Oldsmobile 1955 - 1956 - 1957 custom & mild custom

New Candy Apple Green Paint
Frenched in molded headlights, taillights, blinkers and backup lights
Molded door handles w/solenoids under chassis
Custom Chrome Rear Bumper
Original front bumper and grill Excellent
All Exterior Chrome/Stainless is Excellent
Real Magnesium Wheels with Green Accent
The underside is rust free and frame is solid
Power Steering and Power Brakes
Chrome Brake Drums w/New Front Brakes and Cylinders
Chrome Fender Wells
Knee Action Suspension in Front and Leaf/Shocks in Back
Look under the hood!!!!!
324 Super 88 bored .30 over w/ HydraMatic Transmission
CHROME, CHROME, CHROME......
Four Chromed Stromberg 2 BBL Carbs w/ball bearing linkage
Custom Chrome Log Manifolds
Chrome Valve Covers, Power Steering Pump, Fuel Pump, Water Pump, Thermostat, Heater, Chrome Hood Springs and Brackets, All 4 Horns, Fans and Pulleys and lots more.
Custom Dual Exhaust
12 Volt System
Radiator replace 500 miles ago runs cool
On the Interior!!!
Black Naugahyde Leather Bucket Seats
Tuck and Roll Front and Back
Pearlescent Black Dash and Steering Column
RCA Record Player plays 14 – 45’s
Beautiful Headliner
Electric Eye Automatic Headlight Dimmer
Large glove box and ashtrays
Custom 1959 Steering Wheel and Column
Seatbelts added
Chrome all over

A Note From the Owner and Builder, Bill Olivo:

A little history about my La Bamba. I bought it in 1960 (I was the 2nd owner).
Each year I would add more and more chrome.
At the Los Angeles car shows Wolfman Jack and Big Daddy Ed Roth cruised in this car many times.
I won 1st place many times, sometimes Outstanding in the Semi-Custom Class. Custom class in the ‘60’s was for cars that had been chopped and channeled. This car is not.

And finally, What this car needs:

I will say that this car definitely is not perfect. It is a real car way ahead of its time back in the day, not just a quickly built custom knockoff and it has needs. It is not something that you would have Mom driving around in. Please keep that in mind when you are considering your bids. It has always been kept inside, recently painted Candy Apple Green. It doesn’t have rust problems. But, it does need to be shifted manually because of the custom carburetor linkage. The gas gauge works, sometimes. And these items DO NOT WORK >>>> Clock, Wipers, Turn Signals, and Heater.
Summing it up, What else can I say about this car??? Showstopper AND/OR daily driver. It probably belongs in some sort of a museum. BILS 54 is living history that you can drive around. A whole lifetime has been put into this car. This car is a survivor and I know Bill would love to see someone take it back to what it really is, a trophy winning piece of great Old School nostalgia.

1957 Oldsmobile Golden Rocket 88

2 Door Sedan J2 Tri Power 371ci 310hp Authentic Hotrod

This 1957 Olds Golden Rocket 88 is a beautiful authentic American Hotrod. Lowering, decking and dechroming to the louvered hood, bar grille, side skirts, lake pipes, spot lights and frenched antennas. This car is a true piece of Hotrod history right out of the early time of street rodding. It sports wide whitewall tires, spinner hubcaps and dual exhaust. Its interior is big enough for a family of 8 and timeless with it's leather button tuft design. Vintage Air was added to make this car even more enjoyable here in Florida. This Olds has the J2 engine option with Tri Power carbs. The engine casting number is 568929 which identifies it to be a 371ci V8. The automatic transmission is the original Hydra-matic. All of the engine components including the intake are dated 57. The carbs have been rebuilt over the years so have mixed date codes. The accelerator pumps, needles seats and base plates were all updated. The fuel pump was also updated to tolerate the ethanol gas although this car gets REC 90 fuel. The power brakes and steering are also the factory options. The brake master and power booster have been rebuilt recently along with the wheel cylinders. The generator was replaced with an internal regulator type GM alternator. The starter was rebuilt within the year along with a new battery. Tires are brand new 14 inch radials. The door handles were shaved and remote door poppers and trunk release were installed. This car has been well maintained through all of its life and still gets driven often. It even comes with its originally issued license plate from Florida. The undercarriage is solid with no rusted areas. The wheel wells and rocker panels are remarkable.This car is a solid survivor! The original radio comes on and even the vacuum wipers work well. Although we are not sure of when it was painted Its paint shines like new. There are a few small areas in need of attention. The hood had been decked long ago and starting to show popping along the ridge. The deck lid also has a few small marks from time on top and towards the bottom edge. This car does get enjoyed and driven to events so some normal wear and battle scars are expected throughout. The turn signal switch does not cancel after turning. The fuel gauge reads full all the time yet it mainly always has a full tank. The ac is cold but the heat is shut off due to the climate here in Florida. The ac switch works on battery not accessory although works great, just something that seemed maybe to be changed. There may be some other items that we missed but nothing drastic as we can see.

Some Oldsmobile history about the 88. In 1957 only, the basic Oldsmobile 88 was officially named Golden Rocket 88, taken from Olds' 1956 Motorama two-passenger show car. The Rocket V8 increased in displacement to 371 cubic inches and 277 horsepower (207 kW) for all models across the board. For 1957 the "J2" option was also offered, with three 2-barrel (0.32 m3) carburetors, similar to the Pontiac Tri-Power. The J2 option increased the 371 engine to 310 horsepower (231 kW) and was offered through 1958. Lee Petty stock car racer, father of Richard Petty, was recruited by Oldsmobile. The older Petty had won the 1954 Grand National Championship and Oldsmobile wanted him to help showcase their new engine. Petty pushed the Olds J-2 engine up to just under 145 MPH at Daytona. As it turned out the engine was banned from NASCAR racing shortly after when the AMA cited that the configuration was not a regular production engine when first introduced. Olds offered two versions of the J2 and one was for competition use only. The J2 option was a bit late in offering the J2 to the public. Unfortunately the Oldsmobile J2 was discontinued after the 1958 model year because of rising highway deaths and because of the AMA racing ban. The J2 option was available in any of the models offered for 57 to 58 years. An article in Street Magazine (Aug 2009) states that the guesstimates led to believe somewhere between 2000 and 2500 equipped cars were built during its two year lifespan. A classic car dealership internet sales add stated possibly only 4 2-door sedans were built with the J2 option. General Motors Heritage Center tells us that unfortunately Oldsmobile did not retain any records for vehicles built before 1977 so this cannot be verified. Regardless these J2 equipped cars were rare and played a roll in the earliest muscle car movement.

'55 Olds 98 Coupe. Red exterior paint with Ghost flames!  Matching Red interior.  Automatic transmission.  350 engine.  Power windows.

THIS 1956 OLDS IS A BAD-ASS RAT ROD BOMB ! BUT VERY COOL AND DEPENDABLE RIDE ! I just had it gone thru and added a brand new Edelbrock 4 barrel carb, new Rapid Fire Spark Plugs and Wires, Distributor Cap, Rotor and had it tuned up. Not only that, but just added a high quality new interior including navy blue carpeting in passenger compartment and lined the truck as well, seats are done as well as the headliner and door panels. Not only that, I went old skool and added some hard to find vintage Heavenly Horn Speaker grills on the back package tray. But a new stereo is up to you, as I prefer to listen to the great running later model Chevy V-8 Motor, with Auto Transmission. Even comes with a box of spare parts/odds & ends. The car is not finished but close enough for you to cruise and enjoy and add the right touches to make it your own. Cars like this are all the rage again, Viva El Bomb !

1955 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 4 door mild custom.

Front suspension: Lowered coil spring
Rear suspension: OEM leaf spring lowering blocks 4"
Engine: SBC 350 cid
Transmission: th350
Rear end: OEM
Tires: Coker WW
Brakes: OEM
Steering: OEM

Car was painted just over 2 years ago two tone. Black metallic and teal with metal flakes. Has a new radiator can sit in traffic won't go over 190 degrees.