END OF THE ROAD: OLDSMOBILE IS JOINING OTHER MODELS OF THE PAST

C'mon GMC, tell us it ain't so.

The "Merry Oldsmobile," which made the big splash more than a century ago as the car with the curved dash surely can't be on its way out.

General Motors Corp. announced in early December that it would be phasing out the Oldsmobile line within the next few years.

For 103 years the Oldsmobile has been a mainstay of many auto owners. Its 400-plus horsepower motors have powered many a dragster and hot rod, and will probably power a few more.

But GMC is pulling the plug on the proud and venerable Olds. It will fade out over the next five years, ending an automobile phase, which started in Lansing, Mich., in 1897.

Olds becomes another in a lengthy list of cars which have groaned and sputtered to the end of the road.

Gone, except for vintage auto clubs and collectors, are such noted names as Studebaker, Packard, Corvair, Edsel, DeLorean, Cord, Tucker and Lasalle. Some of these, along with many other early auto names, were high-profile flops. Others lasted a while.

Marketing experts say 80 percent of all new products fail, and in automotive history, that percentage may go even higher. Another 10 percent may last a decade before fading into oblivion.

Tucker, a big name in collectible car circles, barely made it to the marketplace in 1948.

Edsel, which expected to sell more than 200,000 cars its first year, made it past 110,000 cars over a three-year period before the final car rolled off the assembly line in 1959 -- three years after the first one.

The DeLorean made it three years. Only 8,583 DeLoreans were manufactured in 1981, 1982 and 1983. About 6,000 are believed to be in circulation, some of them outside the United States.

Based on these instances the Olds lived a ripe old life. Not many names from the turn of the last century are still around, though Cadillac, Plymouth, Dodge, and many Ford models are still thriving.

But what of the White Steamer, which ran on kerosene, the Thomas Flyer, the Reo, the Marmon, the Owens, the Moon, Franklin, Maxwell and Franklin, and so many more car models?

Olds loved a challenge

Even Ransom Eli Olds had some failures.

Olds was a man who loved challenges, biographers say. He would start making a car, then move on to something else. The REO, one of Olds' cars with a name derived from his initials, disappeared in 1937, although REO trucks were made until 1972.

Olds had 48 different automotive patents.

Preston Tucker introduced what he called his "Car of Tomorrow" over a period of almost two years, for the 1948 sales model.

Only 251 Tuckers were built; 47 survive.

The Tucker was a fastback sedan design, often referred to as the "Tucker Torpedo."

The car was designed in Michigan and built in Chicago on Cicero Avenue. It pioneered some automotive features and ideas that have since been adopted for other cars.

The original price of the car was $2,450. Today, an original Tucker in good condition can bring $250,000 or more.

One of the most famous duds in the automotive world is the Ford Edsel, named for Henry Ford's son, and introduced as the "car of the future" in the fall of 1957. It went down the tube a couple of years later.

Ford advertised its Edsel as "unlike anything every seen," but few people wanted the big, two-ton monster. The Edsel sold only 63,000 its first year, and only 110,847 during its entire three-year run.

One of the features of the Edsel was the push-button gear selector systems, located in the cars' steering wheel.

But all is not lost for Edsel owners. Collectors of the more than 8,000 Edsel models left, participate in clubs and shows. And, a well-maintained model that may have cost between $2,200 and $6,500 new can bring $6,000 to $30,000 now.

The White Steamer, Reo, Hupmobile

Few people have seen one of the turn-of-the century cars which could use kerosene as fuel. Advertisements of the day claimed the White Steamer, which used kerosene had many advantages over gasoline-powered cars. Kerosene could be obtained at any grocery store, it cost a nickel to a dime less per gallon, and yielded greater miles per gallon than gasoline.

A turn-back to the pages of a 1909 "Scribner's Magazine" reveals some great advertisements for cars of that era.

The Hupmobile was acclaimed as "the smartest and best little car ever marketed in America." The vehicle was powered by a 4-cylinder, 20-horsepower engine with sliding gears, all at a cost of about $750.

The Reo was larger than the Hupmobile and one of the 1909 models featured a four-cylinder, 30-horsepower engine that cold offer speeds up to 50 miles per hour. The cost was $1,250. The Reo also produced a two-cylinder touring car for $1,000 and a one-cylinder runabout at $500.

The Locomobile didn't "jerk" in 1909. A two-page advertisement, complete with art of the six-cylinder, $3,000 power plant, with four forward speeds, and roomy body, took the "jerks" out the ride.

The advertisement said a one-cylinder car "jerked" itself along, and a four-cylinder car had four times as many jerks. But, the six-cylinder car provided the power to eliminate all "jerks" for a smooth ride.

Oldsmobile featured a four-cylinder engine in 1909, and a 7-passenger, roomy, Tonneau with a smooth ride, "on city pavements or country roads."

And, don't forget the favorite car of comedian Jack Benny -- the four-cylinder runabout. The runabout was available new for as low as $550. The company claimed it "costs less to own than a horse and buggy, and cost no more to buy." Of course, other models, ranging from $850 to about $1,750 were available.

There were many others auto manufacturers which disappeared along the century, including the Winton, the Toledo Pope, Moon, Franklin, Owens, King, Chandler, Marion Handley, and the Watson Tractortruck.