So long Oldsmobile...

[dd74]

http://money.cnn.com/2004/04/28/pf/autos/olds_dead/index.htm?cnn=yes

[speeder]

It's a sad day for me, I've always liked Oldsmobiles. They were my favorite land yachts back in the day, owned a few Delta 88s and Cutlass Supremes. When I was a small boy in the '60s, our full-time summer babysitter from down the block had a father who sold Oldsmobiles so she always had a new "demo" to drive. One was an all-yellow '88, (in and out), that we called the "banana-mobile". It was a 4-door hardtop, I remember cruising w/ all the windows down on a summer day, no post/B-pillar, listening to Dylan "Lay Lady Lay" on the AM-FM and digging the impossibly beautiful chrome power window switches while breathing new car smell. *Sigh*.

RIP, Oldsmobile, a twentieth century icon.

[RickM]

Of all the cars I've owned I've never had an Olds. Too bad. Second oldest name in automobile manufacture at this time.

[tabs]

Say Bye Bye Tabby....

[vash]

olds made the 442 right?

[tabs]

yep

[JavaBrewer]

Originally posted by unfixed
olds made the 442 right?

Yep. My high school friend's '67 442 was the size of Holland and was butt fast. With 4.11 gears it was also butt quick.

[Evans, Marv]

Olds helped pioneer the use of overhead valve V8s in cars in the late '40s. My father always bought Olds up until the '60s. The really special cars were the late 40's and I understand the Aurora is the latest best example of the make. I wish it would have been another make like Pontiac that had been scheduled to go away.

[kumma]

its to bad but with gm's current line up its no big deal. every make sells the same car just under a different name. i never understood this move by GM. they should have specialized the makes by market segment, cadillac is upscale luxury, pontiac is pure performance, chevrolet is value driven and so on. why do you really need 5 makes of the same car its so stupid. with so many crossovers it just confuses the consumer.

I think this is just the beginning look for others to go as well maybe buick or pontiac next.

[dd74]

'Cause GM makes five times as much money...

[VaSteve]

What was the supposed difference between current Oldmobiles and Buicks? Seriously, I always saw the same type (age) people driving them.

[dd74]

From the article:

The 1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass W-30 4-4-2 convertible muscle car was named one of the most collectible American cars by auto auction company Kruse International in 2003.

This isn't the 4-4-2 convertible, but cool nonetheless:

[john70t]

Buick and Oldsmobile were kind of redundant, mabye the Buick was the Olds+ -but-not quite-a-Caddy?
The new crossover thing really is too bad though, imagine a stretch body luxury Mustang.

[84porsche]

Well don't forget the Saab/Subaru sharing now - and also you have joint relabeling with the Izuzu Hombre and the Chevy S10 - the Toyota Corolla and the Chevy Prism (I think) - too much sharing. I would begin to worry if they have a BMW 911 - Goodbye Oldsmobile.

[RickM]

I believe the original GM status order/concept was:

Cadillac
Buick
Oldsmobile
Pontiac
Chevrolet

Cousin cars were "comparable" models between the brands.
Distinction between the brands has been blurred for quite some time.

Of course I could be totally wrong.

[rammstein]

The last car I owned before the Porsche was a 1995 Olds Ninety Eight. Black, Black cloth top, gold trim, said Signature Series on the top. It was flawless. Made whitewalls look cool (shut up! it did ) . Had every luxury feature ever. Lumbar pillows, automatic trunk, got 28mpg on the highway (incredible for a car that big). Its only fault was that it wasn't a sportscar and thats what I wanted. The guy who bought it got a great deal, even thanked me. I wish I would have had the money for two cars, cause for going to the grocery store on these pothole-riddled streets, I sure do miss it.

I think I DO need something luxurious to cruise in. Like a 928

[RickM]

BTW, Here's an article on slimming GM down. http://www.detnews.com/2003/editorial/0304/25/a09-146330.htm

Trivia: Did you know that Olds sold as many cars as Honda currently does in the mid '80s?

[HarryD]

Originally posted by RickM
I believe the original GM status order/concept was:

Cadillac
Buick
Oldsmobile
Pontiac
Chevrolet

Cousin cars were "comparable" models between the brands.
Distinction between the brands has been blurred for quite some time.

Of course I could be totally wrong.

That's how I sort of remeber it except, Pontiac was on the side for the those who wanted a bit of "sportiness" in their Chevy.

Olds was not only part of the progression but also the test bed for the innovations that you later saw in the caddys that then trickled down to thte lower models.

[CJFusco]

no surprise. GM owns too many properties with too close a target audience... I was not shocked when Buick died, and I am certainly not surprised now that Olds is gone. Now Caddilac can have an edge on the GM-loyal pseudo-luxury market.

[motion]

Denis - That was a great reflection... I was almost in the car with you. I had a similar memory. I was stoned at the time, but, well.... ahhhh f%&ck it.