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1956 Oldsmobile Golden Rocket

Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956 - Interior
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956 - Interior
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket - at 1956 Motorama
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket - at 1956 Motorama
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket - at 1956 Motorama
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket - at 1956 Motorama
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket and Pontiac Club de Mer - at 1956 Motorama
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket and Pontiac Club de Mer - at 1956 Motorama
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket - Styling Proposal by Ben J. Smith (Sept. 2, 1955)
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket - Styling Proposal by Ben J. Smith (Sept. 2, 1955)
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956 - Brochure
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956 - Brochure
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956 - Brochure
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956 - Brochure
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956 - At the General Motor Design Centre, Warren, Mich. Design chief William Mitchell at the right.
Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, 1956 - At the General Motor Design Centre, Warren, Mich. Design chief William Mitchell at the right.
Images: General Motors Archive; www.shorey.net; www.chuckstoyland.com
Rating:  62    -41    +103
The 1956 Oldsmobile Golden Rocket Concept, a gold colored 2 passenger car, which was styled to resemble a rocket, made its debut at the 1956 General Motors Motorama and was used at many other auto shows.

The Rocket had a fiberglass body with nerf-like built in bumpers that give an overall rocket effect. It was powered with a 234 CID, 275 horsepower Rocket V8 engine and weighs 2,500 pounds.

The upholstery was done in blue and gold leather. The speedometer was mounted in the center of the two-spoked steering wheel along with buttons to tilt the wheel, making it one of the first vehicles with a tilt steering wheel.

As either door was opened, the roof panel automatically raised and the seat came up 3 inches and swiveled outward for easy entry or exit.

The Golden Rocket was revised several times and stayed on the show circuit for several years.

Bill Bowman - wiki.gmnext.com


The 1956 Oldsmobile Golden Rocket featured a seating system in which a roof panel was raised and the seat was elevated and rotated toward the entering occupant when the door was opened. Buttons on the steering wheel allowed the column to tilt downward, providing the driver with easier access.

www.gmphotostore.com


A wild-looking bronze-metallic two-seat coupe was the most projectile-like Olds show car, and one of the quickest: Its 234 V-8 was tuned to produce 275 hp, which must have been impressive considering its curb weight of about 2,500 pounds. Like most of its predecessors, the Rocket had a fiberglass body. Roof panels rose, resembling Mercedes’ gullwing-style, and the seats lifted and swiveled out to welcome the posterior when the doors were opened. Conventional bumpers were replaced by nerf-like built-in bumpers, and one of the first-known tilt steering wheels was in the cockpit.

www.442.com


От этой «ракеты на колесах» открывали рты посетители Парижского автосалона 1957 года. Отмечалось, что концепт кар Oldsmobile Golden Rocket вызвал в Европе настоящий фурор. Кстати, характерные конусы, напоминающие ракеты, тут выполняют роль бампера — если очень хорошо присмотреться, то заметны скромно спрятавшиеся за ними фары.

Сзади сходство Golden Rocket с летательным аппаратом только усиливалось. При этом под капот легкого стеклопластикового купе был установлена известная восьмерка Oldsmobile Rocket V8 с отдачей 275 сил — по европейским меркам тех лет действительно ракета, способная отправить водителя в стратосферу!

Дополнительный шок вызывал интерьер с рулем, в центр которого вписали спидометр. При этом рулевое колесо регулировалось по высоте, а в его спицы были вмонтирована невиданная вещь: кнопки. Известно, что позже «Золотую ракету»... перекрасили в синий цвет, но, к сожалению, до наших дней автомобиль не дожил.

motor.ru


Oldsmobile Golden Rocket (1956 год). У этого купе сиденья приподнимались и поворачивались к дверям для облегчения посадки-высадки. Чтобы пассажиры не ударялись головой, крыша тоже приподнималась, а регулируемая рулевая колонка облегчала посадку водителю.

Авторевю 2000-11
Comments
seine turnbesugh
Friday, January 4, 2008
I am trying to find as much info on this car as possible. any help would be much appreciated.

thank you,
seine turnbeaugh.
David Grigsby
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
where is it now?
E-man
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Two possibilities: It's part of GM's permanent collection or it was scrapped.
Kayla
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Only four cars were ever built, and one survives today and set a world record when auctioned in January 2005 at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, Arizona for $3,240,000.00. The founder of the Discovery Channel, John S. Hendricks is the proud owner who has is displayed in its own room at the Gateway Auto Museum in Colorado.
don baron
Sunday, February 22, 2009
I'm the one who took the 8mm movies in 1955 of the Oldsmobile F-88 in a Shriner parade in Lansing Mi. Jack Wolfram general mngr of Olds is driving.
Matthew Street
Monday, February 23, 2009
I believe, Kayla, you're mistaken.

Four cars came out of General Motors' XP-20 project, but only this one, the 1954 Oldsmobile F-88 (could be known as the Mark I), survives.

The Oldsmobile F-88 bears an obvious similarity to the Chevrolet Corvette, introduced as a concept car in 1953. Among those working on the project that resulted in the F-88 were GM's famed design chief Harley Earl and engineer Zora Duntov, known as the driving force behind development of the Corvette.

The F-88 is powered by Oldsmobile's famous Rocket V-8 engine. The car features a mixture of design cues from Oldsmobiles of the era and the Chevrolet Corvette.

The F-88 was shown in General Motors' Motorama shows, extravagant events that were similar to modern auto shows except that they were sponsored solely by General Motors and showed off that companies new models and "Dream Cars" like this one (the F-88).

Final auction price: $3.24 million at the 2005 Barrett-Jackson Auction.

The rest of the XP-20 colection did not survive as far as we know today.
GT
Friday, November 4, 2011
Matthew is correct, it is the 1954 F-88 Concept car that broke the world record as he mentioned.

I wonder what ever happened to the 1956 Golden Rocket? Which I feel is far more futuristic in styling and had some incredible options for the era.
jerwes
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Hello,

am i right in feeling that there is no extant '56 Olds Golden Rocket.?...
if so let's make a replica..!
MagiDuke
Friday, February 10, 2012
I believe the displacement of the engine was 324 CID.
Tom Maruska
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Joe Bortz owns another F88 Concept car and he knows of another still surviving.
http://www.tbirdsquare.com
Vice Commodore
Saturday, March 3, 2012
The Golden Rocket went to the bottom of the Atlantic ocean aboard the Andrea Adoria, along with several other show cars. They were being shipped back to the U.S. after being on display at the Paris Auto Show.
raiguy
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Why dose the front of the car direct air under it?Or dose it just look like it would?
Herman
Monday, March 31, 2014
That would be 324 cubic inches, not 234. All Olds engines had 324 cubes in 56. Never was a 234 Olds V-8, and in 1956, even race motors would have had a hard time making 275 hp out of only 234 cubes.
Lynn
Monday, March 31, 2014
The Andrea Doria sank on July 26,1956. The Golden Rocket was shown at the 1957 Paris Motor Show, October 3-13, 1957. The Golden Rocket was not on the Andrea Doria.
Robert
Saturday, July 9, 2016
I seen the oldsmobile golden rocket at a red light on west esplanade ave. in kenner, Louisiana which is a suburb on new orleans. This was thursday july 7th, 2016 at 4:30 in the afternoon. I never seen or heard of this vehicle before so, i googled it and to my surprise it was the golden rocket. If it wasn't the rocket than what other car looks exactly like the rocket ?
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