1942 Oldsmobile Series 98 Club Sedan

For 1942, The Series 98 Custom Cruiser accounted for about 10% of the company's overall sales. The sedan was their most popular body style in the Series 98, with 4,672 examples sold. The rarest were the convertibles, which found just 216 buyers before entering war production. Immediately after clearing its production lines of automobiles on February 5, 1942 Oldsmobile devoted its full production capacity to war production which had begun in 1940. During the war, they produced a total of 156,199 complete guns or barrels. During 1942 model production, which began August 29, 1941 and ended on February 5, 1942, Oldsmobile built a total of 66,303 cars.

Sales of the 1942 Oldsmobile were strong, aided by the new styling and the buzz created by the Hydra-Matic transmission. The public also realized that civilian automobile production may soon end.

The Series 98 models rode on a 127 inch wheelbase platform and were powered by an L-head, 257 cubic-inch eight-cylinder engine offering 110 horsepower. They had a 3-speed synchromesh transmission and hydraulic, cast iron drum brakes on all four wheels.

This particular vehicle is a pre-war production model which makes use of chrome. The final cars off the line had painted headlight rims and items such as the grille and hubcaps had dull finishes.

By Daniel Vaughan | Dec 2016