1955 Oldsmobile Super Eighty-Eight Holiday Hardtop

After the big changes the year before, the 1955 Oldsmobiles experienced a mild facelift. Most notably the combined grille and bumper setup, new taillights and “flying colors” side trim giving a new look to the two-tone paint combinations.

The Super 88 sat in the middle of three series available from Oldsmobile in 1955. This Polar White over Turquoise Holiday Hardtop Sedan was one of five models in the Super 88 line-up.

The “Holiday” designation was Oldsmobile’s marketing name for the pillarless hardtop design. It proved to be a popular design and when the 4-door version was released half-way through the model year it sold nearly 50,000 units.

Rear view of a 55 Oldsmobile Super 88
rear view

Oldsmobile continued the two round dial theme for the dash.

Dash in a 1955 Oldsmobile Super 88
beautiful dash

The Super Eighty-Eight enjoyed a more luxurious interior than the standard Eighty-Eight. This included full carpeting and better upholstery options.

There was now 202 horsepower for Oldsmobile’s top rated “Rocket” engine which was standard in the Super 88 and 98 – up from 185 horsepower from 1954.

1955 Oldsmobile Rocket 324 V8
Rocket 324 V8 with dual snorkel air cleaner

Priced at $2,788 the Super Eighty-Eight 4-door Holiday Hardtop was a popular car for Oldsmobile who managed to sell 47,385 of them.

The original owner of this car paid for the following options on this car: power steering ($108), Pedal-Ease power brakes ($38), safety padded instrument panel ($17), DeLuxe radio ($94), Hydra-Matic Super Drive automatic transmission ($178).

1955 was a fantastic year for Oldsmobile with 583,179 cars sold which brought their sales up nearly 65% over the 1954 figures.

This ’55 Oldsmobile is currently for sale on eBay. (follow the link for even more photos)

Leave a Comment