The last Rwd Oldsmobile

[Guest lance armstrong's Testicles]

i am just curious about it

[Flybrian]

1992 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser, a B-body station wagon, and IMO the best-looking...


Intro'd in 1991 to replace the old Custom Cruiser and dropped a year later. Also, the last V8 Olds for, like, three years.

[Croc]

Nevermind...Fly already got it. Edited December 11, 2005 by Croc

[DBeaSSt]

Dang! Beat me to it. :) Someday mine will look that nice.....

[Sixty8panther]

Two mistakes made with this car: 1. A sedan equivalent should have been made wiht unique Rocket-style vertical tail lights. 2. Never should have been dropped.

[Guest lance armstrong's Testicles]

dropped a year later

thats nuts, did it show up in a different division afterward?

[Delta Force79]

Depending on how you want to look at it, you could say the Roadmaster wagon replaced it along with the Estate Wagon....

[Flybrian]

thats nuts, did it show up in a different division afterward?

[post="56992"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

What Delta_Force said, more or less.

The Buick Roadmaster Estate and Chevy Caprice Estate were both intro'd along with the Olds in 1991. They survived until 1996.

[Croc]

It was already a badge job. The first model year it was a Roadmaster with an Olds grille, the second year it was a Caprice with an Olds grille. Something about a filler panel on the C pillars.

[Variance]

Wouldn't the last RWD Olds be the last Bravada?

[Imaj]

Wouldn't the last RWD Olds be the last Bravada?

[post="57271"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

mmmm yeah, but all of us (me included) guessed last rwd sedan :lol:

[Croc]

the post title specifically said "not the Bravada"

[DBeaSSt]

It was already a badge job.  The first model year it was a Roadmaster with an Olds grille, the second year it was a Caprice with an Olds grille.  Something about a filler panel on the C pillars.

[post="57181"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Kinda sorta yeah. Both the 91 and 92 Olds were really Roadmasters. Both had the vista glass roof, the Caprice did not.

91's had the Roadmaster c pillar while the 92's had the Caprice c pillar. Thus some of us lovingly refer to it as the Confused Cruiser. The Rocket logo colors also changed from black to red in 92.


And gotta agree with Sixty8panther, an Olds b-body sedan might have looked really nice. I've toyed with the idea of turning a Caprice sedan into an Olds something or other. *sigh*

[Variance]

the post title specifically said "not the Bravada"

[post="57336"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Whoops, it was in the subtitle. That's why I missed it. :ph34r:

[the_yellow_dart]

I've never seen that Olds before. That grille is awful. Sorry, but the Caprice and Roadmaster both look much better in the front.

[GMTruckGuy74]

91's had the Roadmaster c pillar while the 92's had the Caprice c pillar.

[post="57427"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Do you have pictures to illustrate the differences? I'd like to see what they look like.

The '91 - '92 Custom Cruiser has always been a favorite of mine. I'd love to find one in that dark red/gray two-tone :lol:

Does anybody here know the reason(s) why GM/Olds killed it off after only two model years? I've always wondered about that...

[Sixty8panther]

Does anybody here know the reason(s) why GM/Olds killed it off after only two model years? I've always wondered about that...

[post="57483"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Some retard with a kindergarden level understanding of Automotive world was in charge. Same reason most of GMs hughe mistakes happened. You know like killing the F-body in 2002, and worse yet the B-body in 1996.

[Flybrian]

Some retard with a kindergarden level understanding of Automotive world was in charge. Same reason most of GMs hughe mistakes happened. You know like killing the F-body in 2002, and worse yet the B-body in 1996.

[post="57508"][/post]

Um...actually, the Custom Cruiser was more or less redundant in GM with three fullsize wagon nearly identical to each other. Besides, this was around the beginning of the period when Oldsmobile was moving up and out and big barges such as the CC didn't meld with the New Olds and really didn't with some of the Old Oldses. Seeing a wood-festooned Cutlass or Custom Cruiser next to even a Toronado Trofeo looked as funny as seeing a Cutlass Ciera next to an Aurora.

I wish the Custom Cruiser was more Expression than Caprice Estate.

Sacrifice the 3rd-row and unneeded bulk for a trimmer still-large sport wagon. Look at the '00 Profile concept and the Expression of a decade before.

[razoredge]

The Olds was my favorite look of the three. Im not crazy about Roadmaster, to much funeral parlor look to it. I think the CC fit in well with the 90/00 models. I imagine sales were not real good but what were the total B sales ? Im guessing they were high enough to keep a plant in production and make money for GM not to mention >market share %<. It had to have been a mistake to abandon this segment totally.

[Croc]

Remember, the CC was cancelled most likely due to low sales and because 1993 was the intro year for the B-body Fleetwood. The plant capacity in Arlington, TX had to come from somewhere...

[DBeaSSt]

Do you have pictures to illustrate the differences?  I'd like to see what they look like. 

The '91 - '92 Custom Cruiser has always been a favorite of mine.    I'd love to find one in that dark red/gray two-tone :lol:

Does anybody here know the reason(s) why GM/Olds killed it off after only two model years? I've always wondered about that...

[post="57483"][/post]

It was easier to find pics of a Caprice than a 92 Cruiser. Figures. The Custom Cruiser is my favorite too, I wish they had kept it around, at least long enough to get the LT1.

Roadmaster profile, note the curved trim behind the rear door going up the quarter glass? That's what was on the 91 Cruisers.


Caprice wagon profile, best profile I could find quickly. Note how there is no trim behind the rear door. This is what was used on the 92 Olds. Olds retained the Vista glass both years.


Croc, good point on the start of the Fleetwood in 93. Dropping the Olds might have been due to the extra capacity needed. Not sure though. However during 91-93, b-bodies were made both in Arlington, TX and Willow Run, MI.

I have the production numbers for the wagons somewhere. IIRC there were over 8,000 91 Cruisers made but less than 5,000 92's. 92's are becoming somewhat scarce. I've seen a lot of them head to the crusher recently with lots of good parts left. :( I've got a smashed up one that I'm stripping now.

Probably more than you wanted to know but oh well. :)

[NINETY EIGHT REGENCY]

The Toronado and Custom Cruiser were dropped at the same time during the 1992 model year due to low sales. They had high inventory plus the fact Oldsmobile was in a lot of trouble at that time. This was the beginning of the revolution of the new Oldsmobile and Jon Rock was about to come on board at Oldsmobile. This was also during the time the rumors started that GM was going to phase out Oldsmobile. The only thing Oldsmobile had on the design boards at that time was a Toronado replacement which became the Aurora. To quote the material I have here in my house: There was a corporate shakeup at GM at the time. Robert Stempel was GM chairman at the time. Various GM car lines as well as bureaucratic layers were cut in an effort to return GM to profability. At that time GM lost 11.7 billion dollars over two years under Lloyd Reuss. They were dismantling the BOC and CPC groups created by Robert Smith. The announcement was May 1, 1992. The decision was based on slow sales . It was to allow building of more Cadillac Sevilles and Cadillac Eldorados in Toronados case and more Buick Roadmasters at the Texas plant in Custom Cruisers case. This was the beginning of Oldsmobiles dramatic change. It was to distance Oldsmobile from Buick to attract younger buyers with more expressive products. At that time, GM had fourteen different car platforms. They were trying to reduce that to 5 or 8 by the mid to late 1990's. ****The time draws closer........

[Sixty8panther]

Besides, this was around the beginning of the period when Oldsmobile was moving up and out and big barges such as the CC didn't meld with the New Olds and really didn't with some of the Old Oldses. Seeing a wood-festooned Cutlass or Custom Cruiser next to even a Toronado Trofeo looked as funny as seeing a Cutlass Ciera next to an Aurora.

[post="57514"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Decisions like this isolated their core cutomer base and left them wiht a Wannabe-Acura/Lexus lineup. Oldsmobile's death was a DIRECT result of this kind of idiotic mismanagement.


Say the name OLDSMOBILE.... does it sound like an Acura or Lexus fighter??? THat job should have been left to Cadillac & Pontiac.

Before I get blasted for this post, keep in mind I am a HUGE olds fanatic. As a punk teenager I convinced my dad to purchase a 1993 Olds Achieva (new) instead of a Grand Am because I liked the interior and better ergonomics and although I personally liked the "driver's car" Grand Am I told him the Olds was a better family car.

I've owned 3 Oldsmobiles and my first car was supposed to be a 1986 Cutlass 2dr blue TT until my dad junked it because he was too lazy to fix the carb. and exhaust. :angry:

Damn a 3800 powered RWD luxury coupe would have been so much better than a dumb 1994 Sunbird. I'd have taken the old Supreme over the almost brand new Pontiac anyday.

[Croc]

Oldsmobile's death was IMO more related to a lack of promotion of the new lineup and lack of patience on management's part for the new lineup to catch on. They should have given it another year or two, especially with the amount of capital they had injected into the brand. There really was nothing wrong with the last Oldsmobiles except for the Silhouette. Had GM marketed Olds, there would have been a different story. Edited December 13, 2005 by Croc

[Guest lance armstrong's Testicles]

Oldsmobile's death was IMO more related to a lack of promotion of the new lineup and lack of patience on management's part for the new lineup to catch on.  They should have given it another year or two, especially with the amount of capital they had injected into the brand.  There really was nothing wrong with the last Oldsmobiles except for the Silhouette.  Had GM marketed Olds, there would have been a different story.

[post="57677"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

I always believed olds to be the heaviest advertiser in GM at the time, I could be mistaken but that was my perception.

[Croc]

No. Chevrolet.

[Guest lance armstrong's Testicles]

Decisions like this isolated their core cutomer base and left them wiht a Wannabe-Acura/Lexus lineup. Oldsmobile's death was a DIRECT result of this kind of idiotic mismanagement.
Say the name OLDSMOBILE.... does it sound like an Acura or Lexus fighter??? THat job should have been left to Cadillac & Pontiac.

Before I get blasted for this post, keep in mind I am a HUGE olds fanatic.

[post="57674"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

I will have to agree with this, Olds had an " in-your-face" motiff going on in their marketing, their slogan was " START SOMETHING " - with whom? From their press releases this was indeed the Japanese imports. This was when everyone knew full well SATURN was the only domestic company capable of effectively charming those asian-brand carbuyers.

And that was the lack-luster saturn models. :P


Their advertising was there, it was just cheesy and missed the line grossly. While getting rid of their old and venerable logo in favour of one that would look nice in chrome at the tag of a commercial ( remember those rocket effects ? ).

Wear your stripes man, WEAR EM!

This is why I hate seeing Pontiac and Caddy throwing aged names down the shoe-bin in favor of DTSSTSG6SRXCTS neo-rubble.

[Delta Force79]

I'd love to see a chop of a Caprice into a Delta 88...and a Roadmaster into a Ninety Eight....

[Flybrian]

Decisions like this isolated their core cutomer base and left them wiht a Wannabe-Acura/Lexus lineup. Oldsmobile's death was a DIRECT result of this kind of idiotic mismanagement.
Say the name OLDSMOBILE.... does it sound like an Acura or Lexus fighter??? THat job should have been left to Cadillac & Pontiac.

[post="57674"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Getting rid of the Custom Cruiser and Cutlass Ciera/Cruiser did not alienate their core customer base.

[Sixty8panther]

Agree to disagree is all I can say Fly.

[Croc]

The Custom Cruiser and Ciera were dropped due to low sales. Hardly alienating, and hardly surprising, especially since the Ciera was virtually unchanged (in a meaningful way) from 1984-1996. 12 YEARS of the same car!! Edited December 13, 2005 by Croc

[OshKoshBerJosh]

The Custom Cruiser and Ciera were dropped due to low sales.  Hardly alienating, and hardly surprising, especially since the Ciera was virtually unchanged (in a meaningful way) from 1984-1996.  12 YEARS of the same car!!

[post="58110"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

The Ciera was actually introduced in 82, along with the Century, 6000, and Celebrity. Most of the cars Olds killed off in the 1990s didn't achieve huge sales individually, but when you add them all up together, the picture isn't pretty.

These were the cars that appealed most to the tradionalists.
The Toronado sold 6436 units in its last year
The Custom Cruiser sold 4347 units in its last year
The Ciera sold 126,137 units in its last year
The 98 sold 15,135 units in its last year.

The total is 152055
Keep in mind, this figure represents the lowest sales for each model. The number would be much higher if we took the peak sales information.

[Delta Force79]

126K for a 14 year old design in the Ciera isn't bad at all IMO...

[AM6_Cutlass]

1992 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser, a B-body station wagon, and IMO the best-looking...


Intro'd in 1991 to replace the old Custom Cruiser and dropped a year later. Also, the last V8 Olds for, like, three years.

[post="56969"][/post]

Beautiful car. It always bothered me that this car was killed of in '92 instead of surviving through until '96. It actually sold about the same as the Roadmaster Estate, but John Rock didn't think it fit into his vision of Olds.

[AM6_Cutlass]

Getting rid of the Custom Cruiser and Cutlass Ciera/Cruiser did not alienate their core customer base.

[post="57951"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Dropping the Custom Cruiser probably didn't do much to the core customer base, but dropping the Ciera definately did. The Ciera had a good record of reliability, was cheap, and had a bench seat interior. An equivilant car was missing from the Olds lineup after its demise, and I always wished there would have been a Cutlass version of the Intrigue instead of the Malibu based one. Give an Intrigue a bench seat, 15" steel wheels with hubcaps, 3100 V6 and spend what they spent on the Malicutlass styling touches to differentiate from the Intrigue much like the Century was to the Regal over at Buick. The Regal got the spotlight, but it was the Century quietly racking up the sales in the shadows.

[Flybrian]

Dropping the Custom Cruiser probably didn't do much to the core customer base, but dropping the Ciera definately did.  The Ciera had a good record of reliability, was cheap, and had a bench seat interior.  An equivilant car was missing from the Olds lineup after its demise, and I always wished there would have been a Cutlass version of the Intrigue instead of the Malibu based one.  Give an Intrigue a bench seat, 15" steel wheels with hubcaps, 3100 V6 and spend what they spent on the Malicutlass styling touches to differentiate from the Intrigue much like the Century was to the Regal over at Buick.  The Regal got the spotlight, but it was the Century quietly racking up the sales in the shadows.

[post="61157"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Heh. This probably stems from that inadvertant slash I typed. I meant Cutlass Cruiser as in the wagon.

I agree, the Ciera killed alot of Olds sales. I think the Cutlibu would've been more appropriate due to its 4/6-cyl configuration and its general styling. A good Ciera successor that needed a bit more Oldsmobile and of course a bench seat.

[capriceman]

Dang! Beat me to it. :)  Someday mine will look that nice.....

[post="56982"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

didnt yours start as a caprice wagon?

[DBeaSSt]

didnt yours start as a caprice wagon?

[post="62845"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Nope. Genuine '91 Custom Cruiser. It had a Caprice grille on it when I got it though. That came off right away. :)

Should be roadworthy by the end of January!

[capriceman]

Nope.  Genuine '91 Custom Cruiser.  It had a Caprice grille on it when I got it though.  That came off right away. :)

Should be roadworthy by the end of January!

[post="63060"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

why would they want to downgrade to a Caprice that doesnt make sense!

[DBeaSSt]

why would they want to downgrade to a Caprice that doesnt make sense!

[post="63085"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

I'm sure it was mainly a $$ issue. Custom Cruiser grilles are not too easy to find. Not surprising considering the relatively small number made. Caprice grilles, however, are a dime a dozen and a direct bolt in swap.

The previous owner was not a 'car guy' just wanted it to run and pass inspection. So now I'm cleaning up his mess. Oh well, fun project! :)