Didn't they cancle Old's like 2 years ago? after the auora bombed? Didn't even know they were still going. Old's servered its time. Could of been caddy or Buick.
I currently drive 2 newer Olds'. So far, they have been excellent vehicles. But with the demise of Olds now official, I would bet new Olds' will be heavily discounted and the classics will go up in price. Let's hope Buick isn't next !!
The report i read indicated the decision to discontinue the Olds line was soley based on the amount of Olds dedicated only dealerships that would have to be bought out was less than any other division. If it was a GMC/Olds/Cadillac dealer like in my town then they still had cars to sell. it had nothing to do with sales, so it could have as easily been Buick.
From my understanding it was the Aurora that killed Old's when it bombed. Course that should be put on the shoulders of the designers. I think GM has too many kids from this rice gen in charge. no one under 30 should be designing cars.
I believe it will be GMC trucks. They were formed in 1902 by the Grabowski brothers as Grabowski Bros Trucks, changed to the Rapid truck co in 1904, and absorbed into General Motors as GMC in 1912. (1912 might be wrong, this is all from memory). Buick, Cadillac, and Ford share 1903. Chevrolet comes up in 1912, Dodge in 1914, Lincoln 1922[?], Chrysler 1924, Pontiac 1926, Plymouth 1928, and Mercury in 1938.
Saturn killed Oldsmobile Make no mistakes, Saturn killed Oldsmobile. It was heavily subsidized to make it a success and guess who paid the price? Oldsmobile was always too independent to be popular in the GM power structure. R.I.P. as far as I'm concerned.
Badge engingeering.... It may seem insignificant, but I think the fact that Olds/GM did not BADGE the Aurora/Alero seemed to help speed its demise. They took any brand identification off the cars that showed it belonged to Oldsmobile, and replaced it with that dippy-swoopy "A" thing. Sort of like the pop star Prince changing his name to a symbol.... Most people are VERY brand conscious when purchasing anything nowadays. If they can't identify it, they won't buy it. How many people would buy designer jeans if the label was cut off??? Significantly less then if they were labeled properly. Obviously, there were greater forces at work here, but just wanted to share my opinion on a possible contributing factor. Personally, I would rather have an Olds over a Buick!:Brow:
i was in belief that buick was the first member of the gm car trio i just wacthed something about it on history channel .
I thought the new GTO was supposed to run production for 3 years? It's dissapointing to see them go! Mabe its time to start buying those old Cutlasses...:TU:
Dave H and I spent the last day of Olds production RACING ours !! It was windy and hot in Norwalk at the BPG Test-N-Tune, but I managed to finagle a 12.85 @ 108 out of my car, and Dave stole a 1.93 60-foot out of his RamRod. :eek2: Fun and relaxing day. My girlfriend, Cindy, didn't have quite the same luck, however ...... When she was crossing the starting line area to pick up time slips for us, her shoes STUCK to the track ! uzzled: She couldn't get them broken free, and ended up going head first onto the tarmac. Now she's got a nice black eye. ou: And she starts a new job on Monday ....... DOH !! Just goes to show you how STICKY Norwalk is. That track just ROCKS !! :TU: Apparently Philip Sedlon (70 gsconvt) captured a pic of Cindy AFTER she did the face-plant, and took her shoes off to go get time slips !! :grin:
Johnny Cochran on line 1... Sounds like a lawsuit to me, Casey! At the very *least* you should get a new sock for Cindy out of the deal...:grin:
geese, that awful man. Especially starting a new job. Everyone thinks your a wife beater now. Doesn't matter what story she tells.
Re: Johnny Cochran on line 1... You are right. If they make you walk across the track to Goethe time slip. They are responsible to provide a safe walking way that will not face plant you into the cement. Just tell them you don't want any cash. You'll just take the track. Casey Raceway
regarding the demise of the Oldsmobile, I think Teddy Kennedy said it best "Where the F* is my Olds ??"
that dippy-swoopy "A" thing killed them. which looked to much like the acura or other lux rice coming out. I say just find the head designer on that project and take turn booting him in the butt. Aurora killed Olds.
I tell ya, Casey, I've heard some creative stories to cover up domestic violence, but yours takes the cake! p I think more people will believe her if she sticks to "I bumped my head on the hood tongue of my boyfriend's '70 W-31." If DaveH would stop pussy-footin' that clutch more often, maybe he'll start cutting some better 60' times. Dump it, Dave!
I felt really bad for Cindy. She's such a trooper at these meets. Hope the "shiner" has improved. Keep taking that Aleve and have Casey peel some more grapes and hand feed them to you. I turned the corner from the staging lanes and saw they were helping her out of the way, but didn't realize what was happening. All I saw were some tennis shoes on the starting line and some paper stuck to the track. I'll take a 1.93 60 footer in Pure Stock racing any day of the week (especially with the 4 speed). Thank the traction at Norwalk for that (see above for the down side). Had a couple other 60's in the 1.90's and none worse than 2.0's. New cam really pulls it out of the hole. Only spun one time and was launching pretty aggressively. What a great group of people at the race from BPG. Even a complimentary BBQ (must have been a tribute to BBQ Jim). We really felt comfortable as guests even though we were "the Other Guys". 2 Pontiacs (Noel Drach and Jeff Sawruck) and the 2 W31's. Some really neat big time Buicks there, love the GN's, and as expected a gaggle of Stage 1, but: "Where were the Buick 350's?" :Brow: Good to see Lon make it out, too. The last day of Olds production was a relief to me for all the junk they've been forced to produce and sell thanks to the corporate "help" from the General for the last 15 years. " Euthanasia applies well here. The Aurora and Intrigue actually were really good cars, but not enough volume to justify a complete division. (Seems to me Indy ran a few Aurora engines didn't they?). I remember a marketing comparison at Ford where an Intrigue blew away everybody for value in that market class..... in a FORD Market test. In our glory, Olds sold almost a half milliion 88's and 98's and over 1/2 million Cutlasses year after year. That really wasn't that long before they decided that Saturn was the way of the future. Didn't help that Gm felt that Olds needed their wings clipped. (How could our corporate marketing be wrong? see below). They never were in the good graces of GM after the 68 Hurst. At the time GM corporate started calling the shots, Olds sales were 54% repeat buyers........ and they came out with the campaign: This "isn't your fathers' Oldsmobile". Brilliant. You just pissed off almost a half million buyers. How much advertising $$$ does it take to offset that? It was fun racing our classic Olds W31's on the last day of production. Casey was kicking ass as usual and I had a great day dialing in the Ramrod with the original motor back in. Lots more left in it, but managed to click off a couple of 13.90's by the end of the day. Helps to be trained by 2 of the best (Rob and Gary). Looking forward to Morrocco next week. :TU: Thanks again to BPG for the opportunity to have fun.
