Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobiles produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produced over 35 million vehicles, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory alone. During its time as a division of General Motors, Oldsmobile slotted into the middle of GM's five divisions, and was noted for its groundbreaking technology and designs.
An airbag is a vehicle occupant-restraint system using a bag designed to inflate extremely quickly, then quickly deflate during a collision. It consists of the airbag cushion, a flexible fabric bag, an inflation module, and an impact sensor. The purpose of the airbag is to provide a vehicle occupant with a soft cushioning and restraint during a collision. It can reduce injuries between the flailing occupant and the interior of the vehicle.
The Chevrolet Impala is a full-sized car built by Chevrolet for model years 1958 to 1985, 1994 to 1996, and 2000 to 2020. The Impala was Chevrolet's popular flagship passenger car and was among the better-selling American-made automobiles in the United States.
The Chevrolet Astro is a van that was manufactured and marketed by the Chevrolet division of American auto manufacturer General Motors from 1985 to 2005. Sold alongside the GMC Safari, the Astro was marketed in multiple configurations, including passenger minivan and cargo van.
The Buick Electra is a full-size luxury car manufactured and marketed by Buick from 1959 to 1990 over six generations — having been named after heiress and sculptor Electra Waggoner Biggs by her brother-in-law Harlow H. Curtice, former president of Buick and later president of General Motors. The Electra was offered in coupe, convertible, sedan, and station wagon body styles over the course of its production — with rear-wheel drive (1959-1984) or front-wheel drive. For its entire production run, it utilized some form of GM's C platform. The Electra was superseded by the Buick Park Avenue in 1991.
The Oldsmobile 98 is the full-size flagship model of Oldsmobile that was produced from 1940 until 1996. The name — reflecting a "Series 90" fitted with an 8-cylinder engine — first appeared in 1941 and was used again after American consumer automobile production resumed post-World War II. It was, as it would remain, the division's top-of-the-line model, with lesser Oldsmobiles having lower numbers such as the A-body 66 and 68, and the B-body 76 and 78. The Series 60 was retired in 1949, the same year the Oldsmobile 78 was replaced by the 88. The Oldsmobile 76 was retired after 1950. This left the two remaining number-names to carry on into the 1990s as the bread and butter of the full-size Oldsmobile lineup until the Eighty Eight-based Regency replaced the 98 in 1997.
The Pontiac Bonneville is an automobile built by Pontiac from 1957 to 2005. Bonnevilles were full-sized, with the exception of a brief period of mid-size between 1982 and 1986. The brand was introduced as a limited production performance convertible during the 1957 model year. The Bonneville, and its platform partner, the Grand Ville, are some of the largest Pontiacs ever built; in station wagon body styles they reached just over 230 inches (5.8 m) long, and at 5,000 pounds (2,300 kg) and more were also some of the heaviest cars produced at the time. They were also used as a basis for various specialty cars such as hearses.
The Oldsmobile Toronado is a personal luxury car manufactured and marketed by the Oldsmobile division of General Motors from 1966 to 1992 over four generations. The Toronado was noted for its transaxle version of GM's Turbo-Hydramatic transmission, making it the first U.S.-produced front-wheel drive automobile since the demise of the Cord in 1937.
The Oldsmobile Aurora was a flagship luxury sports sedan, manufactured and marketed by General Motors from 1994 to 2003 over two generations — sharing platforms with Buick Riviera and using the Cadillac-derived G platform.
The Chevrolet Lumina is an automobile that was marketed by the Chevrolet division of General Motors from 1989 to 2013. Introduced to consolidate the Chevrolet mid-size nameplates under a single product range, five different generations of the Lumina were produced. The first two generations were sold nearly exclusively in North America, with successive versions sold in other markets worldwide.
The W-platform was a General Motors automobile platform which underpinned both mid size and full-size front-wheel drive cars. Originally code named GM10, it began development in 1982 under Chairman Roger B. Smith and debuted in 1987 with the Pontiac Grand Prix, Buick Regal, and Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme coupés. The four-door sedan version was introduced for 1990.
The Chevrolet Venture is a minivan produced by General Motors for the 1997 to 2005 model years. The Chevrolet Venture, along with most of its General Motors minivan siblings, was built at GM's Doraville, Georgia, assembly plant.
The Cadillac Calais was the entry-level Cadillac model that was sold from 1965 to 1976. Cadillac renamed its low-priced Series 62 in 1965 as the "Calais", after the French port city of Calais that overlooks the narrowest point in the English Channel. In Greek mythology, Calais was one of two winged sons of Boreas, god of the North Wind, and Oreithyea. With the exception of no convertible model, the Calais shared the same styling and mechanics as the better-equipped, more expensive Cadillac de Ville.
The B platform is a full-size rear-wheel drive car platform produced by General Motors (GM) from 1926 to 1996. Originally made for Oldsmobile and Buick, all of General Motors's five main makes would use it at some point. It was closely related to the original rear-wheel drive C and D platforms, and was used for convertibles, hardtops, coupes, sedans, and station wagons. With approximately 12,960,000 units built, divided across four marques, the 1965-70 B platform is the fourth best selling automobile platform in history after the Volkswagen Beetle, Ford Model T and the Lada Riva.
The Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser is an automobile that was manufactured and marketed by Oldsmobile in three generations from 1971 to 1992. The first full-size station wagon produced by Oldsmobile since the 1964 Oldsmobile 88 Fiesta, the Custom Cruiser was produced exclusively on the General Motors B platform as a five-door station wagon. The nameplate was first used by Oldsmobile from 1940 to 1947, denoting the top trim level of its C-body model line. 451,819 Custom Cruisers were sold over the years.
The Buick LeSabre is a full-size car made by General Motors from 1959 to 2005. Prior to 1959, this position had been retained by the full-size Buick Special model (1936–58). The "LeSabre", which is French for "the sabre" was Buick's mid-level full-size sedan above the Special but below the Electra during the 1960s then remained in its market position when the Electra was replaced with the Park Avenue. The LeSabre was available as a 2-door convertible, sedan or hardtop, a 4-door sedan or hardtop and station wagon throughout it production.
Turbo-Hydramatic or Turbo Hydra-Matic is the registered tradename for a family of automatic transmissions developed and produced by General Motors. These transmissions mate a three-element turbine torque converter to a Simpson planetary geartrain, providing three forward speeds plus reverse.
The GMC Acadia is a crossover SUV manufactured by General Motors for GMC marque. The first-generation GMC Acadia shared the GM Lambda platform with the Saturn Outlook, the Chevrolet Traverse, and the Buick Enclave. The Acadia went on sale in 2006 as a 2007 model in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The Acadia replaces three of the 7- or 8-seater vehicles on the Pontiac–Buick–GMC dealership network, the midsize GMC Safari van, the GMC Envoy, and the Pontiac Montana SV6 minivan for the domestic market. As of 2009, the Lambda vehicles have replaced the Buick Rainier, Buick Rendezvous, Buick Terraza, and the GMC Envoy XL and then subsequently the GMC Envoy, Chevrolet TrailBlazer and the Isuzu Ascender. A Denali version of the Acadia debuted for 2011. In 2017, the second generation Acadia was repositioned as a mid-size crossover utility vehicle in order to compete within the growing midsize SUV market against the likes of the Ford Explorer, Edge, and Jeep Grand Cherokee.
The GM A platform was a rear wheel drive automobile platform designation used by General Motors from 1925 until 1959, and again from 1964 to 1981. In 1982, GM introduced a new front wheel drive A platform, and existing intermediate rear wheel drive products were redesignated as G-bodies.
In the context of the automobile industry, downsizing is a practice used to transition vehicles from one size segment to another. Often done in response for consumer and government demands to increase fuel economy, vehicle downsizing has been achieved through several methods. As product lines complete model cycles, during a redesign, automobile manufacturers reduce the exterior footprint of a vehicle to allow for weight reduction, shortening wheelbase and body length.
