Imagine you are one of the hundreds of thousands who served in the United States Armed Forces during World War II.  Somehow you have survived the horrors of war and are now headed home to re-start your life.  What better way to spend the pay you earned defending your country than to purchase a brand-new convertible and drive it until the wheels fall off?  That may be exactly what happened with this 1946 Oldsmobile 98 convertible for sale on eBay in Plano, Texas.  This long and lean drop top is packing a locked-up straight eight engine, and the rest of the car has seen better days as well.  However, it is complete, and the price is right at a reasonable $9,000.  Is this a postwar project worth taking on?  Thanks to T.J. for this droptop find!

Before hostilities ceased, America’s automobile manufacturers were already planning for the day that sales could continue.  New models were being designed, but wartime constraints prevented them from taking the preliminary steps to manufacturing freshly designed cars.  The dies and all the rest of the machinery needed to resume production of the 1942 versions were, however, sitting at the ready.  After V-E Day, the consensus was that finishing the war in the Pacific would take at least another year and cost over one million casualties.  American was determined to finish the job despite the grim forecast of an overwhelming butcher’s bill.  The unexpected news of Hiroshima and Nagasaki’s destruction and Japan’s subsequent surrender set off a flurry of action in response.

With the end now here, wartime contracts were being cancelled in a wholesale fashion.  Factories were being cleared of whatever war materiel they were producing and the machinery dedicated to that end, and companies were scrambling to resume production of whatever it was they were making before the attack on Pearl Harbor.  There was a staggering amount of money on the table.  Most of the world would need to be rebuilt, GIs were returning home with a lot of hard-earned pay sitting in their bank accounts, and a public that had little to spend their money on since 1941 was eager to put a very long period of bad times behind them.  America was back in business in a big way, and we were the only country that was in a position to quickly re-enter full production.

Oldsmobile resumed production of their warmed-over 1942 models on October 15, 1945.  A few changes such as one-piece front bumpers and minor trim changes were all customers had to differentiate their new vehicles for the relatively few 1942s that were produced.  None of that mattered as it was perhaps the best sellers’ market American car dealerships had ever seen.  Cars such as this 1946 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight (a Series 90 car with an 8-cylinder engine) were sold at full markup and probably a bit more added on.  One can imagine a hefty premium being charged for a top-of-the-line convertible in a market such as this, where even dumpy low-line sedans sold for full price.  This seller’s market lasted until the late forties, when customers started clamoring for something new and the few makes that were delivering were seeing record sales.

Despite its high-end origins, this Oldsmobile convertible cries out for a full restoration.  According to the seller, this drop-top was stored in a barn for forty long years.  It was the 859th out of 874 produced in this body style.  The seller speculates that the car was stored in running condition due to the condition of the oil.  Sadly, the engine is stuck on this straight-eight-powered car.  That engine was backed by a Hydramatic transmission, and the original purchaser must have worn out a pen checking the boxes for various options.  It is equipped with power windows, a power seat, a power top, a heater, and a radio.

Those who are interested can examine the exhaustive collection of photographs the seller has linked to in the ad.  Unlike many of the vehicle ads we encounter on Barn Finds, this seller’s ad delivers.  It shows a car that would be a lot of work to restore, but it is complete, and nothing stands out as too horrible to tackle.  Oldsmobile’s status as an orphan make may hamper the value of this vehicle if fully restored.  However, what you would have when you finished is a fine example of America’s postwar best, with all the hope and optimism that came with it.  Just to get a glimmer of that postwar optimism would be worth whatever it took to get this car back to its showroom self.

Would you take on a project like this Oldsmobile convertible?  What do you think it would cost to restore this one to perfection?  Please share your thoughts in the comments.