HERE IT IS - BRUCE CHENOWETH'S ('58) LONG SOUGHT AND (SOON TO BE)
NEARLY NEW, 1948 OLDSMOBILE 98 FUTURAMA(sp?):
While at WCHS, Bruce, '58, owned and drove a bright red '48 Olds fastback. A straight-eight cylinder beauty (did I say beauty?) that took us on many great adventures (when we could scrape together 50 cents for gasoline.) Here is the email that Bruce included with the pix:

7/2/2007
Hi guys,
Check it out. I just brought this beauty back from west of Chicago, yesterday. There is absolutely no rusted through places anywhere on the body and no major dents. The frame is solid with no rust. The straight eight motor purrs like the day it was new and the Hydramatic Transmission shifts flawlessly. This was a barn find from the high desert of eastern Colorado. Mike (West...ed.), you will especially appreciate the fact the gearshift has been broken off (see photo) and repaired, as was the original "BIG RED ONE". For some reason, they didn't put the gear selector on the left side as I had done, but we can correct that oversight. The interior will be done by Marine Upholstery, who used to be located in the house on the river next door to where Bonnie lived. He is coming to the warehouse Monday to pick up the interior parts he can carry in his truck. The body finishing and paint will be done by my good friend Neil Green at Waynesville Body Shop. I ordered the wide whitewall tires (you can't find port-a-walls anymore, darnit). Today, we took out the seats, vacuumed it out (two canisters full), and removed the wheels. Tomorrow I will have the tires removed from the wheels and take them to the sandblaster. After sandblasting, they will be painted (creme colored I think...if not black). Black would give it the WCHS colors as the body will be painted, what else but Red. By the time the wheels come back, the tires should be here (they're being shipped in from Coker of Tennessee) so will have them mounted, balanced, and reinstalled. The biggest problem will be finding bumpers, grill parts, glass, and other miscellanious chrome parts that are missing or broken. However, I sold the Black '56 Olds (actually made a profit) to a guy in Des Plains, IL who is a real Olds fanatic with two six car garages full of Olds parts. He tells me he believes he has most of what I need. I will be taking photos of the progress on the restoration of this rare gem (only 3,854 of this body style were ever built...they made a whole lot of '49's, as due to starting production late in '48, they changed to the '49 model two months after production began). As you can imagine, I'm charged up. The goal is to have it done (at least the painting and interior) in time for Frisch's Frolic. As near as I can estimate, it is going to wind up costing me about one hundred (100) times what the original cost, but what the hell. It'll be a great car (when done, it will most likely appraise for $20,000.00 or better) and a marvelous piece of WCHS history for the few of us who remember the trips to school and back and the trips to the Lebanon sock hop and back. I'll be sharing the progress with you.
Always your good friend (semper fi)
Bruce



- posted by Mikey @ 2:08 PM