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Custom 1950 Oldsmobile Coupe now with side view included


Peter Lombardo

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When this kit came out, I was not interested in it at all…….so I didn’t get one. Then a few months ago a friend contacted me and asked if I could turn out a few clear hoods for the car……in his research of the car, which he really likes, he saw that Oldsmobile offered a clear hood (not completely clear, but with clear sections) to show off the engine under that hood.

When I told him that I did not have the kit and therefore no hoods available to make a master from, he offered to send me a hood, but I figured I would just get the kit and work from that. It took a few weeks for me to find the kit, but once I did, I was able to make a vacuum formed master and then made a master mold from the inside of the formed hood. From that master I was able to make the clear hoods.

But that has nothing to do with this posting.

While the kit was sitting on my work bench while I was preparing the hood for the molding, I keep looking at the car and it really grew on me.

I knew that the roof had to go, but what to replace it with? Then over in a back corner of the bench I saw roof that I had cut off a Concept AMT Camaro about 4 years ago and the light bulb in my head went off. I cut off the roof and laid back the windshield and then glued the roof on. The problem with the roof was that it was too flat, the hood and trunk and fenders were all rounded and so the roof needed to be rounded too. I added bondo to the roof and sanded it to a nice round curve

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I opened the doors, opened the trunk since the longer trailing roof changed the opening of the trunk and if I was going to re-scribe the edges I might as well open it. I did not care for the taillights on the rear of the fenders so they were filled in and new tail lights were cut into the rear fascia below the trunk opening. They were filled with clear 5 minute epoxy mixed with Tamiya clear red and allowed to set up. I recessed the rear license plate area to finish off the rear. I removed the front fender trim piece and added a frenched hood over the headlights and recessed the headlight bezel. I added Corvette rearview mirrors and lowered the car down as much as possible.

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Gold and the term golden were always associated with Oldsmobile so picking a color was a no brainer……it had to have gold in it, but I wanted a two tone scheme and I wanted the gold to be different. I mixed up a custom bright gold color using an Aztec Gold and Sunburst yellow pearl pigment powder mixed with clear lacquer and air brushed it over a GM pale tan and separated the two with a thin burnt orange vinyl pin-stripe.

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This is just a rough test fit of a clear hood.

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Considering I had no interest in this kit, I am very happy with the result.

Edited by Peter Lombardo
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Harry P. wrote "huh ??? - explain, please"

re: the clear plastic hood on '49/'50 Oldsmobiles - they were offered to Olds dealers (from GM) to showcase Olds' new ohv V8 engine.

In 1949 - the first model year that the new Olds V8 was offered - the hood was mostly clear Plexiglass, and was a lift-off only type of hood that was intended to be only used on new Olds V8-equipped models in Oldsmobile dealers' showrooms as a promotional display. . . There's an original for sale on eBay as of today - it's offered @ $750 (ref: eBay item # 360287360995. Sorry - for some reason, I'm unable to post a direct link to that eBay auction -??) The one on eBay is supposed to fit on the Olds 98 series; and I'm not sure if it would also fit on the smaller 88 body series, or if there was a similar hood for '88s, too.

In 1950, Olds dealers could display a new Olds w/ a metal hood that had two smaller Plexiglass 'window' panels that were on each side of the hood's centerline, as opposed to the type used on '49 models. The '50 model year hoods were hinged & latched like their all-steel counterparts. Some sources state that the general publc were able to purchase these hoods as an accessory from the Olds parts department.

And, similar 2 window type hoods may have been available thru '53 on Oldsmobiles.

And, for even more trivia -

'33 Desoto had a promotional display of a car w/ a clear plastic hood to showcase it's engine - but, only for export markets.

'40 Pontiac - actually was a re-bodied '39 that was displayed @ the NY World's Fair in 1939. It had clear plastic (Plexiglass ?) body panels; not just a clear hood.

'53 Dodge had a hood w/ a clear Plexiglass insert - most likely the 2 window type as on the '50-'53 Olds hoods - it was a dealer promo item to showcase Dodge's mini-hemi Red Ram V8.

'54 Ford had a promotional display type hood w/ a relatively large clear Plexiglass insert set in a steel hood. 1954 was the first model year for Ford's new ohv V8 (Y block) that replaced the venerable flathead V8.

'60 Chevy Corvair - GM supplied Chevy dealers w/ an almost completely clear Plexiglass engine cover - complete w/ louvers - that was a showroom only, lift-off type of engine cover over it's aluminum air-cooled flat 6.

all of the above info is courtesy of the H.A.M.B. forum.

Edited by buffalobill
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Peter, I'd like a side-shot, too. A most interesting creation with your superb talents.

I like the taillights- remind me of the ones used on 1984-85 Buick LeSabres, which I always thought had one of the better tail designs of the downsized B-bodies.

Great everything on this. I hope you bring it to NNL next year; I'm planning to be there and would love to see it myself.

Charlie Larkin

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