1957 Oldsmobile J - 2
Oldsmobile, like Buick, seemed to go astray in 1957 - 58, the result of a conservative - if not downright complacent - attitude brought on by the huge success of 1954 - 56.
Billed as the most completely changed oldsmobiles in 20 years, the "Golden Rocket" '57s came in a little longer, noticeably lower, and somewhat wider than the '56s. Wheelbases went unchanged, but spanned all-new B- and C-bodies shared with Buick. The chassis was also new: a low-riding "cowbelly" design with widely spaced side rails and Oldmobile's first ball-joint suspension. Curb weights tacked on some 220-300 pounds, but more cubic inches took care of that, and Olds had'em in a Rocket V-8 punched out to 371.1 cubic inches, the biggest among GM passenger cars. That mill developed 277 horsepower for all models - the first time since 1951 that the same engine had been standard across the Olds line.
Styling was relatively clean for a '57 GM car, and still unmistakably Olds. The "big-mouth" grille of 1956, flattened now to full width, was shorn of its vertical divider and filled with a fine mesh instead of deeply inset horizontal bars. Bright sweepspears still dropped from the notch in the beltline to just below mid-body, but now short straight back as in 1954. High-set "rocket" taillamps, an Olds trademark since 1950, gave way to semi-oval units with hooded tops that hinted at fins. As a Buick, sedans and hardtops sported three-piece rear windows, with curved triangular sections outboard of a wide center pane. Curious stamped ridges ran the length of the roof and down through the rear window divider pillars in some models. Not everyone approved, but at least it looked different.
Lansing's big '57 performance news was coded J-2, a triple-carburetor package with special intake manifold, 10.0:1 compression (versus the standard 9.5:1), and new air cleaner, throtle linkage, and head gaskets. Like Dodge's D-500 option this 300 horsepower extra could be had on any model, either factory- or dealer-installed, right down to the cheapest and lightest two-door 88 - which is where the speed demons wanted it anyway. Cost? Just $83, a fraction of what rivals charged for fuel injection or supercharging. The J-2 was a genuine performance bargain, reducing the typical 0-60 mph time to a shade over nine seconds. A second J-2 kit intended for drag and stock-car racers pumped out 312 horses, but it wasn't recommended for street use, and its $395 price kept it rare.