The Oldsmobile No One Remembers

If you asked most people here in the US what the first American car to be turbocharged from the factory they will likely say the Thunderbird Turbocoupe, Chrysler Conquest, or the Chevrolet Corvair, however, none of those would be correct. The first was actually and Oldsmobile. The Oldsmobile F-85 Jetfire, which came with a turbocharged 215ci all aluminum V8, making 215hp and 301lb. Ft. of torque.

The F-85 Jetfire was ahead of its it's time, but it was not as popular as it should've been. Oldsmobile made the car more powerful, but did nothing to sharpen it up, and kept the same base suspension as the standard F-85. Also without modern engine management systems it was prone to spark knock, and the only way to prevent it at the time was with a 50/50 mixture of methanol and distilled water. It was a great idea, a normal every day family car with a special engine, and one of the coolest Oldsmobiles ever.