The Series 40 Defender was a four-seat passenger car produced by

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

for its

Oldsmobile Oldsmobile or formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produ ...

division in 1912 and 1913, and was manufactured at

Lansing Car Assembly Lansing Car Assembly was a General Motors automobile factory in Lansing, Michigan. It contained two elements, a 1901 automobile plant in downtown Lansing, and the 1920 Durant Motors factory on Lansing's Far Westside. The Lansing plant was the ho ...

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, making ...

. It continued to be the entry-level model for Oldsmobile, while

Oakland Motor Car Company The Oakland Motor Car Company of Pontiac, Michigan, was an American automobile manufacturer and division of General Motors. Purchased by General Motors in 1909, the company continued to produce modestly priced automobiles until 1931 when the bra ...

remained GM's entry level brand as Chevrolet didn't join GM until 1917. The Series 40 was the base model of three platforms sharing a platform with the

Buick Model 10 The Buick 4 was a series of passenger cars produced by the Buick Division of GM from 1909 through 1918, and was available as a touring car, phaeton or roadster. It was available with the Buick Model B as a larger alternative offering a larger eng ...

, with the mid-range Series 28 Autocrat, and the top level Series 23 Limited.

History

The Series 40 Defender was equipped with a side-valve, in-line

four-cylinder engine The engine configuration describes the fundamental operating principles by which internal combustion engines are categorized. Piston engines are often categorized by their cylinder layout, valves and camshafts. Wankel engines are often categorize ...

developing 35 bhp. The engine was installed in the front, driving the rear wheels through a transmission shaft. The

gearbox Propulsion transmission is the mode of transmitting and controlling propulsion power of a machine. The term ''transmission'' properly refers to the whole drivetrain, including clutch, gearbox, prop shaft (for rear-wheel drive vehicles), differe ...

had four forward gears, with the gearshift lever positioned to the right of the driver. The brake pedal came into contact with the

Drum brake A drum brake is a brake that uses friction caused by a set of shoes or pads that press outward against a rotating cylinder-shaped part called a brake drum. The term ''drum brake'' usually means a brake in which shoes press on the inner surfac ...

on the rear wheels. The Series 40 had a wheelbase of and was offered as a 5 passenger touring car, 4-door landaulet or 4-door sedan. The previously offered 2-door roadster returned only for 1912. It used semi-elliptic leaf springs attached to a solid front axle, while using three-quarter-elliptic leaf springs on a solid rear axle. 325 Series 40 were manufactured in 1912, and 1000 were built in 1913. It replaced the

Model S The Tesla Model S is a battery-powered liftback car serving as the flagship model of Tesla, Inc. The Model S features a dual-motor, all-wheel drive layout, although earlier versions of the Model S featured a rear-motor and rear-wheel drive l ...

and it was replaced by the Model 42 in 1913.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oldsmobile Series 40 Model D Brass Era vehicles 1910s cars

History

See also

References