There's an interesting video on the 1942 Oldsmobile B-44 over at Jalopnik ( sorry, couldn't get it to post properly here) . It gives a good glimpse into the wartime mentality that was pervasive at that time, and how that filtered down into the marketing of products of that era, such as this car.
It should be noted that the 1942 model year for all cars was cut short due to the fact that factories were converted over to the war effort. Production of cars for civilians didn't resume until 1946, and those cars were really nothing more than just 1942 models with few if any tweaks...
donwhite says:
06:38 AM, 06/12/08
I encountered a four door B44 in 1946. It was the first one I had seen. I was immediately attracted to the car. I was familiar with the B17, B24, B25, B26 and B29. I had no idea what a B44 was! The car wore that designation in bold pot metal medallion fixed to the grill.
As a 12 year I was puzzled and fascinated by the speedometer. It was marked off to 180! I knew enough to know a car could not go that fast. I had grown up with a 35 mph national speed limit. Low priced cars - Ford, Chevy and Plymouth - read to 100. Medium priced cars often read to 110 and top of the line models read to 120. A 1947 GM Proving Ground (AZ) test claimed the Buick Century was fastest at 101 mph and Cadillac was number 2 at 99 mph.
It was years later that I was told the 180 was kilometers per hour, not miles per hour. (180 km/h would be 110 mph). The car had apparently been built for export. It was a brown and tan two tone car. Very handsome. Like most Oldsmobiles by that time, it had Hydra-Matic Drive. I think car production came to an official end around Feb. 1, 1942. The US Govt bought all the cars the mfg's hand on hand. These - 100,000 or so - went into storage for replacements during the war.
Thanks for the good pic. Don W