1963 oldsmobile starfire 1961 ford thunderbird

Convertible tops could be had in white, black, green, blue, fawn, and red.Ī price tag of $4,647 made the Starfire the most expensive Olds since the special Fiesta convertible that listed at $5,717 in 1953, and $8 more expensive than the 1961 T-Bird ragtop. Production Starfires came in 15 exterior colors and interiors of gray, fawn, blue, and red. The special Waldorf-Astoria Starfire was painted in a deep luster Autumn Mist and complemented by a red leather interior and white convertible top. Of course, the 10.25:1 compression ratio meant that it burned only premium fuel. It looked as well as it ran, sporting a chrome-plated air cleaner perched atop the four-barrel carburetor and shiny valve covers and oil filler cap. V-8 that cranked out 330 HP and 440 lbs/ft of torque at 2800 rpm. The Starfire's sparkling performance came from the Rocket V-8, a 395-cubic-in. But it was the Starfire's interior that stood out as its most striking feature leather-covered bucket seats separated a multi-faceted console that had a chrome-plated automatic transmission shifter, tachometer, and much more. wheelbase like the 88, but grille and rear trim were more like the Ninety-Eight.Įxterior styling touches exclusive to the Starfire included two slim parallel hood moldings and a 4-in.-wide band of brushed aluminum on the sides. The front grille and rear design treatment, however, were more akin to the Ninety-Eight. Unlike the Starfires of the Fifties, the new Olds convertible shared its 123-in.-wheelbase chassis with the 88 models. The first Starfires began arriving at selected Oldsmobile dealerships in January 1961. Wolfram, Oldsmobile general manager, told a New York auto show press conference that the Starfire was scheduled for a limited-production run 'at a later date.' 3, 1960, at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City, to show off the new one-model series. Taking a page from its 1953 Fiesta program, Oldsmobile chose the General Motors 1961 Motorama, which opened on Nov. The delay was used so as not to upstage the debut of Oldsmobile's long-awaited compact, the F-85.

Although Oldsmobile officials had already decided to produce the new 1961 Starfire, they deliberately held it back for a mid-year introduction.

1963 oldsmobile starfire 1961 ford thunderbird