West Coast Classics are proud to present a great example of this very desirable 1962 Oldsmobile Starfire 2 door Hardtop coupe 'Bubble Roof' with the 394/345HP V8 engine with factory options including: Hydra-Matic automatic transmission, power steering, power brakes, power drivers seat, electric clock, courtesy lamps, soft ray tinted glass, Wonderbar AM radio with power antenna, console with shifter, tachometer and with rare factory added option of air conditioning and outside rear mirror.
The Starfire was Oldsmobile's entry into the personal luxury market built on the Super Eighty-Eight's 123-inch wheelbase frame. The list of standard equipment included a more powerful V8, Hydra-matic drive, sports console with shifter, tachometer, courtesy lamp package, two-speed wipers, power brakes, power steering, brushed aluminum trim, dual exhausts and leather trim. Oldsmobile introduced the new Starfire in mid-1961. It was a high performance, high style, luxury automobile that was true to the company's rich performance history and offered a host of distinctive features. The Starfire returned for 1962 to include a hardtop variant. Priced around $4,000, the Starfire Hardtop Coupe was equipped with all the features found in the Super Eight-Eight plus brushed aluminum side panels, a sporty cockpit featuring bucket seats, leather upholstery, floor console and power-operated front seats. Power was from a 394 cubic-inch V-8 engine that offered 345 horsepower and 440 pound-feet of torque, courtesy of a Rochester four-barrel carburetor, 10.5:1 compression, a revised camshaft profile, an efficient combustion chamber design and a free-flowing dual exhaust system. This particular model comes complete with Four Seasons Air Conditioning, power equipment including power drivers seat, factory tinted glass, console tachometer and reverb rear speaker.
The Oldsmobile Starfire was easily distinguishable from its Super 88 counterparts by the addition of brushed aluminum side panels. Arguably this was the first muscle-car from Oldsmobile since it combined a very powerful engine in a small, compact body. The Starfire's sporty and luxurious hardtop coupe and convertible embodied the personal luxury cars for Oldsmobile with leather bucket seats, sport and special luxury trim. "Distinguished . . Distinctive . . Decidedly New" was how Oldsmobile advertised their all new 1961 first full-fledged Starfire series. Oldsmobile chose the General Motors 1961 Motorama which opened on November 3, 1960 at the Waldorf-Astoria in NYC to debut the new one-model series. This series remained until the revolutionary Toronado picked up the Oldsmobile personal-luxury banner. At select Oldsmobile dealerships in January 1961 the first Starfires began arriving. On the outside the Starfire included two slim parallel hood moldings and a 4-inch wide band of brushed aluminum on the sides, touches which were exclusive to the Starfire. The 1961 Starfire also sported a chrome-plated air cleaner perched on top of the four-barrel carburetor and shiny valve covers and oil filler cap. Burning only premium fuel, the Starfire had a 10.25:1 compression ratio. Another unique advertising campaign was a direct-to-dealer piece that urged dealerships to stage special open houses to showcase the new model and gave interested dealerships with up to 500 invitations and envelopes. In 1962 Oldsmobile product planners expanded the Starfire lineup with the addition of the coupe
Beautifully finished in 'Garnet Mist' color paint over its original brushed aluminum side panels and with a very striking matching 'Garnet Mist' two-tone interior the car looks extremely impressive! The car has all it's original logos and its original radio and the brightwork design on the dashboard, the dashboard itself, the headliner with original chrome strips, the carpets and all the seats are in absolutely exceptional condition! All the chrome work is also in very good condition and the original spare wheel and jack is in the trunk.
This particular car drive absolutely magnificently - must be driven to be fully appreciated - drives straight as an arrow with no strange road wobbles, shakes or rattles - a truly remarkable daily driver that will really give any modern day sports car a run for it's money! The transmission shifts smoothly through all the gears and the temperature always remains cool!
It is hard to pin down the first actual muscle car; some have asserted that it is the 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket 88, which was built with speed in mind and with an overhead valve V8 placed in a mid-size car with a relatively lightweight body. A lot of observers cite the next big step in the evolution of the early muscle car to be the introduction of the 1955 Chrysler C-300 with its 300 horsepower Hemi engine that could go from zero to sixty in 9.8 seconds and reach a top speed of around 130 miles per hour. A car that came along a few years later that is of note to many collectors and muscle car enthusiasts is the Oldsmobile Starfire.
This is a rare opportunity to own a great daily driving example of a 1962 Oldsmobile Starfire 2 door Hardtop coupe - one very desirable, collectible and unabused example of one of the outstanding early muscle cars and beautiful Bubble Top GM designs of the sixties.
