Celebrity RETIRED: By People Staff Published on March 6, 1998 12:00 AM Share Tweet Pin Email The Oldsmobile 88, after 50 years on the market (making it America’s oldest continuous car brand), by General Motors, in Lansing MI, Tuesday. GM introduced the Futuramic 88 convertible in the postwar boom of 1949, catching buyers’ attention with the slogan, “Make a date with the Rocket 88.”