THE OLD CAR DETECTIVE
1947 Oldsmobile with same owner since 1963!
Fifty-two years ago, a teenager at Stayner Collegiate in Stayner, Ontario, became tired of riding the bus to school and purchased a tan-coloured 1947 Oldsmobile torpedo coupe with radio and clock from a local barber for $200. That teenager’s name was Russell Holt, and he still owns that same car today. He is also today the owner of The Lost Channel Inn near Britt, Ontario.
As a teenager, Russell drove the car to school every day and also to school dances and proms. Then the car sat in storage for 22 years. He wanted to drive it to his 25th wedding anniversary and the 50th anniversary of the high school. He filed the points, installed a fresh battery and gas, and the old car fired right up!
The car had seat covers when Russell bought it. He ripped the driver’s side seat cover but his mother very kindly sewed it up again. The seat covers have never been off. The car has an outside sun visor, and Russell installed purple sex lights up inside the sun visor when he was in his teens. These lights came off a ’55 Chev. He later took them off and his mother threw them out. He bought new ones from a junk dealer who also supplied him with 6-volt bulbs.
Russell’s Oldsmobile now has 70,000 miles on the odometer since it was built new
68 years ago in Oshawa. The first owner was a farmer near Harriston, Ontario, who sold it to the barber who later sold it to Russell, making him the third owner.
Under the hood is a flathead six cylinder engine with 238 cubic inches cranking out a very respectable 100 horsepower. The transmission is 3-speed manual on the column.
uring World War Two, civilian productions of automobiles had ceased in February 1942 and did not resume until late 1945. A big demand for new cars had built up, and some buyers had their names on a waiting list for a full year. You could order a new 1947 Olds in several colour choices: black, three greens, two reds, two beiges, two blues, two grays, and six two-tone combinations. The beigetan finish on Russell Holt’s ’47 Olds looks just right!
I’m always looking for more stories. Email billtsherk@sympatico.ca or write Bill Sherk, 25 John St., P.O. Box 255, Leamington, Ont. N8H 3W2. Everyone whose story is published in my column will receive a free autographed copy of my book: “Old car detective favourite stories, 1925 to 1965.”