite example of engineering and design. This became evident when he traded it in for a Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk! Upon learning this, I high-tailed it down to the Studebaker dealer, traded in my primered and raked, 265 c.i. V8, 2 barreled '55 Chevy Bel Air and swung a deal before the engine could cool down. Thus, a junior in high school acquired his first Oldsmobile in 1963. The original purchaser, my brother, had to co-sign the loan papers so I could complete the financial transaction and drive this fine piece of machinery home! At 17 years young I had become the proud owner of a 1960 Super 88 Oldsmobile, 2-Dr. Hardtop. She sported a hand rubbed, black lacquer (ebony) finish in which one could shave. What made the car unique was the 394 c.i. engine and 4-barrel Rochester were connected to a factory option, 3-speed, column shift, manual (synchromesh) gear box. No one else in my circle, city, state or region (that I knew) had such a configuration. I do not know how many similarly equipped Olds' rolled of the assembly line (a total of only 16,464 Super 88's were manufactured in 1960)? I do know it is an understatement to say creations like mine were few and far between. This fact was attested to by the conduct of parking attendants. More than once an attempt was made to jam the gearshift into [D]rive without ever touching the clutch pedal! The reason my brother dumped the car was the clutch was going out. So he thought. Investigation by me revealed the transmission bolts were working loose from the bell housing. They had been reinstalled sans lock washers. A quick trip to the local Oldsmobile dealer, $1.40 for washers and 15 minutes underneath the car put her back into factory condition. Needless to say, big brother was not a happy camper! His loss was my gain. This mechanical marvel was a definite screamer. It would quickly crank to a speed of 95 + M.P.H. in 2d gear without a strain. Thanks to dual Smitty glass packs she sang seductively in the process. Very little could keep up with her on the highway, which is where the youth of the 60's flexed their muscle. 1960 Olds' had a rolling ribbon speedometer which went from green-to-orange-to red, depending on speed. I discovered the speedometer tube could be made to roll so fast the color would fade to black. This only occurred when her 315 horses galloped in excess of the 120 M.P.H. limit on the speedometer! Exercising an owner’s prerogative, a conscious decision was made to try and enhance Oldsmobile's styling. This was accomplished by removing all the chrome, including the make and model designations, leaving only the side molding and rear fender trim. The process was referred to as "shaving.” After all, having experienced GM's 1958 offerings, chrome removal was now de rigeur. The Super 88/98 tail light lenses were replaced with the less gaudy versions found on the 88's. Additionally, the hood was bulled (filled in to continue the line where the marque was inset). Dual, working spotlights, fender skirts and '57 Plymouth Points (hubcaps) were installed. This mild customizing was made easier by my taking a part-time job in a body shop. The body shop job ultimately proved to be a financial lifesaver. Even though the car was a 2-Door Hardtop, during our time together it became necessary to install four (4) doors on her! In fact, the only sheet metal not touched was the roof. She spent so much time in the body shop it became necessary to buy a back-up vehicle for $100.00 (a 1954 Oldsmobile - what else, right?). Rest assured, the need for a back-up spoke to my driving ability at the time, not the quality of the machine. At that point in my driving career, as my father was more than prone to say, "There was a loose connection between the seat and steering wheel!" Alas, the car was sold during my college years to some lucky Indianapolis resident, as I was moving up to a newer Olds convertible. I never saw her after owner #3 drove off. I not only wonder what happened to her, I want her back! Leonard Nimoy: I am in search of . . . .
Here's a couple photos he shared as well...
A manual transmission update! Brian Ford was kind enough to send in some updated pictures of his '60 Olds Super 88 Convertible, with 5 speed manual transmission conversion. With bucket seats, Torque Thrust D wheels & spinners, and a racing steering wheel it definetly looks like a '60s rod. The work on it looks top notch too. I hope Brian is out enjoying it this summer...it looks like a lot of fun to drive!
Thanks again for sending in pictures of your finished project Brian!!
More Mystery of the Manual Transmission. After posting the first "manual transmission mystery" article here, I got an e-mail from Brian Ford, who was kind enough to share his own experience with manual transmission 1960 Oldsmobiles. Here's Brians' story in his own words...
You said you have never seen another 60 with stick. I have been
Special thanks to Brian for sharing! Sounds like his latest project is going to be a lot of fun to drive.
Special Feature: Mystery of the Manual Transmission. For years I've wondered if Oldsmobile ever actually made any '60s with a manual transmission. The Factory Service Manual has a large section on rebuilding the 3 speed manual, as well as clutch replacement and adjustment, etc, so it made sense that it must have at least been an option. 3 Speed column shift equipped cars were fairly common in the late '50s and early '60s...automatic transmissions were still optional equipment and must have still been seen as an upgrade. I've looked at a lot of 1960 Oldsmobiles over the past 12 years, and they've all been equiped with the 4 speed Hydramatic...until now. I've finally confirmed the exsistance of a three speed manual transmission '60 Olds. Thanks to Larry from the Classic Oldsmobile forums for sending me pictures of his Dynamic 88. It looks like a really sharp restoration, and features a J2 equipped 371 and original early '70s Cragars...but what really got my attention is that transmission. This must have been a very basic car when it was purchased new...the Dynamic was the least expensive model, and it's a Celebrity Sedan, not a hardtop. Looking at the pictures, it doesn't look like it has many of the power features a more expensive model would have been equipped with. It doesn't even have power steering! This looks like a very basic, no-frills Oldsmobile, possibly purchased originally by a value conscience customer who wanted a more upscale brand of car. Very interesting to be sure. The J2 "six pack" intake manifold and 3 carburetors was not an option in 1960, but was added recently. This car would have originally had a Rochester two barrel carb and intake. At any rate, here is the proof of Oldsmobile using manual transmissions...
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