In 1995, GM decided to breath life into Oldsmobile with more than just a “not your father’s Oldsmobile” ad campaign. This time, the brand got a dramatically different mid-sized luxury car with V8 power. Thus, the Aurora was born!
Despite looks, handling and an engine that were fairly highly regarded, Oldsmobile would close up shop about ten years later. So, this car wasn’t enough. Front-wheel drive hampered it as a flagship and the price hampered it as a big seller for GM, despite the addition of a lower priced, V6 version late in its second generation.
This car is a claimed time capsule with about 97K miles, although the seller spent much more time writing about the Aurora, in general, than this particular car. The images also suck; so this ad makes a big initial statement and then turns into a let-down. The car does look clean in the images, so the time capsule name could apply, though I would tend to apply that to a lower mileage car.
Click for Craigslist ad
Irvine, CA
$3,900
Ad text:
Do you want a car that…
Looks like nothing else on the road today…or ever?
Has extremely low miles for its age?
Has the same drag coefficient as a McLaren F1?
Can run with absolutely no coolant in the engine for 50 miles?
Comes with every service record during its life in the hands of my anal-rententive grandfather?
If so, then look no further than this beautiful 1999 Oldsmobile Aurora. The car of the future – as imagined by Clinton-era optimism for a brand now forgotten and killed by General Motors a decade ago.
Get out your Ouija board and ask any Oldsmobile enthusiast about the company’s rich heritage. Founded in 1897 by Ransom E. Olds, “Oldsmobile” has the honor of being the oldest U.S. automotive brand, and had a history of luxury and innovation.
The Aurora was indeed the car created to save Oldsmobile – and it actually started to, except all the other models sucked, and just one decent car wasn’t going to cut it.
Exterior:
First of all, this car is safe and strong – so rigid, in fact, that during its development, the Aurora broke GM’s test equipment used to determine its crush point. GM stated, “The roof structure withstood more than 8,000 pounds of force in a crush-resistance test — far exceeding the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard for passenger cars — before the test equipment simply gave out.” As it turns out, GM put the weight of the entire Oldsmobile division on the Aurora, and finally succeeded in crushing it along with their longest-standing nameplate in 2004.
Based heavily on the GM “Tube Car” concept shown in 1991, the Oldsmobile Aurora’s overall styling was meant to be futuristic, aerodynamic, and unusual. The windows are frameless, the body is sculpted like a sea creature, and the taillights stretch the entire width of the rear. It is an original design meant to make the German sedans that consistently outsold American cars look boring back then.
The tires are Michelin HydroEdge with enough tread left to circumnavigate the Earth. It has been garaged its entire life, so the paint is in good condition with ZERO clearcoat failure or oxidation. There are a few minor dings and scratches, however. Also the right side mirror is white.
Interior:
The most exceptional thing about this Aurora is the state of the interior. The leather is is soft, supple, and in perfect condition. The carpets are in great condition as well. The original floormats are included and stain free. Honestly, it looks new inside.
The climate control is dual-zone and automatic. The heating and air-conditioning both work of course. On the steering wheel, there are controls for fan speed, temperature, and audio functions.
The stereo is acoustically balanced, has both a cassette and in-dash CD player, and is the original unit that came with the car when it was new. All the speakers work.
Performance:
This car has a V8… A good old-fashioned (but modern enough with 32-valve DOHC fuel-injected Northstar goodness) V8. Although it makes the same 250 horsepower as a Lexus LS400, this motor has 556 fewer engine parts. The 4.0-liter Aurora V8 engine was also used to break a 25,000-kilometer (15,500-mile) speed and endurance record previously held by Mercedes-Benz. That said, it does have a slight coolant leak near the radiator expansion tank, and the valve cover gaskets are beginning to seep oil.
Aside from routine maintenance parts, everything in the engine (and on this car in general) is original, unmolested, and factory-approved. This fact in particular sets it FAR ahead of the greased up used-car-lot mystery mobiles and dirt-driveway Craigslist ads.
Exclusivity:
Nobody drives these. When you see one on the road, it might as well be a Duesenberg, because no one ineligible for Social Security will have a clue what it is.
So if your seach for an economical automobile includes Honda Accords with peeling paint jobs and styling modifications that only the right combination of youth, poverty, and poor taste can manifest, ask yourself why you wouldn’t rather be coddled by a stanchion of American automotive history instead.
(more/better pics to come)