The song’s bragging, suggestive lyrics, incidentally, pay homage to the Oldsmobile 88, a vehicle whose powerful engine and relatively compact size made it a popular entry-level car in the early 1950s.

Jackie Brenston was a sax player and singer, working with his band The Delta Cats. In 1951 he recorded, for Sam Phillips Sun Records in Memphis, the song “Rocket 88” which is widely credited as the ...

Launched in 1949, the Rocket 88 was powered by a high-compression, overhead valve, 5.0-liter V-8 that developed 135 horsepower, considerably more than a contemporary Ford flathead, and 253 lb-ft of ...