End of the line for Oldsmobile

[ChinchillaX]

A sad day in the auto industry.

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20040428/capt.ljg10104282059.oldsmobiles_end_ljg101.jpg

Dead at 106: the Oldsmobile

Wednesday, April 28, 2004 Posted: 1640 GMT (0040 HKT)

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -- The last car from America's oldest car company will roll off a Lansing, Michigan assembly line Thursday, an Oldsmobile Alero.

That vehicle is destined for a home in the R.E. Olds Transportation Museum, named for Ransom Eli Olds, who co-founded the Olds Motor Vehicle Company in 1897.

Curved Dash "Oldsmobile production has remained unprofitable and, therefore, GM's current planning is to end production with the 2004 models," General Motors had said in a September, 2001 announcement.

The last 500 Aleros produced will be painted metallic cherry red and will carry special Final 500 markings. Special final edition versions of Oldsmobile's Bravada SUV and Silhouette minivan are also being offered.

While the Alero will be no more, the plant will continue operating, producing the last 2004 model-year Pontiac Grand Ams, a car fundamentally similar to the Alero.

A new Lansing plant will produce the 2005 Pontiac G6, a replacement for the Grand Am.

Oldsmobile was the second brand to become part of General Motors. The automaker, by then called Olds Motor Works, joined GM in November 1908, two months after Buick, according to General Motors historical information.

Oldsmobile became GM's mid-market brand, positioned somewhere between the high-end brands like Cadillac and more mass-market bands like Chevrolet.

Once General Motors began relying more heavily on sharing components, and virtually entire cars, among different brands, Oldsmobile began to suffer from a loss of identity, said Ken Gross, an automotive historian and columnist for Old Cars Weekly.

"It was the ultimate middle child," said Gross.

Olds claims to be the first company to mass produce gasoline-powered automobiles, something that is often credited to Ford Motor Company.

Ford takes credit for having the first moving assembly line in 1913. According to historical information from General Motors, Olds' Curved Dash automobile was mass-produced in 1901.

Source (http://edition.cnn.com/2004/BUSINESS/04/28/oldsmobile/index.html)

[larchmont]

I never did really understand what happened with Oldsmobile. Back when I was a kid, it was one of the most solid brands, kind of totally middle-of-the-road, but good. Chevy was considered bottom of the line (but still solid), Cadillac was the top, and Olds was right in the middle. And it stayed that way, I think, through the '60's and beyond.

I remember seeing a stat, maybe around the mid or late '70's (not sure) that the Oldsmobile Cutlass alone was outselling the entire Chrysler Corporation lineup combined. Or maybe it was the entire Ford Corporation lineup, but it was one of those. That's how well Oldsmobile was doing.

Maybe the first outward hint of trouble was that commercial jingle, "This is not your father's Oldsmobile." I found it jarring. It made me feel bad for the company, not to mention for people's fathers. I thought that the jingle was offensive to a lot of people (i.e. we're forgetting about you old guys, you can drop dead), and appealing to no one, because what the young people would probably hear was that this was really an old person's car, even the company itself is saying so. Putting it all together, I surmised that the brand must really be in trouble for them to put out such an absurd commercial. Funny thing was, the tune was quite good, which probably just made matters worse, because those odd words would really stay with you.

But I never understood WHY Olds got desperate, why they landed in trouble. Through the '60's and '70's, the cars DIDN'T seem just like old people's cars, and I didn't think they were. Until that jingle.

[TSX 'R' US]

Read a similar article a few days ago... Very sad... Especially since I've driven all Oldsmobiles before my TSX.. I still think GM should've gotten rid of Buick instead ;)

[larchmont]

Originally posted by TSX 'R' US
.....I still think GM should've gotten rid of Buick instead ;)
Yes, that's part of what I never understood. Buick -- that's the REAL "old person's car"! More power to it for surviving, but I don't get how Buick still makes it and Oldsmobile didn't.

[TSX 'R' US]

Originally posted by larchmont
Yes, that's part of what I never understood. Buick -- that's the REAL "old person's car"! More power to it for surviving, but I don't get how Buick still makes it and Oldsmobile didn't.
Buick...it's like driving a boat on wheels!!

[ChinchillaX]

Originally posted by TSX 'R' US
Buick...it's like driving a boat on wheels!!

The Buick LaSabre is a good car, I drove one while in Florida. I liked the ride and such. The 1995-1999 Olds Aurora was nice too.:cool:

Though its kinda true that Buick is for old people.

[larchmont]

Originally posted by 2004_Acura_TSX
The Buick LaSabre is a good car, I drove one while in Florida. I liked the ride and such. The 1995-1999 Olds Aurora was nice too.:cool:

Though its kinda true that Buick is for old people.
Thanks for going along with my tangent. Anything to change the subject from Oldsmobile, right? :D

I remember a couple of Buicks that were considered cool -- the Riviera in the mid-'60's (kinda like a junior Cadillac but cooler), and the Skyhawk in the late '70's. Since I haven't heard of the Skyhawk for a long time, I googled it, and it seems they stopped being made 15 years ago. I found this nice write-up on Epinions by a guy who got an old Skyhawk and loves it:

Ever heard of a Buick Skyhawk? If not, then you are certainly not alone. The Skyhawk was the Buick version of the GM J-Body front wheel drive subcompact platform which appeared in 1982..... my Skyhawk represents the high point of the breed, 1987. Best of all, my car is turbocharged! A 1.8L SOHC turbo with muti-point fuel injection became available as an option for Skyhawk and Sunbird in 1984..... In 1987, a much improved 2.0L SOHC turbo took its place with far better reliability and improved performance due to its extra displacement, water AND oil cooled turbo, superior knock sensors, and newly developed sequential fuel injection. While the 2.0L SOHC turbo could be found in Sunbirds from 1987 to 1990, it was available in the Skyhawk in 1987 ONLY.
1987 was a special year throughout Buick in that it was also the last year for Buick's awe-inspiring 3.8L OHV turbo engine in its Regal and bad boy Grand National. 1987 was also marked by the apperance of the wicked Grand National GNX, the Darth Vader mobile that could turn 13.4 in the quarter mile and get almost 30 miles per gallon on the highway. Yeah, it's hard to believe, but there were two times when Buicks were cool cars to have, 1967-71 (musclecars), and 1984-87 (turbos). My car comes from one of those periods, so I feel a *bit* differently about it than your normal Buick owner. Well, okay, the magnificent chrome yacht that is the '58 Limited (what a grille!) and the original '63-'65 Riveria are awesome cars that are also Buicks. But for the most part, it's a stodgy group o' vehicles.


Actually the Skyhawk existed in the late '70's too, which he doesn't seem to know. Maybe that wasn't really the same car -- but its basic character was the same.

[Ferg]

Originally posted by 2004_Acura_TSX


The last 500 Aleros produced will be painted metallic cherry red and will carry special Final 500 markings. Special final edition versions of Oldsmobile's Bravada SUV and Silhouette minivan are also being offered.



This is a nice touch. The special paint/markings will make them sooo much easier to locate in junk yards when people are looking for parts.

rrrrrrrrr6

[MarkPinTx]

Yep I was an Olds driver til TSX. 69 Delta 88, 1983 Cutlass, 1995 Aurora.

The Aurora was a great car, by pretty much any standard.

Sad day.

The reason Buick isn't getting canned is that there is still a market for "old man cars." Caddy is largely out of it. Buick is it.

[larchmont]

Originally posted by MarkPinTx
Yep I was an Olds driver til TSX. 69 Delta 88, 1983 Cutlass.....
Yup, the Cutlass was the car that used to outsell the entire Chrysler production or whatever.

What was it about the Cutlass -- and how do you think it all went wrong with Oldsmobile from there?

[kiteboy]

Originally posted by larchmont
Yup, the Cutlass was the car that used to outsell the entire Chrysler production or whatever.

What was it about the Cutlass -- and how do you think it all went wrong with Oldsmobile from there?

I "inherited" a '79 Regal, which was based off the same platform as the Cutlass Supreme. 4.9L V8, ran like a tank, crappy handling, poor mileage and rust problems. I didn't like it much, so I don't understand why it was the best selling car in the US in the early 80's.

GM is over-segmented with too many brands. It was fine in the heydays, but years of the Japanese eating into their market share has taken its toll. First small cars, then mid-size and lux categories. There simply wasn't room for both Buick and Olds anymore since they appealed to the same demographic. Ok, Olds was supposed to have a more European slant, but nobody bought that. Buick had the advantage of good JD Power ratings and Olds suffered an identity crisis in the mid-90's. Remember the 1st gen Aurora initially didn't have any Olds badging on it at all. In the end, I think keeping Buick was the right choice.

[MarkPinTx]

Oddly enough, I read a credible article back in the day that the '77-on Cutlass/Regal/Gran Prix/Monte Carlo (there's your problem right there) was viewed as a competitor to the 320i/2002. By modern standards they did handle like crap, but they had some power, something Euroboxes sincerely lacked.

But think of the 68-69-70 Cutlass convertibles and 442's. Mmmmmm.

That 455 in the Delta 88 was monstrous. Even with bias plies and at 4300 lbs, I could outrun most late 70's Z28's and go neck and neck with a '79 6.6 Liter (400ci) TransAm. 310 hp with a 2bbl carb. The max option was a 4bbl with 10:1 compression 390 hp.
Yeeooouch.

Oldsmobile's great claim to fame was the "Rocket" motor. Olds was the first non-premium (Cadillacs in the post war years were like Ferraris/Rolls/Lambos) to have overhead valve engines (invented by Charles F. Kettering).

Makes me wanna yak. :puke: