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. ...next page >>