1995 Oldsmobile Aurora - The Last Oldsmobile

The latest jalopy my chief engineer is "storing" in the lot in the back of our compound is his father's 1995 Oldsmobile Aurora. Yes, this is literally and figuratively his father's Oldsmobile. 

Seeing how covered in tree sap it is and nests for various vermin safe to say it doesn't look like it's been running for quite some time. 

In many ways the Aurora was the last "real Oldsmobile" in that it no body panels would fit any other GM make or model and, just like back in the olden days, it was powered by a proprietary, division specific V-8 engine. 

In this case a Cadillac "Northstar" DOHC V-8 with a smaller bore; making the bore smaller actually made the engine heavier. It also suffered from the Northstar's penchant for blowing head gaskets. My chief attempted to get at the heads and gave up. Just as well. By the way, this car has just over 153,000 on its twenty-six year old ticket. Oldsmobile also built a V-6 engine based on the Northstar V-8 that blew up just as often. 

I remember seeing one for the first time at a new-car show back on Long Island in the mid-'90's and the feelings I had for it must have been what many felt when they saw GM's fabulously futuristic designs at Motorama's back in the 1950's. 

Darn thing looked like it could fly to the Mars and beyond! Still does. Ha. As if. 

Based on General Motors new-for-1995 GMX690 chassis or what became known as the "G-body", the Oldsmobile Aurora was supposed to be what the doctor ordered - a vehicle that could reinvigorate what had not twenty-years prior been a bastion of General Motors design and engineering prowess. 

Well, sales and marketing prowess. Let's be real. It wasn't as if Oldsmobile in the 1970's was shifting paradigms of what an automobile was; like they had done in the fifteen to twenty years or so after World War II. 

These only came in four-door guise; if you wanted a coupe you could buy a "G-body" Buick Riviera starting in 1996. 

Oldsmobile was once favored by 40-something's but by the mid-90''s, they wanted nothing to do with the brand. Only folks who did were those former 40-somethings who now in their 60's who were still faithful to the brand.

 

So bright did the Oldsmobile Aurora seem at its introduction that there were rumblings that GM was going to rename Oldsmobile "Aurora". 

Save for being a most interesting looking appliance, still is a photogenic beast, it wasn't that good of an automobile either. Too soft, too heavy and too slow, it wasn't much of a compelling option up against similarly priced options from Europe and Asia. Throw in an unreliable engine and it was just another nail in the coffin for Oldsmobile. 

Once we're back in the office full-time, right now that's slated to be October 11th, I'll bust his chops to get his junk out of our yard. Until then I'll let sleeping dogs lie and look forward to the next clunker he drags back here.