There was probably little hope that this neat little Oldsmobile sports car would ever see producion, but it’s a tantalizing what-if. 

As is often the case with the Motor City’s more obscure concept vehicles, there isn’t a ton of information about the Oldsmobile XP-888GT. In the ’60s, the experimental programs went by at a rapid clip. Much of the story came to light years later in an Automobile Quarterly article in February of 1997. Reportedly, General Motors styling boss Bill Mitchell was a fan of the project and sent it to Oldsmobile, since Chevrolet, Pontiac, and Buick (Opel GT) had two-seater plans of their own.

A product of the  GM Advanced Design Studios, the XP-888 was to be based on a shortened Chevy Vega platform (then in development) with power provided by an unspecified engine of Olds origin. The exterior design is a reflection of what was in the air at GM styling at the time: we can see elements of the Vega and second-generation Camaro and Firebird.

The photo above illustrates how relatively tiny the Olds GT was: It’s dwarfed by a 1969 Corvette, which itself has only a 98-in wheelbase. That would make it roughly the size of an MG Midget MkIII (80-in wb) or a Triumph Spitfire (83-in wb), two entry-level British sports cars of the period. Neither sold in especially large numbers in the USA, by Motor City standards anyway.

Above we see a key design feature of the XP-888GT: Along with a removable targa panel to provide open-air motoring, a near-necessity in a sports car, the rear roof section was also removable. By swapping fiberglass roof sections, owners could configure the car as a fastback GT or a compact station wagon, a shooting brake if you will. It could even serve duty as a pickup, with the roof section removed to carry tall objects. This same neat gimmick would later appear on the 1986-90 Nissan EXA (Nissan Pulsar NX in North America). Ford and Ghia would also experiment with the idea on the Fiesta-based 1976 Prima concept.

As seen below, the XP-888GT had a remarkably wide track for a small sports car, providing more elbow room in the cabin and no doubt improving the handling. However, the photo also illustrates why the little Olds had little hope of ever seeing production. General Motors already had two sporting two-seaters for sale on the U.S. market: the Opel GT, sold by Buick dealers, and the Chevrolet Corvette. In the USA, the market for two-passenger cars tends to be limited.