Check out this period photo of a very young Carrol Shelby. Note the Olds F88 in the background to the left. Never saw it painted pale green before, and apparently driven in the wild. Harley Earl's car, perhaps?

 

Sweet.

 

Nice find.

 

Now that is cool! I wonder if that's the car that was sold in the crates.

 

WOW! very cool!

 

From what I have read they only built two of them and one of them burned. I wonder which one that one is. Harley Earl drove one for lots of years. Great picture.

 

There were three F88 show cars built in 1954. Two of them were used to build the Mark 2 and Mark 3 versions later in the 1950s. Earl and Mitchell frequently painted show cars different colors, though the mint green version of the F88 was not something I'd seen before.

 

Thanks Joe. From what I read (I am going off memory here which is dangerous) is that Harley Earl gave his car to EL Cord and it was the one in crates that is now in the museum in Colorado and went through Barrett Jackson at 4+ million. I have never seen pictures of the one painted green.

 

More info:

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/201...8s-did-gm-make

http://wildaboutcarsonline.com/cgi-b...=9960418058810

Here's another photo I've never seen before. This is the fuel injection used in the first iteration of the F88 Mark III from 1959. Apparently it didn't take long for this to be replaced with a traditional carb.

 

You are really digging deep and finding some interesting stuff. Here is another article. Unfortunately there are few people still alive than can prove or disprove the stories.

https://auto.howstuffworks.com/1954-oldsmobile-f88.htm

 

The Hemmings article I linked above claims that there were eight Shop Orders related to F88 builds, for up to six cars.

 

It's a shame that car never got into production. I believe Pontiac had a similar car as well.

 

The Hemmings article is very interesting. I had always heard two cars but this article pretty well dispels that rumor. I guess the only thing that seems real is there is only one surviving. Or is Harley Earls car waiting to be discovered.

Yes, Matt Pontiac did have the Bonneville. Apparently they build two of them and they both still exist. Here is a link.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontia...eville_Special

 

wonder what would have become of the corvette if this happened?

 

I have pics on paper I could post from The auction in Monteray Calif. I took as it never sold for $500K. I'll look for the pics it was Gold.
Gerald

 

It is very questionable if the Corvette would have survived. Dealers had a very hard time selling all the 54's and they only built 700 55's. Just think how the F88 would have outperformed the Corvette of that time.

 

Absolutely.

Although Duntov was a suspension and engine genius, he was saddled with ancient Chevrolet parts. He didn't get to eliminate kingpins until 1963 but got to exchange the Blue Flame Six in 1955 for a lighter V8. There wasn't enough power until 1957.

He must have been a good lobbyist against the F88.

 

All of the other GM body platforms competed head to head, so why not this one.
The damn crybabies at chev couldn't stand the competition, and knew Olds and Pontiac would kick their a$$es.

 

Are you sure that's fuel injection ?
That sure looks like a pair of Weber carbs , turned sideways , in front of the engine and behind the radiator shroud .
The manifold does look similar to Chevy's " dog house " intake on their FI units .
Also , I would think that engine was a 394 , judging by the valve cover bolts on the outskirts of the cover .
I must have been HOT !
A Weber carb ;

 

I'm just quoting what was in the article. I agree that they look like Weber or Dellorto side draft carbs, but that would be a LOOOOONG intake tract if that were the case. It also appears to be water heated. I don't see any sort of port injector plumbing on the intake, either.

 

Chevrolet was not scared of the other divisions making a production version of the Corvette. GM was scared to make three more sports cars based on one that wasn’t selling. If Chevy couldn’t sell the Corvette there was no way in hell the other three would get a chance to try. Thus why the Bonneville Special, the F88 and the LaSalle never made it past design concepts.

 

If that is what you want to believe. The corvette was an over priced dog, that is why it didn't sell. Blue Flame 6, lol.

 

Duntov got one look at the F88 and crapped his pants.

 

The Olds would have been top of the heap. It had 270 HP vs 150 HP with better suspension and brakes, would have beat the Thunderbird as well.