Late in the 1961 model year, Oldsmobile introduced the Starfire convertible as their personal luxury car. Sales and interest were enough that for 1962 Starfire became its own model line with the edition of the Holiday coupe. This hardtop became one of Oldsmobile's best selling models with 34,839 produced, compare to only 7,149 convertibles.
With its feature-light steering, pillow-soft ride and leather upholstery it had the luxury as advertised. Dual exhausts and a 4-barrel Rochester carburetor made the 345hp. V-8 a rocket launcher. And the brushed aluminum side trim didn't hurt either. In all, the Starfire helped Oldsmobile to its best year since 1956.