1959 Oldsmobile F-88 Mark III

Bright red with a brushed aluminum retractable hardtop, this low, sleek two-seater was Earl’s design swan song. Its 102 inch wheelbase carried a combination fiberglass and steel body, and it stood only forty-six inches high. Inside were bucket seats and aircraft-type instruments featuring rotating disc-type tachometer and speedometer, color-coded according to range. To obtain a very low hood, there was a special carburetor arrangement and an altered-from-stock crossflow aluminum radiator. The muffler / exhaust system was mounted ahead of the engine, exiting forward of the front wheels; an experimental Hydra-matic was mounted in the rear to improve weight distribution. Harley Earl drove the Mark III for a while during his retirement.