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Oldsmobile Was Way Cooler Than You Remember

Past Gas Sep 15, 2025 44 min

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About this episode

Exploring the fascinating history of Oldsmobile, this episode dives into the brand's rise and fall, highlighting iconic models like the Rocket 88 and 442. The hosts discuss Oldsmobile's innovations, including the first mass-produced automatic transmission and the introduction of the V8 engine. As the company faced challenges from competition and internal restructuring at GM, it struggled to maintain its identity. The episode concludes with a reflection on Oldsmobile's legacy, emphasizing its impact on American automotive history and the reasons behind its eventual demise.

Topics: oldsmobile history rocket 88 442 muscle car v8 engine automatic transmission nascars first winner diesel engines brand identity market competition innovation decline

Cars: Buick Century Chevrolet Camaro Chevrolet Chevelle Chevrolet Corvair Chevrolet Nova Dacia SuperNova Dodge Challenger Dodge Charger Ford Contour Ford Thunderbird Mercury Grand Marquis Oldsmobile 88 Oldsmobile Bravada Oldsmobile Cutlass Oldsmobile F85 Pontiac Chieftain Pontiac Grand Prix Pontiac GTO Volkswagen Beetle

Get After It! Enter for a Chance to Win a Custom Car Co-Built by Donut and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. All brought to you by NOS Energy. For more details visit: https://bit.ly/4fEqemZ Thanks to Allstate for sponsoring today’s episode! Click here [https://bit.ly/4jRgXth] to check Allstate first and see how much you could save on car insurance. This week on Past Gas, we’re wrapping up our two-part look at Oldsmobile — the brand that gave us the Rocket 88, the Toronado, and the 442. From the first true muscle car to the first rock ’n roll song, Olds helped shape American car culture like no other. After 107 years, the brand may be gone, but its influence is still everywhere. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Technical Too Afraid to Ask

MercurySable99 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Car

88 Rocket 88

"...e talking about the stuff you guys know. The 442, Rocket 88, the Alero, the Achiva, the Bravada. We're going ..."

IFCAR (Public domain)

Car

Oldsmobile Bravada

"...w. The 442, Rocket 88, the Alero, the Achiva, the Bravada. We're going to get into all that. How did this b..."

MercurySable99 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Car

Pontiac Chieftain

"... the old Pontiac hood ornament. That was like the chieftain, the long chieftain. Yeah, yeah."

MercurySable99 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Car

Oldsmobile 88S

"You want to look it up real quick? The 1949 Oldsmobile 88's wheelbase, 119 inches. That's long."

W. Bulach (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Car

Pontiac Gto

"...he first muscle car more than a decade before the Pontiac GTO. It could hit 60 miles per hour in just under 13 ..."

Palauenc05 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Car

Volkswagen Beetle

"...s in favor of smaller imports like the Volkswagen Beetle, and a sharp recession in 1957 further strained t..."

Ryanandlenny (Public domain)

Car

Oldsmobile F85

"In 1962, Oldsmobile introduced the turbocharged F-85 jet fire. Along with the Corvair Monza Spitfire,"

Crisco 1492 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Car

Chevrolet Corvair

"F-85 jet fire. Along with the Corvair Monza Spitfire, the jet fire was one of America's..."

Greg Gjerdingen from Willmar, USA (CC BY 2.0)

Car

Ford Thunderbird

"...n 1966 Tornado. Designed to compete with the Ford Thunderbird, the Tornado was a personal luxury coupe"

Larry D. Moore (CC BY 4.0)

Car

Oldsmobile Cutlass

"as a trim level on the compact F85. The Cutlass eventually became its own model. By the mid-1960s..."

Ermell (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Car

Dodge Charger

"...the era's top muscle cars like the GTO, the Dodge Charger, and Chevelle SS."

Mr.choppers (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Car

Chevrolet Chevelle

"the Dodge Charger, and Chevelle SS. Wow. Because of blended raw power"

MaxFerrari2 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Car

Dacia SuperNova

"Chevelle-esque. His first one was the Supernova, production, but we talked about it in the Camaro..."

Ermell (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Car

Chevrolet Camaro

"...ernova, production, but we talked about it in the Camaro episode. Yeah. This is a"

Ermell (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Car

Dodge Challenger

"...hen they were younger. I think cars like Charger, Challenger, Nova, Chevelle,"

Oleg Yunakov (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Car

Chevrolet Nova

"I think cars like Charger, Challenger, Nova, Chevelle, Camaro will"

MercurySable99 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Car

Pontiac Grand

"The Olds Alero man. The Alero was a Pontiac Grand Am rebadged. That makes sense."

IFCAR (Public domain)

Car

Ford Contour

"It looks like a Ford contour. It's just like familiar, you know?"

IFCAR (Public domain)

Car

Mercury Grand Marquis

"You still got the Panther platform. You still got Grand Marquis. Yeah."

W. Bulach (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Car

Buick Century

"then ran out of time. Still, for over a century Oldsmobile built some of the coolest, fastest"

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19 cars featured

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