It’s amazing what sort of cars were considered common in the US in the late 1950s, early ‘60s. They were huge vehicles by any standards, with more space than many modern minivans inside, and pretty much all were flamboyantly-styled and eye-catching in some way. Take Jay Leno’s Oldsmobile Super 88, from 1959.

He explains that the ’59 was the first year when they began to tone down the design of the car, using less chrome and making the standout design touches less obvious, but to me it looks virtually as flashy as anything else from the period – it may have been a more restrained version, but only if you compare it to previous models.

As Jay says, this is a classic ‘boulevard cruiser’, with soft suspension and enough room inside for eight people. Now that’s impressive considering the fact that this car is a tudor model. Still the two doors are very big, and the car is just so wide that one could probably ask ten skinny-bottomed models to sit in the back side by side without feeling too cramped.

By Andrei Nedelea

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