The late ’50s has come to be known as the Motor City’s baroque era in automotive styling, and the 1958 Oldsmobile could be a textbook example.

Dynamic 88 Convertible 

Have you noticed that the 1958 Oldsmobile has two competing chrome side trim treatments, one at the front and another at the rear? If so, good eye. As the story goes, General Motors styling czar Harley Earl saw a rendering by Olds stylist Bernie Smith with a dramatic reverse-bullet theme at the front and approved it on the spot, going around Olds studio chief Art Ross. But Earl then demanded more chrome for the design, and Ross reluctantly complied with the four horizontal strips in the rear quarters penned by Don Laski. The two themes don’t complement each other, but then design integration was never the goal in the baroque era. Only chrome, chrome, and more chrome.

The art, music, and architecture of the original baroque era of the 1600s was intended to be grand and theatrical, over-decorated and overwrought by design, so it’s a fair label for Motor City styling in the late ’50s. On the ’58 Olds in particular, we find massive chrome bumpers, elaborate grille work and badging, an ornamented power dome hood, and bright metal trim streaming in both directions. The glorious excess was the style statement, and while the Olds might not be the leading example of Detroit baroque, it’s a genuine contender.

Unlike other GM divisions, Oldsmobile did not adopt the controversial X-frame chassis in ’57-’58, opting instead for a semi-perimeter frame with a central X-member (above), reportedly to ensure side impact protection. However, Olds did go all in on GM’s new air suspension system in ’58, branding it as New-Matic Suspension with the added innovation of two pressure tanks in the rear rather than one to create a closed system, reducing moisture contamination. It didn’t solve all the problems with the system by any means, though, and the division dropped it after 1959.

There were three trim levels in ’58—Dynamic 88, Super 88, and 98—but none of them spared the bright metal adornment and all were available as flashy convertibles. The Dynamic 88 Holiday Coupe, value-priced at $2,893, was the most popular with more than 53,000 produced, and while the division’s volume fell 23 percent due to the ’57-’58 recession, Olds actually gained one spot to fourth in U.S. sales because the other mid-priced brands, Buick in particular, suffered more. For 1959, GM and Oldsmobile styling went in an entirely new direction. The baroque era was ending.