A Casual Reminder That the Oldsmobile Aurora was Badass

"DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish!" (daft-ryosuke) 05/17/2018 at 22:49 • Filed to: oldsmobile, oldsmobile aurora, aurora

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Every so often, there comes along a pivoting point in automotive history, where a storied brand is faced with a decision: change or die. We’ve seen it happen with many brand within the past 20 years, some of which heeded the message and changed for the better and some of which completely ignored it and crumbled under the pressure of changing times. However, there is one brand that tried changing their ways for the better, but their valiant efforts just couldn’t pay off in the end. That brand is Oldsmobile.

A scene from Fargo (1996) perfectly displays the mundanity that was Oldsmobile in the late 20th century.

In the 1990s, Oldsmobile was, for better or worse, struggling. They were no more than a middle-management brand that sold more to fleet usage than actual owners, and those who did buy Oldsmobiles, in all of their silver-haired splendor, were sooner to receive the talk from their children than to enrich themselves in the “New Generation of Olds” as the commercials called it. The brand was best defined by Fargo’s bumbling Oldsmobile-salesman of a main character, Jerry Lundegaard. It was just down on its luck, no matter what.

But boy was Oldsmobile trying to turn that image around through various schemes. That ad campaign that I mentioned earlier was one of their most valiant attempts, pumping famous stars, such as Leonard Nimoy and Ringo Starr, and their children into the commercials, penning them off as “Not Your Father’s Oldsmobile.” However, rather than flood to the dealership in droves, people mostly laughed and changed the channel.

So, since the advertisements weren’t working out, their next step was by upping the brand’s image overall with a look into performance and luxury for a cheap price. Sort of an amalgamation of Pontiac’s Driving Excitement and Cadillac’s Standard of the World. They pushed out rather spritely and interesting small cars sporting the Quad 4 inline 4, they introduced a stylish luxury coupe in the Toronado Trofeo, but most importantly, covering both bases was their experimental LSS (Luxury Sport Sedan) trim for the Eighty-Eight.

The Eight-Eight LSS was mostly unremarkable on the outside, with a debadged monochrome treatment taken to a fully-loaded Eighty-Eight. However, what’s under the hood is what really made the LSS special. Oldsmobile decided to employ the use of Buick’s famous 3800 Supercharged V6 for the LSS, meaning the rather bland boat could get up and go at a rather spritely speed. Critics were mostly impressed, but sales didn’t match the excitement. Rather than seeing this as a failed prospect, however, like GM usually would do, Oldsmobile pressed on...by introducing a new car entirely based on the idea. Enter the Aurora.

Truthfully, the idea behind Aurora had been around since the 1980s, long before the LSS’s existence. Oldsmobile saw the potential in the rising import market, and knew that they needed a car to completely rejuvenate the line, but rather than half-ass it and call it a day, they actually took the time to make it great, with the first concept being revealed in the late 80s, and various prototypes hitting the streets as early as 1992 for fine tuning. Oldsmobile knew this car had to be taken seriously, and it paid off.

Oldsmobile took special caution to make the Aurora unlike any GM car on sale at the time, and especially unlike any Oldsmobile. They decided to go with a completely out-of-this-world styling theme, with a far more fluid and curvaceous shape setting itself apart from the squares that made up the rest of the line-up at the time of inception. I believe this design is one of the finer ones to come out of the 90s, though I can understand its polarizing nature.

Under that beautiful skin, Oldsmobile didn’t skimp out performance-wise either. Rather than employing the use of Buick’s 3800 V6 that was the common plug and play engine of the time at GM, Oldsmobile turned to Cadillac and their Northstar V8. Oldsmobile took the Northstar and did some minor tooling to it, creating a slightly de-tuned version called the “Aurora L47" V8. The L47 was a 4.0 liter unit (versus the Cadillac 4.6) making 250 horsepower and 260 foot-pounds of torque, modest numbers for the time and class. This power was pushed to the front wheels through GM’s 4T80-E automatic transmission.

The Aurora as a whole used a beefed up all-new platform for GM, called the G-Body platform, which went on to be used in the Buick Riviera of the time, as well as future Cadillacs and Buicks with some minor re-tooling. This platform, and its all-new structure ended up being highly-praised in the end, even going so far as being too strong for GM’s regular car crash test machines, breaking them in the process. GM resorted to using truck testing machines instead, succeeding far beyond safety and rigidity standards for cars two times over the IIHS’s standards.

Oldsmobile took special care to the interior as well, wanting to create a cockpit that followed the striking exterior styling and pushing an essence of luxury at the same time. Standard were soft Cadillac-style leather seats with real burled walnut trim. Technology wise was mostly the standards of the time: CD/cassette player in the stereo, power memory seats, dual-zone climate control, and even an optional car phone and navigation system through Oldsmobile’s GuideStar system. Critics were taken aback by the beauty and craftsmanship of the interior, which reached levels far above even that of Cadillac at the time.

So, all this care was taken to build what was a quite remarkable car for the Americans at that point, how did it fare? Excellently. Everyone loved the Aurora with high praise from critics, but more importantly, it got buyers in the showrooms out of interest. The design was striking for the time and many people were in awe that such a car carried the name Oldsmobile. Some didn’t even believe it was an Olds...but that was probably due to the fact that there was no Oldsmobile badges on the car at all.

Everyone enjoyed the way the Aurora drove, how comfortable it was, and how well-built it was, and saw it as a definite departure from the Cutlass Supremes and 98 Regencys of yore. Oldsmobile had hit a definite home run, and by god, they were going to ride that wave into the new century. Soon, the entire Oldsmobile line-up resembled the Aurora, with models like the Alero and Intrigue following in the late 90s. Oldsmobile even saw the Aurora fit for racing, with an Aurora race car and Indy car created soon after with a tuned version of the L47 V8. This tuned variant was later used in Cadillac’s LeMans efforts in 2000, though it was twin-turbocharged for more power output.

Race spec Aurora featuring some LaLD worthy livery.

But as with all good things, the Aurora wave soon dwindled and came to the end as the 21st century came around. Oldsmobile knew they couldn’t let the first generation run forever as the class they had decided to enter into with the car was a rapidly changing cutthroat class of Lexus, BMW, and Mercedes. The first plans for the second generation Aurora was brought forth around 1997 with the idea of moving the car further upmarket and retaining its V8 architecture alongside the next generation Buick Riviera. However, when Buick announced plans to discontinue the Riviera, and Oldsmobile soon found that you can’t save an entire brand off the back of one well-made car and entered financial troubles once again.

What eventually did become the 2001 second-generation Aurora was a planned concept called the Antares, which was slated to be an Eighty-Eight replacement. This new Aurora received a slightly toned-down and smaller overall shape with a more stately look compared to its predecessor’s spaceship style aesthetic. The V8 remained, joined by a 3.5 liter V6, dubbed the “Shortstar” for its Northstar architecture. Critics still found the new Aurora to be a decent car, but the overall structure, which was borrowed from the predecessor, had started to age. Most agreed that the 2001 Aurora was a shadow in comparison to the original car.

However, the nail in the coffin for the Aurora was the fact that Oldsmobile just wasn’t profitable enough for GM, and shortly into the lifespan of the second generation, GM announced its plans to pull the plug on Oldsmobile. This put whatever was left of the company in an awkward place to sell all of the cars they had left to sell. I remember stories of brand new Auroras being sold off for fractions of their MSRP at dealerships, who were just trying to cater to individuals who weren’t interested in buying from a dead brand. In 2002, after one year of production, the V6 Aurora was dropped all together, and in 2003, after a run of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , the Aurora was dead.

The fall of Oldsmobile that ended up killing the brand all together is a story in itself, but the Aurora is a shining testament to just how far a brand is willing to go to keep itself afloat, even if it didn’t work out in the end. The Aurora was a car that was so far out of Oldsmobile’s comfort zone at the time. The drive that went into creating it, and how desperately they wanted it to work, just adds to its charm. That and just how cool it was on paper, because how many GM sedans from the 90s stood toe to toe with the imports and had a racing pedigree to back it up? Not many, that’s how many.

It’s uncertain to say there’s an alternate universe where the Aurora fixed all of Oldsmobile’s issues and kept them around to stay, but the Aurora deserves every single bit of praise it gets. It’s one of the most badass cars that Oldsmobile ever built, and it should stay that way. I want one.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! 05/17/2018 at 22:56

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Those OG Auroras were truly one of the great underappreciated gems.

Nibby > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! 05/17/2018 at 23:04

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what an intriguing post!

ranwhenparked > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! 05/17/2018 at 23:11

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Oldsmobile is an excellent example of how to mismanage a brand. Olds went from the #3 brand in America to completely dead in a little over 20 years.

In the late ‘70s, when the downsized A-body Cutlass was the best selling car in America, there was nearly zero depreciation in the first 12 months, virtually unheard of for an American car before or since. GM simply couldn’t build enough of them fast enough to meet demand, so there was a booming business for lightly used examples.

I guess it was a question of being completely in step with what middle class buyers wanted, but then having that market shift completely really fast and really dramatically as the 80s wound on and not knowing how to move with it. That, and the scandal over using non-Olds engines, GM’s general quality problems, and the ill-conceived 2nd round of downsizing in the mid ‘80s that saw every brand sharing the same bland body shells.

By the time they caught their breath, realized what had gone wrong, and stuck the Aurora out there to try and right the ship, it was just too little, too late. If Roger Smith had only retired, say, 5 years earlier than he did, it might have made a big difference.

Chariotoflove > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! 05/17/2018 at 23:12

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I love the story you weave. And I loved Oldsmobile. I was truly sad to see it go. I loved my Cutlass Supreme, and my dad’s Trofeo was aces.

But I never liked the Aurora.

HammerheadFistpunch > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! 05/17/2018 at 23:18

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so casual. Don’t forget where else the L74 showed up

lone_liberal > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! 05/17/2018 at 23:19

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It lives on with every UPS truck made.

DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! > lone_liberal 05/17/2018 at 23:30

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Those are actually lights from the Alero, the Aurora’s smaller sibling.

DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! > HammerheadFistpunch 05/17/2018 at 23:31

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Why did I forget the Shelby and Aerotech? I specifically started writing this with the Aerotech in mind, too.

lone_liberal > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! 05/17/2018 at 23:35

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Ugh, I couldn’t remember which it was so I googled it and promptly misread what I looked up.

shop-teacher > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! 05/17/2018 at 23:37

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The Aurora is the poster child for unmet potential. My dad bought a ‘95 Aurora in late ‘97 when he sold me their Toronado Troffeo for my first car.

Now, what you say about the Aurora was true. That thing handled way better than any giant FWD boat had a right to. There was just one HUGE problem. The thing broke ALL. THE. TIME.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > ranwhenparked 05/17/2018 at 23:37

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I feel like the Alero was a huge success. I see the damn things everywhere.

fhrblig > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 05/18/2018 at 00:04

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I bought one in 2001 after they announced the gradual phase-out. I ended up with a sand 4-door GL2 with the 2.4 and an automatic. It only had about 23k miles but was half the price of a new one. The 4-speed transmission was annoying, but the rest of the car was better than I’d expected. It handled pretty well for a FWD beigemobile. I sold it at around 90k to my sister, and she drove it for another 150k or so.

It was an underrated car. It had a nicer interior than the boy-racer Grand Am, it was comfortable, reasonably reliable and got decent MPG.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! 05/18/2018 at 00:07

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You understate how advanced the aurora styling was at the time. The buick riviera and aurora looked like this in 1995:

Meanwhile, buick will gladly sell you this exact regal wagon in 1995:

And oldsmobile made sure to have this cutlass ciera on the lot for you to test drive:

I know not all the other models were quite so far in the past......but it speaks to just how much of a leap these brands made with that platform and how influential they are today. As much as car guys like to rip on 90s GM and Ford and Chrysler, they silently defined how to make family sedans for the new millenium. The Aurora/Rivera from GM, the Taurus from Ford, and the Intrepid/Concorde/300M from Chrysler set design and engineering trends that continue to this day. And when you put those vehicles into context with what was popular at the time, you see just how far they jumped in one go.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > fhrblig 05/18/2018 at 00:15

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I see more of them than the Malibu that they’re based on.

FSI > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! 05/18/2018 at 00:22

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One day I will import three of my favorite 90s GM cars, a first and second gen Aurora and a 8th gen Riviera.

fhrblig > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 05/18/2018 at 00:58

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Me too, and I still see some of those Cutlasses that were a weird mash-up of the Chevy Malibu but with some of the Alero’s interior design elements.

Kiltedpadre > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! 05/18/2018 at 07:14

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My parents looked at a first gen Aurora in its second production year (at the time my GM employee father couldn’t get a discount on new designs during the first year).

Unfortunately, the roofline didn’t work for my 6-4 dad with two sons that were both rapidly approaching that height.

Instead they ended out with an LSS which became the car that I learned to drive in. That is most likely where my love of big cars comes from.

Long-Voyager > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 05/18/2018 at 07:22

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Century wagon dude, Century wagon.

Long-Voyager > shop-teacher 05/18/2018 at 07:22

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Toronados are amazing cars.

404 - User No Longer Available > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! 05/18/2018 at 07:28

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The Eight-Eight LSS was mostly unremarkable on the outside, with a debadged monochrome treatment taken to a fully-loaded Eighty-Eight. However, what’s under the hood is what really made the LSS special. Oldsmobile decided to employ the use of Buick’s famous 3800 Supercharged V6 for the LSS, meaning the rather bland boat could get up and go at a rather spritely speed. Critics were mostly impressed, but sales didn’t match the excitement. Rather than seeing this as a failed prospect, however, like GM usually would do, Oldsmobile pressed on...by introducing a new car entirely based on the idea. Enter the Aurora.

...I think it’s the other way around. Eighty-Eight was refreshed to look like the new Aurora design language, until the Intrigue was ready to replace both the Eighty-Eight and the Cutlass Supreme.

Unless Canada didn’t get the LSS refresh till late, I positively remember only the Aurora in the showroom and the Eighty Eight with the old grille when the salesman was trying to sell us on the Aurora to replace our Ciera and Corsica (though we ended up with a Lumina instead).

Arrivederci > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! 05/18/2018 at 07:48

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The Aerotech was legit my favorite Hot Wheels car I ever owned.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 05/18/2018 at 09:02

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Yes, they sold around 700,000 of them. The way I understand it the problem with the Alero wasn’t that it didn’t sell but that GM had backed themselves into a corner where they couldn’t sell enough of them at the prices people were willing to pay for them to make much money per car. Then they tried to make up for it with volume by offering discounts that cut into the margin even more. In the end they had to axe models and eventually entire brands in part to increase margins on the cars they still sold.

Pickup_man > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! 05/18/2018 at 09:06

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My first car was an Aurora, and it was a pretty nice car. I was pretty hard on it though and ended up wrecking the transmission. We got that replaced and sold it off but it didn’t live a long life after that. I found it in the local pick and pull a few years later which made me sad. It was a fun car, and I wouldn’t mind having another.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! 05/18/2018 at 10:43

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My dad’s been driving a Park Avenue lately, and based on that (not having driven an Aurora) I can see the attractions of the platform. I also definitely get how they crash tested that well, sort of massive-feeling. They’re kind of like if a Dodge Intrepid didn’t suck.

DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! > 404 - User No Longer Available 05/18/2018 at 11:58

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Iirc, the LSS was a packed released in 1992, and after the Aurora came around they made it look more like the latter.

404 - User No Longer Available > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! 05/18/2018 at 12:01

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I think prior to the facelift those were called Eighty-Eight Royale?

From Wikipedia (I know, I know):

The Eighty-Eight’s front and rear were restyled for 1996 to bear more resemblance to the flagship Aurora.

In the 1996 model year, GM renamed the model from “Eighty Eight Royale” to three models – Eighty Eight , Eighty Eight LS and LSS (A “Luxury Sports Sedan” targeted to male European car buyers, available with a supercharged V6 and a floor mounted gear shifter). It is important to note, however, early LSS models (1995) were rarely equipped with the 3800 Supercharged engine. The LSS was an originally a trim level package on the 88 starting in 1992. In 1996 the LSS received Aurora-inspired seats. 1996 was the final year that the original-style rocket (in black and silver) appeared on a hood emblem. 1997 would welcome the new Oldsmobile logo on all Eighty-Eight trims except the Regency.

LSS was just a trim and had nothing to do with the supercharger.

Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! 05/18/2018 at 12:17

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I vaguely remember going to the Charlotte Auto Fair sometime in 1995-97 with my dad and seeing an Aurora show car by either PPG or BASF to showcase multi-stage paint. It was gold, purple, green, and orange and it looked amazing in the sun. Sadly, I can’t find photos of it. I believe it was April 1995 because the Mystichrome Cobra came out not long after.

Sweet Trav > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 05/18/2018 at 13:24

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I wish that Riviera was RWD. I have often thought of converting one to RWD.

Joe6pack > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! 05/18/2018 at 17:22

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I think my neighbor still dailies one of these. It’s either this or an Alero - guess I should pay attention. It is however, beat to shit. Given how he treats it, it does seem to be able to take abuse.