70-442-W30

...What CURRENT GM model would you like them to take their own spin on? What would you add to it? Take away?

My concept cars thread got some pretty good response, so it got me thinking if you guys would even like an Olds in the current GM mix.

B964

Cadillac CT6 as a Ninety Eight Regency. Olds style grille is about only change needed.

jensenracing77

I am to the point that I don't want to see a new Oldsmobile. It would have a "GM" engine and a platform of something already made with its own trim. Just like the Pontiac Montana, Olds Silhouette, and Chevy Venture. All the same thing with different trim and interior. The only way I want to see a new Oldsmobile is if they were there own company with its own engineers and workforce.

I can go to the new car lots and not tell a difference between any brand out there now days.

70-442-W30

Some of the new cars are starting to have an interior color besides gray or black though, believe it or not...

I'd like to see a Chevy Impala LTZ as an Olds, but with a supercharged or turbocharged (if you want to be like Cadillac) setup. And a total restyle on the back and sides of the car. Especially the rear, that's just ugly, Chevrolet! The XTS looks way better there. Tune down the aggressiveness in the grille area too to make it seem like a sleeper, but stay away from the mid-90's Olds 88/98 styling please. haha. Widen the wheels and tires out a bit too.

wr1970

THIS^^^^^ and a new model turbo charged. I swear i can't figure out why a new company could not be formed. Maybe With {OLDS} as the name so gm can't stop with name rights.First model for me is a retro F88x2 extreme. Hard top and vert. Next model SUV with a twist hurst platform longer nose than today's models also turbo charged. Last Model A Super 4 2 gull wing doors 6 speed there is a pro mod that has the body design i would use it is red oldsmobile. Just my two .02

Ancient Iron

I agree with Jenson. As much as I like Olds, To see the name on the ugly junk they build today would be degrading. Besides what would actually be "Olds"?

70-442-W30

Well, not much of their 80's or 90's+ cars were truly Olds anyway. It didn't keep me from liking them. Actually at one point, I really loved the LSS in black. Looking at it today, I'm unsure why.

tru-blue 442

How about this lemon? Ha ha.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=...02573399268100

70-442-W30

It just takes me to the page that shows many cars. Is it the 442 you are referring to from a Camaro body? I like it, but would have went with a Rallye Red instead.

Ancient Iron

Olds did build their own engine until 1990. Might have been anemic but it was their's

tru-blue 442

Yeah Bill. The yella camaro looking turd.

Ancient Iron

Like I said degrading.

tangokilo

I live in Michigan and have worked for GM in Flint. Buick City assembly plant, the Buick Engineering Building and the Buick Marketing building in Flint are gone. Like Nagasaki gone. Take a look at google maps. Buick is gone. However... in Lansing on former Oldsmobile property they still make cars. Some of the original buildings still stand. They just happen to be Camaros and Caddys. How about a Lansing made Camaro, leave the body alone. Put a 70 W25 or 69 H/O style hood on it. Modern Olds SSII wheels. Put a retro look interior/dash in it. Of course a Hurst shiter. And just like the originals put 442 badges on it with no reference to who makes it? Chevy can sell it but it would be a 442 made in Lansing... Tom

70-442-W30

Hey, I'd take it...at a significant discount...but still...

I know you guys look at it like it isn't the original so it can't be good, but at least give them credit for choosing an Olds to style it after. Could have been a Saab.

Ancient Iron

It is sad that the greatest industry in America has gone down the toilet. Saab another pos that G.M. got involved with.

zeeke

X3. Let Olds rest in peace. GM sunk them in the dirt and I'd love to see them as an independent company, but GM would never release them. Billy Durante must be hanging his head low.

For those that don't know, he was the guy that started GM and purchased Oldsmobile last. Tried to buy Ford but they held out for too much money.

Bfg

I would like to see the return of the Curved Dash but with the self driving option!

midnightleadfoot

NONE.. Why badge engineering any product.. That is why they are no more..


here is an idea, a rear drive mid sized 2 door and 4 door and wagon.. all things gm does not have...
A "hot hatch" with a 4cyl turbo and stick..

anthonyP

Only if Oldsmobile can have it's own drivetrain, not unlike the Aurora. It would be nice to see something that no one else building, maybe a nicely designed wagon or small pick-up.

Maybe shorten the name to just 'Olds' for the China market so they can easily pronounce it, which is supposedly the only reason Buick was not axed - even though it should had been. GM could save billions in rebadging & trim changes of the 'Buick' if they just shortened Chevrolet to 'Chevy' for the China market.

The non-retro looking Camaro was a flop and disappointment, only Ford and Dodge got it right with the first retro models. Buicks are just reskinned Holden's and the Division should had been dropped years ago. And why GM wastes money building and marketing GMC and Chevy trucks is astounding, just pick one to keep and build.

marxjunk

prob a re-badged buick lacrosse for sure....and a crossover like a buck enclave...and a econobox like a chevy sprint..gm aint re-badging camaros its never gonna happen..the pontiac guys are praying they do it seems...

buicks sell...its just a fact..

like others have said..let the brand lie..

pontiac guys argue this all the effen time...

they are gone..the world changed..and all old car guys are kinda stuck with what they love...and nostalgia runs deep..

midnightleadfoot

Ok.. stop daydreaming..
1) olds would never get it's own driveline.. no brand would today..
2) the Camaro you call a flop sells so bad it sells more than the whole olds line up did... I'd not call that a flop..
3) you want them to use a buick and badge engineer.. tat is what killed them in the first place.. they didn't bring anything to the table.. other than rework an already, platform..
Ok you can now go back to day dreaming

anthonyP

There are brands that currently have their driveline.

The flop was the disappointed 'retro' design. Most were hoping for a Challenger/Mustang retro design, not the what was introduced. Instead of a new car looking like an old one, it looks more like an old car customized to look like a new car.

Oddly, the head designer for Chevrolet, who owns a '69 Z/28, told his designers that he did not want it to look like a '69 Camaro except for a couple of styling cues (just the faux side vents and roof line). He actually went so far as to have one designer draw the front of the car and another the rear, without ever conferencing of their designs.

Never mentioned using a re-badged Buick, which is actually a rebadged Holden. Said that Buick should be discontinued since their vehicles, not unlike GMC, are already produced under the Chevy banner. That is the reason for Pontiac being discontinued. GM should just concentrate on Cadillac, Chevrolet, and either Chevy or GMC trucks.

Buicks are not a big seller in the States, but is only retained due to the sales in China. GM said that the Buick name can be pronounced in China and that is the only reason the division was not discontinued along with Pontiac.

midnightleadfoot

Sorry putting a different engine cover on an engine doesn't make it different..


As for buicks being reskined holdens.. That's like stating a cutlass was a reskinned Chevelle.. Besides if that was remotely true, the buicks would be dead as holden is shuttered..

anthonyP

Who said anything about putting a different engine cover on another division's engine? Of course that does not change the engine's mechanics or anything else.

Well, in all honesty, the GM A-bodies all used the basic body shell and frame. It was the drive train, individualized styling, handling packages, and options that made them unique, mostly up to about 1990, not including the Aurora.

Buick's are retrimmed Holdens and other GM brands. Holden does not end production until January 2018, which also means the end to some Chevy performance models.

midnightleadfoot

The last SS rolled off the line last month..
but cool story bro..

wr1970

Who gives a flying flip if GM closes! I will never buy a new car from them ever. Scratch the never if they ever build a retro oldsmobile then i might. If it is a retro F88 i am in. Excuse me for holding a grudge. There is no other way to say this but GM screwed the oldsmobile brand up intentionally.Those that know how concept cars/engines were never put into production designed by oldsmobile engineering shows what chickens SH_TS run that company. Now back to the dream of return of the OLDS.

TK-65

Its odd to me that people complain about badge engineering of today, and overlook the badge engineering of yesterday. The A bodies we all love were almost carbon copies of each other. Other than engines, the cars were exactly the same. Suspensions, rear ends and transmissions all came from the same parts bin. Each car had it own character, like different front and rear treatments. But on the whole they were the same cars and offered the same exact options. And many of them were built on the same line. When I buy parts I cross check PNs to see whats the same then I go to NPD and get the GTO or Chevelle part they sell. Floor pans, window glass, window trim, suspension parts, etc are all the same.

70-442-W30

Very good point, TK-65. I was wondering about that myself. Just imagine how many cars would be left unfinished without them sharing parts here and there.

olds 307 and 403

There was still difference's. The Type O rear and different bell housing for BOPC cars. The little difference's went a long way. Too bad, Holden made pretty much any of GM's cars worth owning.

olwreckman

Hey guy's I hate to bring you this new's, and I am not sure of being true. But I read sometime ago that GM abandoned the Oldsmobile copyrighted name. And Toyota scooped it up. This is not a joke! Anyone else hear that ?

tru-blue 442

And here's some more $%!T too.

http://jalopnik.com/the-2014-oldsmob...ver-1550547372

VC455

I agree.

GM tried to irritate me with so-called quality of their so-called cars in the 1980s. And they succeeded. I never bought another.

If Dodge can take a 300 chassis and make a retro Challenger out of it, GM could have done the same. I'd buy a retro 442 if they had made it from a Holden chassis.

The difference between Dodge and GM is that Dodge has car guys not accountants running the company.

rustyroger

How many mainstream car manufacturers have started up from scratch in the last 60 years?. Not niche stuff like Lamborghini, or recycled old models produced in Third World nations, not offshoots of major companies like Lexus or Geo either.
I can't think of one, so what hope is there for a car called Oldsmobile or something similar that resembles what Oldsmobile stood for when it was a major league player?.
One thing is certain, there is no place for cars like the body on frame Oldsmobiles, Buicks, Chevrolets, Fords, or rwd Mopars in the modern world, modern legislation would mean they have to be built like big Mercedes or BMW cars with high production costs to go with them.

We will have to settle for admiring our cars for what they stood for. As do fans for Mercury, Plymouth, Pontiac, De Soto, or even Oakland and other pre WW2 vanished makes.

Roger.

Bryan Burch

For real change and a chance at launching again, I think you have to look at what happened with Indian Motorcycle and their revival. A group bought the IP, and then they went to work. They took the HD EVO engine design and improved it, patented it, and produced it. Sold enough to be picked up by Polaris, and now they are taking a real slice of pie from Harley.

I think the first step is to get the Oldsmobile IP. Kickstarter? (J/K)

wr1970

Not many guys are willing to invest to start the ball rolling. Funny how you can buy new steel body cars for several gm vintage cars yet no one has yet to start with olds. The old saying most olds guys are cheap rings loudly.LOL

VC455

Roger, that is absolutely the case. The rear-drive chassis for the Chrysler 300 was designed by Mercedes when they owned the company. Marchione of Fiat Chrysler said development costs were beyond comprehension.

Ancient Iron

Indian went out of business in 1953. And has gone out of business twice after that. As for the engine it's all S and S which is an aftermarket engine. It's just a name trying to recapture the past.(Can you say PARTS BIKE?) It's not a real Indian. As for taking sales from Harley I don't think Harley Davidson has to worry. Anyway Harley Davidson was a way more advanced motorcycle as far back as 1936. Indian was antiquated then and went out of business antiquated.

rustyroger

I don't know how much it would cost to develop and market a mainstream car as a stand alone project, but I have no doubt it would be more the GDP of a lot of nations.

Roger.

Koda

I'm glad you're not sure of it being true.

Bryan Burch

Not S&S anymore--that stopped in 2003 and was only on the scout line. Chief had the powerplus that was loosely related to harley's evo design. They are the IP holders and now their engines are unique and proprietary. Check out their current Chief and Scout lines.