While the modest Curved Dash established Olds on theautomotive landscape, the magnificent Limited raised its profile well aboveit. Debuting in 1910 in $4,600 Roadster and Touring and $5,800 Limo versions(SERIOUS BUCKS back then), it was upgraded for 1911 with a massive 707-cid,60-hp 6-cylinder engine. At 198 in. long on a 138-in. wheelbase with 42-in.wheels and two-tiered running boards, it dwarfed nearly everything on theroad and was capable of cruising at 60-70-mph. As depicted by WilliamHarndon Foster's famous 1910 painting, "Setting the Pace," one reportedlyraced the 20th Century Limited railway express from New York to Albany.andwon. Given their prices and exclusivity, these apply-named Olds flagshipswere produced in very limited volumes: 325 in 1910, 182 in 1911 and 140 in1912, including two bare chassis and three chassis intended for fire truckbodies.

Olds and Buick offered a column-shifted (semi-automatic) "Safety Automatic Transmission" for '38, but the real breakthrough came two years later with the industry's first mass-produced fully automatic gearbox, the 4-speed Hydra-Matic, a $57 option on all '40 Olds models. The 110-hp 8-cyl. Series 90 L-40 Custom Cruiser proved a surprisingly strong seller at $1131, second only to the $963 95-hp 6-cyl. Series 70 G-40 sedan. Total Olds production neared 200K, then climbed to 270K for '41 before WWII curtailed '42 output to about 68K.

Olds whacked the hungry post-war car market upside its collective head with a hot, high-compression 135-hp OHV "Rocket V8," standard in 88 and 98 for '49. The swoopy "Futuramic" styling that arrived on the top-shelf 98 the year before extended to the more affordable '49 88 and (6-cyl.) 76, and this combination of V8 power and modern good looks made the 88 America's hottest car on street and track. It paced the 1949 Indy 500, won the 1950 Pan American road race and took NASCAR championships in 1949-51 as '50 Olds production topped 416K.

Olds' first modern "small car" debuted for '61 in response to growing interest in imports and domestic compacts, trumping them all with a 215-cid aluminum V8 good for 155 hp standard and 185 hp in a higher-performance Cutlass Coupe model. Preceding the official start of the muscle car wars by two model years, Olds raised the ante with a 215-hp fluid-injected "Turbo-rocket" turbocharged version in a $3,049 Jetfire hardtop coupe with bucket seats and console for '62. As output grew to 448K for '62 and 477K for '63, turbocharged Jetfire production totaled 3,765 and 5,842, respectively.

F-85 grew to "mid-size" for '64 with a wheelbase stretch from 112 to 115 in., while a high-performance "4-4-2" (4-bbl. carb, 4-speed manual trans, dual exhausts) package provided viable competition for Pontiac's GTO, Chevy's Chevelle SS and a growing phalanx of mid-size muscle machines from all U.S. makers. Cutlass became the upscale series name, and a handsome Vista Cruiser wagon debuted with raised rear seats and roof and tour-bus-style upper windows. The 4-4-2's 330-cid V8 offered 310 hp as Olds sales soared to 587K for '66, its best year since 597K in '55.