1918 Oldsmobile touring car

This 1918 four-door, five-passenger touring car was built by the Olds Motor Works of Lansing, Mich., and originally sold fo $1,185. It is an Oldsmobile Model 37, bearing serial number 153041 and motor number D-3363. This automobile was donated to the museum in April of 1964. Robert Maytag, of washing-machine fame, bequeathed three vehicles to the institution, but the Oldsmobile was the only one the museum accepted into its collection. Curator John White declared that the car “represents a more modern vehicle than we presently have on display and would help our theme of development.”

The museum regularly lent this Oldsmobile to the Fort Meyer-based Third Infantry who used it in a number of parades. In 1977, the Museum decided to stop letting the army borrow and drive the vehicle. According to Don Berkebile, the museum's Collections Committee had decided that “lending the car for actual use has set a precedent that could eventually have harmful effects....”

Currently not on view