Oldsmobile does not build many cars like the Oldsmobile Series 60: a 2-door business coupe / 2-door club coupe / 2-door sedan coupe / 4-door sedan / 2-door convertible / 4-door station wagon with 215 cuin Oldsmobile I6, built from 1938 to 1948 when streamlining and independent suspension were arriving together. Its designer of record is Harley Earl.
How it came about
The Series 60 "Special" is a full-size car made by Oldsmobile from the 1939 through the 1948 model years. It was their entry-level model using the GM "A" body platform, giving Oldsmobile an entry-level product with more standard features that would be optional on Chevrolet and Pontiac vehicles using the same platform. Initially, the engine size used was the company's flat head 6 cylinder, while senior models would use the flat head 8 cylinder.
For marketing purposes, the Oldsmobile Series 60, or the Oldsmobile 66, took advantage of the national highway U.S. Route 66 established in 1926. It was with this generation that all GM vehicles experienced increased width dimensions to accommodate three passengers on the front bench seat and an additional three passengers on rear bench seat installed vehicles. This was accomplished with the deletion of running board thereby adding additional room inside the passenger compartment and upgrading the floor mounted gearshift to a steering column installed transmission gear selector for the Hydramatic automatic transmission.
The hardware
Under the skin sits 215 cuin Oldsmobile I6; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. Kerb weight is 3100 -. The gearbox is a 3-speed synchromesh manual / 4-speed Hydra-Matic automatic. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 1939: 115.0 in / 1940: 116.0 in. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Family and rivals
Where it sits in Oldsmobile's history is not in doubt: the Oldsmobile F-Series 60 came before it; the Oldsmobile Omega (entry-level product) followed it; it was built at Lansing, Michigan. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Volkswagen Beetle, the Lincoln Continental, the Ford 7Y. Its Oldsmobile stablemates include the Oldsmobile 442 and the Oldsmobile 88.
The money
There is no federal ownership record for the Oldsmobile Series 60 — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.