Buick vs Oldsmobile

[350Rocket]

All ^ correct info I'm sure, but USA car makers weren't just making lousy small cars, but also lousy medium size cars too. I don't know if they were still making large cars.

I think making lifelong opinions from childhood memories isn't the best way.
We had a 77 Toyota Corolla when I was a kid and it fell apart compared to our 79 Chevy Impala and 78 Chevy truck we had.
The impala got replaced by an 83 Pontiac Grand Prix that became my first car in highschool before I went to college and bought an 87 Cutlass.
I have 20+ years of experience with g bodies which are a car that you believe is inherently bad because of a childhood memory. I believed the Corolla was a piece of junk because of childhood memories also, but now I know that the Japanese cars of the time just rusted even worse than domestics did...and the car was nearing 20 years old at the time and probably not well looked after either.
Here are a couple pictures of my 41 year old Oldsmobile with 400,000 kms on it. No it's not all original, upgrades were made for better power, fuel mileage, handling and comfort. But it's mostly factory parts with a ton of miles on them.

 

[97prizm]

What was Cadillac thinking with the XLR AND XLR-V?

Well the xlr-v looked amazing and was a decent machine but really expensive. I remember someone had an article from back in the day about it. At least they didn't build the bodies in Italy and ship them in a custom made 747. I read the lack of a manual transmission hurt sales but who knows.

 

[CorvairGeek]

I think making lifelong opinions from childhood memories isn't the best way.
We had a 77 Toyota Corolla when I was a kid and it fell apart compared to our 79 Chevy Impala and 78 Chevy truck we had.
The impala got replaced by an 83 Pontiac Grand Prix that became my first car in highschool before I went to college and bought an 87 Cutlass.
I have 20+ years of experience with g bodies which are a car that you believe is inherently bad because of a childhood memory. I believed the Corolla was a piece of junk because of childhood memories also, but now I know that the Japanese cars of the time just rusted even worse than domestics did...and the car was nearing 20 years old at the time and probably not well looked after either.
Here are a couple pictures of my 41 year old Oldsmobile with 400,000 kms on it. No it's not all original, upgrades were made for better power, fuel mileage, handling and comfort. But it's mostly factory parts with a ton of miles on them.

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Cool speedometer!

 

[350Rocket]

Cool speedometer!

Thanks! The speedo is a fake......it's 140km/h (being a Canadian car) so I taped over the mph to make it appear like a 140mph speedo. Not real, but I like the way it looks.

 

[fantastic]

Yes, I have somethings to add.

You didn't ask for my advice, but you publicly posted that info on a forum. That was your choice. Publicly posting info on a forum is (obviously) making it available for comment.

If I was an intolerant person, I wouldn't have cared enough to post a reply. I'm not intolerant, but many people are, especially other kids in school. You won't be the one who has to deal with it. Your kid will have to deal it everyday in school. Why set a kid up for that. My point was: think it through.

Have a great day.

Yes, I did post it and got the wife's approval so I will March forward. Thanks for your concern but I don't see many issues and if there is they will be addressed.

 

[CorvairGeek]

Thanks! The speedo is a fake......it's 140km/h (being a Canadian car) so I taped over the mph to make it appear like a 140mph speedo. Not real, but I like the way it looks.

There are some oddity, export speedos, I thought you found one!

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

I like 80s cars.

Me too + I really liked several of the late 70s cars the near everyone else seemed to hate.

 

[John105]

Thanks! The speedo is a fake......it's 140km/h (being a Canadian car) so I taped over the mph to make it appear like a 140mph speedo. Not real, but I like the way it looks.

With Olds, I always liked the color keyed Rallye? wheels. A mgr at my first job had a brown Cutlass Supreme (summer 1990). They were popular cars back then. Come to think of it, no idea what engine she had

Just remembered friend’s mom drove a Cutlass wagon around 1979 and they were well off. Uncle had a green 88 also 1978 with a 260 V8

Oldsmobile is

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1766595635...QAd3iUqThm&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

[350Rocket]

With Olds, I always liked the color keyed Rallye? wheels. A mgr at my first job had a brown Cutlass Supreme (summer 1990). They were popular cars back then. Come to think of it, no idea what engine she had

Just remembered friend’s mom drove a Cutlass wagon around 1979 and they were well off. Uncle had a green 88 also 1978 with a 260 V8

Oldsmobile is

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1766595635...QAd3iUqThm&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

When I was 5 our neighbors mom had a Malibu wagon (about 1981) silver with that blue vinyl interior that the cop cars had back then. I remember my mom driving us and their kids in it to the pool one weekend and being really afraid it was going to run out of gas (because she had no cash on her to put any in) but now I realize even with small kids we were within walking distance of home or town the whole drive. It's weird the childhood memories we keep sometimes.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

When I was 5 our neighbors mom had a Malibu wagon (about 1981) silver with that blue vinyl interior that the cop cars had back then. I remember my mom driving us and their kids in it to the pool one weekend and being really afraid it was going to run out of gas (because she had no cash on her to put any in) but now I realize even with small kids we were within walking distance of home or town the whole drive. It's weird the childhood memories we keep sometimes.

Ha ha ha. Right. Funny how insignificant some things seem today from our younger years. My dad used to pack up his hi-po Ford station wagons (they had to have 390cui or more) to take a car load of 8 of us across the USA on the last day of school each year. He had a brother who lived like 12-14 hours north east of us in Tennessee. We would travel to visit them for a week and then all pack up two cars and spend a week camping in the Smoky Mountains National Park. Then my dad and uncle HAD to start the competition. Uncle often bought the highest horsepower Pontiac wagons he could find. Some with the 389cui or 426s I think. They had invented their own personal "Gumball Rally Race." across the country side back to our home (about 700 to 800 mi). There were no interstates back then and you would be low flying thru back woods country towns with very limited service stations or places to stop to rest or fuel up and eat. Big deal that was NOT funny was they often had car loads of us kids low flying and bouncing all over the back seats freaking out due to low fuel levels and no idea where the next back country service station would be found if/before someone ran out of gas. We never did thank the Lord! Memories. They were not funny back then when they were happening!

 

[John105]

When I was 5 our neighbors mom had a Malibu wagon (about 1981) silver with that blue vinyl interior that the cop cars had back then. I remember my mom driving us and their kids in it to the pool one weekend and being really afraid it was going to run out of gas (because she had no cash on her to put any in) but now I realize even with small kids we were within walking distance of home or town the whole drive. It's weird the childhood memories we keep sometimes.

I was pre teen when my uncle got his green Delta 88. I think it still had manual windows. But for some reason, to me velour seats meant luxury!

A few years later and here we go with memories, this guy “Richard,” husband of my mom’s friend, had a Delta 88 diesel. I remember thinking this is a cool car as my dad had talked about getting a diesel wagon. It even had cruise control. The cigarette smoke, however, was making me a bit dizzy

 

[UncleDave]

The order of this list depends entirely on the year its compiled and there were many years when Olds would have been number 2 or even #1 on the list.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

The order of this list depends entirely on the year its compiled and there were many years when Olds would have been number 2 or even #1 on the list.

IMHO Oldsmobile made some really great quality vehicles in their best years.... All of that started to die off around the mid 70s with most American manufacturers. I knew several people who had (for the times) the very innovative Old's Tornado front wheel drive cars.

 

[k1xv]

How about Chevrolet and GMC? Their near identical models are built on the same assembly line with only minor differences in trims and cosmetics. we used to joke that GMC models used thicker washers. Around here, the consumer perception is that the GMC versions are more upscale. Ford used to advertise they sold more pick up trucks than any other brand. Only true if you consider Chevrolet and GMC to be separate brands. But most years, the GM brands combined outsold FORD.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

How about Chevrolet and GMC? Their near identical models are built on the same assembly line with only minor differences in trims and cosmetics. we used to joke that GMC models used thicker washers. Around here, the consumer perception is that the GMC versions are more upscale. Ford used to advertise they sold more pick up trucks than any other brand. Only true if you consider Chevrolet and GMC to be separate brands. But most years, the GM brands combined outsold FORD.

The story I always was told was that GMC came from factory with "slightly" better suspension components. True? False? I owned both and honestly could not tell a difference at all.

 

[350Rocket]

Ha ha ha. Right. Funny how insignificant some things seem today from our younger years. My dad used to pack up his hi-po Ford station wagons (they had to have 390cui or more) to take a car load of 8 of us across the USA on the last day of school each year. He had a brother who lived like 12-14 hours north east of us in Tennessee. We would travel to visit them for a week and then all pack up two cars and spend a week camping in the Smoky Mountains National Park. Then my dad and uncle HAD to start the competition. Uncle often bought the highest horsepower Pontiac wagons he could find. Some with the 389cui or 426s I think. They had invented their own personal "Gumball Rally Race." across the country side back to our home (about 700 to 800 mi). There were no interstates back then and you would be low flying thru back woods country towns with very limited service stations or places to stop to rest or fuel up and eat. Big deal that was NOT funny was they often had car loads of us kids low flying and bouncing all over the back seats freaking out due to low fuel levels and no idea where the next back country service station would be found if/before someone ran out of gas. We never did thank the Lord! Memories. They were not funny back then when they were happening!

Safety was definitely less of a concern back then! Lol. I'm guessing your halfway between my age and my parents. I remember riding in the bed of an 80s VW camper to a provincial park with neighbors. Riding in the snow filled bed of dads 78 Chevy k10 trying to plow our driveway with his homemade wood/steel roofing plow.
Each generation seems to get more and more worked about their offspring.
Nowadays parents believe their kids need a brand new car with 10+ airbags. Not sure where all their money is coming from.

 

[350Rocket]

How about Chevrolet and GMC? Their near identical models are built on the same assembly line with only minor differences in trims and cosmetics. we used to joke that GMC models used thicker washers. Around here, the consumer perception is that the GMC versions are more upscale. Ford used to advertise they sold more pick up trucks than any other brand. Only true if you consider Chevrolet and GMC to be separate brands. But most years, the GM brands combined outsold FORD.

I think they used to be more similar. Now GMC is usually much more upscale than Chevy which is weird considering it used to be considered the truck brand despite being nearly identical in every way except the grills and not much else.
I personally find the GMC much nicer looking. It feels like they made the Chevy ugly on purpose to sell more expensive trucks.

 

[Opelman]

The story I always was told was that GMC came from factory with "slightly" better suspension components. True? False? I owned both and honestly could not tell a difference at all.

GMC really was different than Chevy until the later 60s. GMC engines vs Chevy and different instrument panels. On the 60s GMC 3/4 tonners, the rear springs were leaf vs coil on the Chevy.

 

[MCompact]

I loved the 1973 GM sedans like the Cutlass Salon- when GM was first leaning into the Euro sport sedan vibe.

 

[CorvairGeek]

It feels like they made the Chevy ugly on purpose to sell more expensive trucks.

You aren't exaggerating there! The "CHEVROLET" grill is hideous to me.