It’s not every day you can buy a car with racing history for under $3000 that doesn’t appear to have been barrel-rolled or abandoned outdoors so long that it’s nearly rusted into something that resembles a giant bowl of brown corn-flakes. This 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 Sedan in Milwaukee, Wisconsin seeks a new owner here on hemmings.com with a seemingly reasonable $2700 price tag. Thanks to reader Tristan C. who suggested we feature this slice of automotive history. Our Australian friends may appreciate the four-door body on this racer. Too often Americans see a coupe as a “classic,” while an otherwise similar four-door is simply a “used car.”
Of course you can take an old car with “patina” and add weathered-looking letters for bonus character, but this car is said to be an authentic “NHRA M/S bracket racer, once raced by Andy Rager of Nebraska.” Right, so it might be more interesting if the name on the roof was “Johnson” or “Foyt” but that would put this car in a different field of dreams.
Let’s agree that the world has no need for another perfectly restored 1949 Oldsmobile sedan, and that this ride will best serve the automotive world if the new owner carefully refurbishes it, turning the clock back to the minute it was keyed off after its last race, sometime before 1966, the date of its Nebraska plates. The right person could enrich the car’s story by working to make repairs and source seats and other replacement parts that suit that goal – recreating the raw authenticity of this retired drag-racer.
Having spent some hours working on a 1949 Cadillac I can appreciate its Oldsmobile brother. What’s said to be a 324 cid engine replaced the original 303. The listing describes a “Hyrdramatic automatic transmission with floor shifter,” presumably the early four-speed GM automatic. Other mods include tubular headers with exhaust cutouts, and tow hooks. I would have a hard time calling the owner and asking “So, would you take $1500 for it?” What would you offer?
Interesting homage to road racing. My dad was an Olds guy and I’ve owned two. It made think tg of two things.
1) I was next to some teenagers last night we were driving a Gen 1 Olds Auroua. It was beat, paper plates, no mufflers. They nailed it…had a fantastic rumble…better than a new vette, challenger or mustang.
2) This old ad made me think of the Auburn auction vender lot where guys would tow in a beat bug, put a 53 decal on the trunk and pass it off as Herbie the love bug.
Sorry for the ramblings…I really enjoy BF.
In the 60’s, at Lion’s drag strip in Long Beach, CA, they had an outfit called “Buicks Unlimited”. All straight-eight four door racers. They looked kinda like this Olds.
Whoever got into this old tub to make passes at the drag strip REALLY loved to race. There’s no pretense here, it’s no over-restored Camaro with a $15K paint job and a tray spoiler.
Looks like Dr. Oldsmobile when he was still and intern.
I hope it is really a relic from those coveted days. That’s how is was then, basic and make her go as good as you can . With your leather helmet and belts if any, HANG ON,GO MAN GO!!!
Not the kind of car that you would want to spend a lot of money fixing up. Preserve the patina, get it running and you’d just be driving Granny’s old ride. I might pay a grand for it.
It could be a vintage racer…the script paint looks authentic, but why a 4-door? I would have thought a 2-door. And it must have been local racing, otherwise it would not have been very competitive with what looks like a stock engine, other than the headers…..
But I definitely like ’50s Oldsmobiles. I said on here some days ago that my father transplanted a ’50 Olds V8 into a ’49 step-down Hudson for our family car back decades ago.
And then there’s my uncle, who is still going strong today at 95 years old. He got out of the Navy after serving after WW2 on ships that patrolled the coast of China. When he was discharged he celebrated by buying a ’53 olds 2-door in 2-tone green IIRC, with the std transmission.
I talked with him a couple of years ago about the car. His parents, my grandparents, retired to a modest spread inland from Daytona Beach. He had the Olds there one time and went out very early one morning to see how it would do on the hard packed sand they used to run on back in the ’50s.
He told me he got it up to 93 MPH, but then backed off…sand not being the most grippy stuff to run on, and he lived to tall the tale many decades later, which I was grateful for.
That’s not the end of story. My brother bought that same car from our uncle some years later, and with our Dad’s help swapped a 394 Olds into it, still with the 3-speed. Unfortunately I never got a ride in it but he said it got out of its own way and tended to press your eyeballs back into your sockets when you hit it……
Why a 4 Dr NHRA stock class racing is/was all about advantage in weight breakes a 4dr weighed more than a 2dr so could have put the car 1 class down from a 2dr maybe with a softer record to run against therefore a better advantage in that particular class I know it sounds confusing but that’s the way it works in NHRA class racing and still does
Thanks for that info. I didn’t realize that stock car racing back then was separated into classes based on weight.
I am holding my breath with intensity on whether a kid with a white rattle can made the information.
Its a four door car…. yippee…I can say at least it cheap.
I’d put my Hudson up against it. LOL
whats needed here is fix this old girl ,the floors etc,then find a 455 olds or 500 caddy hook a 5 speed stick to it and leave the outside as is! then go kick the crap out of this 100 grand new stuff! bet ya if you are a good scronger it could be done for less than 4 grand
I like your idea best Jerry.
Done at home 4 k is possible and fun….
My brother raced in m/s with a 51 studabaker. It was stud’s or Olds in the class a Hudson sometime. These Olds were tuff to beat. In the day you built your own race car. This was in 1967-69. Great find.
Cool car….I’m reminded of Briggs Cunningham taking a ’50(?) Caddy to Le mans and finishing 11th overall in ’51….
Pretty much a parts car. Being in Wisconsin, humidity in the air rusts everything including all the sheet metal and frame.
In the early 1960,s some truck broadsided my red 1952 Chevy convertible, ( totaled ) So I needed a car real bad for work. I bought a green 1952 Olds 4 door almost like this one for $50.00 at a salvage yard. I realized soon the rear crank seal was completely wasted so I went to a garage in the back and cranked drain oil in it Dailey. When it did run, ( occasionally ) it always VAPOR LOCKED at the carburetor fuel line above the intake manifold. So we tried keeping the line cooler by attaching wooden clothespins or shield with aluminum foil to no avail. I still remember being pushed to start it and it refused to start. I got so made 1t 17 y o I punched my fist through the side window and junked the dam thing. LOL
When I was a little boy in the mid 50′ Dad took us to the stock car races every Sunday night during the season and we saw a lot of these along with Hudson Hornets…I’ll bet this old racer would attract more attention at a car show than most of the restored, shiny, Camaro’s and Mustangs.
<> not NASCAR “stock car racing” … drag racing in stock appearing) cars
Cunningham had US V8 engines in sports cars of his manufacture … not the complete Caddy
Cunningham had a Caddy as well as a Caddy-powered racer at LeMans in 1950. Look it up-
The Rager family lived in Nebraska, as do I. This is the real deal. Andy’s cousin Bob and Bob’s son Roger were big in sprint cars and dirt track racing. Both are in the hall of fame for said sports. Great old Oldsmobile with a lot of stories.