1949 Oldsmobile 76 4-door Sedan

“Plenty of room, plenty of visibility, and plenty of all-around big-car comfort are built into the luxurious new Fisher Body of this Futuramic 4-Door Sedan. There’s greater smoothness in the ‘no-shift, no-clutch’ action of GM Hydra-Matic Drive, and greater safety in the swift, sure acceleration of that Hydra-Matic feature, Whirlaway!”

Those flashy graphics might look, well, „extreme“ on such a vintage car, but then, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The enthusiastic owner really likes them. And because he cares a lot for good appearance, the rest of his Oldsmobile fortunately is in pretty good shape, too. He told us it once had a six-cylinder engine, which indicates it’s a “76”, the budget offering in Oldsmobile’s 1949 lineup. With an output of 105hp, this dated flathead six cylinder block with 257.1 cubic inches (4,2L) displacement offered adequate performance back in the day. 

Yet, times were a-changing: 1949 also marked the introduction of the all-new “Rocket” V-8 powerplant in Oldsmobile’s lineup, and the six-cylinder engine was phased out already by the end of the next model year. Along with the new V-8 engines, Oldsmobile completely revamped the prewar-based design of the predecessors and introduced all-new “Futuramic” styling for the full lineup.

In line with the GM habit of sharing the car body structure between its various divisions as a cost-saving measure, the 1949 Oldsmobile 76 was based on the corporate A-body, and thus virtually identical to a Chevrolet from windshield to rear bumper. Only the extended front end with a 4.5 inches (11,4 cm) longer wheelbase distinguished the pricier Oldsmobile from its budget sibling, perhaps in order to visually justify the higher price tag, since the 6-cylinder engine had plenty of room in the shorter Chevrolet, too.