I just drove Ben's 93 Olds Cutlass Supreme back from D.C. I can't believe what a great car it is. It has 160K miles on it. The first 86K miles were put on by a West Virginia teenager so it wasn't babied or well-maintained. The only repair (besides routine stuff) has been a blown intake manifold gasket, $500.
This sweet little V-6 gets 30 mpg, has plenty of grunt and turns at a leisurely 2,200 rpm's at 70 mph. The A/C is the best I've ever had. I replaced the standard cassette/radio with a Crutchfield Pioneer 180 watt am/fm stereo cd. Then there is that beautiful floaty ride; it's like going down the Interstate on a Shiatsu flying sofa.
Except for air-bags what else has GM been doing since 1993? They got rid of their most profitable division, Oldsmobile, and brought us such great cars as the Pontiac Aztec. I think if GM can retool and produce a million Olds Cutlass's and sell them each for $13,000 they could kick some butt against the rice-burners from the land of Nipon.
The Olds is now home in my stable where it can live out its remaining years with dignity. I have a selfish reason for wanting GM to pull out of its "graveyard spiral". I'm thinking that any day now I might become a co-owner of GM. Since GM is so big we can't let it fail. There will be another government bailout. A week ago who would have thought I'd be co-owner in the world's second largest insurance company, AIG? Who'd a thunk it?
4 comments:
Babba, only old people drive Oldsmobiles. That's why they're called Oldsmobiles.
The Olds is not the only great car GM has produce. If only their quality control had been better, they would not be in the predicament that they are in today. I believe todays GM are some of the best but perception is killing them with the bad false media.
My mom, age 83, used to love her oldsmobile!
Maybe its the colder weather we have next to Lake Ontario, or the salt put on the roads here in NY, or a combination of both but, most of the people I know who have owned one of those precious GM junkers has had oil and water leaking from them. It seems they cross the 80K line and the leaks "miraculuosly" show up. Manifolds (exhaust and intake), heads warp, Transmissions stop working correctly you name it GM has planned it.
Hard core GM loyalists have said good bye to GM only to find that the "rice burners" seem to last and are a better overall vehicles.
If your Olds was up north here, probably you would have had it to see GM Goodwrench more than once or, unfortunately, it would be rotted out by now.
"I feel your pain." Billy Clinton
D
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