The Oldsmobile Limiteds
by
Judy Badgley

The Oldsmobile Limited will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2010. We will be celebrating that event in Lansing at the NAOC 29th National Meet. We have invited owners of the surviving Limiteds and their companion cars to attend the show. The fantastic news is we have commitments right now for six of these vehicles to be on display.
The Limiteds were the top of the model line for Oldsmobile in 1910; it was built for 3 years from 1910–1912. They were a “limited” production auto. When you think of an Oldsmobile Limited, the famous painting “Setting the Pace” with this magnificent automobile racing the train comes to mind. The other Limited that stands out is the beautifully restored seven passenger Touring Limited owned by General Motors. There is so much more to this auto than most of us know.

Oldsmobile was known for the Curved Dash Olds for many years. This great little car is what made Oldsmobile the most popular car in the early years of the automobile. As time went on, the horseless carriage increased in popularity. Improvements were made and as more people began to trust this invention, more wanted to ride. The size of the auto began to grow. Oldsmobile started to build a bigger car to please the driving public.
As the size of the car grew, so did the engines. The Curved Dash was powered with a one cylinder engine and then a two cylinder. In 1906, Oldsmobile introduced a four cylinder engine that was the top seller for the year. In 1908, they introduced a six cylinder engine that had been in development for three years which was installed in the biggest Oldsmobile car to date, the Model Z.

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