Oldsmobile rolls into history

...with all the bells and whistles seem to becoming the older man's Oldsmobile replacement. With the loss of Oldsmobile and the pricing of Cadillacs, that will probably grow. Must be the comfort factor and the sense of driving a "big" vehicle. I must confess, this middle aged guy just bought a Grand Caravan, couldn't quit justify the $30K and plus for the other.

.....is when I see huge Cadillacs being driven by little old ladies who can barely see over the dashboard. My personal logic would be "I'm a small person, I can't see over dash in big car, I should buy a smaller car."

At least GM realizes who's buying these cars. My MIL has a Caddy. We were visiting her recently and that car alerts you to EVERYTHING. It would ding whenever you drove in reverse just to remind you that you were backing up. And of course it had that typical GM power steering and suspension, which makes the car feel like mush.

will automatically cut off my headlights after 3 minutes if I forget to, turn off interior lights 15 minutes after I forget to, allow a small amount of fresh air in if I leave the AC/Heat Recirculate button on too long, seems to ding for everything while I try to figure out what I've forgotten this time, LOL. It tell you on the instrument panel when the cruise control is on, although I think they should have that on an auto cutoff too if you haven't used it after 10 or 15 minutes. If I forget and leave the gas cap off a light comes on inside, if I just forget to close the gas door, since the slider would hit it when opened, that door will refuse to open till the gas door is closed. If a door's not closed properly you get a light and the dinging. I'm not sure if it tells me when it's time for an oil change like my wife's Lumina does. I have to read that book again, I think there's some things I forgot. I think it warns on more fluids than just the oil. I didn't even get the top model, just the SE with essential extras like power windows and door locks.

)

this morning on the Interstate,

I looked over to my left and there was a woman

in a brand new Cadillac doing 65 mph

with her face up next to her

rear view mirror putting on her eyeliner.

I looked away for a couple seconds and when I looked back she was halfway over in my lane, still working on that makeup.

As a man, I don't scare easily.
But she scared me so much;
I dropped my electric shaver,
which knocked the donut out of my other hand.

In all the confusion of trying to straighten out the car
using my knees against the steering wheel,
it knocked my cell phone away from my ear
which fell into the coffee between my legs,
splashed, and burned Big Jim and theTwins,
ruined the damn phone,
soaked my trousers,
and disconnected an important call.

Damn women drivers ! !

Nah, if she's tall enough to get her face up next to her rear-view mirror, then she's also tall enough to be able to see over her dashboard!

Also, do those cars have an automatic speed control that identifies the current speed limit and then keeps the car going at least 10 mph slower?

A little alert message that your turn signal has been on for 20 minutes would be a nice touch too.

From the manual, page 105;

Turn Signal Warning

If the vehicle electronics sense that the vehicle has traveled at over 18 mph (29 km/h) for about one mile with the turn signals on, a chime will sound to alert the driver.


The other thing I forgot is the locks drop automatically anytime I hit 18 mph, in case I forgot to lock them. Probably to help protect forgetful people against car jackers.

One thing I guess is a good safety feature but irritate the 'ell out of me is the gear selector won't move from PARK until you put your foot on the brake. I had a habit of putting my other van in PARK at long lights and when it changed just slap it down to drive and go. Not so quick and easy to do now. The feature is to protect children who have idiots for parents that leave them in a running vehicle to rush into a convenience store or similar situation.

Guess the next used one we buy will be our last

Evie

Wife almost got one of those instead of the Lumina, but the engine was a bit larger than we wanted and I think she felt the hood was too hard for her to see inside. She likes to see where the end of the car is, LOL. I thought it was very comfortable inside, but the headlamps were a bit radical at the time. Now lots of new cars have similar headlamps. We usually try to buy popular vehicles (those produced in more numbers) so there will be lower repair costs later on if needed, so we were a bit worried in that regard too. That was in 1999 and there was already rumors about the demise of Oldsmobile.

Yea long and pass everything but a Gas Station. Did you know John, Olds was the first car for the public with a automatic trans. 1939
Best car I ever owned was a "67" Mustang 289 2+2 fastback with a C-6 Trans set up for street dragging. What a screemer that one was.

george

a friend of mine had one and I went for a ride with him several times. You could just feel the power while crusing normal...punch it and your head would snap back.

Yep, I recall reading that the Old's had the 1st automatic transmission. As a teenager, a friends relative had a late 1930's 4dr Cord which was the 1st auto with front wheel drive. Another friend in high school had a 1940's 2dr coupe Lincoln Zepher 12 cylinder flat head, which he raced with us on our homemade circle track. Forgot to mention that in 1952 I purchased a 1938 Cadillac 4dr, Gray, red leather seats, floor stick shift, and flat head V8 that would really get up and go. Seemed much faster than the old flat head '37 and '39 V8 Fords that I previously owned as a teenager. I purchased that old Cadillac for $295 and it would be worth a fortune if I still had it today.

The '76 Olds I had was the last of the big style (you're right...gas eaters) Olds. They came out in 1977 with the new look & smaller that I never did like.

Yellow with the beefed up 289, rally wheels and a black top. The perfect car. The ex-wife made me trade it for a ... 73 PINTO station wagon when my son came along. Arrrrrgh. What would it be worth today? Story of my life. I also had a 65 GTO and a 77 Vette. I could be sitting on a gold mine if I still had them. I drove a lot of Oldsmobiles as rentals and a rich friend had a 67 442 that would force your eyes into the back of your head. Being a bonafide car freak I hate to see any Marque disappear. They were on the right track with the Aurora - sweet engine too.

Hi Patrick:

Your right. Those cars are worth big bucks today. I saw a 67 Mustang just like the one I had, at a show about 8 yrs ago. I ask the fellow how much he would sell it for. $16,000 he wanted. I walked away with a tear in my eye. Two of my sons are big into mussel cars and bikes. As old as I am I still get a chance to take a dream cruise, when they let me.

George

Hi John:

Oh man, you talk about memory lane here. you got me all excited. I'm digging thru all these pictures I have of the classics and rods I once owned. I learned how to drive on the farm with a Model A truck. We also had a Model T (pedal shifter on the floor, crank start which had quite a kick sometimes.) Had to sneak around the back roads. Finally after about 3 yrs, I was old enough to get a license. Once I was legal I was hell on wheels. Good to have memories.

George

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9th or 10th?? Come on now, be realistic. This Mustang handled like a dream and could run the wheels off the best

George

...several others in the Dodge/Plymouth lineup like some of the hot 440's? Or even a fuel injected Corvette and if you don't think so on those, how 'bout an L88 Corvette or just a "plain vanilla"...LOL...427 Corvette. The hottest Mustang ever made was the 429 Cobra Jet and was no match for the 426 Hemi or the L88. So 289 cubic inches would never cut it. The 429 Mustang would "smoke" a 289 so bad that you could not tell whether the 289 was racing you or not.

The 455 by general motors? Personally, I prefered the 383 Mopar engine. I hear the Plymouth model is slated to follow Oldsmobile into obscurity.

First one:
'52 98 convertible,303cu in V8 W/full power.Nosed and decked with red oxide primer/white top.
Nice car but the damn thing had hydraulic power windows and top,hoses actually ran through the door jambs to work the windows.The motor/pump assy that powered the whole mess was inside the r/f fender,what a mess when a hose took a dump-lol.

'50 coupe(Chevy body)w/single piece windshield!
303cu in V8,valve train from a '54 324cu in V8,Weiand manifold 2x4 bbl carbs,dark gray prime,hood had 104 louvres.

Changed it to "stick" with a Cad/LaSalle trans from a '54 Caddy ambulance.I first learned how to "double clutch" with this car-lol! Very Fast Car.

'57 Super88 2dr HT-J2(3 2bbl) 371cu in V8,changed it to "stick" with the set up from the '50.Fastest Olds I ever had and you could hear the straight-cut gears in the Caddy trans howl like a banshee when you got on it.

When I got "back home" in '66 I discovered that Chevys were faster than any Olds I ever had and it ain't been the same since :=)

Later,Tony