Indie Auto’s latest Sponsor of the Week is the legendary Auto & Debt magazine, whose January 2023 issue road tests the hot new 36-inch wheels.
Of course, this is a fake ad that mocks the increasingly large wheels on contemporary vehicles. But once upon a time they were even bigger.
For example, Stewdi pointed out in a comment that a circa-1910 Oldsmobile Limited had “42 inch wheels. The car was a monster, requiring two sets of running boards to get up into it!”
Indeed. The 1910 Limited was a new top-of-line series that was priced at a stratospheric $4,600 — more than a Cadillac — and supersized to match.
Even back then, bigger was considered better
Richard Langworth and Jan Norbye described the Oldsmobile Limited thusly: “Built on a 130-inch wheelbase and weighing over two tons with touring coachwork, it was powered by a giant 700-cid engine producing 60 bhp, good for a top speed of 75 mph” (1985, p. 44).
The 1910 Oldsmobile sales catalog trumpeted the Limited as “a new standard of luxury in motoring. The combination of the smooth-running six-cylinder Oldsmobile engine, improved spring suspension, and large 42-inch tires produces the easiest-riding car ever built” (Langworth and Norbye; 1985, p. 44).
Langworth and Jan Norbye concluded that the Limited was a “real mistake.” Only 325 were built (1985, p. 44). Nevertheless, the series stuck around for two more years.
Ads placed an emphasis on larger wheel sizes
The Limited wasn’t the only Oldsmobile with huge wheels. A black-and-white ad from 1910 (see top right of this article) noted that four-cylinder models had 36-inch wheels.
In 1911 a color 1911 ad (middle right) proclaimed that the Oldsmobile “is the first large car with wheels and tires of adequate size.”
Finally, in 1912 advertising insisted that the Limited “started right, has been perfected to the utmost — and is today without serious competition” (see bottom-right ad).
As a case in point, “Veteran motorists were amazed at the riding qualities revealed in the larger tires. Ruts, bumps and cobble-stones seemed to disappear by magic.” In addition, “Record high mileages were secured, sometimes treble the previous average.”
That sounds impressive, but as Stewdi noted, the Limited was also rather tall. Only 250 of these beasts were built in 1912. The next year the Limited was replaced by a lighter and less-expensive top-end series called the Model 53.
Today’s sport-utility vehicles still have somewhat smaller wheels than a 1910-12 Oldsmobile Limited. Even so, the passenger cabin can be tall enough that some people may need two steps to enter and exit it.
Share your reactions to this post with a comment below or a note to the editor.
RE:SOURCES
- Kimes, Beverly Rae and Henry Austin Clark, Jr.; 1996. Standard Catalog of American cars 1805-1942. Third Ed. Krause Publications, Iola, WA.
- Langworth, Richard M. and Jan P. Norbye; 1985. The Complete History of General Motors 1908-1986. Publications International, Skokie, IL.
ADVERTISING & BROCHURES:
- wildaboutcarsonline.com (Automotive History Preservation Society): Oldsmobile (1911)
- oldcaradvertising.com: Oldsmobile (1910, 1912)
As excessive as it seems now, back in it’s day this car probably looked like a logical continuation of existing trends in car design. Long-distance travel over the bumpy roads of early 20th century objectively did require large, heavy “touring” cars that were sturdy enough not to fall into pieces along the way. And large wheels meant better ability to cope with the irregularities of the road surface. Apparently, some designers took it way, way too far – just as they do it now. As always, bigger IS better – until it isn’t any more…
Not coincidentally, large & heavy SUVs are often popular in countries with large distances and rudimentary road systems. Not quite the case with the U.S., of course; it seems that in U.S. people buy large vehicle just because they can.
Nevertheless, it never ceases to impress me how we humans try to push the existing technology to the limit – and beyond; low-pressure balloon tires were not available yet, so they tried 42″ rims with skinny high-pressure tires on them to achieve the required OD…
P.S. Oldsmobile Autocrat, really ? Certainly beats Studebaker’s Dictator.
Having driven a number of different types of vehicles, I cannot fathom driving a car with low-profile tires and oversize wheels. The real world requires higher-profile tires on 14-or-15-inch wheels. I have experienced too many bent alloy wheels driving at normal, legal speeds on interstate highways due to chuckholes and other road hazards in traffic. Run-flat tires may be great but replacing the bent wheels are expensive. I realize that trucks are different, but again, driving heavy vehicles with large diameter alloy rims and low-profile tires, at least on Indiana roads and highways, is in my opinion, a foolish proposition.
The middle and bottom ads look like something out of Bruce McCall’s “Bulgemobile parody ads.
S. Bauer, Steve is going to be “ticked” at me for going off topic (again). BUT you “hit a nerve” in that you mentioned Studebaker’s use of the “Dictator” model name and seemed to indicate that it was a dumb idea. l JUST got through writing a small article for the Studebaker Drivers Club on that topic!
If you look at a century-old dictionary to look up “dictator” it will have no derogatory connotation. A dictator is an old term – someone appointed by the Roman senate to resolve a specific problem/emergency/project and given unquestioned authority and full power to get the job done. After the crisis, the dictatorial powers were rescinded. No mention of cruel regimes or power for a thousand years.
The bad wrap the word NOW has was thanks to the events leading up to and surrounding WWII, like the Berlin Olympics(1936), the Spanish Civil War(1936), Mussolini’s invasion of Ethiopia(1935) and the increasing awareness of the oppressive nature of the dictatorial regimes that were generating inflammatory headlines in the 1930s.
Studebaker renamed it’s models in the spring of 1927: President, Commander and Dictator – all defined as positions of authority and responsibility. But, as we all know, the meaning of words can change over time. In 1927, Hitler was not Chancellor (that was 1933), Franco was not in power (that was 1936). Mussolini was in power (1922) but he was popular with most Italians and brought the country out of the chaos plaguing it just after WWI (a source says his peak popularity was in 1936).
Studebaker used the Dictator name until 1937 when the popular meaning of the term was beginning to sour.
To me, Studebaker was innocent in the “Dictator-naming” and certainly took the proper action in dropping it later. But how about Henry Ford (well-known anti-semite and vehemently anti-union) who, in 1938, smilingly accepted a high “award”, the “Grand Cross of the German Eagle” from Nazi officials for his “humanitarian ideals”? Or how about General Motors who festooned their Super Sport Chevrolets with “SS” emblems not that long after the war? The notoriously fierce and feared Nazi SS regiments used similar emblems. GM could have easily designed some other graphic instead. Mr. Ford and GM were not innocent.
Well, it’s off topic but a well-constructed analysis — and you bring up some important points. One of the challenges of writing about U.S. automotive history is how to assess a particularly complex leader like Henry Ford.
Like S. Bauer, I found it jarring to see the name “Autocrat.” I had to remind myself that back in 1911 such a name presumably appealed to the upper-crust car buyers Oldsmobile was targeting. Today, it’s hard to imagine even the most exclusive luxury brand using such a name because democratic ideals are more firmly embedded in our culture.