A man from Louisville travels to Los Angeles in a 1901 Oldsmobile

In 1950, a Louisville businessman aspired to drive one of the oldest gasoline-powered cars ever built nearly 2,000 miles to Los Angeles. He set a goal to do it in just over two months. It arrived at its destination three weeks early.

Russell Cornelison planned to take his 1901 Oldsmobile through the valleys, plains, deserts and sprawl of Southern California. The car could travel at an average speed of 10 mph and Cornelison estimated that it would get six miles per gallon for a car that only holds four gallons of gas.

For the trip, Cornelison added a sound system to the car, where he “would play popular songs in every state” as he drove to California. The vehicle, which Cornelison said he bought 20 years earlier, had no windshield, so its driver wore goggles, a linen duster and a cap. His traveling attire included shirts and shoes from the early 20th century, around the time his Oldsmobile was built.

Other features of the car include a single headlight, powered by a generator, and “skid” tires that were intended to prevent the car from turning on its side when going around curvy roads. A brass license plate had an updated registration tag.

“This is the year for it,” Cornelison told the Courier Journal of his cross-country adventure in an April 1950 interview. “I just turned 50, the car is 50, and so is the century. We’re all starting together .”

Cornelison completed the journey in six weeks. He left Louisville on April 14th and arrived at Los Angeles on May 29th. He had wanted to be in time for a June 20 convention. His wife flew to Los Angeles to meet him.

During his journey, Cornelison encountered a tornado, a hailstorm, and a dust storm, the latter of which required him to add oil to the Oldsmobile every mile. Fortunately, Cornelison’s car turned out to be more fuel efficient than he first thought, averaging 35 to 40 miles per gallon.

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“I drove like crazy,” he told the Courier Journal in an article dated July 6, 1950. “I averaged 50 miles a day, which is like driving 500 miles in an ordinary car “.

Cornelison returned to Louisville not in the 1901 Oldsmobile, but in a custom 1949 convertible. He planned to give the Oldsmobile to a car collector, but not before he had a little more fun with it.

“I’m hoping someone will challenge me to a race, as long as their car is as old as mine and as old as me,” Cornelison said, adding that proceeds from a bet would go to to support children with poor health.

Did Russell Cornelison own one of the first Oldsmobile cars?

Ransom Eli Olds, the namesake of Oldsmobile, developed 11 car models between 1899 and 1900, according to an article in American Heritage Museum. Oldsmobile cars entered the market in 1901 and 425 were built that year.

It is not clear which model of 1901 Oldsmobile Cornelison drove, as Courier Journal articles written about him did not specify. The April 1950 story said Cornelison’s car was “the 88th registered in Indiana,” based on information on a license plate.

Reach reporter Leo Bertucci at [email protected] or @leober2chee on X, formerly known as Twitter