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1919 classic
goes home
PUTNAM — A classic Oldsmobile last week returned to its roots, making the journey from Putnam to Lansing, Mich.
The car was built in Lansing and is now returning — it’ll have a home in the R.E. Oldsmobile Transportation Museum.
The 1919 Oldsmobile, owned by Greg King, third-generation owner of the former King Cadillac GMC, said his grandfather, Walter King, purchased the car in 1959.
King believes his grandfather may have bought the car because he was an Oldsmobile dealer and wanted it for promotional events. Or he may have purchased that one “because it was built the same year as my father (Russell King) was born. I will never know because he had a stroke in 1960 and never drove again.”
King added, “People who remember my father, Russell King, know that he didn’t spend a lot of time on leisure events. He put it away in storage.
“In 1966 I got my driver’s license and thought we should show this car off. I joined the Yankee Yesteryear Car Club and took it to some car shows and drove it in some parades. I took it to many car shows at the Woodstock Fairgrounds,” King said.
He said: “The last time I had it out was in 2004 when Oldsmobile built its last car. I took some pictures of it next to a 2004 Oldsmobile, one of the last Oldsmobiles we sold.
“This car was built in Lansing and now it is going back home.”
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