Oldsmobile was endowed with a new exterior design for the 1948 model year based on General Motors' newly developed C-Body platform, but clung to its pre-war flathead straight-eight engine. For 1948, the compression ratio was increased from 6.5:1 to 7.0:1 and horsepower was nudged upward from 110 to 115. Customers who waited until 1949 were rewarded with an all-new overhead valve V8 engine. This '48 model, discovered in Ellendale, N.D., is outfitted with a 4-speed Hydramatic automatic transmission. A three-speed manual was also available. (Photo by Jim Meachen)