1959 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 Fiesta Station Wagon

In 1959, Oldsmobile sold 194,102 examples of its newly restyled "Linear Look" Dynamic 88, but only 11,298 of these were the Fiesta station wagon, making it the second least common body style.  Today, these wagons are a rarity in any condition, which makes this multiple traceable ownership history vehicle a noteworthy automobile. 

The current owner claims to have paperwork history on the car dating to its original owner.  Our consignor has owned the car twice in its history and it has been well cared for, spent some time in storage, on Nantucket, in Boston and it originated from a dealership in Ardmore, PA.  The original engine remains and has been rebuilt along with the transmission.

Exterior
From an era when men were men and women were housewives, kids sat in the back or stood in the hump and families went on vacations and actually talked to each other and not on their cell phones.  This massive steel slab sided and finned creation has wrap around front and rear glass, plenty of chrome and is presented in a two tone Frost Blue and Polar White paint job.  A large shaver style grille, dual headlights, wide bumpers and jet age front quarter ornaments that create the delineation between the white and blue with an ever widening contrail as it streaks to the back of this wagon's tailgate.  On the way it passes by 4 doors, a front quarter mid level trim spear, wide window trimmings and a sleek roofline in blue.  The back of the car is like a wide grinning face with a white tailgate, tall rear glass and small fins with oval tail lights on their edges.  The grin is a wide red strip that stretches from edge to edge and has turned down edges with chromed surrounds.  Fancy round tail lights reside in two drops of chrome formed by the rear bumper as it conforms to the bottom of the rear quarters.  Overall paint has a few chips and some dulling, rust areas in the seams and doors underlying and scratches.  The chrome is slightly pitted, and also has some scratches, but overall considering its age and the amount of metal, it presents pretty well.  And the design is late 50's wretched excess.

Interior
Sporting its original interior it will need some TLC on this front.  We see blue vinyl for the door panels and these have a white vinyl streak running through them.  Armrests show some splitting and taping for repairs.  The white is soiled on some doors.  A full on front bench is first and this shows with blue and gray striped broadcloth inserts and solid blue vinyl bolsters.  The driver's seat is ripped and some stuffing is coming through.  The uppers have a white vinyl streak on the top section of the backs and this is also torn at the seams and very dirty.  The back bench is pretty good with the same pattern showing only not torn or as soiled.  It is an 80/20 split configuration.  In the back for the “bed” it has worn vinyl panels and some steel chromed dividers.  The vinyl panels are cracking off.  Up front, a sleek white steering wheel fronts a jet age dash with more two tone blue and white.  Lots more chromed edge trimmings, buttons, levers, toggles, and knobs are abundant within the instrument cluster and driver controls.  On the passenger side is a neat inset into the dash top where a clock and some star 3D graphics are inset into.  Blue carpeting is covering the floors and above is a white headliner showing sagging and tears.

Drivetrain
Under the hood looks pretty good I'd say with a gold painted block, some chromed valve coverings and new hoses and wires, probably from the rebuild of 4,000 miles ago.  We gaze upon a 371ci of V8 topped with a single 4-barrel carburetor and a Jetaway Hydramatic 4-speed automatic transmission on back.  The rear axle is a 3.08 config.  Some patina for the engine bay but it looks fairly clean overall.  

Undercarriage
Under this long steel beauty we see some light to moderate surface rust in the X frame and some suspension parts. Floor pans are solid and fenders are rust free with just some road dirt caked on them.  Suspension is independent coil springs for the fort and leaf springs for the rear.  Drum braking is on all 4 corners.  Fairly simple and some new mufflers are seen under here.

Drive-Ability
The car started easily and ran smoothly.  Being a large car it lumbered around turns and braking was solid and swift.  It's a cruiser and has room for the entire family and then some.  All functions were working.  

Not often seen, a relic from the past with some snappy jet age finned, chromed styling and nifty interior contemporary styling.  Excess but it smells of success!

597W05831

59-1959
7-Dynamic 88
W-Wilmington, DE Assy Plant
05831-Sequential Unit Number

Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special interest automobile showroom, featuring over 850 vehicles for sale with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle barn find collection is on display. This vehicle is located in our showroom in Morgantown, Pennsylvania, conveniently located just 1-hour west of Philadelphia on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The website is www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888) 227-0914. Please contact us anytime for more information or to come see the vehicle in person.