Originally Posted By: 2002 Maxima SE
Your pictures take me back. My parents owned a blue (with fake wood "panel" stickers 1983 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser). What year is yours?
It was an interesting car...I recall many trips to the beach and to my grandparents house in Va. In it's last year (1993) I would drive it to my summer job. In the frigid SC mornings, sometimes, the car would shut off while going down the road. It was a real bear to wrestle it to the side of the road. One time I fell asleep at the wheel (I worked as a lifeguard and would get really zapped by the sun) on a lone country road. Two wheels got off the road and I woke up...I have never dozed at the wheel, no matter how tired, sense that incident.
This one is a '90, last year they made the old bodystyle, also last year for the Olds V8 engine (unfortunately as the 307). These cars were basically unchanged between 1980 and 1990. We grew up with wagons, but never had any with woodgrain. My dad hated woodgrain, he always thought it promoted rusting (breaks in the finish would hold water against the body panels). This was the last wagon our family owned. I decided to give it a good home rather than selling it off for peanuts when my mother didn't need a big car anymore. It has been reliable, lots of long trips, pulling trailers, and hauling people without too many issues.
It's a different car to own, certainly gets lots of nostalgic comments. I am not sure what I am going to do with it, I've only maybe put 3000 miles on it each year for the last few years. These big wagons sure have become rare now. I used to see them all the time locally, now there are virtually none.
