This 1953 Oldsmobile '88' raced it's first NASCAR event on March 8, 1953 at Harnett Speedway in Spring

Lake, North Carolina. It replaced a 1952 Oldsmobile '88' for the up and coming driver Dick Passwater who had finished 6th at the Daytona Beach race in February of 1953.

Dick drove this car for 12 races before the untimely death of the cars owner, Frank Arford left him without a ride. In those 12 races, Passwater had one win (Charlotte) and 9 top ten finishes (6 in the top five), which along with his 6th place finish at Daytona in the '52 Oldsmobile, had earned him the NASCAR points lead.

Robert "Bob" Hamke, the former chief mechanic for the car, and Dick Passwater were reunited a few years ago to restore this vehicle and relive old times. The car was then donated to the R.E. Olds Transportation Museum in Lansing, Michigan where it is normally on display.

The R.E. Olds Transportation Museum was founded in the early 1980's to tell the story of the contributions Lansing, Michigan has made to the transportation industry. Recently named as one of Car Collector Magazine's top ten automobile museums exhibiting a small collection, the museum contains the worlds largest collection of "museum quality" Oldsmobiles. The collection includes everything from the oldest Oldsmobile to the fastest Oldsmobile, as well as bicycles, carriages, cars by Durant, and some of the finest examples of the REO brand of cars and trucks viewable anywhere. So stop by and take a drive down memory lane.