1950 oldsmobile assembly plant sedan deliveries

[PONTIAC1953]

hello, am trying to find solid proof of the 7 factory built 1950 oldsmobile sedan deliveries that were used as parts chaser for the olds assembly plants, or used by the plant managers.

[pont35cpe]

10 hours ago, pontiac1953 said:

hello, am trying to find solid proof of the 7 factory built 1950 oldsmobile sedan deliveries that were used as parts chaser for the olds assembly plants, or used by the plant managers.

Here`s a `35 Pontiac delivery I`ve never found anything about either..  Must have been at least 2.

Edited December 27, 2019 by pont35cpe (see edit history)

[8E45E]

Now that is far rarer than the 600 or so 1958 (Canadian) Pontiac sedan deliveries that were made!!!

 

Craig

[pont35cpe]

10 hours ago, pontiac1953 said:

hello, am trying to find solid proof of the 7 factory built 1950 oldsmobile sedan deliveries that were used as parts chaser for the olds assembly plants, or used by the plant managers.

Confirms 7 were built.  Have you seen this?            https://www.oldcarsweekly.com/car-of-the-week/car-week-1950-oldsmobile-sedan-delivery

Edited December 27, 2019 by pont35cpe (see edit history)

[36 D2 Coupe]

22 minutes ago, pont35cpe said:

Confirms 7 were built.  Have you seen this?            https://www.oldcarsweekly.com/car-of-the-week/car-week-1950-oldsmobile-sedan-delivery

This link comes up as having a Trojan virus.

[auburnseeker]

Here is the photo from the link. 

[pont35cpe]

56 minutes ago, 36 D2 Coupe said:

This link comes up as having a Trojan virus.

Just fine on my computer, no alerts....

[joe_padavano]

An article in a third-party magazine with pictures of a completely restored vehicle and quotes like "I was lead to believe..." aren't proof.

[auburnseeker]

43 minutes ago, joe_padavano said:

An article in a third-party magazine with pictures of a completely restored vehicle and quotes like "I was lead to believe..." aren't proof.

Well more proof than there is for the existence of the Tucker Convt.  

[8E45E]

It looks to be a real nice restoration.

 

I won't doubt there were none made, as there were Nash tow trucks made strictly for dealers, and not for sale to the public, for example.   But I can bet the seven  never had whitewalls or a radio when they were in use at the factory.  I'll also guess it may have been painted orange or yellow to be highly visible and identify it as a plant vehicle.

 

Craig

[padgett]

Back then all sorts of strange things happened,  an Olds front clip on a Chevvy sedan delivery and some chrome in the back in the same place as a Chevvy tailights since Olds apparently did not have a 2 door wagon in '50. What plant was it built at ?  Engineering shop could do in a day including the interior.

 

That said the article talks about a different chassis and rear doors, should be easy to verify.

[pont35cpe]

46 minutes ago, padgett said:

Back then all sorts of strange things happened,  an Olds front clip on a Chevvy sedan delivery and some chrome in the back in the same place as a Chevvy tailights since Olds apparently did not have a 2 door wagon in '50. What plant was it built at ?  Engineering shop could do in a day including the interior.

 

That said the article talks about a different chassis and rear doors, should be easy to verify.

I know what you mean, my older brother bought a `50 Olds 4dr fastback looked good on the passenger side, drivers side had `50 Chevy Fleetline doors and rear 1/4 panel. They fit, but they didn`t fit..

[58L-Y8]

Oldsmobile listed a sedan delivery and coupe pickup in 1940 for their 60 Series, along with the 1941-'42 66 and 68 Series sedan delivery, coupe pickup and station wagons.

[Pfeil]

3 hours ago, auburnseeker said:

Here is the photo from the link. 

 

 

The article calls this car a "B" body. It's not, it's a "A" body

[Pfeil]

1 hour ago, padgett said:

Back then all sorts of strange things happened,  an Olds front clip on a Chevvy sedan delivery and some chrome in the back in the same place as a Chevvy tailights since Olds apparently did not have a 2 door wagon in '50. What plant was it built at ?  Engineering shop could do in a day including the interior.

 

That said the article talks about a different chassis and rear doors, should be easy to verify.

 

Pretty hard to install a Olds clip or even harder a Pontiac clip on a  Chevrolet.

  The "A" body Chevrolet is a 115" wheelbase, the "A" body Olds is on a 119" wheelbase and the "A"  Pontiac is on a 120" wheelbase. From the cowl back is the same, the extra wheelbase and length of frame, fenders and hood are in the front clip itself and of course all three frames are different in design, length and attachment points for suspension/driveline.  

[Steve Moskowitz]

While I have nothing in my files to prove or disprove the existence of factory builds of sedan deliveries I do know from working for Oldsmobile Division that the practice of building specialty vehicles for plant use and executive use goes back a long, long time.  Pick up trucks, special cars for executives and the like were common in the day.  At that time the divisions had a lot of individual control with their own styling departments, engineering departments, parts plants , etc.  The Division General managers were very powerful and there were a lot of skunk works projects even as late as the 70's when I worked at the home office. 

[padgett]

A lot at GM depended on what was in stock at what plant. If Olds and Chevvys wend down the same line a lot of mixing and matching could take place. "Body in aisle" on a Pontiac billing card was a giveaway that something different was going on.

[PONTIAC1953]

4 hours ago, 8E45E said:

It looks to be a real nice restoration.

 

I won't doubt there were none made, as there were Nash tow trucks made strictly for dealers, and not for sale to the public, for example.   But I can bet the seven  never had whitewalls or a radio when they were in use at the factory.  I'll also guess it may have been painted orange or yellow to be highly visible and identify it as a plant vehicle.

 

Craig

these 7 sedan deliveries were to be used as parts chasers as well as being used by the plant manager, so i think there would easily have had a factory radio installed.

[joe_padavano]

1 hour ago, Steve Moskowitz said:

While I have nothing in my files to prove or disprove the existence of factory builds of sedan deliveries I do know from working for Oldsmobile Division that the practice of building specialty vehicles for plant use and executive use goes back a long, long time.  Pick up trucks, special cars for executives and the like were common in the day.  At that time the divisions had a lot of individual control with their own styling departments, engineering departments, parts plants , etc.  The Division General managers were very powerful and there were a lot of skunk works projects even as late as the 70's when I worked at the home office. 

 

As you know Steve, the problem with a one-of-none car is documentation. I've heard far too many stories like this without one scrap of actual proof. "Anything could have been done" is usually how someone justifies asking stupid money for their "never built" vehicle.

[Steve Moskowitz]

Yep Joe that is true but there are rare photos  of pick up trucks in the 20's that supposedly were never built and they are factory photos.  The list goes on and on. I saw a few cars in the engineering building in Lansing that never were...proof is the responsibility of the owner and some will never be proven legitimate or not which is a shame. 

 

A semi-truck load of factory photos along with other documentation were taken from a building in Lansing and sold.  I have been trying to get my hands of some of that material for some time now as it would be hugely valuable to Olds historians.

[joe_padavano]

1 hour ago, Steve Moskowitz said:

Yep Joe that is true but there are rare photos  of pick up trucks in the 20's that supposedly were never built and they are factory photos.  The list goes on and on. I saw a few cars in the engineering building in Lansing that never were...proof is the responsibility of the owner and some will never be proven legitimate or not which is a shame. 

 

A semi-truck load of factory photos along with other documentation were taken from a building in Lansing and sold.  I have been trying to get my hands of some of that material for some time now as it would be hugely valuable to Olds historians.

 

It's well documented that Olds built engineering evaluation and press cars that were not available to the public. Obviously not production cars. There's the 68 Vista with the Hurst/Olds drivetrain that was tested and written up by Car and Driver when it was new. There's the 70 flattop wagon with full W-30 drivetrain also documented in Motor Trend when it was new. The problem is that today, there are about 20 of these cars in existence, all claiming to be factory built. The OP in this thread has correctly asked for help with hard documentation on the sedan delivery, which is exactly the right question to be asking. I hope he finds some. There's another one of these 1950 sedan deliveries making the rounds on the interwebs that has been customized and the owner finally admitted that the car was fabricated.

[padgett]

Before the feds became involved there were a lot of experimental, show, and prototypes built like the seven (good number)  SD-455 1973 Grand Ams built by Pontiac before the problems with the EPA developed and the SD Grand Prixs were also cancelled. Like movie cars, there is rarely just one and some time the same show car has had many iteration in successive years. One of one is not that common.

[joe_padavano]

44 minutes ago, padgett said:

Before the feds became involved there were a lot of experimental, show, and prototypes built like the seven (good number)  SD-455 1973 Grand Ams built by Pontiac before the problems with the EPA developed and the SD Grand Prixs were also cancelled. Like movie cars, there is rarely just one and some time the same show car has had many iteration in successive years. One of one is not that common.

 

Automakers build experimental and prototype vehicles today. They were not available to the general public then and they are not now. Documentation that such a vehicle REALLY was built by the factory and not in someone's garage remains the problem.

[8E45E]

33 minutes ago, joe_padavano said:

 

They were not available to the general public then and they are not now. Documentation that such a vehicle REALLY was built by the factory and not in someone's garage remains the problem.

In the 1950's Chrysler really did sell off their Exner designed and Ghia build prototypes, and most still survive to this day.

 

Not true for the newer ones, including prototype Vipers FCA attempted to get back solely to destroy: https://www.motortrend.com/news/chrysler-ordering-pre-production-1992-dodge-vipers-be-destroyed/

 

Craig

[8E45E]

1 hour ago, joe_padavano said:

 

The problem is that today, there are about 20 of these cars in existence, all claiming to be factory built.

Like the 1934 Ford Bonnie and Clyde 'death car'?

 

Craig

[padgett]

Didn't saw there weren't any today, just were more common when I was a kid and many sometimes made production. I've had several GM cars (latest was a 93) with documented production of less than 100. Used to be you could just write Pontiac ad they would tell you, now you have to ask Jim.

 

When growing up I'd often see prototypes and experimentals on the street & occasionally one would be for sale. At the time I was still hooked on Jags though.

[8E45E]

The latest issue (August, 2021) of Collectible Automobile has a 'Photo Feature' of this sedan delivery.

 

Craig