Oldsmobile

Oldsmobile

Just the beginnings of an Oldsmobile page at this point. I grew up with Olds. My parents had a tutone (light blue/dark blue) '55 98 when I was born in 1960. Several years later they bought a white 1960 98. Power windows, a cool speedometer that appeared to stretch across the dial rather than a needle pointing at numbers, and it turned colors as you sped up! Then, the first new one, a Delmont 88 in 1968. My grandfather had just bought a new four-door Cutlass and I thought that was the greatest car around.

So when I bought a car after finishing high school in 1978, it's no surprise that I found a two door '69 Cutlass S. I have some good photos of it, but I haven't scanned them yet. I'll get some "before and after" shots for you... before and after I totalled it in 1980.

My wife likes the Alero (we rented one once), but it's a bit small for our family. I'm really inclined to get an Intrigue, but we'd be coming out of a minivan. The minivan is a really good family car, and I don't mind it since I normally drive my Corvette. I understand why my wife is tired of it, though.

Anyway, all of that makes me wonder why we can't have a great wagon. After all, BMW makes wagons, and they certainly aren't stodgy. So I took one of the photos of the Intrigue from the Olds website and turned it into a wagon... what do you think? Would you buy one? If so, go to http://www.intriguecar.com , choose "Contact" at the top, and send them a message saying you'd buy an Intrigue Wagon... call it an Intrigue Cruiser! Maybe we can get one that way.

Here's my picture:

IntrigueCruiserRR.jpg (13591 bytes)

Intrigue Cruiser

Here's a magazine ad from 1969. They were calling the "Youngmobiles" then.

The ad text reads, at the top, "Olds recreates a scene from a film classic," and below
Run of the mill cars got you feeling grounded? Spread your wings and soar in a Cutlass S. Rocket 350 V8 (or big 250 Action Line Six), louvered hood,	hideaway wipers, new GM safety features, standard. Want to really send the ordi- nary into a tailspin? Order yours with bucket seats, center	console, and G.T. hood stripes. Price? Right down your run- way. Every Olds Cutlass sports an easy-to-take low price. Escape from the ordinary.	OLDSMOBILE NOW SHOWING YOUNGMOBILE THINKING 1969

Here are a few Oldsmobile photos from the 1997 Houston Auto Show.

This is an Oldsmobile Intrigue, one of the best handling mid-sized cars available today, and priced much better than the competition.

This 1997 Oldsmobile Aurora had one of the most solid body/chassis structures available in the world. I took this shot from behind because it reminds me of the original (late 60's) Oldsmobile Toronado.

The last Oldsmobile Cutlass. This car was almost identical to the latest Chevrolet Malibu. That was a real shame. It was intended to be seen as a small, nice, reliable car, but the Cutlass name belongs on something more exciting.

Return to my Automobiles page.

Oldsmobile was the oldest American car company in existence. It was started in 1897: Yes, six years before Ford. Ransom Olds was the first manufacturer in the world to build cars on an assembly line, significantly reducing prices and making them more available to the public. (Ford put them on a moving assembly line, reducing the price even more dramatically.)

And now it's over.

For more Oldsmobile info, see www.442.com.