1937 Oldsmobile L37 Convertible Sedan

This is the only Oldsmobile to have been recognized by the Classic Car Club of America as a Full Classic

by Carl Bomstead

There was a time when neither Ford nor Chevrolet were America’s leading automobile producers. You have to go back to the dawn of the auto industry, but from 1903 to 1905, Oldsmobile was top dog. Rolling out of Lansing, the little single-cylinder, curved-dash runabout was touted as able to go the distance of 40 miles on one gallon of gas.

In 1897, Ransom E. Olds is credited with the first production automobile, making Oldsmobile the second oldest nameplate in America, behind Studebaker. Success often comes with change, and in 1904, Ransom Olds stepped aside from the company he pioneered to start a second venture in the automobile world called Reo—using his initials R.E.O. (That company built cars through 1936. Oldsmobile was purchased by General Motors in 1909, and was the oldest surviving American car company when it was killed by GM in 2004.)

It is no surprise that the popular Oldsmobile was exported all over the world. In some cases, such as this...