starfire 1st gen. Cutlass

The Starfire name was first used on a production car to designate the convertible models of the 98 line for the 1954 through 1956 model years in much the same way that the Holiday name was used to designate hardtop body-styles. The 1954 through 1956 Oldsmobile 98 Starfire convertibles were the most expensive Oldsmobiles offered during those years. During the 1957 model year, all 98 models were referred to as being "Starfire 98s". The name was dropped from the 98 series beginning with the 1958 model year. The 1956 98 used a 324 cubic inch Rocket V8. That engine was replaced by a 371 in³ engine for 1957. Then in the middle of the 1961 model year Oldsmobile revived the Starfire name for its entry into the new "personal luxury' market that Ford had so successfully opened up with its four-seater 1958 Thunderbird. This new Starfire was now a series on its own, not part of the 98 series as previously, although it did share its 3,124 mm (123 in.) wheelbase with the 88. It was 5,385 mm (212 in.) long, and weighed in at a hefty 1,964 kg (4,330 lb). Its styling was strongly influenced by the 98. As a distinctive model, the Starfire was lavishly equipped, with power steering, brakes, seats and windows. It came with an automatic transmission only, and under the hood was the most potent Olds engine yet, a 330 horsepower, 6.5 litre (395 cu in.) V-8. The interior featured leather seats and a tachometer, the latter to indicate that the Starfire had sporting pretensions. It was the most expensive Oldsmobile. The '61 Starfire came only as a convertible, but for '62 the line was expanded to include a two-door hardtop coupe. The '62 also enjoyed the complete restyling that Oldsmobile applied across its model line. Adding the two-door coupe was a good move by Oldsmobile because it became a popular seller. With almost 35,000 Starfire coupes and over 7,000 convertibles sold, 1962 would prove to be the Starfire's best sales year. New competition entered the fray for 1963 with the Riviera, sister division Buick's attractive new personal luxury car. Also, Oldsmobile didn't help the Starfire's cause by introducing its own new 98 Custom Sports Coupe model, essentially a competitor for the Starfire. The result was a decline in Starfire sales to just over 25,000. In spite of its size and weight, the Starfire had excellent performance. Car Life magazine (5/63) tested a Hardtop Coupe and reported that the big V-8, now up to 345 horsepower, could accelerate the Starfire from zero to 96 km/h (60 mph) in 8.5 seconds, and reach a top speed of 180 km/h (112 mph). The testers were generally impressed with the Starfire, although their preference was definitely for Oldsmobile's smaller, turbocharged F-85 Jetfire model. With stiff competition from Buick's Riviera and Ford's Thunderbird, and Oldsmobile's own division, particularly the Cutlass's new 4-4-2 performance package option, Starfire sales continued to slide. It found only 16,163 buyers for 1964. For the 1965 model year, all Oldsmobiles would receive new styling, and the Starfire Hardtop Sports Coupe would receive a unique roofline with an inversely curved rear window. The Hardtop Sports Coupe body-style was shared with the Jetstar I. Other 88 models adopted a Holiday Hardtop Coupe body-style that featured more of a fastback roof design, while the Ninety-Eight featured a more squared-off formal roof-line. A new version of the V-8 engine was offered for the 1965 model year, this one measuring 425 cubic inches in displacement, still using a Rochester 4-barrel carburetor and generating 370 horsepower at 4800 rpm. This was still the most powerful engine in the Oldsmobile lineup and used only in the Starfire and the Jetstar I. 1965 sales were 13,024 for the coupe and 2,236 for the convertible. The Starfire convertible was no longer available for the 1966 model year, the last year the Starfire would be offered as a full-sized passenger car. Horsepower was up to 375, but the Starfire no longer had the most powerful engine offered for sale in an Oldsmobile. The new Toronado had a similar engine offering 385 horsepower. Sales of the 1966 Starfire coupe were 13,019. The 1975-80 Starfire was Oldsmobile's version of the GM H body. Like the other Monza based H bodies (Chevy Monza, Buick Skyhawk, Pontiac Sunbird) it was introduced in 1975 in a bid to offer a sporty compact economical car. These cars were originally supposed to have the ill fated GM rotary engine but GM killed the rotary before 1975 so they quickly engineered their existing powertrains to fit. Available engines were the Buick sourced odd fire 231 V6 (75-mid 77), later revised to become the even fire Buick 3.8 V6 (mid 77-80), and Chevrolet sourced 305 V8 (1978-80), and Pontiac sourced 2.5 L4 Iron Duke (1978-80). Available transmissions were the Borg Warner 4 Speed, Borg Warner T-50 5 speed (L4 & V6 only) and the Metric 200 Automatic. Starfire models were the SX (75-80), GT (75-80), E4, and Firenza (78-80). The SX and GT were essentially the same with the exception of the exterior graphics. The Firenza was quite different with blacked out chrome, front and rear spoiler, Wheel opening extensions and V8 power exclusively.The 1975 model featured a one year only instrument panel and larger transmission tunnel (left over from the rotary), 76 models had the new instrument panel which continued unchanged until 1980. 75-76 models share the same front facia and exterior emblems. 77-78 models featured a new front facia and exterior emblems, and 79-80 models featured the a new front facia and 2 headlight system, but have different grilles. The interiors form 76-80 were more or less the same. The Starfire was classified as a 2+2 with bucket seats up front and pseudo buckets in the rear. Like the other H bodies it featured a new sophisticated torque arm and panhard rod solid axle rear suspension. This was GM's first implementation of this setup which would later be utilized on GM's Camaro and Firebird from 1982-2002. Thanks to 13 inch radial tires the car sat low to the ground and had a low center of gravity which together with the rear suspension provided spirited handling. The Starfires had a very high percentage of manual transmissions which certainly help them seem sporty. However like all mid 70s GM cars the various engines were all low compression and choked with emissions equipmet so acceleration was not impressive (even with the V8). The Starfire sold in decent numbers but never really caught on with Oldsmobile's traditional customers because of it's small size and more importantly because it was not available with the Oldsmobile Rocket V8. The Rocket V8 (Introduced in 1949) had such a strong reputation with traditional Oldsmobile buyers that when GM ran short of them and started installing Chevy V8s in Oldsmobiles customers became very upset, returned these cars to the dealers and sued GM! Very few Starfires survive today and you almost never see one on the road. The great positive for the restorer is that since they used common GM engines and drivetrain components dramatically increasing their performance is quite easy. Also since they share so many body and interior parts with other GM H bodies finding replacement parts is not that difficult. 1975 production 31,081 price $3,873 to $4,157 1976 production 29,159 price $3,882 to $4,062 1977 production 19,091 price $3,802 to $4,000 1978 production 17,321 price $3,925 to $4,131 1979 production 20,299 price $4,095 to $4,295 1980 production 8,237 price $4,750 to $4,950