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My 49 deluxe eight has a Marvel Mystery Oil Inverter mounted on the right side of the fire wall. It is not connected and the car runs fine without it as far as I can tell. Is it original to the car? Is it of any use if hooked up? And what the hell is it?

It's not original to the car and was a somewhat popular item of dubious value. Intent was to sell the owner on the need for enhanced upper cylinder and valve train lubrication and promote the sale of the snake oil.

Gusha, where was the pix taken? Must have been a very wide angle lens based on the distortion (apparent elongation) of the car. Can I guess that it was an exported car? The disteel wheels were much more popular overseas than here in the US.

Not sure what the pix has to do with the Marvel upper cylinder oiler - got the wrong image posted?

Here are a couple of pic's of a similar snake oil system on a '39 Ford V8.

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Also a view of a Marvel dispenser on the AACA forum from a few yrs ago. Looks like it might have been popular as others mention having it but only one picture seems to come upforums.aaca.org/f134/marvel-mystery-oil-224217.html

Elixers for lube, toilet paper oil filters, turbocharged velocity propellers for more efficient gas atomization, spark intensifiers for better gas mileage--the 50's were just full of magic potions and things sold by those who could out think Detroit. Where are they now and how have we survived without them?

My Dad's 1955 Clipper Super had a Marvel Mystery "Inverse oiler" on it when he bought it (the Clipper) for cheap in early 1960s. I believe that the outlet of the oiler was connected to the back of the carburetor so that the Marvel Mystery Oil could lubricate the intake and (maybe) the exhaust valve stems. IIRC, he never had a valve problem with his Clipper, but on the other hand, I don't think that he religiously filled the MMIO tank either.

Owen_Dyneto is probably correct, it's "snake oil."

Craig

Knew I had a pic somewhere of an upper cylinder lubricator on a Packard.

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Sounds like an automatic plug fouling device!

I guess the same could be accomplished by sucking the emissions of the road draft tube into the intake. Similar to a PCV system.

I broke my jar shortly after I got the car, (49/23rd)I cleaned out the gunk and replaced it with fresh water, at the time I had only heard of water injection, forgot about it and next spring found a broken jar so for 30 yrs been looking for a replacement.... found a burma shave jar looks the same, as well as I can remember, & fits the odd size, looks the same as the photo shown earlier

"Hemmings Classic Car " #31 from April 2007 has an article about a '49 (22nd Series) with a Marvel Mystery Oil injector still hooked up and working. The jar and mechanism are attached to the fire wall next to the wiper motor. A quote: "The carburetor on Lyn's Packard features a rare accessory Marvel Mystery Oil injection system, which feeds an adjustable 20-21 drops a minute into the fuel-air mixture and keeps carbon build-up at bay; 'It was an option back in 1949, and it keeps the engine running beautifully,'"