One defining event of 1950s American car culture was General Motors' traveling Motorama. It was a truly extraordinary, no-expense-spared display of dazzling technology, stunning styling, and modern American ingenuity. The series of dramatic styling exercises by the legendary Harley Earl captivated the public, but most of the designs were never made for sale. For 1953, though, GM made an exception. The company offered three of the previous year’s “dream cars” in limited-production numbers to the lucky few who could afford the staggering price tags and who had the personal influence required to secure one from “The General.” The three models available were the Cadillac Series 62 Eldorado, the Buick Roadmaster Skylark, and the car offered here, the Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Fiesta.

Though all three were produced in very limited numbers, the scarcest of all was the Oldsmobile “98” Fiesta which cost an astonishing $5,715. It was, and remains to this day, a stunning design that pioneered several features at Oldsmobile, including the cut-down, wraparound windshield, “spinner” wheel covers soon to be popular in the Kustoms crowd, and attractive two-tone paint schemes in exclusive colors. Each Fiesta came well equipped with leather upholstery, power steering, power brakes, power windows, and a power seat. It was the rarest of the 1953 GM Trifecta of dream cars, with a total production run of just 458 examples. Today, surviving examples rarely become available for sale.

The car offered here has been immaculately restored to truly stunning, show-ready condition, with a sparkling metallic finish in White over Turquoise two-tone, which is accented by an exceptionally beautiful blue and white interior and blindingly white top. Typical of a General Motors car of this period, it is full of wonderful Space Age details, including a steering wheel hub that proudly announces “GM Power Steering” and a rear-mounted continental kit spare. The car was a participant in the 2016 Greenwich Concours d’Elegance, cementing its status as one of the finest extant examples of this incredibly rare luxury convertible.

This Fiesta, presented in particularly beautiful colors, is a wonderful example of the car that, in their 1953 advertising, AC Spark Plug referred to as a “sportster,” establishing it as the most stylish car produced in Lansing during the Rocket Age.