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I dunno, I thought the Olds Auroras were a rather creditable Olds for the 90's. Not RWD of course, but it was sort of unique in the GM sphere as it was not an obvious badge engineered product. Also rode on a very solid chassis, and further was sort of unique in powertrain offering the Northstar derrived 4.0L V8, and Shortstar V6 (along with the Intrigue).
If memory serves, these were the last "unique to a division" engines GM has ever offered outside of some Cadillac engines, as everything else then, and especially now is corporate. It's unfortunate they gave Olds the axe when they did, as it was really the last GM division which was not totally reduced to a marketing/badge changing affair.
Geo, Oldsmobile, Mercury, Plymouth, and Eagle. None of them were luxury, but each served a purpose...
In their time, Olds, Merc, and Plymouth were distinct brands from the big 3 in their prime and targeted specific markets well. Over time, all US producers began making nearly all of their offerings almost identical except for trim and a few options, so it was inevitable that some constriction would occur. I miss the classics from these three brands but near the end they were almost indistinguishable from their corporate cousins, making their demise nothing to weep over.
I dunno, I thought the Olds Auroras were a rather creditable Olds for the 90's. Not RWD of course, but it was sort of unique in the GM sphere as it was not an obvious badge engineered product. Also rode on a very solid chassis, and further was sort of unique in powertrain offering the Northstar derrived 4.0L V8, and Shortstar V6 (along with the Intrigue).
If memory serves, these were the last "unique to a division" engines GM has ever offered outside of some Cadillac engines, as everything else then, and especially now is corporate. It's unfortunate they gave Olds the axe when they did, as it was really the last GM division which was not totally reduced to a marketing/badge changing affair.
It wasn't hard to look favorable compared to most competition by 1996 and beyond. Didn't make it an Olds in my book.
My frame of reference will always be the great Olds models from the 60s to the early 80s that made Olds the third best selling brand in the US, beating out all but Chevrolet and Ford.
And in less than 20 years from their peak, there are plans in place to end it all. I lived it and still don't believe it.
It wasn't hard to look favorable compared to most competition by 1996 and beyond. Didn't make it an Olds in my book.
My frame of reference will always be the great Olds models from the 60s to the early 80s that made Olds the third best selling brand in the US, beating out all but Chevrolet and Ford.
And in less than 20 years from their peak, there are plans in place to end it all. I lived it and still don't believe it.
I completely understand. By the mid '90's, all the divisions were shells of their former selves. I would generally gravitate towards the classic Pontiacs first, but they were in as bad, maybe worse condition than Olds by '96. There was still the Trans Am for some performance hearkening back, but I honestly hated how that version of the f-body drove and never really warmed to it.
I completely understand. By the mid '90's, all the divisions were shells of their former selves. I would generally gravitate towards the classic Pontiacs first, but they were in as bad, maybe worse condition than Olds by '96. There was still the Trans Am for some performance hearkening back, but I honestly hated how that version of the f-body drove and never really warmed to it.
Nor did I. And I, too, put the classic Pontiacs at the top of the list during the greatest era....the era I took for granted at the time.
Indeed it sounds like we see the sad story the same way. And if anyone had told me in 1967 how sad the story would become in less than 20 years, I would have said they were crazy.
Thanks all for your replies. As for Geo versus Saturn, it would have been smart for GM to perhaps kill off Chevy Trucks in 1988 (with GMC what's the point?!) and fill the empty space at Chevy dealers with Geo. And as for Oldsmobile, I had NO IDEA when they went under in 2004 that only four years later, GM itself would come so close to death. Chrysler had an even closer brush with death, and it was a shame their relationship with Daimler didn't last. And Ford finally had to sell the four European brands they owned, and soon after would kill off Mercury, but avoided bankruptcy.
As for the failure of both Geo and the three Geo models that lived on as Chevy, I have to ask: why was Geo part of Chevrolet in the first place? The idea to sell Geo only at Chevy dealerships made sense, but why did the Chevy logo have to be in the Geo logo, and Geo's website part of the Chevy website? After some of the awful, awful cars made by Chevy in the 80's (the same period as Japanese cars began to dominate), I'm sure import buyers would be scared away from that brand.
And what's the point of the Big Three (American) automakers selling certain cars with a logo that hides the actual brand's identity? Aurora, Riviera, Mustang, Cougar, Viper, etc you get the point...
Perhaps a lot of would-be Geo Tracker buyers bought the identical Suzuki Sidekick in 1998, due to dislike of the Chevy name. I personally loved the 1998 Tracker but hated the Trackers that came both before and after it. The 1998-2002 Prizm was also much nicer than its ancestors, but at the same time, lost a lot of its distinctness from the Corolla with the 1998 redesign. Also, the Metro didn't get a full redesign after the brand change, but the headlights did change for 1998. And anyway, I don't get why the Storm was killed off at the end of 1993. It was my second favorite affordable sports car of all time, after only the Toyota Celica/Supra of the 80's.
I know Oldsmobile's glory days were the 60's and 70's, but they seemed to have a renaissance around 1995. The Aurora was the beginning. Then the next year came the new and much improved Bravada, and in 1997, a new logo was introduced that seemed to coincide with the brand being trimmed down to models that all were rather bland, yes, but that reinforced it being a semi-luxury brand akin to Chrysler and perhaps a step up from Mercury. I do think the Alero was a disgrace and sucked. But I loved the last generation Cutlass Supreme.
Ironically, a Buick-Cadillac and Chevrolet-Oldsmobile dealership near me both closed with the GM bankruptcy, but two Cadillac dealerships near me that both were originally Cadillac-Oldsmobile (one of which was also Cadillac-Hummer at one time) are still open. Now what explains that?!
I also am surprised that what used to be an Oldsmobile showroom near me, that was paired with a Honda showroom on the same lot with the same owner, became a second Honda showroom after the end of Oldsmobile, despite it staying a licensed Oldsmobile warranty service center. Shouldn't that have violated some kind of agreement between GM and the franchise owner? Anyway, after the fall of GM, the Honda dealership eventually moved to a former Chevy dealership a number of miles away.
Mercury was mostly forgettable towards the end, but I loved the 2003-2004 Marauder, along with the two-tone colored Grand Marquis offered towards the end.
Eagle's cheaper models sucked but I loved the Eagle Vision. And I think the Dodge Viper should have been an Eagle instead. One strange decision by Chrysler, given their love of badge engineering from the Iacocca years into the Daimler years, was for the Dodge Daytona and Plymouth Laser to compete with each other, but NOT be badge engineered. I also am surprised that (in years way before Chrysler was involved with AMC Jeep) the Roadrunner was a Plymouth and not a Dodge. But this was my favorite older Plymouth, and my favorite newer Plymouth was the early 90's Duster.
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Am I the only one who misses these five brands?
