Dead at 106: Oldsmobile
04-28-2004, 08:29 AM
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Dead at 106: Oldsmobile
Can't really say I'm sorry it happened. I owned Oldsmobiles in the 1980s, but in the '90s their new cars turned really crappy.
Here's the link:
http://money.cnn.com/2004/04/28/pf/autos/o...dex.htm?cnn=yes
Here's the link:
http://money.cnn.com/2004/04/28/pf/autos/o...dex.htm?cnn=yes
04-28-2004, 08:40 AM
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Just sad that the largest car manufacturer in the world couldn't figure out a way to make good/great cars in the biggest car market in the world with a solid sales base.
GM spent Billions on Saturn (an average car company). I would think with Billions of dollars to spend over the past 20 years, GM could have caught up with the Japanese cars by now.
How hard would it be to copy the origional LS400 or Legend? That's where I would have started 15 years ago if I wanted to build great cars.
GM spent Billions on Saturn (an average car company). I would think with Billions of dollars to spend over the past 20 years, GM could have caught up with the Japanese cars by now.
How hard would it be to copy the origional LS400 or Legend? That's where I would have started 15 years ago if I wanted to build great cars.
04-28-2004, 08:40 AM
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I'm sad to see Olds go. For a company with a history of great cars like the 442, the Toronado, the Ninety-Eight, the Starfire, the Cutlass, etc., and technological innovation like the automatic tranny and high-compression engines, it's a tough end. But I suppose it's a consequence of GM's continued, but waning, reliance on each division having its own TOTAL line of cars. When they decided to do that in the 70s, that was a real GM turning point. Now Buick is Oldsmobile's replacement.
Maybe GM can keep Buick afloat. It's about friggin' time for them to replace the LeSabre and Park Avenue though. Maybe the new LaCrosse and Velite will stoke peoples' interest.
Maybe GM can keep Buick afloat. It's about friggin' time for them to replace the LeSabre and Park Avenue though. Maybe the new LaCrosse and Velite will stoke peoples' interest.
04-28-2004, 09:21 AM
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Agree with Slamnasty. We had a goodly number of Olds in our family and I still would like to come up with a 68 Hurst Olds. Olds really led the way in building a balanced "muscle car" that would turn as well as go in a straight line. By 1960s standards, they were pretty good handlers.
The division was mismanaged to death by bean counters and non-enthusiasts that lost track of what Olds was all about.
The division was mismanaged to death by bean counters and non-enthusiasts that lost track of what Olds was all about.
04-28-2004, 09:40 AM
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Personally, I would have kept olds and got rid of buick. I know buick sells to old people in droves, but what a crappy car company. Buick had and still has NO consumers under the age of 70. Olds was starting to come out with some pretty nice cars. The Alero, the Aurora, even the intrigue were all pretty nice cars. While the lesabre, the park ave, and the century all looked like crap!... I lived in Lansing MI when I went to Michigan State U. Its sorry to see such an icon of this city go to the grave. I have a feeling that given another 20-30 years, GM will try to revive the Olds name as a way of perking interest of buyers... They aren't just going to let it go....
