Chris_924s

Without fanfare, Oldsmobile has died. The last chrerry red "Alero" rolled off of the line.


EPITAPH:

There were a lotta of great Olds's. Hurst. 442. we all had our favorites.



Oldsmobile was 105. lived a full life. I owned a Cutlass. I dont know about you but you say "Alero" I think of Kelly Bundy.

Oldsmobile is preceeded in death by the close friends, Plymouth most recently- but a host of others.. Tucker. DMC. Stutz.

Names of inspiring stuff.. sniff sniff..

PS. By the way, tell your uncle "Buick" is sick...

pete944

Can we also have a moment of silence for the Cincinnati Red's bullpen?
How the hell do you blow a 9-0 lead?

Dave

Kinda sad to see another one go, but it serves GM right considering what they've ben building for the last few decades. I had a '68 Cutlass S years ago and I'm sure it was a great car when it was built, heck it was still a lot of fun in the '80s, but by the '80s GM was building nothing but crap and they haven't improved much since then. If the US car industry doesn't get their collective head out of the sand and start building something other than cars for grandma to drive to the beauty salon, the rest of the old American marques will follow in short order.

bloodraven

Oldsmobile 442...classic american muscle....*sighs*

Tom R.

The alero was a pretty nice car. the problem was it was introduced right when the UAW went on strike. still sold over 100k in the first year.

the engineers took a lot from the japs. the shifting in the auto was made to feel more european. then the bean counters got involved and took the chrome rings off the gages, etc.

bader$

Gm has improved alot since the 80's. They build some of the best engines out there, Reliability wise. Case in point the 3800, on the world class engine list for a long time. They still have some improving to go but they are catching up to and in some cases surpassing the japanese and asian autos. Oldsmobile is the victim of both poor quality in the 80's and poor marketing in the 90's. I too hate to see them go but nothing can be done about it.

pete944

Well said Dave.
I honestly can't remember the last truly innovative or inspiring car to come from GM. They've been churning out so much drivel for the last 30 years.
I think the '63-'67 Vette is the last thing they ever made that I would care to own.

Geo

I couple of comments/observations here......

1) I was a bit hesitant to buy our Durango. I've never been a Chrysler fan and in the last 20 or so years have thought their quality was crap. I'm glad to say that things are different. The assimilation by Daimler has been very good from Chrysler, something I was hoping would happend but didn't hold my breath. Our Durang has over 36k miles (in just over a year no less) and has only one problem and a minor one at that (the adhesive on one fender flair started to separate - it was handled quickly and fixed right the first time). They are obvioiusly doing something right. My BMW OTOH has been to the dealer nearly once a month.

2) I heard on NPR a couple of months ago that German car quality is slipping badly. BMW in particular has taken a shot between the legs. Hell, my car is a perfect example. I absolutely love the car when everything is right, but the overall quality has been well short of expectations - especially for a premium marque. Anyhow, on NPR they reported that BMW is now recruiting engineers from the US to shore up their quality problems. Pretty amazing. Who would have thought - especially 10-20 years ago.

bader$

Have you driven a Z06 corvette. Runs with the best of them in every way for 1/3rd the price of a 996tt

Geo

Bean counters don't do that. They don't have that much power. Product managers do that. The bean counters don't care. They just report the costs. The product managers decide what costs to cut, not the bean counters.

Tom R.

My 01 aurora 4.0 is one sweet ride. not as nice as my acura legend coupe was, bit it did sticker for 15% less then the 01 RL.

the northstar is a sweet motor. super smooth, very torquey. while i like to bitch about silly things with the aurora like that the clock is by my knee, and the thermometer is quicker to see then the clock, the drivetrain is excellent.

so far after two years and 18k miles it is holding up excellently. no new squeaks or rattles etc., except for the chips in the rear bumper which im told is the low vox paint.

Geo

I think as much as anything what killed Olds was Saturn. GM didn't gain total market share with the introduction of Saturn. They just shifted their portion of the market around internally. That left one too many brands.

Tom R.

I have to differ with you. I spoke to the product manager who told me the bean counters did it.

Dan in Pasadena

Ahem......let's see if we can keep the ethnic slurs off the board, huh?

Too bad about Oldsmobile. I agree that GM made some cars that were just....blah in the last few decades. Bob Lutz APPEARS to be trying to instill some oomph into the company. I am hopeful of that. But a few of the things he has come up (or have reached the market/car shows) during his tenure are just, well...odd!

The SSR is sorta cool, but is it really going to sell enough volume to justify the dvelopment? The Silverado SS is nice but misses the mark if it's trying to compete as a "sports truck" with the SRT 10 and the Lightning. It just doesnt' have the ponie to compete. It's almost like they had to produce SOMETHING so they did. I don't get the logic of that.

For example, I really don't care for the PT Crusier, but I understand the logic of making them because they sell alot of them. They are money producers. But GM is never going to sell that many SSR's or even the Belair - a sort of quasi 55 Chevy wannabe - not! It reminds me of the lackluster miss that the new Thunderbird was. Some cars are legendary and you just don't try to make a knockoff.

Peckster

After owning an 81, I swore I'd never buy another GM. The moonroof leaked and the dealer put three power steering racks in it before I gave up and dumped it after three years.