Today’s Post by Joe Farace
Some men are Baptists, others Catholics; my father was an Oldsmobile man.— Jean Shepherd*
Although I’ve never owned an Oldsmobile automobile, I’ve always been a fan of the marque especially of their 442 models and any of the Hurst Old models. I met the legendary “Doc” Watson, co-creator of the special Hurst Oldsmobiles at SEMA a few years before his passing in 2015. He was a wonderful and gracious man.
Some of the company’s older models are pretty amazing too. But in 2004 General Motors did not know what to do with the brand and it was discontinued. At the time of its closure, Oldsmobile was the oldest surviving American automobile marque and one of the oldest in the world, after Peugeot, MAN and Tatra.
Oldsmobiles were produced during most of its existence by General Motors. Olds Motor Vehicle Co. was originally founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897 and the company produced more than 35 million vehicles, including at least 14 million that were built at its Lansing, Michigan factory.
In 1902, the company produced 635 cars, making it the first high-volume gasoline-powered automobile manufacturer. You might be surprised to learn that electric car manufacturers such as Columbia Electric and steam powered car manufacturers, such as Locomobile, had higher volumes.
For a few years around 1903, Oldsmobile was the top selling car company in the United States. Because of a dispute with GM, Ransom Olds left the company in 1904 and went on to form the REO Motor Car Company that produced automobiles and trucks from 1905 to 1975. At one point REO also manufactured buses based on its truck platforms.
How I made this shot: The above classic Oldsmobile was photographed at a combination museum, car sales and salvage yard located near Eaton, Colorado not Montana as it’s license plate might seem to indicate. The image was made with a Canon EOS 50D and Tamron AF 18-270mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD Aspherical (IF) MACRO lens (at 18mm) with an exposure of 1/400 sec at f/14 and ISO 200.
*PS: The car that Ralphy’s father drove in A Christmas Story was a 1937 Oldsmobile Six touring sedan and, from what I understand, it’s still on the road., which says a lot about Oldsmobiles.
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