PaulieWalnuts

After years of winding Oldsmobile down, today marks a milestone. RIP.

Story Here

Anybody care?

mysql101

No. I don't care, never had an oldsmobile... but on the other hand, I never cared about Mazda until this month when I decided to get the RX-8.

So I guess it doesn't matter if I don't care or not, the question is, what is the possibility that I might be missing out on something in the future due to them shutting down?

Gigolo Jason

Oldsmobile is one of several american name sakes that has been lost in the woods for way too long.

KC_Prelude

Thank god?

Frank Patrick

what's an Oldsmobile?

Gigolo Jason

Its a car that last looked good as a 1955 model.

Gigolo Jason

While they are at it they need to get rid of Buick and Pontiac as well.

BaronVonBigmeat

Oldsmobile died a long time ago, it just took them a long time to hit the ground.

No really. They haven't had their own engines since...the late 70's? And they've been sharing body/chassis with other GM products far longer. So basically, "Oldsmobile" is a generic GM car with a bodykit and granny trim.

I don't see the room for Saturn or Buick, either. Saturn was supposed to be independent of the mess that is GM, but predictably that didn't last. GMC is a chevy with a different badge, and Buick is ummm...sort of like Cadillac, but not quite as good.

Chevy = value
Pontiac = sporty
Cadillac = luxury

That pretty much covers it all. Liquidate the rest of GM's brands, they are redundant.




P.S. Ford--you need to s**tcan Mercury. Or make it sporty. Value/sporty/luxury => ford/mercury/lincoln.

shawnio

Saturn was supposed to compete in the asian compact car market. From what I understand, they're pretty popular in certain areas, cheap, and they send you a box of cookies and a balloon when you buy one. They're also the industry average in reliability ... they're as good as they are bad.

Oddly enough, Buick is one of the top in reliability right next to Lexus and Infinity.

I think the last car Oldsmobile made that anyone remotely cared about was the Cutlass Supreme, course, that depends on who you're talking to. It wasn't even really all the special.

mikeb

bye bye

rxeightr

Well...
I for one will miss the oldest american car manufacturer.

I have owned (2) Olds in my lifetime, and got to attend an Oldsmobile Car Show in Lansing MI last summer.

The 455 Rocket motor, the older Cutlasses, like the 66 & 67, and even the Custom Crusier station wagons were there.

Back in the 80's I got to cruise in a 69 Cutlass convertable down Woodward Ave. in Detroit MI. One memorable weekend I still have not forgot about.

Bye, for now.....

KC_Prelude

My friend had an '86 cutlass supreme. Not much to miss about that car besides it was the first car we drove around in when we were 14. A real pos like all olds imo.

FONZIE

Oldsmobuick is what we called em'

MadRonin

I had an '83 Oldsmobile Cutlass Sierra. The heater core blew on me going to class one morning. There was greenish white smoke pouring out of every vent and anti-freeze on the passenger side floorboard. Drove all winter with no heat. Same day I paid off the car someone ran a stop sign and smashed in the entire right side of the car. The insurance company totaled it. I tried to fix it and get the title reinstated. By the time I got rid of it, it had two brown doors on a white car with a blue cloth top. Looked like a punked-out cow. I sold it to three brothers who fixed it up like new.

Good riddance, I say.

mikeb

maybe this will upset the lowrider guys

PaulieWalnuts

LOL. Probably not. I don't think you'll see too many new Aleros with hydraulics at lowrider events. There's still plenty of old Olds iron for that.

I am somewhat sad to see them go. I just think it's amazing how the oldest car company in America that also had one of the longest runs for a best-selling car, the Cutlass, could be driven into the ground and disappear so quickly.

doccable

I've been calling them Oldsmopile for years.

dolemite85

It's about time.

FamilyGuy

I agree completely.

40 years ago, cars were simple enough and cheap enough that you could afford to have half a dozen brands owned by one company with dozens of models for each.

Today, cars are extremely complicated and competition is brutal. If GM had taken the money it wasted differentiating the Alero, Grand Am, Malibu, and Regal and just made one good entry level car under one of those brands, who knows where the company would be now.

Same thing for the Impala, Grand Prix, and LeSabre or the Bonneville, Aurura, and Park Avenue.

I also agree that Ford makes the exact same mistake with Ford/Mercury, and maybe even Lincoln/Jaguar.

Alternatively, GM could keep all of its brand names but isolate them in a segment. e.g. the compact car is a Saturn, the entry level sedan is a Pontiac, the full-size sedan is a Chevy, the entry level luxury car is a Buick, and the top level luxury car is a Cadillac. You get to use each brand name and the heritage it carries with it, without wasting time rebadging models.

Senseny

They did make one of my favorite muscle cars of all time: the 442. But not much else they have done since is even remotely interesting. I am sorry for people losing their jobs, but I won't miss the product line.

FamilyGuy

I think some of their late 60s models are positively beautiful. The '69 Toronado, in my humble opinion, is just about the sweetest looking thing to come out of Detroit.

pelucidor

That is the magic of GM...

If any other company (even Ford - maybe) had bought Oldsmobile decades ago I bet they would be doing OK now.
Oh and Mercury must die - everyone knows it. There is no niche between an loaded Ford and a base Lincoln for Mercury to sit in.

ArvinC

...the Trefeo in the 80's? I always thought that it looked pretty cool. Then again, back then, acid-washed jeans and brake-dancing looked cool as well... :p

Arvin

Nubo

Abso-freakin-lutely. In fact I'd take it further. They're all GM - what's the deal with multiple "brands"? Just give your cars model names and be done with it. It's been generations since GM assimilated those car companies. I guess carrying all the baggage of the "brands" was done originally for marketing -- people who liked those cars before GM took over. But who cares now? I don't, and I didn't 25 years ago.

I owned a Delta88 with the rocket 455. Incredible display of cast-iron and power but the thing handled like a yacht with a bad rudder and the interior was godawful. This along with my folks' ratty-*** Cadillacs and Lincoln rustbuckets formed my opinion of "american" cars and I haven't owned once since the Delta.