1953 Oldsmobile Fiesta and Cousins

For 1953, General Motors marketed three convertibles that were significantly more expensive than ordinary convertibles.  The reason, I believe, was that two of these featured panoramic/wraparoud windshields for the first time on American production cars.  This required some retooling around the A-pillar and related door hinging.  Also, all three cars featured sculpted, rather than horizontal, beltlines -- again needing some new tooling or skilled handwork.  So those high prices created a prestige image, while helping to defray the new expenses.

I wrote about the Cadillac version here.

The present post deals with the other car with the wraparound (as we called it then) windshield.  This was the Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Fiesta.  Production was 458, compared to the Ninety-Eight regular convertible's 7,521.  Respective prices were $5,717 and $3,229, a 77 percent markup.

The Fiesta is compared to the Buick Skylark and Cadillac Eldorado below.

Gallery

A Fiesta promotional item.

1953 Cadillac Eldorado - Barrett-Jackson Auctions photo
This is Cadillac's version.The windshield and beltline curving distinguish it from regular Cadillac convertibles.

1953 Buick Skylark - Mecum Auctions photo
The Skylark was the best-seller of the three, though its windshield is conventional, not panoramic.  It's difficult to be certain from these photos, but the beltline appears to be the same as the Cadillac's.

1953 Oldsmobile Fiesta - Broad Arrow Auctions photos
The Fiesta's beltline curve is far more subdued than those on the cars shown above.  Like the Buick, the trunk is higher than the Cadillac's.  Even though Olds ranked below the Cadillac and Buick in GM's prestige hierarchy, it got the wraparound whereas the Buick didn't, for some reason.

Although the 1950-vintage body wasn't designed with wraparound windshields in mind, GM's stylists did  good job of integrating it.

This two-tone paint scheme was unique for the 1953 Fiesta.  But it was used in 1954 on some Super 88 models and some Ninety-Eight sedans.