Start with what the Oldsmobile Model 20 is: a car with NNN cuin, built from 1909, when a car was a rich man's adventure and every maker was a workshop. What it meant takes a little longer.
The story
The Series 20 was an automobile produced by Oldsmobile division of General Motors in 1909. When the Oldsmobile Company joined General Motors in 1908, the Series 20 was one of the first examples of platform sharing that became GM's most notable business model, as it was derived from the previously established Buick brand from the Buick Four.
The Series 20 effectively replaced the Model F, also known as the Curved-Dash Oldsmobile, when it was discontinued when GM assumed operations, and was replaced by the 1914 Oldsmobile Model 42 "Baby Olds". It was the entry-level vehicle below the Oldsmobile Model A and the luxury sedan Oldsmobile Model Z. It was the first Oldsmobile to use numbers to identify the product, a tradition that would last until the company concluded operations in 2004.
What is underneath
The engine is NNN cuin. On the scales it comes to NNN -. The wheelbase is NNN in. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Its place in the line
In the Oldsmobile line-up the Oldsmobile Model 20 has a clear place: the factory was Lansing, Michigan (Lansing Car Assembly), United States. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Ford Model T, the Benz & Cie. Blitzen Benz, the Lancia Beta-15/20HP. Nearby in the Oldsmobile catalogue sit the Oldsmobile 442 and the Oldsmobile 88.
Owning one today
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Oldsmobile Model 20 has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.