POPULAR MECHANICS FEEDBACK
Robby’s collection of memorabilia includes issues of Popular Mechanics from 1958. The magazine’s automotive editor at the time, Art Railton, compiled a national survey of the Oldsmobile 98 and the lower priced 98 models, featuring owners’ likes and dislikes.
“Very happy with his Oldsmobile” was one illustrative verdict.
“Among all owners, though, handling ease is tops, followed by power and performance, with riding comfort third.”
‘Ease of handling’, it should be noted, is a different thing from actual handling but very instructive about the characteristics and preferences of American drivers at the time. However, most owners were not entirely happy with the fuel consumption. Chrome is heavy, and lugging that and acres of other metal around resulted in figures as low as 12mpg (19.6 litres/100km). One of the final observations listed an estimate for the annual gasoline bill of US$232 for 10,000 miles. Oh, the agony!
Popular Mechanics summarised the survey results as follows:
Likes: Oldsmobile owners praise its ease of handling and 71.6 percent will buy another Olds. Best-liked exterior styling feature is the flashy new chrome treatment and the entirely different — for Oldsmobile, that is — grille. Dislikes: Like most new-car owners these days, they complain about poor gas mileage, especially owners of the 88 series, who apparently expected better economy than they get. The flashy chrome trim, a best-liked feature, also tops the least-liked list.
Some owner comments:
“Heavy and rides good” – Kentucky sales manager
“Trouble-free operation of the engine. I drive all over North America on vacations, usually with another woman, and have never been left stranded by motor trouble” – Illinois educational supervisor
“The only beef I have is that the Olds sits too low and I knock my hat off getting in and out. I am a heavy person and I can’t sit in the rear seat of this two-door hardtop comfortably” – Pennsylvania driver
“This car has good pickup, probably too much if you inadvertently press down on the accelerator too hard” – Californian meteorologist
Significantly, 31.2 percent of Oldsmobile owners made no complaints at all about their cars, the report said. They built them tough in the ’50s.