Last Oldsmobile

[MikeA]

End of an era (http://news.yahoo.com/fc?tmpl=fc&cid=34&in=business&cat=automobiles_and_ driving) . http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/flag.gif

[StealthBird]

GM cut off Oldsmobile's head back in 2000, but like a decapitated chicken, the body kept flopping around for 4 more years. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

When John DeLorean was asked about the demise of Oldsmobile a few years ago, he said that GM should have just stopped production when the announcment was made in 2000. The worst thing you can do is announce the discontinuation of a product, then drag it out for years. You can't expect line workers to maintain morale or keep up quality control. Oldsmobile quality continued to diminish every year since the 2000 announcement, and buyers were skeptical about buying a brand of car that will be discontinued (don't blame them) for fear the parts and technology would go away. They also weren't sure where their new Oldsmobile would be serviced in the future.

Family-owned Oldsmobile dealerships will be hit the hardest by this. They must either change to another make, or close their doors.

Unfortunately, GM does not allow an Oldsmobile to be serviced (under warranty) at another dealership like Chevrolet or Pontiac. Buyers of Oldsmobiles will have to continue to take their vehicles to their local Olds dealers until those dealers close up, or hopefully change over to another GM product. When that happens, owners will have to take their vehicle to an authorized GM dealer, and hopefully, the mechanics will understand the Aurora V8, or any other number of odd parts or electrical gremlins that are unique to Oldsmobiles.

Oh well, long live the W-30. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/worship.gif

[JoeG]

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

[JoeG]

attachment----

[Jeff Murphy]

Joe, your attachments say it all...

[MikeA]

Yahoo changed the news story.
Here is the story.
[ QUOTE ]
The last Oldsmobile rolled off the line Thursday morning at the Lansing Car Assembly plant, which has produced the venerable vehicles for nearly a century.
The car, an Alero that will have signatures of plant employees inside the hood, will be displayed at the R.E. Olds Transportation Museum in Lansing when it's not being used as part of General Motors Corp.'s touring fleet, said GM spokeswoman Kim Carpenter.
"It really has been fun. We've had great products," said Doug Stott, a production manager for Oldsmobile who has owned more than 30 Oldsmobiles himself. "Phasing it out was sad. At the same time, it's like a graduation."
Oldsmobile pioneered chrome-plated trim and gave drivers the Eighty Eight series, the front-wheel-drive Toronado and the Cutlass, while inspiring songs like "In My Merry Oldsmobile" and "Rocket 88." It was named for Ransom E. Olds, who started the Olds Motor Vehicle Co. in Lansing in 1897.
The company became part of GM in 1908, and soon assumed its place as the middle-class, middle-age cars in the conglomerate's lineup — more expensive than Chevrolet and Pontiac, just a step below Buick and Cadillac.
In the mid-1980s, however, however, buyers began moving from midsize cars that Oldsmobile was known for to minivans and sport utility vehicles. Imports and "transplants," cars from import automakers built in the United States, took larger shares of the midsize market.
The nameplate developed a stodgy reputation, which the company tried to shed with an ad campaign saying the make was "not your father's Oldsmobile."
The gambit fell short, and GM announced in December 2000 it would end production of the struggling line with the 2004 model year. The Alero is the only model remaining in the brand's once-diverse lineup.
Of the 35.2 million Oldsmobiles ever made, more than 14 million were built in Lansing, and for more than a century, Oldsmobile meant steady jobs and decent paychecks in the state's capital city.
The GM workers who have made Oldsmobiles over the years will still build Pontiacs, Cadillacs and Chevrolets, including the Cadillac CTS luxury sedan and the retro SSR roadster.
"Losing the name is painful," said Dave Pfaff, a 60-year-old retired engineer who worked at the company for 37 years. "Oldsmobile and Lansing ... just (go) together."
Oldsmobile is the oldest U.S. automotive brand name, behind only the Daimler name worldwide. Oldsmobile's presence in Lansing has been fading since GM reorganized in the mid-1980s, and decreased even more when its main office was moved to Detroit in 1998.
But affection and nostalgia linger, and Oldsmobile pride is as much a part of Lansing as the Capitol dome that rises within sight of the former Oldsmobile headquarters.
Sons and daughters followed their parents and grandparents into the plants.
"It's truly a situation where there's an Oldsmobile family," said GM spokeswoman Kim Carpenter.


[/ QUOTE ]

[Casey Marks]

I celebrated the last day of Olds production by RACING mine !! http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/3gears.gif http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/burnout.gif

Took the W-31 to Norwalk yesterday to do some Test-N-Tunes with some of the Buick Performance Group folks. Weather was windy and hot. Ended up running my best ET yet out of the car: 12.85 @ 108 http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggthumpup.gif

[Chevy454]

SWEET! That should give the Deuce guys around here something to shoot for!!

Hey, any other PS/SA cars there? Mind giving us a brief rundown, amybe in another thread?

[JoeG]

Nice car/TimeSlip Casey http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/burnout.gif---Here's where the W-31 started--

[JoeG]

PRESCRIPTION FOR PERFORMANCE-------

[JoeG]

Luv those old ads--------- http://www.yenko.net/attachments/86227-Scan0006.jpg
".......Awesome is the word for it...........The solid joy of punching that big Dual/Gate Shifter up through the gears..feeling those 455 cubic inches grab you http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif...all to the genteel accompaniment of the silkest snarl you ever heard.---That, sir, is awesome!----(They don't write car ads like that anymore) http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif----------

[JoeG]

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif http://www.yenko.net/attachments/87378-hurst.jpg

[Belair62]

When you look at those old ads you gotta smile....they were so cool.Joe find the AMC ad with the blower sticking out of the Javelins hood ! That was the coolest ad...

[JoeG]

Yeah Bob, Just throwing this old 442 stuff up when I come across it ,it's kind of neat and I figured maybe some of the younger guys never saw this old stuff- ---That Javelin ad --I'm trying to remember it but the dancing girls keep poping up----I'll see if I can find it---

[Belair62]

Joe...it was "But Dad I was only trying to make it better"...the print ad showed a red Javelin with a blower sticking out and a kid standing with his Dad...

[Belair62]

Found it Joe...this was the print ad...

[JoeG]

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beers.gif Thanks BOB-- http://www.yenko.net/attachments/87550-ad.JPG

[JoeG]

Lost in time--- http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/burnout.gif '68 W30-

"Danger Will Robinson" http://www.yenko.net/attachments/89400-442hoses.jpg

[JoeG]

Last gasp of performance--1972--Last year for the 442 W-30-- http://www.yenko.net/attachments/90835-442.jpg

[JoeG]

Cranking out 515 1968 Hurst Olds in 8 1/2 weeks Hurst-Campbell and Demmer employees had to race through production while still attending to details----- http://www.yenko.net/attachments/91309-hurst.jpg

[SmallHurst]

There are a lot of people who are bitter about the loss of the brand. I consider that most of the people who have fond memories of the brand never drove anything made in the 80's when the cookie cutters came out. I am lucky that I just have to walk out to my garage to see some of the best that was built by that brand! http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/3gears.gif

[JoeG]

Unfortunately, no Olds in my garage just some good memories of some of the ones I had an opportunity to drive back when----I could never make the walk to your garage and back on my lunch break---How 'bout posting some photos of yours---