Top 10 Vehicles That Made their Debut at the New York Auto Show Over the Years

2 — 1940 Oldsmobile Series 60 Convertible

The fact that Oldsmobile presented a convertible car at the New York Motor Show in October 1939 may seem like a very mundane event in itself, but it was not. In fact, General Motors was introducing for the first time a mass-produced car with an automatic transmission. The automaker had chosen a convertible so that people could see that there was no clutch pedal on the floor.

It’s also relevant to remember that the show that year was taking place just as the bombs were beginning to fall on Europe as World War II began.

The actual Oldsmobile vehicle presented in New York in the fall of 1939 sold for $46,200 in 2015 at the Scottsdale Auction put on by the Barrett-Jackson Group.