1910-12 Oldsmobile Limited

[BobinVirginia]

How many Limted cars were produced? 
Are any engines and chassis’s still out there?

[A Woolf]

17 hours ago, West Peterson said:

Apparently, only the Belfs know how to clean tires on a Limited. Oh... and I believe the AACA car has clean tires, too. 

My experience has been that the tires can start to look that way after being in the sun and heat for a few hours.  Some of the tires on my car tend to be sensitive to the environment and some don't. The tires on Limited's were probably clean in the morning but as the day progressed they developed that residue that doesn't look so good.  I don't know if there is a solution to the problem.  The really old tires that were manufactured many years ago don't seem to have the same problem. 

[John Hempel]

A good friend of mine, a retired master plumber who worked in the Washington DC area, worked with another plumber, Bill Zerega, who was mostly a steam car guy who used to be seen driving his Stanley around town back in the '60s/70s.   He apparently considered one of his greatest accomplishments was having saved and Olds Limited from being scrapped.  He apparently didn't restore it but passed it along to someone who did.  This was probably in the '60s but possibly earlier.

My pal, also a car guy, never saw the car and so doesn't know whether it was an open or closed car etc, but on this basis do any of you know which of these Limiteds was likely the one that Bill Zerega rescued?  

(I just found that there's a short video of his Stanley out there on YouTube, too.)

Edited August 9 by John Hempel (see edit history)

[BobinVirginia]

So, I took a roadtrip this past weekend and saw the Limited in the Gilmore Museum. Beautiful car and facility! 

[BobinVirginia]

I’ve been able to see two of these cars in person now. I know the prototype is at the AaCA in Pennsylvania and another is in the GM heritage collection. Are any others on public display? 

[Steve Moskowitz]

Nethercutt Museum has the Limousine but not sure it is on display.  National Automobile Museum in Sparks has a 1910 that was usually on display. 

[BobinVirginia]

2 hours ago, Steve Moskowitz said:

Nethercutt Museum has the Limousine but not sure it is on display.  National Automobile Museum in Sparks has a 1910 that was usually on display. 

Thanks, I’d really like to see them all!

[wayne sheldon]

I went to the National Automobile Museum in Reno Nevada about two years ago with family. The Oldsmobile Limited was on display at that time.

 

In case you are not familiar with it, The National Automobile Museum is a remnant of William Harrah's famous collection. It was for some time considered to be the largest and finest antique automobile collection in the world. At its peak, the collection consisted of about 2000 automobiles ranging from a few of the earliest automobiles known to exist through the grandest of known Classics up into bizarre custom creations of the 1960s. After Harrah's death, battles over his estate broke up and sold off the collection. Stories abound how businessmen and collectors pulled together to preserve a small part of the collection and display it in Reno. I won't pretend to know which ones are true.

[BobinVirginia]

10 hours ago, wayne sheldon said:

I went to the National Automobile Museum in Reno Nevada about two years ago with family. The Oldsmobile Limited was on display at that time.

 

In case you are not familiar with it, The National Automobile Museum is a remnant of William Harrah's famous collection. It was for some time considered to be the largest and finest antique automobile collection in the world. At its peak, the collection consisted of about 2000 automobiles ranging from a few of the earliest automobiles known to exist through the grandest of known Classics up into bizarre custom creations of the 1960s. After Harrah's death, battles over his estate broke up and sold off the collection. Stories abound how businessmen and collectors pulled together to preserve a small part of the collection and display it in Reno. I won't pretend to know which ones are true.

I’ve heard about the Harrah collection and certain cars out there from it. I didn’t know about the National Museum having his cars. Thanks for letting me know! 

[trimacar]

10 hours ago, wayne sheldon said:

I went to the National Automobile Museum in Reno Nevada about two years ago with family. The Oldsmobile Limited was on display at that time.

 

In case you are not familiar with it, The National Automobile Museum is a remnant of William Harrah's famous collection. It was for some time considered to be the largest and finest antique automobile collection in the world. At its peak, the collection consisted of about 2000 automobiles ranging from a few of the earliest automobiles known to exist through the grandest of known Classics up into bizarre custom creations of the 1960s. After Harrah's death, battles over his estate broke up and sold off the collection. Stories abound how businessmen and collectors pulled together to preserve a small part of the collection and display it in Reno. I won't pretend to know which ones are true.

I was fortunate to have toured Harrah's collection in the 1980s, hundreds of cars parked side by side before it was dispersed, even got to see the parts room.  A huge warehouse full of parts, sorted in racks by year and make.  Engines in crates, a huge chicken wire wall with hundreds of brass lights and horns hanging from it.

 

Here's the story as I know it.  

 

Bill Harrah died.  Amazingly, he left no instructions nor method for keeping the car collection together.  All the cars were owned by his business.

 

Holiday Inn bought the business after he died, lock stock and barrel, including the cars.

 

The original intent by Holiday Inn management was to sell all the vehicles.  Indeed, there were three auctions, three years in a row, at which many of the cars were sold.  I remember at the time that a lot of collectors figured that would kill the old car market, with hundreds of cars "dumped" in the hobby.  Didn't happen of course.

 

There was an uproar among collectors and others, heavily criticizing Holiday Inn for breaking up the collection, and as everyone knows, public opinion can sway a business decision.

 

Holiday Inn then made provisions for a select number of the cars in the collection to be given to the city of Reno, with the understanding a museum would be provided for them.  

 

Again, that's my understanding, having lived through that time period, if anyone had different information it would be welcome.

[Ozstatman]

On 8/31/2024 at 4:52 AM, Steve Moskowitz said:

Nethercutt Museum has the Limousine but not sure it is on display. 

When I visited the Nethercutt in 2007, their Limited was on display, see pics beow.

[BobinVirginia]

@Ozstatman

Thank you for sharing those pictures! I’ll bet that’s quite a car to see in person. I wonder what the height is from roof to floor?