"Some men are born great, others have greatness thrust upon them." As GM fanatics, we all owe GM's overwhelming success and incredible designs to Harley J. Earl.
And one other thing. I am too young to have been familiar with these vehicles, the style of dress and customs of that time. These videos really are an excellent history lesson. They should show them in school.
Inspiring, thumbs up. My lust is for a '38 Buick and hope to make it a reality. No dingers or buzzers or wheelbarrow load of parts that I don't know what they are.
Don't forget the tenor voice. There wasn't much "hi fidelity" sound available in those days, so a baritone, the prefered narrator voice of today, wouldn't come through clearly most situations, except perhaps in some well equipped movie theatres of that day, but likely, this film wasn't shown in theatres. It was probably shown within the auto industry on 16mm projectors with tinny sounding speakers.
We had a 1937 Oldsmobile 2 door coupe back in the late 1960's. My mother drove herself to the hospital in it, to give birth to my youngest brother. Always wondered what the people at the hospital thought of a 9 months pregnant lady driving herself up to Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, GA in a 1937 Oldsmobile, which was unusual, even in 1968! ...Dad was at work, and this was their 6th child, so it was no big deal by then. My fraternal twin brother and I liked to sit in the fold down jump seats in the back as 4 year olds.
I noticed that the cars in this ad have three pedals on the floor. I get the biggest kick from a family member (an attorney) who cannot drive a car with a standard transmission!!
If you can't drive a stick, you're not really driving at all -- you're just aiming the car. Europeans chuckle at Americans for this reason (and so many, many others!).
I have a 1937 olds 4 dr touring sedan that I have rebuilt. I was so suprized to see this newsreel film on my car. Thank yo so much for finding it and posting it here. It is truely wonderful to see.
I want a 1937 Olds 8! If even HALF of the improvements touted in this film are even HALF true - the 1937 Oldsmobiles are incredible technological achievements...
I like these old videos that attempt to show what they are selling. Also, to see an early stabilizer bar that's standard in every car now, the braking systems that was the standard for decades after first used, the transmission designs common in manual shift vehicles...this is a fun video...
Nice video showing state of the art auto design of 1937. It is interesting how some of the engineering looks similar to cars built 50 years later. But I had to laugh when the narrator proudly announced the high compression ratio of 6.2:1 in the flathead engines. Chevies and Buicks of the era all had overhead valve engines.
18:03 Now... [with the Oldsmobile's new, improved 'no draught ventilation'] father can smoke his pipe 'in peace', without sharing its rich aroma with the 'less appreciative' members of the family." SOLD! 🤣🤣🤣🥇 I laughed so hard at how much can be read into that. At this point, I got more than my money's worth out of this vid. Great writing. Thank you so much for digging this up and posting it. And BTW, at 60+ years, i am old enough to have ridden in 50's and 60's cars with these vent windows, and the were indeed wonderful. VERY few cars back then had air conditioning, and bent all the way backwards at speed, these vent windows captured the airflow and allowed it to hit our faces, cooling us. And, indeed in the rain, opened as you see in this vid, allowed airflow in the rain in the summertime without getting us wet (remember, no air conditioning).
there have been a few comments on the announcers style, which was typical to the early 1960's. I like that style. It keeps the show interesting. That way of speaking has become a lost art. Thank you for sharing this.
+Harold Bullock Thank you for watching and for your comment. It was a different style of narration. The voice of God versus the conversation style that's popular today.
Weeell, not quite V.O.G. Listen to George Putnam or voice over work by Lorne Greene.. In '37, talkies were 10 years old and commercial radio was almost 20, the tech still almost demanded the volume but the style was considered excited and enthusiastic...though it wears thin with the same voice thru 45 min. Engine lubrication got the same inflection as interior fabrics. Just lacks sincerity...a lesson learned before TV came.
The production directors for the film knew that it had to get through to a bunch of smartass young car salesmen who were inclined to be smoking (literally) and joking during the presentation.
I noticed the film rewinds itself in a couple of spots. Otherwise this is a very cool film about automotive technology almost 80 years ago! Regular cars back then were bigger than almost anything on the road today, including a lot of SUVs, check out the '37 Old's rear seat head and leg room at 12:40 - there's even a foot rest back there! Thank you for posting this amazing film.
An exceptionally well constructed all steel body that actually enhances the strength of the perimeter X frame. Very appealing turret top design. Many features that we take for granted today seem to have been fairly new for 1937 such as independent front suspension, coil springs, front and rear anti-sway bars and hydraulic braking. That two piece driveshaft is really an ingenious design that permits only minimal intrusion to the plane of the rear floor pan. However referring to the engine's 6.2 : 1 compression ratio as high compression may have been true in its day when engine design was trying to rise from abysmally low ratings but today no engine I know of has such a very low compression ratio. All in all though the Olds engine and drive train were very well designed for its time allowing for increased economy, power and smoothness of operation.
People of this time were used to car bodies with a lot of wood in them, that survived accidents just about as well as you would expect . Emphasizing the total lack of wood was meant to convince anyone with an older car just how safe and modern a new Oldsmobile was.
Well, a few years prior to this, car bodies were made of wood frames and the sheet metal panels were nailed to it. So the body being all steel was a big deal. These bodies also mostly had wooden floors.
Sounds like 1937 was the absolute peak of automotive engineering ability (at least for Oldsmobile). Nothing after that date could possibly be an improvement.
oh sorry, for some reason the sound was vary distorted when watching on my iPhone 4S, i just watched it on my PC and it was fine. thanks for the upload
That poor spokesman wore himself out! But he is quite a salesman, i'm sold and want to by one right now. Sure would be better than the POS im driving now.
Trunk is tiny by todays standards. We had Dodge Neon that was about 12 cubic feet. Still a fun video, every brand had these and proved that they were the best.
They used a tenor voice. There wasn't much "hi fidelity" sound available in those days, so a baritone, the prefered narrator voice of today, wouldn't come through clearly most situations, because of the typical dynamic range of playback equipment was limited, except perhaps in some well equipped movie theatres of that day, but likely, this film wasn't shown in theatres. It was probably shown within the auto industry on 16mm projectors with tinny sounding speakers.
@@COLDoCLINCHER37 No, hey, Im totally serious!! The plastic screws used to put interiors together and basically hold these new cars together couldn't put up with the riggers of those tests. I know this for a fact because our roads here in our Oregon cities are some of theworst in the nation. I've actually seen a body part fall off a newer car after it hit a pothole. But NEVER seen that happen to a car that was pre-1970. Thats enough proof for me.
@@foxloverfoxy2135 you've seen one or two modern cars brake apart out of 1million plus. Modern cars are better made and more reliable, atleast Japanese cars.
And its still true today. A style begins and is quickly adopted by the entire industry, its always been this way. Look at cars, the 90s were all the same, 00's all the same, 10's all the same, etc. Look how the angled 1986 M-B trunk still influences cars today, as one example.
When seatbelts were first offered in cars in the late 50's/early 60's people didn't wear them wasn't until the late 70's where people finally clued in that seatbelts save lives.
The water pump which was permanently lubricated, and the engine oiling system, minus bavited rods, were advances over Hudson, and Chrysler, of that year, as was the synchromesh transmission. The wheel bearings were ball, instead of roller, though. The drive shaft, was lowered, other than through Hotchkis drive. Occupant safety, in collision, was mistakenly enhanced, by a totally stronger body, rather than "crumple zones fore, & aft.
That's right. Engineers thought for decades that one enhanced the safety of a car in a collision by building that car to be STRONGER and more RIGID. Whereas we know today that energy is dissipated to the environment (vice the passengers!) most efficiently when materials give way in a controlled manner. People walk away from car wrecks today where the car looks like a shredded cube, perhaps 3/4 its original size -- the rest of it being scattered all over the road around it for several yards, the transverse-mounted engine having broken away and steaming down on the pavement under the firewall, and 6 or 8 of the airbags having acted in a fraction of a second. Traditionalists think modern cars are more cheaply-built and much less safe than this '37 Olds, but the exact opposite is true. Their minds are usually changed when they roll their car or truck on the freeway at 70MPH and live to have a chat with the nice officer right afterward.
Only for the basic (6-tube) radio, as it turns out. The extra-cost deluxe 8-tube radio with dual speakers was served by a conventional mast-type antenna located on the right side below the hood line. The earliest car radios (1932-34) had antennas that were essentially just long, bare wires interleaved between layers of the fabric top insert (in the days before one-piece steel tops).
NOW THIS is the original...ad Mr.Schmengie, you are right about the differences, no "Ken Doll/Hannah Montana" "gay teenager" types, NO torque coverters and NO AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSIONS :)! They were like smaller buses or big rigs of the year...NO power steering in them thar daze...and ya usually HADDA be a REAL MAN (like yours truly) to drive 'em.:)
15:05 - Touting comfort as they show an elegantly dressed lady stretching her left leg to depress the clutch, grasping the truck-size gear shifter with her right hand. Yes, they don't build them like that anymore!
The poor reputation of women drivers, which has persisted with diminished strength even into the present day, was quite widespread and usually well-earned. Not only b/c back then cars were physically difficult to drive (esp. over distances of 50+ miles or so), but b/c lack of climate control and effective modern suspensions meant that any drive over about 75 miles left women, especially, sweaty and windblown, their makeup needing serious attention. A social custom quickly developed in most parts of the country -- and indeed, the world -- that no "nice" woman would take the wheel if there was a man available to do so. Therefore, women tended not to get enough practice in driving, especially under challenging conditions. Finally, at least through the early 1930s cars were unreliable enough -- early batteries, tires, and radiators being the main culprits -- that a woman who drove her own car had to be somewhat "butch" to make, or negotiate for, repairs at roadside. Any woman on her own in a car far from town was considered especially adventurous, foolish, or even "loose", and it was almost unheard-of for a respectable woman to stop overnight at a motor court by herself. The fact that it was considered remarkable that the late-teen heroine of the first Nancy Drew mystery novels (1932) "drove her own roadster" tells you all you need to know about the times.
That shifter is remarkably easy on my '37 Olds Six Touring Sedan, even thought it has a throw length of about 18". The shift lever itself is so long that it imparts a lot of mechanical advantage. The curve of it places the shift knob right next to and just below the average person's right hand as it grips the wheel at about the 4 o'clock position. It helps that I have a drag-style 2" spherical shift knob on top of the lever, rather than the oddly-shaped plastic Olds version.
@ 15:48 whatever happened to a headlight dimmer switch that only dimmed the drivers side headlamp, leaving the passenger side light full-bright for maximum visibility? Seems like a dandy idea to me.
25:25 you think the camera guy crapped his pants during this shot you have to remember this is before power breaks that’s why the driver was holding his hand out the window because the wind resistance will slow them down faster
I thought maybe he was just "hand signaling", This was before rear tail signals were standard. You had to pay extra to get rear turn signal lights. I can't imagine that he would think that his his arm would slow the car down.
Ive had one in my garage for the last 20 years its finally getting some love! Check Cosentino garage here in UA-cam he'll be sharing the build progress!
Considering all the improvements for 1937 the models of previous years must have been real shi? boxes! ha ha ha ! just kidding! Such details if you happened to run into a real go getter salesman you'd buy the thing just to get out of the dealership! Thanks for putting this up great look into the past. I'll look at it again.
All right, the narrator convinced me - I'll buy this marvellous car immediatly !
"Some men are born great, others have greatness thrust upon them." As GM fanatics, we all owe GM's overwhelming success and incredible designs to Harley J. Earl.
And one other thing. I am too young to have been familiar with these vehicles, the style of dress and customs of that time. These videos really are an excellent history lesson. They should show them in school.
+Harold Bullock Thank you. I've always thought that part of their value was the cultural history they imparted -- even though it was unintentional.
I was so impressed by the quality of the car as depicted in this film, I bought myself a '37 Olds -- in 2019!
My search continues. Currently have a 58, but that's a whole world apart from these.
Inspiring, thumbs up. My lust is for a '38 Buick and hope to make it a reality. No dingers or buzzers or wheelbarrow load of parts that I don't know what they are.
"All cars look the same"
Looks like weve come full circle on that one
Ah, the 1930s, when clear elocution and loud volume were considered a narrator's most highly revered attributes!
Don't forget the tenor voice. There wasn't much "hi fidelity" sound available in those days, so a baritone, the prefered narrator voice of today, wouldn't come through clearly most situations, except perhaps in some well equipped movie theatres of that day, but likely, this film wasn't shown in theatres. It was probably shown within the auto industry on 16mm projectors with tinny sounding speakers.
We had a 1937 Oldsmobile 2 door coupe back in the late 1960's. My mother drove herself to the hospital in it, to give birth to my youngest brother. Always wondered what the people at the hospital thought of a 9 months pregnant lady driving herself up to Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, GA in a 1937 Oldsmobile, which was unusual, even in 1968! ...Dad was at work, and this was their 6th child, so it was no big deal by then.
My fraternal twin brother and I liked to sit in the fold down jump seats in the back as 4 year olds.
Wish I’d a known about these videos back in the real day. 😆🏁
Great video….these 1937 cars are so underrated. I want one.
Bring back Oldsmobile!
This video gives an excellent example of how in depth even the ads used to be . Thank you for the video .
Thanks for watching.
I noticed that the cars in this ad have three pedals on the floor. I get the biggest kick from a family member (an attorney) who cannot drive a car with a standard transmission!!
If you can't drive a stick, you're not really driving at all -- you're just aiming the car. Europeans chuckle at Americans for this reason (and so many, many others!).
I just can't wait to get to my Oldsmobile dealer and take a look at the new 1937 models!They're the bees knees!
Olds made a great car but Buick has always been the object of my affection, right up to the present day.
32:25 I cannot wait for the 1938 model to come out i’ll be at my dealership waiting outside to take a test drive!!😃
I RODE IN ONE OF THESE IN THE LATE FORTIES AND I NOTICED HOW SMOOTH IT RODE COMPAIRED TO WHAT I WAS USED TO AS A YOUNG KID!....
I absolutely love these old videos. But I can't hear this one.
I have a 1937 olds 4 dr touring sedan that I have rebuilt. I was so suprized to see this newsreel film on my car. Thank yo so much for finding it and posting it here. It is truely wonderful to see.
I want a 1937 Olds 8! If even HALF of the improvements touted in this film are even HALF true - the 1937 Oldsmobiles are incredible technological achievements...
The 2-piece drive-shaft was a great innovation, and the head/leg room is greater than any SUV today.
I'm convinced! It's that sweet 2dr model for me! I'm grabbing my hat and coat and heading right down to the Oldsmobile dealership in town!
😉👍
the split front and rear windows creates a heck of a blind spot
Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for your comment.
The 37 Old straight 8 coupe and the big Buick Coupes were real handsome cars ,and still are.
I've heard people call big, manly women handsome too.
"We'll be right back after this word from Oldsmobile."
Sold! Take my money! The 4 door touring sedan 8 cyl is the one I want to drive in my merry Oldsmobile.
As a master automotive mechanic,
This data has noted very advanced
designs, still in use, Great Study's.
I like these old videos that attempt to show what they are selling. Also, to see an early stabilizer bar that's standard in every car now, the braking systems that was the standard for decades after first used, the transmission designs common in manual shift vehicles...this is a fun video...
Nice video showing state of the art auto design of 1937. It is interesting how some of the engineering looks similar to cars built 50 years later. But I had to laugh when the narrator proudly announced the high compression ratio of 6.2:1 in the flathead engines. Chevies and Buicks of the era all had overhead valve engines.
I had a 68 Toronado with 455, front wheel drive.
Wonderful car.
18:03 Now... [with the Oldsmobile's new, improved 'no draught ventilation'] father can smoke his pipe 'in peace', without sharing its rich aroma with the 'less appreciative' members of the family." SOLD! 🤣🤣🤣🥇 I laughed so hard at how much can be read into that. At this point, I got more than my money's worth out of this vid. Great writing. Thank you so much for digging this up and posting it. And BTW, at 60+ years, i am old enough to have ridden in 50's and 60's cars with these vent windows, and the were indeed wonderful. VERY few cars back then had air conditioning, and bent all the way backwards at speed, these vent windows captured the airflow and allowed it to hit our faces, cooling us. And, indeed in the rain, opened as you see in this vid, allowed airflow in the rain in the summertime without getting us wet (remember, no air conditioning).
there have been a few comments on the announcers style, which was typical to the early 1960's. I like that style. It keeps the show interesting. That way of speaking has become a lost art. Thank you for sharing this.
+Harold Bullock Thank you for watching and for your comment. It was a different style of narration. The voice of God versus the conversation style that's popular today.
Weeell, not quite V.O.G. Listen to George Putnam or voice over work by Lorne Greene.. In '37, talkies were 10 years old and commercial radio was almost 20, the tech still almost demanded the volume but the style was considered excited and enthusiastic...though it wears thin with the same voice thru 45 min. Engine lubrication got the same inflection as interior fabrics.
Just lacks sincerity...a lesson learned before TV came.
The production directors for the film knew that it had to get through to a bunch of smartass young car salesmen who were inclined to be smoking (literally) and joking during the presentation.
Geez, I'm sold on the 37 Olds!
I want one now!
Informative and enjoyable video…
A window into the late1930s mechanicals and styles.
Some men are Baptist, others Catholic, this is obviously an Oldsmobile man.
Belated brownie points for the Christmas Story reference.
his spare tire was only a tire in the academic sense
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDGE!
I noticed the film rewinds itself in a couple of spots. Otherwise this is a very cool film about automotive technology almost 80 years ago! Regular cars back then were bigger than almost anything on the road today, including a lot of SUVs, check out the '37 Old's rear seat head and leg room at 12:40 - there's even a foot rest back there! Thank you for posting this amazing film.
An exceptionally well constructed all steel body that actually enhances the strength of the perimeter X frame. Very appealing turret top design. Many features that we take for granted today seem to have been fairly new for 1937 such as independent front suspension, coil springs, front and rear anti-sway bars and hydraulic braking. That two piece driveshaft is really an ingenious design that permits only minimal intrusion to the plane of the rear floor pan. However referring to the engine's 6.2 : 1 compression ratio as high compression may have been true in its day when engine design was trying to rise from abysmally low ratings but today no engine I know of has such a very low compression ratio. All in all though the Olds engine and drive train were very well designed for its time allowing for increased economy, power and smoothness of operation.
Oldsmobile Motor Division 1897-2004 RIP
I love it when they say, "the new Oldsmobile."
Don't play the drinking game for every time this narrator says "Steel"
People of this time were used to car bodies with a lot of wood in them, that survived accidents just about as well as you would expect . Emphasizing the total lack of wood was meant to convince anyone with an older car just how safe and modern a new Oldsmobile was.
Very strong body.and heavy duty..
Anybody who could afford an Oldsmobile in 1937 was "Living Large!" Believe this.
I think he said "steel" 24 times describing the construction. do this on a new car, but replace "steel" with "plastic" and "fiberglass"
Must have been a real selling point.
Well, a few years prior to this, car bodies were made of wood frames and the sheet metal panels were nailed to it. So the body being all steel was a big deal. These bodies also mostly had wooden floors.
Sounds like 1937 was the absolute peak of automotive engineering ability (at least for Oldsmobile). Nothing after that date could possibly be an improvement.
oh sorry, for some reason the sound was vary distorted when watching on my iPhone 4S, i just watched it on my PC and it was fine. thanks for the upload
What a step back in time
That poor spokesman wore himself out! But he is quite a salesman, i'm sold and want to by one right now. Sure would be better than the POS im driving now.
As Frank Nelson would have said, "YEEEEEESSSS".
The Art Deco train at the end was the City of Salina. Melted down for the war.
Think that it would hold 6 basketball players?
Trunk is tiny by todays standards. We had Dodge Neon that was about 12 cubic feet. Still a fun video, every brand had these and proved that they were the best.
That's how announcers sounded in the 1930s. That was the style.
They used a tenor voice. There wasn't much "hi fidelity" sound available in those days, so a baritone, the prefered narrator voice of today, wouldn't come through clearly most situations, because of the typical dynamic range of playback equipment was limited, except perhaps in some well equipped movie theatres of that day, but likely, this film wasn't shown in theatres. It was probably shown within the auto industry on 16mm projectors with tinny sounding speakers.
This has to be the last silent film ever made
Would be curious to see how most modern vehicles would deal with the suspension demonstration at 23:40.
Yes, quite the rough test! But the cars, aka, POS now in 2018/2019 would end up as a pile of plastic body parts and plastic screws and bolts!!😆
@@foxloverfoxy2135 nice joke.
@@COLDoCLINCHER37 No, hey, Im totally serious!! The plastic screws used to put interiors together and basically hold these new cars together couldn't put up with the riggers of those tests. I know this for a fact because our roads here in our Oregon cities are some of theworst in the nation. I've actually seen a body part fall off a newer car after it hit a pothole. But NEVER seen that happen to a car that was pre-1970. Thats enough proof for me.
@@foxloverfoxy2135 you've seen one or two modern cars brake apart out of 1million plus. Modern cars are better made and more reliable, atleast Japanese cars.
@@COLDoCLINCHER37
Nope.
And now, for the main feature! Very informative! Thanks! :) Jack
27:15
That head turn though....
And its still true today. A style begins and is quickly adopted by the entire industry, its always been this way. Look at cars, the 90s were all the same, 00's all the same, 10's all the same, etc. Look how the angled 1986 M-B trunk still influences cars today, as one example.
Loved this old film, but stop yelling at me. 😂
18:14 scary thing about this Oldsmobile is there’s no seatbelts good luck going fast with this vehicle 🚗
When seatbelts were first offered in cars in the late 50's/early 60's people didn't wear them wasn't until the late 70's where people finally clued in that seatbelts save lives.
@@operator91210 No , they were mandated .
The water pump which was permanently lubricated, and the engine oiling system, minus bavited rods, were advances over Hudson, and Chrysler, of that year, as was the synchromesh transmission. The wheel bearings were ball, instead of roller, though. The drive shaft, was lowered, other than through Hotchkis drive. Occupant safety, in collision, was mistakenly enhanced, by a totally stronger body, rather than "crumple zones fore, & aft.
That's right. Engineers thought for decades that one enhanced the safety of a car in a collision by building that car to be STRONGER and more RIGID. Whereas we know today that energy is dissipated to the environment (vice the passengers!) most efficiently when materials give way in a controlled manner. People walk away from car wrecks today where the car looks like a shredded cube, perhaps 3/4 its original size -- the rest of it being scattered all over the road around it for several yards, the transverse-mounted engine having broken away and steaming down on the pavement under the firewall, and 6 or 8 of the airbags having acted in a fraction of a second. Traditionalists think modern cars are more cheaply-built and much less safe than this '37 Olds, but the exact opposite is true. Their minds are usually changed when they roll their car or truck on the freeway at 70MPH and live to have a chat with the nice officer right afterward.
The 1937 Olds had a positive ground electrical system.
As does my 51 Plymouth
And the battery is located under the driver's seat. They weren't moved up under the hood until about 1940.
Why is the sound all massed up
Ryan W because it was made 83 years ago....audio and video was shit. And yes, I know this comment is 7 years old.
Nice but I wish they had microphones back in 1937. No sound on this makes it DULLLLLLLLLL!!
Yea I rewound too, wondering if I heard right that the antenna is in the running board.
Only for the basic (6-tube) radio, as it turns out. The extra-cost deluxe 8-tube radio with dual speakers was served by a conventional mast-type antenna located on the right side below the hood line. The earliest car radios (1932-34) had antennas that were essentially just long, bare wires interleaved between layers of the fabric top insert (in the days before one-piece steel tops).
43:45 I guess the kid is happy that he doesn’t have to wear a seatbelt!🤨
Not getting any sound
Not growing up in the US, whenever I heard the name Oldsmobile I thought these were special cars aimed at 'old' people?
33:04 hay the first NASCAR race between two cars!
Why no sound
NOW THIS is the original...ad Mr.Schmengie, you are right about the differences, no "Ken Doll/Hannah Montana" "gay teenager" types, NO torque coverters and NO AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSIONS :)! They were like smaller buses or big rigs of the year...NO power steering in them thar daze...and ya usually HADDA be a REAL MAN (like yours truly) to drive 'em.:)
15:05 - Touting comfort as they show an elegantly dressed lady stretching her left leg to depress the clutch, grasping the truck-size gear shifter with her right hand. Yes, they don't build them like that anymore!
The poor reputation of women drivers, which has persisted with diminished strength even into the present day, was quite widespread and usually well-earned. Not only b/c back then cars were physically difficult to drive (esp. over distances of 50+ miles or so), but b/c lack of climate control and effective modern suspensions meant that any drive over about 75 miles left women, especially, sweaty and windblown, their makeup needing serious attention. A social custom quickly developed in most parts of the country -- and indeed, the world -- that no "nice" woman would take the wheel if there was a man available to do so. Therefore, women tended not to get enough practice in driving, especially under challenging conditions. Finally, at least through the early 1930s cars were unreliable enough -- early batteries, tires, and radiators being the main culprits -- that a woman who drove her own car had to be somewhat "butch" to make, or negotiate for, repairs at roadside. Any woman on her own in a car far from town was considered especially adventurous, foolish, or even "loose", and it was almost unheard-of for a respectable woman to stop overnight at a motor court by herself. The fact that it was considered remarkable that the late-teen heroine of the first Nancy Drew mystery novels (1932) "drove her own roadster" tells you all you need to know about the times.
That shifter is remarkably easy on my '37 Olds Six Touring Sedan, even thought it has a throw length of about 18". The shift lever itself is so long that it imparts a lot of mechanical advantage. The curve of it places the shift knob right next to and just below the average person's right hand as it grips the wheel at about the 4 o'clock position. It helps that I have a drag-style 2" spherical shift knob on top of the lever, rather than the oddly-shaped plastic Olds version.
@ 15:48 whatever happened to a headlight dimmer switch that only dimmed the drivers side headlamp, leaving the passenger side light full-bright for maximum visibility? Seems like a dandy idea to me.
Your audio is not turned up. My device sound is turned all the way up & I can barely hear your audio.
Oooooh fuuuuuudge. I want The Christmas Story car. Does this come with a box of extra lug nuts?
25:25 you think the camera guy crapped his pants during this shot you have to remember this is before power breaks that’s why the driver was holding his hand out the window because the wind resistance will slow them down faster
I thought maybe he was just "hand signaling", This was before rear tail signals were standard. You had to pay extra to get rear turn signal lights. I can't imagine that he would think that his his arm would slow the car down.
Great film. What happened to the audio?
Rear sway bar in 1937. Were they seen again untill the mid-sixties?
Must have been built like a tank. They had to be. Roads were really ruff in those days. Our cars would not last a year on those roads.
LOL
My only complaint about these cars is that the SATNAV system sucks, and then there's that factory recall for airbag issues in back in '17.
23:53 this is before Standard shock absorbers were invented
wasnt expecting the skip at 7:26 scared me a little.
Audio is dead...
Where are all those beautiful cars?
They emphasized comfort over safety back then.
autos hechos a la medida humana
The audio is so low almost nonexistent
No audio !
No sound
15:30 can you drop the clutch and burn rubber with this Oldsmobile?
Audio distorted
The car was definitely better than the audio, for sure!
It's from 1937, what are you expecting? Stereo? Hi fidelity? FLAC?
31:24 do you think she is drag racing John force on the Strip?
No Sound?
The Speaker:
what a terrible Noise..the Voice...
that's not a car, it's a minivan
33:28 where is the blower at?
If you get a chance, check out the UA-cam video of a '59 Chevy versus an '09 Chevy head on collision. I was amazed at the difference in safety.
A modern aspect ratio tire would have failed on the first railroad tie!
11:30 what a ladies' man!
Ive had one in my garage for the last 20 years its finally getting some love! Check Cosentino garage here in UA-cam he'll be sharing the build progress!
Considering all the improvements for 1937 the models of previous years must have been real shi? boxes! ha ha ha ! just kidding! Such details if you happened to run into a real go getter salesman you'd buy the thing just to get out of the dealership!
Thanks for putting this up great look into the past. I'll look at it again.
Old car IT tanks realy torture test please back old job
43:36 I guess it’ll be OK for that luggage to go flying when you hit the brakes!
32:58 just look at that powerful Hemi Engine! That’ll blow my dodge demon away!😂
SuperAgentman007 ESPECIALLY with that 6.2:1 compression ratio!!!!!
43:55 hey check it out a Perelli spare tire!