I also like peach wine, brunettes, and classical music, each of which involves a high degree of subjectivity and personal taste. Perhaps I’m in the minority, but I have always liked the shape of these 98s–but that’s just me. Personally, I was rather enamored with this 80,000-mile survivor when I saw it at the Ford dealership. This spectrum of subjectivity is a very healthy thing if none of us had any subjectivity about automobiles, we would all agree with each other, and how profoundly boring that would be. After all, automobiles are strictly transportation, are they not?Īny conversation about the merits and successes of automobile downsizing are highly subjective and a matter of personal taste. However, this line of thought should be approached with extreme caution: Doing so could expand this purely rational and strictly clinical line of thought, even to the point of tempting one to argue that the Oldsmobile 98 was an irrational creation in the first place. If one thinks from a purely rational and strictly clinical standpoint, it can be argued the 1985 model was far superior than the 1984 model due to its greater efficiency in so many areas. For traditionalists, the 1985 Oldsmobile 98 was a monumental change.ĭo these possibilities hold any merit? Perhaps. Now, both Oldsmobile and Buick had a front-drive car for their top model, one that weighed about 1,000 pounds less than the competition. Chrysler still had the Fifth Avenue, Diplomat, and Gran Fury, all pushed by their 318 cubic inch (5.2-liter) V8. As with anything new, there was skepticism about every facet of it.įord still had the rear-drive, 302 cubic inch (5.0-liter) Town Car, Grand Marquis, and Crown Victoria. It was indeed different from anything anyone had seen. By 1989, sales had dwindled to 66,000 units, a few thousand less than in 1974. The new, more svelte 1985 models sold a mere 169,432 units, more than any year during the previous generation of Olds 98 (model years 1977 to 1984). In 1984, Oldsmobile sold 76,833 Ninety-Eights of all types. General Motors did, wisely, keep the Chevrolet Caprice and the Cadillac Fleetwood around as an ace up their sleeve. With early 1980s forecasts of astronomical fuel prices for the balance of the decade and the EPA breathing down its collective neck, GM did what it thought was best and shrunk its belt size. Talk to any horse owner and he’ll tell you that the more horses you have, and the harder you work them, the more they need to be fed. The 1985 model had a 3.8-liter V6 (231 cubic inches) with 125 horsepower, thus saddling each of its horses with 26 pounds of car. Yet think about it this way: The outgoing 1984 model Olds 98 had a 307 cubic inch (5.0-liter) V8 with 140 horsepower, and each horse was responsible for pushing 30 pounds of machine. You need only refer again to the infamous Chevrolet Citation and its derivatives, the Dodge Omni / Plymouth Horizon twins and the Ford Escort / Mercury Lynx for proof. Yes, a good number of them were under-powered. Possibility #2: It was under-powered, as were all front-wheel drive cars of the 1980s. It really blows that theory, now doesn’t it? How inconvenient, that pesky Oldsmobile Toronado. Certainly the Cord, as a front-wheel drive luxury car, was a fluke of nature, was it not? That’s the reason then, because of the front-wheel drive. Many consider this a front-wheel drive luxury car, but the Cord, which was built in the 1930s, was truly remembered by very few people in 1985. After all, had any luxury (or near-luxury) car ever had front-wheel drive? That would be just plain wrong. Yes indeed, it was front-wheel drive, a configuration that started becoming ever more common in the United States in such late-1970s and early-1980s cars as the Chevrolet Citation, Dodge Omni, and Ford Escort–economy cars, all. Possibility #1: It was front-wheel drive. It seems that this generation of Ninety-Eight (along with its Buick and Cadillac cousins) has been very much maligned as an automobile–but why? Let’s explore some possible answers. (CC had covered it through model year 1984 her e).
The Oldsmobile 98 had a very long history (in automotive terms) by 1985. So why does the downsizing of a long-established line of automobiles always seem to generate a negative reaction, especially since it is of the waist-reducing variety? Doesn’t that word always generate a distinct reaction? “We just learned today that our company is downsizing,” certainly prompts a reaction conversely, “Hey, I’ve been able to downsize my waist size by three inches!” will yield a congratulatory response.
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