The world’s first car to be turbocharged was a forgotten V8 muscle car
- This is the world’s first ever turbocharged car
- It had a V8 with 215HP and did 0-60 in 9 seconds
- Only around 3,700 were made
Published on Mar 15, 2025 at 11:14 PM (UTC+4)
by Alessandro Renesis
Last updated on Mar 13, 2025 at 12:26 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
This is the Oldsmobile Jetfire, a half-forgotten V8 muscle car from the 1960s.
The name might not ring a bell, but it probably should.
In a way, the Jetfire has certainly earned its spot in the history books.
That’s because, believe it or not, this was the world’s first turbocharged car.
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The story behind this obscure V8 muscle car
So many people forgot about Oldsmobile, and it’s a shame.
This is the company that gave the world the first muscle car, the Rocket 88, and also the automaker that pioneered futuristic designs in 1980s.
The Oldsmobile Jetfire was based on the much more famous Cutlass, but it had a slightly different design with no pillars and a hardtop.

It was unveiled in 1962 and had a V8 with 215HP, and as the world’s first turbocharged car, it was considered pretty fast at the time.
It did 0-60 in about 9 seconds.
This, of course, is not exactly impressive nowadays.
Unfortunately, it didn’t do too well in market considering Oldsmobile only sold around 3,700 of them.
Turbocharged engines are the norm now

Naturally aspirated engines are becoming rare, and nearly every vehicle is turbocharged these days.
This is largely due to the fact that turbocharging a car is like a cheat code.
You get more power and more torque with a smaller engine, which is also good for emissions, something automakers keep an eye on now.
A couple of years ago, Mercedes launched what is probably the most technically impressive turbocharged engine in the world.
It’s a small 2.0-liter four-cylinder hybrid unit but, thanks to the turbocharger, it puts out 680HP.
It may be technically brilliant, but customers aren’t loving it.
Sales of the C63, the model that Mercedes chose to introduce the engine, aren’t great, which is why the automaker is bringing back more V8s.
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