1949 Oldsmobile 98 Deluxe Sedan on 2040-cars

1949 OLDSMOBILE 98 DELUXE SEDAN

UNMOLESTED BARN FIND

This is an unmolested barn find 1949 Oldsmobile 98 Deluxe Sedan with 97,400+ original miles. It is a beautifully running car that I drove from Ohio to Arkansas. I am selling it with an extremely nice, virtually rust-free ‘49 Oldsmobile 98 Deluxe Sedan body. I was going to take the two cars and make one very nice car, but my health is not cooperating. It can be parted out, restored, or make two really cool derelict rods out of the two! The body does not have a title

I purchased the blue ‘49 in January 2013 from the daughter of the deceased owner. It had been setting since his death in 1999, so it had no brakes and the fuel tank was contaminated. In spite of the contaminated fuel, the car ran beautifully. Since the brakes were bad, we trailered it from Pennsylvania to a friends shop in Ohio and we rebuilt the master cylinder and replaced several steel brake lines, front brake hoses, some of the steel and rubber fuel lines, and made the car roadworthy for the trip to Texas. We should have cleaned and coated the fuel tank before I left, but we didn’t.

Although the nasty fuel tank caused me problems on the trip, I drove the car over 1000 miles from Logan, Ohio to Gurdon, Arkansas where the debris in the gas tank finally kept the Olds from running more than about ten minutes at a time. I had changed the inline fuel filter four times before I got to Little Rock, but finally that was no longer effective.

We trailered it from Arkansas to Texas and I had the gas tank professionally cleaned and coated. I also replaced the sending unit float, cleaned the fuel pump glass bowl filter again, replaced the inline fuel filter again, and replaced some more of the fuel lines. Now, it runs like new again and I would have made it to Texas trouble free if I had only done the tank before I left Ohio!

On the trip to Texas, the car averaged about 15 mpg. It also used no oil, it used no transmission fluid, and it used no coolant. It has no fuel leaks, no oil leaks, no transmission leaks, and it has no coolant leaks.  Thus, it leaves no spots wherever it is parked. However, the differential appears to have some seepage from the filler plug, the pinion seal, and the left rear axle seal.

The Olds has a decal on the deck lid from Judson Oldsmobile-Datsun in Greenville South Carolina that dates prior to 1981. At some point thereafter, it went to New York and then to Pennsylvania where the deceased owner lived. According to his daughter, he used it as his driver, absolutely loved the car,  and often took the family on weekend trips to a lake in New York.

I think the car must have been a low mileage original in South Carolina as it has the original interior showing a minimum of wear and it is not badly worn under the seat covers. The wool and broadcloth interior is complete, but much of the fabric has deteriorated over the past 64 years

Unfortunately, the right rear door glass was left open for an extended period of time, which resulted in the severe deterioration of the rear seat fabric, both rear door trim panels, and the carpet. Additionally, the windshield, window, and door weatherstrips all leak when it rains or you wash it, which also contributed to the deterioration of the interior fabric and rust in the floors and trunk. But, in spite of that, there are only rust holes rather than complete loss of major areas of the floor and trunk panels. But the rocker panels are severely rusted out as are parts of the frame. Most of the side glass is cracked, but it is all there. The majority of the chrome is rusted and pitted.

This 1949 Futuramic Oldsmobile 98 was repainted a color close to the original Serge Blue several years ago. It still has the original hubcaps and all five trim rings, including the spare, and has the original fender skirts, which are not rusted at all.

It also has what I believe to be its’ original Oldsmobile Rocket Engine, which idles and accelerates smoothly, has no knocks, no smoke, no drips from the engine, transmission or cooling system, and never overheats even in the 100+ degree Texas heat. It has been converted to a 12-volt battery and the engine starts easily when cold or hot. The Hydra-Matic transmission shifts perfectly, cold or hot, and does not slip or hesitate when starting out or shifting through all four speeds. The radial tires are old, but are decent and serviceable as is.

This is a great looking ’49 Oldsmobile 98 has that “patina” that brings “thumbs ups” and horn honks, and people take pictures of it wherever you go. It can be used as a daily driver as is or if you don’t want a rusty car, just switch everything over the incredibly nice metallic red 1949 Olds 98 4-door sedan body that goes with it.

After purchasing the Serge Blue car in Pennsylvania and driving it from Ohio, I found another, nearly identical 1949 Olds 98 Deluxe Sedan body in Dallas. I bought it from a guy who saved it from the crusher by buying it from the scrapper, knowing that it was too good to scrap. The body is straight, has never been wrecked, only has bondo in one small place on the lower left front fender, but there was some rust in both rocker panels that was previously repaired with fiberglass.   The right inner fender panel is missing.

The red car must have been someone’s restoration project prior to being taken to the scrapper. It had been disassembled and all of the stainless and chrome plated trim, including the bumpers, etc., had been carefully removed prior to it getting a pretty decent paint job. The paint has suffered from the car setting outside in the weather for what appears to have been many years after the repaint. Although it polishes up nicely, it has some major scratches around the car due to it having been disassembled and the front fenders being stored inside of the car.

The blue car was built in Lansing, Michigan and the red car was built in Kansas City, Kansas. The red car was likely originally from the Dallas area and the only evidence of any rust at all was in the rocker panels, which is not uncommon in this area; not from salt, but dirt and moisture accumulating in the rockers.. The red car’s chrome only has minimal pitting and the stainless is virtually flawless. Only one or two pieces of glass are cracked, all of the glass is clear, and has little or no delamination or bubbles.

The red car was originally Silver Gray with a Metal Gray top, but repainted what appears to be Firethorn Red or perhaps Honduras Maroon. Much of the stainless, diecast moldings, bumpers, front fenders, grille, and trim were removed for painting, but have since been reinstalled. The whereabouts of the original engine and transmission is unknown.

The red car still has the original rear seat and door trim panels, but the front seat was removed and is missing. The rear seat has the remains of the original fabric and the nylon plaid seatcovers that were likely installed in 1949 when the car was new. The driveshaft, emblems, glass, and many other original parts and components remain on or with the car. The rear lever shock absorbers are firm and in excellent condition on the red car, but are badly worn out on the blue car.

Whatever the red car lacks, the blue car has. Likewise, whatever the blue car needs to make it a nicer driver, the red one has. Therefore, by combining the best parts and components from both cars onto one, you will have a beautiful 1949 Oldsmobile 98 driver.  Once the cars are combined, you will still have an extra body or parts car!

The pair of cars is listed locally and I reserve the right to terminate the listing early. You may call me at 903-724-3052 if you have any questions. Good luck bidding!