1950 Oldsmobile 88 custom coupe

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The Oldsmobile's trim has been cleaned up and the chrome polished
The Oldsmobile’s trim has been cleaned up and the chrome polished

The Pick of the Day is a gorgeous cover girl, a dream machine that graced the front cover and centerfold of the November 4, 1991, edition of Hot Rod Mechanix magazine, under the headline, “My Blue Heaven.”

The coupe is painted in an attractive shade called Crest Blue
The coupe is painted in an attractive shade called Crest Blue

The 1950 Oldsmobile 88 coupe has been tastefully transformed into a period-style custom cruiser with a cleaned-up nose, grille and rear deck, and painted a luscious shade called Crest Blue. The Olds is powered by its original, rebuilt 303 cid Rocket V8 and three-speed automatic, with new brakes, tires, springs, shocks and battery, according to the Brainerd, Minnesota, dealer advertising the coupe on ClassicCars.com.

Some changes have been made since the Olds 88 appeared in the magazine 26 years ago, most noticeably the switch from custom chrome rims to steel wheels with full Oldsmobile hubcaps and old-school whitewall tires, for a clean and retro look.

Also changed, the ride height has been lifted slightly since the car’s centerfold appearance, though still an inch or two lower than stock, and the interior has been updated with modern leather seats and door panels, with a matching trunk treatment.

The interior has been update in leather
The interior has been update in leather

The original modernistic dashboard, steering wheel and trim thankfully have been retained. A modern radio has been hidden away in the glove box, with the original Space Age radio still in the dash.

As well as being beautifully overhauled, the Olds has been driven only 43,000 miles in the past 67 years, the dealer says. The car has never seen rust nor has had any rust-related body repair, the seller says, adding, “This classic runs like dream.”

The photo gallery accompanying the ad shows a beautifully finished automobile with a nice livable interior and a very clean engine compartment and undercarriage. You couldn’t even come close to recreating this beauty for the asking price of $42,000.

And just think how great it would be cruising, windows down and blasting “My angel is the centerfold!” from the J. Geils Band.

To view this listing on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day

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Bob Golfen
Bob Golfen is a longtime automotive writer and editor, focusing on new vehicles, collector cars, car culture and the automotive lifestyle. He is the former automotive writer and editor for The Arizona Republic and SPEED.com, the website for the SPEED motorsports channel. He has written free-lance articles for a number of publications, including Autoweek, The New York Times and Barrett-Jackson auction catalogs. A collector car enthusiast with a wide range of knowledge about the old cars that we all love and desire, Bob enjoys tinkering with archaic machinery. His current obsession is a 1962 Porsche 356 Super coupe.

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