Guys:
Came across a 1936 Olds 3 window Coupe, how rare are these cars, never really seen one before. It has sat in a speed shop for years, I always thought it was ****** as I drove past, finally saw a for sale sign yesterday in the window. Stopped in to look, it is setup for a V8 Chevy and Gasser front axle.
Thanks Ron

 

How do you want to define rarity? They're probably no more rare than other mid-'30s cars

There were two lines of Oldsmobiles in 1936, the F-36 which came with a 213 cubic-inch Six, and the L-36, which came with a 240 cubic-inch Eight. Each was made in a variety of body styles, including convertible coupe, business coupe, sport coupe, 5-passenger coupe, 4-door sedan, and touring sedan.

Both the business coupe and sport coupe had three windows, so that's four possible models this car could have been. Production of each is below:

F-36 Business Coupe: 19,558
F-36 Sport Coupe: 3,017
L-36 Business Coupe: 2,181
L-36 Sport Coupe: 1,004

Odds are that the one you saw is the first one, since there were far more 1936 F-36 Business Coupes made compared to the other three (about 75% of the total).

How many are left today after almost 80 years? Take a guess. Maybe 1% of initial production? Maybe 0.1%? Out of about 25,000 three-window 1936 Oldsmobiles made, I'd guess anywhere from 25 to 250.

 

I would agree with Jaunty 75 about 1% and I would call it a fairly rare car I don't ever remember seeing one at a show or driving down the road, because of the fact that there are so few around it probably would be a tough build to put it back stock but it would make a cool street rod ( I can't believe I wrote that being the purest that I have become) and that is what I would look to do to it if mine...Lost in the fifties ...Tedd

 

Pictures? Hey I like original cars as well as the next guy but all those cars from back then made cool street rods. I

 

I bet that is a cool car. You should buy it!