The Oldsmobile Model 42 is a car from Oldsmobile, built from 1914, as the assembly line was turning motoring into an industry. Under the bonnet: NNN cuin.
Where it came from
The Model 42 was an entry-level four seat passenger car produced by GM's Oldsmobile Division in 1914. It was offered as a replacement to the Oldsmobile Curved Dash runabout when it was discontinued in 1908, and was the junior platform to the Oldsmobile Six introduced in 1913. GM had acquired Elmore Manufacturing Company, Oldsmobile and Oakland Motor Car Company in 1908 and Cartercar and Rainier Motor Car Company in 1909 as their entry-level models, and Oldsmobile products were being repositioned in their new hierarchy as GM began to consolidate operations after William Durant had left.
It was replaced by the Model 43 and shared a platform with the Buick Model 10. The Oldsmobile Model R Curved Dash competed with the Chevrolet Series F while Chevrolet was still independent from GM, and in 1908 the Ford Model T was also introduced. It was also known as the "Baby Olds" as it was smaller than the mid-level Oldsmobile Autocrat Series 28 and the top level Oldsmobile Limited Series 23.
Under the skin
Power comes from NNN cuin. It weighs NNN -. The wheelbase is NNN in. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the Oldsmobile Curved Dash; its successor was the Model 43; assembly was at Lansing, Michigan (Lansing Car Assembly), United States. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Dodge 30-35, the Delahaye type 32 coupé-chauffeur, the Alfa Romeo A.L.F.A 15-20 HP — show what else the money bought that year. Nearby in the Oldsmobile catalogue sit the Oldsmobile 442 and the Oldsmobile 88.
What it costs now
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Oldsmobile Model 42 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.