The 1997-1999 Oldsmobile Cutlass Retrospective & The Rise And Fall Of The Oldsmobile Brand
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- Опубліковано 14 жов 2024
- In this video, we will be discussing the 1997, 1998 and 1999 Oldsmobile Cutlass. It was a 4-door sedan that shared styling and components with the 1997 Chevrolet Malibu. The 1997 Oldsmobile Cutlass was an overall solid car---equipped with standard V6 power and a load of standard features.
Buyers would typically cross shop a 1997-1999 Oldsmobile Cutlass with something like a Chrysler Cirrus or a loaded Toyota Camry etc.
The 1997 Oldsmobile Cutlass was spacious on the inside and had a generous amount of trunk space.
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Had Oldsmobile stayed with their traditional naming scheme and not snubbed its buying demographic, Oldsmobile could've survived past 2004. State-of-the-art technology was their strong suit, and they had a real opportunity to capitalize on it. Aurora and Bravado were outstanding products. The Silhouette wasn't bad, either. Brand improvements came too little too late.
Great statement ☝️
What was their traditional naming scheme?
@@doug6191 Names pre mid 1990s.
I agree with the fact that yes Oldsmobile could have survived. I blame GM on not investing in their current car divisions but instead coming out with GEO and Saturn.
I do not think they could have survived keeping the 88, 98, and Cutlass naming schemes. Sales dropped by over half from 1986 to 1991. They were perceived as being cars for older people - as he said the median age buyer by the early 90s was 70. They had to do something become more modern. Even if it didn't ultimately work, they did the right thing by coming up with new names. So many people were moving over to Acura and Lexus during this time period, and those brands had only been around for a few years by that point. Oldsmobile needed to do something to compete with those brands.
Always liked this Cutlass over the Malibu! Much more elegant!
Yeah and it came better equipped too.
This was an insult to the Cutlass name.
I had a 1996 Cutlass Supreme - maxed out options - was such a beautiful machine
Agreed. The (refreshed) 1992-1997 Supreme sedans are beautiful machines.
Good and informative video. It is a shame that Oldsmobile was axed. Despite often building grandpa cars, it was still an innovative brand often building some surprisingly nice cars. Toronado, Cutlass Ciera, Aurora, ... Oldsmobile proved they can do it all: Affordable but pleasant mass products and fancy cars.
Great point ☝️
The Toronado and Aurora were nice looking cars.
Thanks for watching.
Well stated. This is true. Nicely summed up.
I have a blue 98 GLS in the driveway ! Had a maroon 98 GLS a few years ago. Super dependable cars but are prone to intake gasket failure.
I heard they’re overall pretty much dependable, but yeah that intake gasket has the potential to be be problematic.
My 2001 Bravada has only 97k miles. I love it, it’s such a reliable car!
Another great video! I had a 94 Achieva in high school. Put a big bumpin system in it, and had so many fun memories with it. Came super close to getting an Aurora years later, but went with a Grand Prix instead.
The Grand Prix was still a great choice!
I have always loved Oldsmobile and Pontiac. Wish they were still making cars
Same
I honestly liked the Oldsmobile lineup. I was very fond of the Achieva, Bravada, Cutlass Supreme Convertible, 98, Aurora, and the LSS. I liked some '80's models like the Trofeo too! I turned 16 in '94. If my parents knew that I liked Oldsmobile's, maybe I would have been given a new one for my birthday instead of a new loaded Taurus SHO off of the showroom floor and then the twins '95 Land Cruiser then '96 Lexus LX450.
I had a 1989 Cutlass supreme & a 1998 Cutlass supreme I loved both cars my brother in law had both a Cutlass supreme I & vista cruiser, my sister had a 1990 Cutlass Ciera we loved that brand and I was sad to see it go
You did a good job. You had excellent photos and footage. I recognized all of the photos and footage. You covered the points well too. What you said about Buick and Oldsmobile being too close and similar is true. That happened in the 1980's. Someone asked me the other day did I still have my Buicks. I laughed and told them I owned Oldsmobiles. The market was confused. I liked you covered many points with the models and why the changes happened and how they handled the market. GM messed things up It was not the dealers. Intrigue should have been called Cutlass Supreme. I saw 1997-1999 Cutlass and said Cutlibu! and laughed. It was a place holder until Alero arrived. Thank you for giving the Ninety Eight and Toronado some attention too. I smiled. I look forward to more. You forget about 1997-1998 Regency. It was the last of traditional Oldsmobile and the Eighty Eight was dropped in 1999. Oldsmobile went through a lot of leadership changes. I recall all those people. John Rock died. He had plans to bring Holden here and sell them as Oldsmobiles, but GM management shot him down. They told him they did not like what he was doing at Oldsmobile because it impacted the other brands. Oldsmobile was a threat with the Centennial Plan and GM made sure they shut it down. You mentioned this as well. The marketing was a issue because This Is Not Your Father's Oldsmobile campaign hurt Oldsmobile. That Karen Francis did not have knowledge of the industry. She was brought in from the outside. Her tenure was short lived. It is sad Oldsmobile is gone and should be here, but GM has made it choice and things are still right. You can look at Buick and see that it is need of change in the United States and needs unique product. Cadillac is getting it together. GMC and Chevrolet is where the profit is at this time. Thank you again.
Thanks for watching man. There was a lot of history to be discussed with this brand, but I wanted to keep it brief while still delivering accurate information.
How’s the Toronado?
@@MotorMaster_Stunticon You most welcome. You did a grand job on the video. I like how you said there is a lot of history with this brand. GM squandered it too. It should not be dead. Sadly, it is. The information was accurate. The Ninety-Eight and The Toronado are fine. I am driving the Ninety Eight this week. I drove the Toronado last week. I still need to get some white wall tires and bumper impact strip install on the Toronado and get the exterior painted on the Ninety Eight and the headliner and drivers seat reupholstered. Mechanically, after a lot of work last year, they are both fine so far. Should you do a video for Ninety Eight and Toronado in the future, you can include the 1997-1998 Regency. It was an Eighty Eight with Ninety Eight parts( grille, wheels, and the interior and trim and features) As John Rock said it was the last shot for traditional Oldsmobile buyers. Oldsmobile had done this before in 1984-1985 with the Delta 88 Royale Brougham LS. It too had Ninety Eight parts. It was also the first year for the downsized Ninety-Eight.
@OLDS98 thanks for the information man. Glad both of your Oldsmobile cars are doing good. Nice to see these cars on the road these days. I still think that Aurora could’ve easily carried the Toronado name but as mentioned in the video, they wanted to change their naming scheme/image.
@@MotorMaster_Stunticon I agree. It could have carried the Toronado name. It actually should have. Maybe I would have warmed up to it more than I have. It could have used that 4 door coupe idea used by others and used that to its advantage. We see where changing the naming scheme did not work as we all know.
@OLDS98 now that I think about it, the original Aurora was kinda like a 4-door coupe before the 4-door coupe segment became popular. It had the coupe-like profile with the frameless doors. Can’t think of too many other cars from that time that were similar.
The J30 of the time had a 4-door coupe profile. The ES300 had frameless doors but lacked the coupe profile.
When people think 4-door coupe, usually the CLS comes to mind, but there were cars back in the 90s that pioneered the look.
GM went for the throat of Camry sales and never even made a blip on the radar.
Depends on the lens you use when assessing that. Did the W-bodies compete with Camry? If so, add Lumina + Cutlass Supreme + Grand Prix + Regal sales, and GM sold more than Camry. None of those models, individually, outsold Camry.
GM does this to themselves. They create redundant models. Silverado + Sierra regularly outnumbers F-150. 🤷♂️ It's dumb, but they're happy with their business model.
The 1997-99 Cutlass was mainly a stopgap until the Alero arrived for 1999
That... That's essentially what he said in the video. 🤨
@doug6191 😆
Just changed the oil in our '98.
Awesome.
Keep that bad boy on the road!
I personally liked the Cutlass Ciera. It wasn't fancy, but it was really comfortable and got you where you want to go. I would've bought another one had there been newer ones, but I ended up switching over to the Impala instead.
I have some fond memories of a '90 loaded Cutlass Ciera.
You're killing it with these videos and choices of vehicles for review. Keep up the great work AT 👍
Thanks dude 🫡
John Rock was an amazing individual. I met him at an Oldsmobile event in LA in 1995. He passed away in 2007 at his ranch in Montana.
Oldsmobile even Introduced ultility vehicles in the early 90s such as the silhouette minivan and bravads suv.
I assume it would have been restyled every time the Malibu was.
Would the Cutlass gotten a redesign in 2004?
@@anthony_rivera4735Possibly. It was related to the Malibu, which was redesigned in ‘04. The Pontiac G6 came out in ‘05 and rides on the same platform. So I would like to imagine that if Oldsmobile and the Cutlass name had lived, we likely would have gotten a new one around 2004-2005.
The recapping of the history of Oldsmobile from 1986 onwards was quite good. I remember all of this as it was going on. It is true - Oldsmobile sold over 1 million cars per year in 1976, 1977, 1984, 1985, and 1986. So many Oldsmobiles were around in the 80s! Sales did drop, but they weren't exactly poor! Even in 2000, selling 279,000 units - a lot of car brands sell about that many cars. But I guess if you are GM, that is not good enough. I thought they did a good job revamping the product line, coming out with the new Aurora, Intrigue, and Alero. I'm glad they at least tried rather than giving up in 1992. What happened was there were now so many new luxury imports on the market. Acura arrived in 1988. Lexus arrived in 1990. Infiniti arrived around the same time. People who would have purchased Oldsmobiles before now had these choices which were often more modern. And you are right that GM loyal people cross shopped between Buick and Oldsmobile. I hated to see the Oldsmobile brand come to an end. I can say this, having owned many of them - if you bought an Oldsmobile, you got a good car. You also got a nicer, better equipped car. I do think though that even if they had survived past 2004, they probably would not have survived the 2009 reorganization.
Thanks for sharing all of that, and I greatly appreciate you watching.
Nothing more than a Malibu with a different grille and taillights
Precisely
For those here who remember it, I miss Oldsmobile. As they show all these 90's cars, I realize Olds had some fantastic-looking models at the time, at least to me. I always wanted a loaded Intrigue but the car was axed before I could get one, and finding one in good shape today is next to impossible as most have been surrendered to the crusher. Wish it was still around but tbh I probably couldn't afford one new if it was - it would be 50 grand.
They definitely had some fantastic-looking models at times.
A loaded Intrigue sounds wonderful 😉
What a great channel you have made Rob. I really enjoy your content. This is the first video I've seen from you and next stop is all the previous you've made. I wish you a succsess my friend.
Greetings from Iceland.
Thanks for tuning in and glad to hear you’re enjoying the content.
I would have preferred Oldsmobile just have a hole in the lineup than to have a chromed-up Malibu further cheapen the brand. Typical GM mismanagement.
Do you agree with the name changes or do you think they should’ve kept their legacy names?
@MotorMaster_Stunticon "Cutlass" is a name that never made sense to me. The Oldsmobile brand was associated with rockets since the late 40s. Nothing about Oldsmobile suggests "swords" or "navy", so "Cutlass" didn't make sense for Oldsmobile's identity in any way. By the 90s, "Cutlass" was old-school Oldsmobile. They needed new names. Aurora, Intrigue, and Alero were all better than anything with "Cutlass" in it. They should have just stuck "Achieva" on the Malibu until Alero arrived.
Another great & well researched video Rob, keep up the good work.
Thanks dude 🤝
I bought a 98 Cutlass from a co-worker it ran well drove it for about 2 years needed work like a gas tank fold it to a kid who needed reliable transportation. For $200.00 cheap. So he had money to fix the car. Which he did and drove it many years and liked the car.
These videos are magnificent! Would like to see a 92-98 grand am episode at some point 🙏
Without a doubt
The Intrigue was well designed and had a lot of potential but you could tell the bean counters had way too much input.
Agreed
My daily driver is a 99 olds cutlass GLS. 153k miles right now. Drives great. No car payment for me and insurance is 50 a month!
Glad to hear you still drive it!
Hi, can you make a video about the Olds Cutlass Ciera? I love your channel btw. I had a lot of information about the Mexican Cutlass Ciera.
Hello, yes I plan on creating content about the Cutlass Ciera and the Cutlass Supreme as well.
@@MotorMaster_Stunticon thanks, btw love your channel and it's awesome the way you explain, talk and show us information. One of my favorite car channels.
Awesome bro, glad to hear it!
I enjoyed this thank you
Glad to hear it
I worked at Oldsmobile for fifteen years. One of my customers who had $21,000 from an inheritance would only buy a 1997 Cutlass . She would never consider a Malibu! Yes, times have changed.
I guess the name “Cutlass” is more prestigious than “Malibu”!
I think it's just sad that Oldsmobile never got to see this year
Agreed. Would’ve been nice had they stuck around, but I understand at the time the brand was simply unprofitable.
RIP Oldsmobile
Great job with this one Rob! Really felt that storytelling with this one! Sad end for Olds for sure, but I dont think GM needed it and Buick by the 90s.
Thanks for the visit.
Yeah Buick and Olds were far too similar at one point. I felt some differentiation between the brands once cars like the 2nd-gen Aurora came out. I don’t think you could get a Buick with a V8 at that time.
@MotorMaster_Stunticon I think your right..Buicks Lucerne had a v8 available...But it came out the year after Olds died.
Oldsmobile should have had front bench seating on their Aurora and similar sedans like this.
I don’t know man. I think that would’ve taken away from the direction they wanted to go in with the Aurora and other newer models. If they wanted to compete with imports, then a front bench seat was a no-go.
Stopgap copy of the Malibu but I still think they're great looking. 🤷🏾♀️
Definitely admire the clean and understated design.
Had a girlfriend that owned a 98 Cutlass GLS. Nice car. 😊. I used owned a 93 Cutlass Ciera. Loved that car.
So between the dealers and the union, Oldsmobile was doomed. Sad. 😢
Thanks for sharing!
It's a Chevy Malibu. I will admit I have had a lot of GM's and they all had electric problems. Started buying Ford and my electrical shorts and problem are now a thing of the past. My 98 Oldsmobile intrigue was in the shop for the first 30 days I owned it. I was like why did I buy a car that I can't drive?
A more expensive Malibu, the difference, the Cutlass came standard with a 3100 V6 engine while the Malibu,s standard engine 2200 L4.
Lower intake gasket failures galore!
Isn't 2000 Oldsmobile alero and the 2000 pontiac grand am on the same platform
I remember when they had the the in with the X-FILES take a test drive get two free tickets. I did but kept the two tickets they sent out
Poor badge engineering killed it. Let’s be real, it’s a Malibu with an olds badge on it. Why pay more? Why have different brands for cars that are essentially identical?
You have a very valid point there. Then again, some would purchase the Oldsmobile simply because of brand prestige.
GM sure knows how to fail its products and customers 😢
I feel bad for the people who lost there jobs from Oldsmobile being discontinued
A rebadged Malibu? The Aurora was the best last ditch effort.
Well, the Intrigue and Alero were pretty solid too.
The Oldsmobile brand confused me. I feel like it was just as luxurious as Cadillac and above Buick but allegedly it wasn't.
Yeah there was a bit of confusion amongst consumers. But according to the execs, they wanted to target higher-end import buyers with their later Oldsmobile products.
Mali...boo
Haha
Top shelf generic isle
I owned a 1999 Olds Cutlass from when I bought it new, for eight years till I traded it in when it had 395,000 miles in 2008 for a new Chevy impala. The cutlass was one of the best cars I ever owned.