As some of you may know (especially if you read our article on GM's early hardtop coupes this year), Buick called its first hardtop the Roadmaster Riviera; Cadillac, the Coupe de Ville; Pontiac, the Catalina; Chevrolet, the Bel Air; and Oldsmobile, the Futuramic Series 98 Holiday Coupe. There would eventually be De Ville convertibles, Bel Air sedans, and Riviera personal luxury cars, but Oldsmobile stayed the course: from 1949 to 1972, the division applied the "Holiday" designation only to its two- and four-door pillarless hardtop body styles.

Through 1963, that nomenclature was used only in the full-size line -- since 1961-1962 Cutlasses and 1962-1963 Jetfires were offered only as pillarless two-door hardtops, we suppose Olds felt it would be redundant on the senior compact line -- but from 1964 to 1972, the Holiday name was also applied to pillarless versions of the A-body intermediates. Surprisingly, Oldsmobile never used the name for station wagons, even pillarless ones, and mid-sixties rumors that its new specialty coupe (which became the Oldsmobile Toronado) would be called the Oldsmobile Holiday proved false.

In the spirit of the season, we offer a selection of Holidays for your enjoyment:


A 1956 Olds 88 Holiday Coupe.


A 1957 Olds Ninety-Eight Holiday Coupe. We don't know if this was a factory color for '57 -- it might be Royal Glow, but we're not sure. (There were several shades of pink on offer.)


A chrome-laden and fabulous 1958 Ninety-Eight Holiday Coupe. Unlike the '57 above, we believe this color combination was a factory option: Mountain Haze over Heather. This car also sports a matching Continental kit, although it's hard to see from this angle.


A 1959 Ninety-Eight Holiday SportSedan four-door hardtop. The owner assured us that while this is a repaint, Cardinal Red over Polaris White was indeed a catalogued factory two-tone combination. He said even his paint shop was skeptical until he showed them the brochure.


A 1960 Ninety-Eight Holiday SceniCoupe.


A 1961 Super Eighty-Eight Holiday Coupe. (The SceniCoupe and SportSedan designations were dropped after 1960.)

Alas, we don't have any photos of a green '62 to continue the sequence and round out the color assortment. Maybe next year.


Okay, this is not technically a Holiday, although it is festive, and a hardtop: a 1957 Super 88 Fiesta station wagon, to be precise. If you feel like throwing a Fiesta this season, we suggest getting lots of helpers -- its curb weight is over 4,500 lb (2,058 kg).

Happy Holidays, indeed.

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