Keyes Woodland Hills GM Dreams About the 1954 Oldsmobile F-88

So the email talked about this car, but for whatever reason there was no picture. It asked the question, in 1954, could this Oldsmobile have "killed" the Corvette? Now, that's a tall order right there? How might the world be different if the F-88 by Oldsmobile went into production instead of or with the Corvette?

But what does it look like. Instantly I'm Google to quench my curiosity. Look at what I found? What a cool looking car! But is it cool looking just because it's something we've never seen before? Could it have really out sold the Corvette? It's hard to say considering how the Corvette is a staple in Americana and car history in general. Ultamately, you'll have to be the judge.

I'm going to paste the email in here so you can read it for yourself...

...And here's what I found.

Originally titled the XP-20 the F-88 was a little pet project of GM designer Harley Earl. The made four cars but this one was the only one to have survived.

According to conceptcarz.com, The Oldsmobile F-88 is one of the most historically significant vehicles of its era and it is considered by many to be a great expression of automotive design from the 1950's. Which is considered by many automotive historians and enthusiasts alike to be the Golden Era.

The first F-88 ever built went out on the show circuit in 1954. It was first shown at the General Motors Motorama at the classic Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York.

An experiement in high performance, this 2 door convertable was Oldsmobile's legendary dream car. It had natural pigskin upholstery, low-poised fiberglass body, sparkling interior with metalic green highlights, and a 250 HP V8 Rocket engine. The elliptical grille mouth, hockey stick side trim and bullet tail lights are all period style Oldsmobile.

Harley Earl believed that the Oldsmobile could outsell and compete with the Corvette in a way that would have changed automotive history. Chevy however had other plans and the F-88 Rocket will remain simply a dream car...