THE LAST OLDSMOBILE rolled off the assembly line. A moment of silence is warranted, I think

 

Sad. Very sad.

 

Agree to that, a moment of silence!

Pat

 

Very sad that nothing in that picture that Pat posted exists anymore.. Oldsmobile, or the line the final Olds rolled off of...

 

Was the last Oldsmobile produced as a DD or was it tricked out with all the whistles and bells? It certainly would be a known production so I would have wanted it to be the top o the line car to finish off the Olds era. Is it in a GM museum? I know a lot of #1 cars are....

 

Wow, not even the people? I hadn't heard of a mass-suicide or a meteor crashing into the building and wiping everyone out. What happened?

 

Allan, that car was finished about two weeks before that photo shoot! I am speculating here, but I believe that car was not #500 it may have had the 500/500 medallion but build sequence wise???

Also that car was not fully loaded, I don't see the pod for satellite radio. All Final 500 Alero were top of the line GLS packages. i.e. leather seating and trim V6 engine, map reading lights, polished alum. wheels. This one has the sun and sound pkg. and rear spoiler. FYI I am quite certain that every one had this as minimum equipment.

That car is at the R.E. Olds museum.

 

The said truth is, we all died a little that day!

Pat

 

According to my reference, it was made one day earlier, not two weeks earlier.



Here's photos of the underside of the decklid and hood of that car. They were signed by plant employees. These are from "Oldsmobile: The Last Chapter," the booklet that came out as a supplement to Setting the Pace.






Other info from the booklet:

1. That photo of the car with the employees standing around it was taken about 10 a.m. on April 29, 2004.

2. The car was actually made the day before and stored in a "locked crib so that nothing could happen to it." This is interesting as history has April 29, 2004 as the date the last Oldsmobile was produced. But it was really April 28.

3. In addition to the trunk lid and hood, other parts of the car were signed as well.

4. This vehicle was number 500 out of the "Final 500" special edition Aleros. It was saved in the "GM collection of special and antique automobiles." "It had special trim, wheels, medallions, and other appointments that made it a true collector's vehicle."

5. The car did not come down the line to the point shown in the photo via the normal assembly line conveyor. Rather, it was driven down the line, stopped at the end of the line momentarily for the photo op, and then driven to a spot in front of a backdrop and flowers for speeches.

6. Short speeches were made by Darwin Clarke, previous Olds general manager, and two official from the local UAW.

7. The Alero remained in that spot for another hour or so, and the crowd had thinned out and left by 11 a.m.


I don't believe the vehicle is housed at the R. E. Olds museum. At least, it doesn't show up on the list of their cars.

http://reoldsmuseum.org/our-collection


I think it's at the GM Heritage Center.


Also from the booklet, below are the front and back sides of the invitation to an open house held in the afternoon of the final day.








Finally, this is the poster created to commemorate the event. The booklet has a photo of the poster, so this is a scan of a photo of the poster. It would be cool to have an original of it. I wonder if copies were ever offered for sale (or are for sale anywhere now).

 

Well dog my cats! There's my name on the deck lid - top, second from left!

 

I can't believe it's been that long,i pause for a moment of silence.Nick

 

Jaunty, I know that your quoting from the final chapter. But do you really buy into all those signatures in 24hrs or less. I know that these are Jim and Helens quotes but I have heard this information from plant 1 or LCA employees and was also re-quoted by local Oldsmobile fans.

As far as it being at the transportation museum, Ryan (hurstlightining84) was down there about a month or so back, I will touch base to see if it's still there.

Agreed that it's not on the list of display vehicles.

That poster was at one time for sale at the museum, because I had to grab one while I was there. $12.00 IIRC.

Pat

 

Haha... well of course the people are still around. Yeah, I realized that sounded bad after I posted it. Thanks for the laugh this morning.

 

Sadly when I was last down there, it wasn't there and I don't think it has been there the last two times I've gone.
A while back I went to the GM Heritage center in Sterling Heights, and when I spoke with one of the associates there, we somehow stumbled on the topic of what they had there behind closed doors, and she had mentioned that the last Alero was there at one point in time. If it's still there, not really sure? Kind of sounds like it floats back and forth.

 

It looks to me like it says Alah

 

Sad indeed

 

First, yes, I don't see any reason why that many signatures couldn't have been placed on those panels in 24 hours.

Second, I'm much more inclined to trust an account by Jim Walkinshaw and Helen Jones Earley, who were the king and queen of Oldsmobile history, who wrote "The Final Chapter," and who were there and could provide first-hand accounts of what transpired than the second or third-hand hear-say of a guy on the street.

 

Please, let's not get maudlin here.

Nobody died. Oldsmobile closed 10 years ago, not yesterday. It was sad then. Now it's history.

Yes, a moment of silence is appropriate, but it's better to raise a glass and toast a marque we all revere and respect than it is to put on long faces and hang our heads.


To Oldsmobile!

 

 

We were there that day at the museum. I was in the museum when they so called had the last haara and the Suits stood around in a circle talking the so called last say of Oldsmobile.
In the tent out side we were sitting with some of the retired employees when a TV person started to ask people what they thought. When they got to me I told them that:

"I would like to Thank GM for making FORD the oldest automobile company in the United States"

I got cut off and the interviewer told me that they were not going to air my comments. The Retirees started clapping and laughing.

Mike

 

I don't discount what your telling me! But if you read a little closer, my quote was first hand from people on the assembly line that built those cars and had their hands on it.

Both Jim and Helen had been retired and were getting their information from LCA executives.

Don't get me wrong, normally I trust both of them without question, but when you hear it from the people working on them, it's awful hard to discount their statements.