An Olds You Don't See That Often

[Hudsy Wudsy]

I don't know when I've seen a '48 Olds 98. This top of the line Olds shared the same body as Cadillac in this particular year, although Buick wouldn't offer this body until another year had past. Most of us are familiar with this body because of it being the first year Cadillac introduced it's iconic tail fins. If you haven't seen one of these in a while, you may do a bit of a double take at how plain and undistinguished it looks without the tail fins. Even the grille is understated as Olds used a cut down version of their more common frown-like forties grilles. This particular car is one that I just came across is for sale on C/L. The seller is asking at least twice what it's worth, so I don't expect any of you to race out and buy it, though. I'm just posting it for those who might not know this version of the more familiar Cadillac body. I'm pretty sure that those are the correct optional full disc hub caps. They remind me of Cadillac sombreros. I see that it was equipped with air conditioning at some point. I'm sure that a nice one of these, or this one restored, would be a sweet cruiser for those who like something a little different:

 

https://madison.craigslist.org/cto/6082887422.html

 

 

Ad copy:

48 Oldsmobile
North Dakota barn find
Perfect patina
VERY CLEAN CAR
Complete car
Paperwork goes back to top new
Title in hand
Flathead straight 8
Perfect survivor car, rat rod project, hot rod, etc.

show contact info Cal

$4500 obo

 

 

'48 Cadillac:

Edited April 24, 2017 by Hudsy Wudsy (see edit history)

[auburnseeker]

With some looking convertibles can be had in very nice shape for the price of a Buick or Less.   I seem to remember a pretty nice one for low 20's that I saw about a year or two ago.  I'm sure there are some pretty nice examples out there still.  

[vermontboy]

Does anyone else think that the patina was "created". It just looks off to me.

[John_S_in_Penna]

And the phone number in the ad is 608-271-0133

in case someone's tempted to add a car to his garage.

The ad heading says Oregon, but it's posted on the

Craig's List from Madison, Wisconsin.  (The seller

should have made the car's location clearer.)

Edited April 24, 2017 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[mike6024]

Oregon, Wisconsin is only 11 miles south of Madison, Wisconsin. Were you thinking the state of Oregon?

[mike6024]

That is North Dakota patina, not your ordinary patina.

[Hudsy Wudsy]

I have to admit that it doesn't look to me like natural paint loss, but I just can't imagine some clown sanding or buffing through the original finish with these results in mind.

Edited April 24, 2017 by Hudsy Wudsy (see edit history)

[auburnseeker]

Maybe it's an old Earl Scheib paint job and it's wearing off.    It has the look of an old paint job that was really thin exposed to years of midwest out door storage.  Maybe the same shop did the paint work that painted the new late 80's early 90's Oldsmobiles. 

[Hudsy Wudsy]

I think that I recall Cadillac LaSalles used the Olds straight eight for a time in the mid thirties. At any rate, this was the last year for this engine as the following year - 1949 - would see the introduction of their landmark OHV V8.

Edited April 24, 2017 by Hudsy Wudsy (see edit history)

[Rusty_OToole]

Advertised as the Futuramic Oldsmobile, I don't know why they didn't sell better but there seem to be hardly any of them around. This was the last year of the flathead straight eight. Road tester Tom McCahill panned it, saying when you step on the gas it's like stepping on a wet sponge, you get a squish instead of a swish. This got him a lot of flack from Olds owners and dealers but later an Olds insider told him it was the clincher they needed to get approval for the Olds V8 which was originally scheduled to go to Buick.

Edited April 27, 2017 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)

[60FlatTop]

Here's a Volkswagen with, obviously, fake petunia application.

[D Yaros]

I (being the little guy 2nd from left) fondly recall the 1948 Furturamic

 

 

Edited April 26, 2017 by D Yaros (see edit history)

[Hudsy Wudsy]

Rusty, perhaps Tom McCahill had higher expectations than he should have had. I know the new ground breaking body plus the name "Futurmatic" might give a guy reason to be hopefull, but in reality it was powered by the same old relatively small flat head engine handed down from the early thirties. If I recall right, Pontiac's eight was smaller still. I imagine that he was test driving a Hydramatic equipped car. I love those old workhorse transmissions, but any of you who know them well also know that at certain speeds all downshifting them does is make the engine louder. As far as any performance type of acceleration goes, a guy simply has to use his right foot to keep them from upshifting at too low of a speed. Of course, manually shifting them has the same desired effect, as well. If you drive them like an old lady, they'll perform like an old lady. I don't recall ever hearing how Olds got the green light to go ahead with the V8 ahead of Buick, but your story about McCahill sound both plausible and fun!

Edited April 26, 2017 by Hudsy Wudsy (see edit history)

[Rusty_OToole]

I think he was disappointed in the performance for a car of that size and price.  Competitive makes like Buick, Hudson, Packard, and Chrysler eights may have been faster. It is quite possible it had decent performance but, you would naturally expect more from a top of the line car like an Olds 98 than you would from a Ford or Plymouth.

 

Did a little checking and found the 257 cu in Olds straight eight put out 115HP and the car weighed from 3465 to 4035 pounds depending on model.

Edited April 27, 2017 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)

[Hudsy Wudsy]

Yeah, that was a heavy load. I should mention that I never meant to discredit McCahill. He was an important voice for several decades.

[Hudsy Wudsy]

Here's a view of two similar convertibles -- the top one is a '48 and the bottom one is a '49. It's interesting how adding the headlight/parking light treatment and the new larger hood ornament gave the somewhat plain front end a little more style for '49. That hood ornament design would be around for a few years:

 

1948:

 

 

1949:

 

 

 

Edited April 27, 2017 by Hudsy Wudsy (see edit history)