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Solid Duo: 1952 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Holidays

Tucked away in a Detroit warehouse for many years, these fine looking southern Oldsmobiles are solid beginnings to a couple of projects. Both cars are thought to be low mileage native Alabama cars and display hardly any rust of consequence.  With several days remaining bidding remains low at $1,000. Check out this duo here on eBay out of Brighton, Michigan.

Car number 1 is described as having the perfect rat rod patina and appears to be complete minus the rear window and a fender skirt. Also, the seller leads on that there is no significant rust in this car, and that there is only surface rust to contend with. The Rocket V8 is still in place but appears untouched at this point. Although described as complete the interior needs some work, but if you were to make this a patina queen, you could get creative with the interior upholstery.

Car number 2 appears to be equally as nice but with less visible surface rust. The seller has mentioned that there is small rust hole in the passenger rocker as well as around the rear wheel arch near where the skirt attaches. I would dare to say that this car may clean up a little nicer, as there is more paint present. This car too is equipped with its complete Rocket V8 but again the engine is unknown, although someone has pulled the spark plugs recently on this one. Much like the first car, the interior needs assistance, but the interior in this car is nicer than car number 1.

Both of these cars came from a predominately Oldsmobile collection that was tucked away in Detroit. It is unclear how long these cars have been in hibernation, but they are certainly worthwhile machines to take on and revive thanks to their low miles and solid bones. Neither of these cars appears to have any serious dings or dents and overall both look like a great start to a project. Would you take on this warehouse stored duo?

Comments

  1. Avatar Bob

    Use a 8 volt battery ,up the voltage regulator, will start like a 12 volt

    Like 2
  2. Avatar Ben T. Spanner

    Big advantage for Oldsmobiles and Pontiacs of this era is they used Hydromatics. I drove a 1953 Cadillac hearse with Dynaflow (Hydramatic plant fire), and it really saps the power. Mopar transmissions prior to the Torqueflight were somewhat similar.
    This power train should be capable of keeping up with traffic.

    Like 0
  3. Avatar Guy

    Rather have the Chrysler Imperial I believe it is?

    Like 0
  4. Avatar Will Fox

    `52-`53 Olds 98 Holidays are popular with Olds club members, and once restored you will have a stunning example of Oldsmobile’s best. A friend has a `53 he spent about $60K to restore, and it’s taken awards every show it attends. He also has an ULTRA rare `53 Olds Fiesta cvt.; #3 off the production line and was spec’d out by an Olds exec. at the time. That car is now well into $130K+.

    Like 1
  5. Avatar Howard

    I scoured the pictures to see if I could spot my 52 Super 88 which I bought from the Dearborn collection in Dec 2014. I bought the less desirable 4 dr cause the chrome/stainless was in much better condition and would make a driver quality without a king’s ransom for rechroming. Oil change, new battery, plugs, wires a Pertronix system and a month of tinkering had her running and drivable. Someone had done a tremendous amount of work to her including new brakes from master cylinder to new drums, new tires. I could go crank her up and head down the road right now, but I’m still dealing with carb issues. Recently the chrome and paint have suffered greatly, I’m wondering if constantly having her on the trickle charger could have created an acidic environment that’s doing this. Any of you guys heard of anything like this? I’m currently stripping off the old paint to stop pitting where the paint has peeled. At 72, I’m wondering if I’ve bit off a bit more than I can chew, but I love Ethyl and as raggedy as she looks, gets lots of thumbs up.

    Like 2
    • Avatar Howard

      Oh, and as far as keeping up with traffic, she has given the benefit of her horn to many a mini van poking along in front of her. And despite the brand new tires being over 20 years old, I’ve run her 85 on the xway and she still had more room under the pedal.

      Like 1
  6. Avatar stillrunners

    groovy survivors…..

    Like 1

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