1941 Oldsmobile Series 60 Special

1941 was the last full year of automobile production for American manufacturers, as the U.S. involvement in World War II shortened 1942 production to just a few months.

The Oldsmobile lineup made a significant change for 1941, and now both the Series 60 and the Series 90 could be purchased in either six- or eight-cylinder power. The Seris 60 rested on a 119-inch wheelbase with a length of 204-inches while the Series 90 measured 125-inches at its wheelbase and an overall length of 213-inches. The six-cylinder engine in the Series 60 proved far more popular than the eight-cylinder, and the reverse was true for the Series 90.

When equipped with the six-cylinder engine, the vehicles were known as the Series 66, with the first digit representing its model and the second its number of cylinders. Thus, the eight-cylinder Series 60 was called the Series 68. This naming scheme was also used on the Series 90.

The L-head, six-cylinder engine had a 238 cubic-inch displacement, four main bearings, mushroom valve lifters, a single downdraft carburetor with automatic choke, and 100 horsepower at 3,200 RPM. The 257 cubic-inch eight-cylinder had dual downdraft carburetors with automatic choke, five main bearings, mushroom valve lifters, and 110 horsepower at 3,400 RPM. The transmission was a sliding gear, synchromesh manual three-speed unit, and hydraulic, cast-iron drum brakes were located at all four corners.

The Model 66 and Model 68 had the same list of body styles with the Model 68 being approximately $50 more expensive than their six-cylinder counterpart. The six-cylinder convertible was priced at $1,050, the business coupe at $850, the sedan at $945, the two-door sedan at $900, and the club coupe at $890. The four-door station wagon had a factory base price of $1,175. The most popular body style was the sedan with 37,820 examples built, followed by 32,475 of the two-door sedan, 23,796 of the club coupe, 6,433 of the business coupe, and 2,833 of the convertible.

Production of the Model 68 included 6,009 of the sedan, 3,878 of the two-door sedan, 2,684 of the club coupe, 755 of the convertible, and 188 of the business coupe.
The total Series 60 production for 1941 was 116,892 accounting for approximately 43-percent of Oldsmobile's total production. Of those, 103,357 were the Model 66 and 13,535 were the Model 68.

by Daniel Vaughan | Aug 2019