The Oldsmobile Model Z was the company's first top-level passenger

car A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

produced under the

Oldsmobile Oldsmobile (formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors) was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produc ...

brand before they became a division of

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

in 1908. The Model Z was created and engineered after Mr. Olds left the company but before they became a division, the same year the car was introduced. It was the senior model to the mid-level Oldsmobile Model M, and the entry-level, Buick engineered

Oldsmobile Model 20 The Series 20 was an automobile produced by Oldsmobile division of General Motors in 1909. When the Oldsmobile Company joined General Motors in 1908, the Series 20 was one of the first examples of platform sharing that became GM's most notable bus ...

. It was upgraded to become the

Oldsmobile Limited The Oldsmobile Limited was a top-level passenger car produced by GM's Oldsmobile Division in 1910, offered as an upgraded replacement to the Oldsmobile Model Z when it was discontinued in 1909. The Oldsmobile Limited was very large and expensive ...

History

The Model Z was the first Oldsmobile to introduce a

flathead engine A flathead engine, also known as a sidevalve engine''American Rodder'', 6/94, pp.45 & 93. or valve-in-block engine, is an internal combustion engine with its poppet valves contained within the engine block, instead of in the cylinder head, a ...

with six cylinders, displacing developing 48 bhp. The engine was installed in the front, driving the rear wheels through a transmission shaft. The

gearbox A transmission (also called a gearbox) is a mechanical device invented by Louis Renault (who founded Renault) which uses a gear set—two or more gears working together—to change the speed, direction of rotation, or torque multiplication/r ...

had three forward gears, with the gearshift lever positioned to the right of the driver. As with other Oldsmobiles of the time, the brake pedal came into contact with the

drum brake A drum brake is a brake that uses friction caused by a set of Brake shoe, shoes or Brake pad, pads that press outward against a rotating bowl-shaped part called a brake drum. The term ''drum brake'' usually means a brake in which shoes press o ...

on the rear wheels. For 1909 the engine displacement was increased to and a 2-door roadster was introduced. Sales were modest, selling 200 for the entire series. It was first introduced at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

and had a retail price of US$4,000 ($ in dollars ), priced considerably higher than the

Buick Model 10 The Buick 4 was a series of passenger cars produced by the Buick Division of GM from 1909 through 1918, and was available as a touring car, phaeton or roadster. It was available with the Buick Model B as a larger alternative offering a larger e ...

at US$1,000.

References

Model Z 1900s cars Brass Era vehicles {{Brass-auto-stub