1955 Oldsmobile returns to dealership where it was originally purchased

SELMA | A 1955 Oldsmobile 88 Holiday Coupe with a Rocket V8 engine is back at Reliable Cadillac GMC some 60 years after it first drove off the lot.

Jack Lawrence sold the classic car back to Reliable Cadillac GMC owner Bill Porter in mint condition.

"He's had it garaged and kept for years, and he finally decided to sell it. It's in great shape," Porter said. "He started telling me it came from here originally and how clean it was. So I rode out there and looked at it, and I was amazed. It was just like he said — it was showroom worthy."

And the showroom is exactly where the car ended up. Walking into Reliable, the Oldsmobile is hard to miss.

"We've had a lot of people come and look at it. A lot of people tell their stories back when they used to have those cars," Porter said. "We're just going to keep it on the floor. It's so unique."

Porter said while he's sure the car was bought from Reliable, but they are still trying to find paperwork for the original owner.

The Oldsmobile was green but has since been painted red and white — the inside has also been reupholstered. But besides the new red accents, the car is as it was when it was first bought from Reliable.

"Everything else is original. It only has 52,000 miles," Porter said.

Porter said it was possible that his father, Rufus Porter, actually sold the car.

"My father had started the dealership, the business, back in 1946 when they opened Reliable," Porter said. "So he probably was one of the ones that sold that car."

Porter said he believes the car would have been around $1,000 to $1,500 when it was first sold. Now, AllCollectorCars.com has three cars of the same model priced around $38,000 each.

"When he first came in talking about wanting to sell an old car, we had no idea it would be like that," Porter said. "It's amazing. It's just so different from what they are now. I've had people to ask what would we take, but of course we say it's not for sale."