1954 - 1956 Oldsmobile Starfire Convertible
Posted by David Kinney
The original Oldsmobile Starfire, named after the Lockheed F94B Starfire fighter jet, was first introduced as a show car in the 1953 GM Motorama, along with the Buick Skylark and Cadillac Eldorado. All three nameplates became special top-of-the-line models. With a fiberglass body and bucket seating for two, the Starfire show car had a wraparound windshield and a combination bumper/grille on the front end. It was in many ways a Corvette for Oldsmobile; however, it remained a not-for-production styling exercise.
In 1954, the first production Starfire was introduced. (All Olds 98 convertibles that year were called Starfires.) Although it still had styling cues from the show car, it was no longer a sporting two-seater, but a more conventional four-seater. With a list price of $2,963, a respectable 6,800 were built. In 1955, however, the Starfire took off, with sales of 9,149 despite an increase in price of $313, a tidy sum in mid-1950s car dollars. Some of the changes for 1955 included a combination bumper/grille with “floating” horizontal crossbars and changes to the chrome side trim, as well as numerous styling “updates.” Going against the American tradition of always making new models bigger and heavier, the 1955 Starfire actually weighed 269 pounds less (3,890 vs. 4,159 for the earlier model) than the 1954.
Power was provided by Oldsmobile’s renowned 324-c.i. Rocket V8, which debuted in the late 1940s. During the Starfire’s first production year, the engine produced 185 horsepower. For 1955, the number was boosted to 202. The Rocket was modified to put out 240 horsepower for the Starfire’s final model year in 1956.
At a price of about $1,000 less than the Cadillac Eldorado convertible, the Oldsmobile 98 had plenty to offer the driver of the time, and was well equipped right out of the box. A plentiful assortment of options could be placed on a 1955 Starfire, including air conditioning, a $550 item. Safety power steering could be added for $120, Pedal-Ease power brakes for $58. Power seats and a variety of radio and antenna options were available.
(From the November 2003 issue of Sports Car Market magazine.)