1918 Oldsmobile 45A V8 touring car

[beardbros]

I have for sale a 1918 Oldsmobile 45A touring car. This car only has 20595 original miles on it. The sheetmetal and frame is in fantastic shape, no rust anywhere. The body does not have any large dents or defects and I cannot find any evidence of major body work. The fenders are in great rust free condition also. The rear fenders have been bumped a couple times and are not perfect along the edges. The paint on the car is driver quality with chips and scratches, the chrome on the car is still in great condition. The wood on the car is in incredibly good shape. The original owners must have never gotten the car wet. From what I know about the history of this car it was restored in the late 70's and then spent the rest of its time in a local museum. When the museum closed the owner took the car home and it sat in his climate controlled garage until the family had an estate sale where I aquired it. This 45A is different in a couple ways from the others I have seen pictures of. The dash on this one does not have the two storage doors and the Oldsmobile clock is larger than the other ones I have seen. There are also no jump seats in the rear passenger area so I guess this would be a 5 passenger touring car instead of a 7. The top on the car is in great condition also. It was replaced during the restoration and has full side curtains for bad weather. The interior was redone in black vinyl. The engine runs great and the car drives as it should. I did not take the car up to highway speed because of the condition of the tires, but once they are replaced I am confident it will have no problem. The clutch is in good working order and all the gauges work. The motor holds 25psi of oil pressure when running and the coolant stays at about 165 degrees. We rebuilt the fuel pump, put new plugs and points in and changed the fluids. I have a clear IL title in my name for this car.

Known issues:

• It is missing the dash light, one rim lug, the parking brake top button, the firewall tag, the clamps that hold the top when it is in the down position and the tail light.
  
• The clock does not work.
  
• It has sealed beam headlights in place of the original bulbs.
  
• The heads both have cracks in them on the topside. There is no coolant getting into the combustion chamber so the cracks seem to be limited to the topside of the head. The head gaskets are available and since these heads are a high quality prewar steel they can be repaired by a good welding shop.
  
• The fuel tank is solid but needs to be boiled out.
  
• Needs new tires. They hold air but would not be safe at speed for a long tour.
  
• The radiator has a patch on it.
  

This is your chance to own a very rare early V8 touring car that can be enjoyed as a driver with a little maintenance or it is a perfect candidate for a concourse restoration considering the exceptional condition of the wood and sheetmetal on this car along with it having all the original hard to find parts on it.

Check out over 100 high resolution pictures here: Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket

Please call Jim with any questions at 815- two five two - 7247

Here is some info on the 1918 45A Oldsmobile:

58 hp, 246 cu. in. V8 engine, three-speed manual transmission, solid front axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs, full-floating rear axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs, and two-wheel external contracting service brakes. Wheelbase: 120" For 1918, the Model 45 lineup now included six models. In particular, the Model 45-A Light Eight was quite popular and Oldsmobile sales rose dramatically, with the marque rising to an eighth-place sales ranking in 1918. The V8-powered 1918 Oldsmobile Model 45A Touring Car offered here is a wonderful example of the roughly 8,100 originally produced. <o:p></o>

After becoming part of General Motors in 1908 Olds Motor Works began to fit new models into its offering to expand production. One of the most important line extensions was the 1916 Model 44 Light Eight with its 246 cubic inch L-head 90 degree V-8 engine with pressure lubrication.

The model was an immediate success, outselling Oldsmobile's established fours by nearly 4:1. By the time this 1918 Oldsmobile Model 45-A was built the V-8 was producing 58 horsepower. 8,132 Model 45A series cars were produced by Oldsmobile for the 1918 model year. The year marked the second for the upper-tier 45A series, but it was actually the third year that Oldsmobile offered its 256-cid V-8 engine in its top-end models. The V-8 powerplant offered 56 hp by 1918. The 45A series included seven- and five-passenger touring cars, a three-passenger cabriolet, four-door sedan, four-door sport touring and two-door roadster. The seven-passenger touring cars were designated 45A-T and carried a base price of $1,295 and a curb weight of 3,095 lbs. The big 45A series cars had wheelbases of 120 inches — eight inches more than the smaller Olds 37 series cars. They featured a selective three-speed transmission with shaft drive, floating rear axle, two-wheel brakes and wooden artillery-style wheels.

Edited August 2, 2012 by beardbros (see edit history)

[beardbros]

It is on Ebay now. Oldsmobile : Other convertible in Oldsmobile | eBay Motors=

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