Hi Doug, I was the lead creative interior designer for this Aurora at GM. My team and I designed everything in it. (Except for that rear vent knob!). We had a blast working on that project. I still have a lot of the sketches. We had free reign with the content. The materials used was another story. Thanks for your positive review! Still proud of that work.
Question: Why did GM and other car makers move away from driver oriented consoles/dashes? I loved them as a driver. However, it seemed like in the early 2000s car makers decided that it had to focus more on the passenger and so they started making these really plain clusters with big knobs to make it easier for the passenger riding shot gun to control.
I came from Europe, I moved to Canada couple of years ago. When I first see a vehicle parked by the curb and it had only one "brand name" on it: AURORA, I had no clue what is it? It was a good start, dropping Oldsmobile brand and using a stylized "A" as a logo and using the Aurora name only. But GM never was able execute something special well. The story is the same here: GM supposed to terminate the Oldsmobile brand when Aurora unveiled and go with the brand AURORA. And build vehicles with European/Japaniese influenced design and technology. But GM always failing due to desing/engineering/manufacturing/marketing (pick one of it, pls.) and this mistake/error ditch the project forever. Hyundai started with a Hyundai Genesis sedan... and they made it a successful brand, we know as GENESIS today. This is the path that GM had to follow back in the day. But they failed.
The driver oriented cockpit in the AURORA came from SAAB, I'm 100% sure about it! Let's check the interior/cockpit in the Saab 900 NG (1994-1998) and it continued (and looked much, much better) in the first generation SAAB 9-5 (YS3E, 1997-2010)...
Loved this car as a kid. A year ago I found a clean one and drove it for a year for grins and giggles with my other cars. It really was a great car. Things you missed: the rear was self leveling air shocks, all the wood in this car was real burl wood, and the unibody structure was so strong for the time it broke GM's crush test machine for cars and they had to put it on the truck one.
I owned an '97 Aurora and it was one of the best cars I've ever had. Roomy, comfortable, luxurious while at the same time it hauled ass like nobody's business. The icing on the cake was that it looked phenomenal...it bore s striking resemblance to the 4-door Maserati Quattroporte of that same year. PS. The Bose sound system was second to none....a very impressive car from top to bottom.
Seems to me the dreaded Aurora would surprise red light pundits who would scoff and snigger at it and its equally "loser" driver, and then the smirks and sniggers would turn to shock and even a touch of awe as they didn't expect a car that looked like an old school 90s ufo to accelerate like an actual old school ufo from a 90s made for tv low budget sci fi show! It wasn't cinema level ufo acceleration from reports, more made for that low budget tv level ufo acceleration. But nonetheless it was not to be messed with as the ultimate budget sleeper-sleeper sleeper sedan! I wouldn't be surprised if back in the day grannies late to have heart medicine prescriptions filled racing to the drug store before closing to prevent heart attacks would not only actually have heart attacks due to this cars ufo like acceleration but would be accidently winning red light drags in the process during those heart attacks.
@peteshea8010 Yeah, I was never impressed by anything Bose. I had Bose in one of my cars, and it sucked. My current Audi has a Bang & Olufsen system, and my sister's Volvo has a Harmon Kardon system. Things have gotten WAY better lately.
I unironically really like the styling. It does the no grille look WAY better than modern cars tend to. It's only a shame the rest of the lightbar doesn't light
Doug was wrong when he said no other carmakers did away with the front grille. It was common on many Ford/Mercury models and the original Infiniti Q45 also went grille-less. Of course both companies had abandoned the no grille look by the mid 90s.
As a European this car is dream tier. In the 90s we still had fairly boxy cars, some Japanese imports being the exception, so seeing these cars in American movies was quite the culture shock.
Funny from the American perspective of the time, these were seen as a relatively cheesy alternative to Lexus/Acura/Mercedes etc. Also didn't help they were driven by mostly senior citizens which killed any kind of cool factor. Thirty years later, this definitely brings back the 90's American nostalgia vibes.
Same opinion here. I am from Hungary. And all we had were Ladas, Suzukis, Daewoos and some crappy old Mercs and BMWs. I always loved american cars. Nothing compares to the American people’s need for comfort. And growing up, low middle class, my parents always had shitty small cars. I think Americans take these things for granted. I gotta admit I fuckin love GM. I have a C5 Corvette now and even that is just insanely practical and so straightforward. Lovely to be honest. But I guess what’s not available is always more desirable.
Same here. I grow up In asia where Jdm cars are very cheap and everywhere. Those american cars fascinated me so much. I saw amrican people ball sck jdm cars so much and little or no respect for their country made make me very sad. If you drive a american v8 cars here You're like a god of car guy. And better than most jdm cars too. I don't know why they don't see that.
@@matveyfeniya9979I’m a very patriotic American and I love both Japanese and American cars. I’ve owned six American cars and about 8 Japanese cars. I think the reason the JDMs took over in the 80s and the 90s was that they were good at one key thing we were not good at. American D3 always struggled to build good compact sedans and coupes and our four cylinder engines left a lot to be desired in terms of refinement, power output (there were exceptions there, however) and reliability. Simply put, Honda and Toyota (and to a lesser extent Nissan, Subaru, and Mazda) built superior compact cars in every category. Their compact economy sedans were better in almost every way, they built superior compact sports cars (compare a Pontiac Fiero to a Toyota MR2 and you’ll get where I’m coming from), their compact trucks were MILES ahead of our domestic options (the only good S10 has a LS V8 swapped into it; otherwise Toyota or Nissan all the way), and they were very competitive in the mid size and full size game starting in the late 80s. There are areas where we excel and still do in many cases. We build better full size trucks than the Japanese, the pony car segment (well mainly the Mustang since the Challenger and Camaro are both dying this year) has no competition from Japan and are the only semi-affordable V8 sporty cars in the world, and we build world beating high end sports cars for a fraction of what the Europeans charge. But the compact segment, especially back then, was a dominating segment of American auto sales and the competition was ferocious. And simply put, the Japanese built better compact cars than we Americans ever did. And still do today, since our D3 has mostly exited the compact car business entirely. We lost and the Japanese won. It’s really that simple. My taste in cars, compact sporty sedans with good economy, leads me to Japan. Because we never did a good job at it. Compare a 1998 Chevrolet Cavalier and a 1998 Honda Civic. The Civic is the WAY better car in reliability, fuel economy, performance, and refinement of the driving experience. And that’s where the Japanese have always dominated and we Americans struggled.
@@matveyfeniya9979yeah cause they always say that GM build quality sucks. But they always had nice cushioned leather seats, great low end torque bulletproof V8’s, Air conditioning, electric seat adjustements, and cruise control, even automatic shifter. What they don’t seem to get that cheap cars here in East Europe didn’t have none of that stuff and the build quality STILL SUCKED 😂😂😂 oh and our cars didn’t have any space! Small and uncomfortable! My parents didn’t even have electric window switches until like 2000. Lol. So in my opinion USA had much higher standards in their automobiles which is not a suprise because of the distances they drive and the big differences in climate.
...If you like the front end of your Oldsmobile looking a Saturn . I can see a lot of similarities between this Olds & the Taurus of that time...too many curves and no front grille , could have been contributing factors to its unpopularity.
I wish new cars still looked more like the Aurora than what they look like now-- new car bodies have so many creases they look like they've already been in an accident before they leave the new car lot. Hate them.
I owned a ‘98. By ‘98 Olds made many small, but important, changes to the suspension, brakes and interior trim. Mine was black with chrome wheels. As you observed, the fit and finish was excellent. I put 238,000 miles on it. Not only was it a great performer, but it had really good fuel economy. I loved every minute driving this car. Thank you Doug for a great presentation. You forgot one really important aspect of the Aurora project. Not only was it an Indy pace car, the Aurora engine was a winner several times over in various racers over several years! I also believe that it had much more h.p. than advertised.
@roysmith6118 I don't get the stogy Oldsmobile reputation. Have we forgotten the Olds Cutlass, the Olds 4-4-2, the Jetfire with the Rocketfire V8 engines? The 1962 Olds Jetfire was the first turbocharged production American car. That's right 1962. A tv show did a great feature on the Jetfire. I won't mention names but the show's initials were Jay Leno's Garage. By 1964 Olds OHV engines ranged from 250 to 455 cubic inches. By 1966 you could get a tri power 4-4-2 with a hi performance cam and Ram Air induction. By 1970, the 4-4-2 came std with a 455 ci big block. Not exactly your granddad's Oldsmobile..
@@rtflone It's in the name: Old. The 442 was a classic car by the time this one was made, or at least the good ones that people still think are cool, and there was not much cool about anything they made in the '80s and '90s and they weren't fast or sporty. This Aurora may have been an exception, but you can tell by the badging that even Olds designers were trying to distance themselves from the brand. I actually owned a late '80s Delta 88 for a while with the 3800 V6 and it was a great car. Quicker than I expected and way better on fuel than I expected too. It was still somehow better on fuel than any V6 full or midsize V6 sedan I've driven since. Got low to mid-20s around town and crowded 30 on the highway. I beat the snot out of that car too and it still got great mileage and was very reliable.
Word has it that Auroras made junkyard operators wring their hands in anguish.....due to the car's remarkably over-engineered unibody structure. The 1990s Mercedes S class was benchmarked for structural rigidity.
I had a1966 442 with tri power 4speed trany.Had the engine built,the car was a true sleeper.i loved that car but being young with a led foot I aquire to many speeding tickets,my father said he had used up all of this favors for me keeping my license and he did not want to bury me so the car had to go.Most beautiful car I ever owned and worth a small fortune today.
Looks like a molten Saturn!! Aged about as well as one of them blobbendale 65 year old male strippers who have spent far too many years in the Floridian Sun!!!
Worked at an Olds dealer in 96 and we sold Aurora....it was meant to challenge Lexus and had the northstar derivative. The seats were designed ground up and unique to that vehicle support wise and leather quality. Unfortnately as Doug mentioned it was too little to late it seemed and a few years later Olds met its demise. Most people coming on the lot either bought Pontiacs or if going for this level of vehicle bought Cadillac as far as GM.
Yeah this car went up against the Grand Prix which was much more popular. Even the 3rd gen Taurus SHO was a competitor for those who wanted that type of swoopy look.
Ive had two of these, a 2001 V8 and a 2002 V6. They were actually very comfortable vehicles and both were surprisingly reliable. I was always worried about the 4.0, but it only ever needed regular maintenance even though I was young and drive it like I stole it. I had a blast with both of them and still want another one, but this time I want a first gen. There's just something about these that I really like.
Did the 4.0 have head gasket issues from the head bolts like the 4.6? I was never worried about the 3.5. However, the 3.5 should have been the 3.8 supercharged.
My mom's name is Aurora, so she had to get one. I drove it a few times, and it was exactly what it was meant to be - a comfortable, fairly high tech for its day, and high quality piece of transportation. It was probably comparable to something like a BMW 525-528 in its comfort/performance level. I thought it was a pretty advanced and elegant looking care. Shame it didn't work out.
My Mother had one of these. It was actually a really nice car and it drove awesome. But, the fear of engine issues and the starter being buried inside the engine was the drive to dump it before the miles got too high.
The 4.0 v8 is a pretty reliable motor and the starters are super easy to change. Much easier then buried on the bottom side of the motor. I’ve changed many of them and it takes about an hour max.
My dear late wife owned one of these, it was a really nice car.. The ads said “not our father’s Oldsmobile” but even that backfired as the Olds fans apparently wanted their father’s Oldsmobile>”
Who said the Aurora was a failure? I used to see them absolutely everywhere. And I spent a few months with the 2nd gen Aurora and it felt absolutely magical, very smooth ride, buttery smooth power delivery and fantastic engine note, and looked stellar at the time both inside and out.
@@ArbitraryFilmingsThe Cutlass was junk compared to the Aurora, it sold more because it was an affordable car most people could afford at the time. My family had both and the two vehicles in the same brand were really an odd match. Had GM done something similar with the Cutlass instead of rebadging the Chevy the brand may have had a chance of surviving. I honestly think the 2nd generation Aurora was purposely allowed to stylistically flop so the brand wouldn't continue as most of the execs at GM during that time knew little to nothing about design.
Ya I disagree with Doug that the second gen was just a boring sedan. That car was outstanding, striking in styling, completely unique, and actually better than any Caddy of the time.
@@JayCAlan I actually liked the 2nd Gen more. Not to discredit the 1st gen model but the 2nd gen model just looked cleaner and less cluttered on the inside.
@@ArbitraryFilmings Oldsmobiles biggest problem was Buick. With Buick in the same picture there was really no point to the brand. Buick was clearly a premium car while Oldsmobile seemed to suffer from Edsel syndrome (a brand that people could not figure out where its placed on the luxury spectrum). Unfortunately, the same fate would fall Mercury. I feel Ford really screwed the pooch with Mercury by failing to move Lincoln upmarket (like GM did with Cadillac) and placing Mercury more at Buicks level. I know Buick sticks around now mostly because of China but it has clear differences between Chevrolet and Cadillacs. Mercury on the other hand, literally had little differences with Fords.
I was in one of these, my buddy had one. They are not slow and don't just "keep up with traffic". They do move quite quickly for such a big car. You can definitely feel the torque hit you. This car probably had more HP than anything else in its class. It was probably near the top for all models in the 90s.
Its more the body being FAR ahead of its time. Cars now are just getting active grille shutters which close off the grill. This one grill was eliminated completely! The mechanics were a recycled cadillac mill with a more radical camshaft (than the caddy). IDK if the lack of a grill is a good attribute with the Northstars KNOWN overheating issues. AHH GM 🙂 They definitely made a greater effort on this car so thats gotta count for something!
@@willc5512 Both the 1980's Firebird (beginning in 1982) and the 1980's C4 Corvette (beginning in 1984) didn't have any grills. This was YEARS before the Aurora began production.
I have always liked these cars, and have a car in the same class which is a Mark VIII which definitely had more power and moved a little better than the equivalent Cadillacs with the larger 4.6 engines. A lot of people dont know about the Shelby Series One, which used the Aurora engine and they had a forced induction version that put out a good amount of power. The Northstar engines had a lot of issues for many years before they were fixed, but I dont recall the Aurora having this issue. The later Aurora models actually had dropped the V8 in favor of a snappier V6 if I remember correctly.
i had a 96 , it was a great car , the bose cd changer in the trunk held 12 cds, also the battery was under the back seat and mine lasted 10 years ., because there are no temperature extremes to degrade it ,another quirk was the exhaust was supported by rubber grommets that had to be replaced periodically, so i kept spares , mine was a touring model and had the gold emblems , great review doug thanks
@@gtemnykh lol yeah it was strange , in order to change them you had to support the muffler with a jack , very strange system , also the car had airbags and the rear failed and jacked the back of the car way up in the air ,another of the many fixes that had to be sorted out
@@PlanBProductioninc You probably had a switch in the trunk to turn off the suspension air bags when jacking it up. If someone didn't turn off the rear air bag suspension, the system could break.
@@DUCKSAREEVILLLLLLLL I remember I went out in the morning to get in the car and the rear of it was way up I know there was an electric eye under the car that supposed adjusted levels but I ended up removing the bottom of the rear seat and pulling the fuse and it went back to normal
My favorite thing about that model of Riviera was the huge font they used on the gauge faces, for the geriatrics, even though I was still quite a young dude at the time. I have never understood why some car manufacturers seem so determined to make customers have to squint to read the same information, and think it's an intelligent design choice.
@@revolutionday1 The font and gauges of the 95-99 Rivy's were retro versions of the gauges from the First Gen Riviera's 1963-1965. In addition to the 99 SC Riviera that I own, I also own a 1965 Riviera.
My mom had a ‘97 back then and it was… great! I was 16/17/18 at the time and I loved driving it. It was “cool”. It looked cool. It was “fast” enough that it was “cool”. It was by far the nicest car mom ever owned up to that point. Thank you for bringing back those memories!
This also had adaptive steering feel. As your speed increased the steering would tighten. It was not a slow car either, it was quite fast for it’s day. My father bought one of the first in our town off the showroom floor. It was an excellent car compared to other offerings in its day.
I will forever love you for reviewing cars like this, Doug, I know they don't get as many views as your supercars/sportscar videos, but I love stuff like this so much so please keep doing them. From a preservation perspective, so many of the old cars like this are trashed with no real efforts made to document how they looked at their peak. These cars were an importnat part of history of the American automobile! For a lot of cars which don't really have any survivors, we are left with only memories. I think there is something noble about documenting survivor cares like this, even if it's only to sell on Cars & Bids.
The ironic thing is that many did believe these were going to be collector cars when they were new, and treated them accordingly, expecting them to be worth real money one day. I think the mistake was not realizing that 90's cars were going to last much longer than the cars of the 50's and 60's, and the time before they became valuable was going to be decades later than expected.
My grandparents had two of these. Incredible car. My grandpa knew how much I loved driving it, so I got to spend a lot of time behind the wheel of these for years. Probably one of the smoothest engine and transmission pairings I’ve ever driven. That Northstar V8 gave it effortless acceleration. Each of theirs had over 120,000 miles without any issues. They’re a rare site on the road nowadays, but Oldsmobile really did a great job with the Auroras.
@@luryix9982 And blowing head gaskets, and cracking blocks, and leaking coolant, and having engine electronics that were almost as unreliable as a British engine. The Northstar was an AWFUL engine that GM wasted way too much money and time pouring money into. I was happy to see that pile of mediocrity get discontinued and Cadillac adopt the LS engines for their V8 models.
@@OrtadragoonX Stop trashing the car...in a public forum nothing is a good car. Everything is trash everything is a piece of shit everything is garbage. You people will trash a damn space shuttle if you had the chance. Show some respect. When someone dies you don't celebrate their life by trashing it you talk about all the good things they did. Same with an automobile. It is obsolete. It is discontinued. It was a fabulous automobile way ahead of its time that was better than its Cadillac rival in all aspects except acceleration. Which could be fixed with a 4.6 swap. The 4.6/4.0/3.5 NorthStar series engines are wonderful machines. Drive them like they're a Lexus and keep the coolant system serviced and you won't have no issues with them. Driving them like their Corvettes will send them to the shop on a tow truck just like any other vehicle.
@@Kxvito we can engineer good cars when we play to our strengths. In the 90s we were constantly attempting to beat the Germans at their own game. Which wasn’t one of our strengths. When I think pure American engineering excellence, I think of things like my 99 Trans Am. It wasn’t a perfect car by any means, but as a performer for the price that car was amazing.
A car to continue 7 production years is not a failure. This car as a kid in '95 looked pretty futuristic to me. A lady at my church then had one with the chrome wheels and it was dope. It was then a couple years later other makes started to pick up on the design like the '97 Taurus and Sable while the Mark VIII was already there as a coupe for '93. To me those four cars paved the way for the elegant ellipse design and to me that said futuristic.
Well said. I remember all the rounded futuristic shapes coming out in the mid-late 90's. I was a teenager then and remember driving many of these cars. My favorite cars since they are simple to work on and seem to last if you don't live in the rust belt. Something about simplicity I can appreciate. Simple fuel injection systems, 4 speed transmissions, etc.
Well to put it into perspective, the Alero sold more units each year it was on sale than the entire 7 year lifespan of the aurora. I would call that a failure.
I just commented that this put me in mind of my '03 Taurus. That car had a powerful engine, was built solid, handled like a dream, and had a smooth and quiet ride. From the reviews I've come across I know I got lucky with a great one.
Man, my grandma had one of these when I was a baby (I'm 26 now) and that car is one of the very few memories I happen to have from that time. Hers was a blue-ish silver with a navy blue leather interior. That car was so subtle because if you punched that V8 it would smoke any 4-cyliner car. My dad told me once when we were with the family, he was driving the car around Lincoln Nebraska and some kid with a suped-up fake hot rod type car revved his little engine at a light. When the light turned green my dad said he floored the Aurora and it left the kid in the dust, lol. Great review Doug!
That wood inside is real!, no joke. There was a performance package available the Autobahn trim, higher rated tires, different gears as well as pcm for 140+mph crusing watching the gas gauge move too. Amazing build quality for a gm.
If you can, I'd like to see you get your hands on a mid-90s Riviera with supercharger. That was an interesting cart that still looks kind of fresh nearly 30 years later.
Okay in which reality does this car still look fresh? It just screams 1990s all over, especially in the interior. Literally no one designs cars like this anymore, and for good reason.
My grandfather had 2 of these as I was growing up and I used to love them!! They always seemed super cool and ahead of their time, I’m excited for this because it was a very quirky car! Edit: Holy crap, what a trip down memory lane. I could remember what almost all of the buttons and dials felt like as Doug showed them in the video. The info screen with the lid, passenger climate controls/vents, the squishy black foam at the bottom of the rear cup holders. All of it brought back long lost memories. Thank you Doug, it felt good to remember some great times with my late grandfather!!
These things looked like spaceships when they came out. It was a sad day when GM discontinued the Oldsmobile marque. My mom had an Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser when I was a kid. I lusted after the 1990-1992 Oldsmobile Toronado Trofeo. My uncle had an Oldsmobile 98 that spoke to you. Americas longest running car brand, ruined by years of GM bean counters, “good-enough” executive mentality and badge engineering. The Aurora was too niche to save the whole division. I shed a tear for Oldsmobile.
I think GM CEO Wagoner in the 90-s was a disaster. "Ol'boy" executive who also killed off the EV-1, when no other car company had even a paper sketch for an electric car, let alone a production car.
Aurora wasn't a failure on its own merits. It was an outstanding car for it's day. It's remarkable what they produced and got away with releasing, especially under the GM umbrella. The design was really striking, both inside and out and it was the touchstone for the last chapter of Olds lineup. Overall, the biggest single problem with Olds was the Ciera. That's what people in this time thought of when anybody said "olds"...grandma's Ciera. You could walk into the showroom, see this thing in the middle of the floor and have a Ciera next to it. One note...the Gen 2 Aurora wasn't supposed to be an Aurora at all. It was supposed to be the second car in the Aurora lineup, the Antares. Accurate that sales slumped to the point that GM decided to scrap the more expensive to manufacture flagship and just badge it as Aurora for the duration, but it honestly wasn't too far off of the original in most ways.
A lot of reliability issues....including the head gasket issues of the Northstar based engine. Paint peeling issues since GM had not quite figured out how to paint aluminum for long term use
That was the problem. Reliability. My brother had one and is an engineer and would sort things out. Then the engine pfffttt…something bad. He traded it on a Chevy pickup that he still has almost 20 years later.
What I like about your TH-cam channel. Is that your car reviews are about any kind of vehicle. New and old to where everyone else is just doing just new vehicles. That's why I think your videos are much more interesting than all the other car reviewers.
I owned a 99 Aurora, and later a 97. They're gone now, but this car will always hold a special place in my heart. There's just something about them I've always loved.
I was 12 when this car came out and I was obsessed with it for a minute (and to a lesser degree the Oldsmobile Intrigue). It was a very unique car for the era, thanks Doug. Revisiting my youth.
GM's late 90s sedans used to be everywhere. The second-gen Aurora is also a great-looking car and very comfortable. The Oldsmobile Cutlass was the best-selling car in the US for many years until the Taurus came out and shook up the market with aerodynamics. There was still some brand appeal by the time the Aurora came out.
Seeing one of these was wild in the late 90s. The oldsmobile aleros sold extremely well, still see them at the auctions. Gm has it's faults, and so does the imports, this was very comparable to the imports of the day and these were WAY cheaper.
I rented one for a business trip and was utterly amazed that this was an Oldsmobile. It had a truly wonderful ride and had great handling. What a shame it did not save the company. Too little too late.
I've got a few fond memories of this car! I'm in my late 20's now, but when I was much younger, say around 5 or 6, I thought this was the coolest, most futuristic car I had ever seen. It looked like a spaceship to me, and that light bar was absolutely wild! Although, as a kid, I didn't know the center didn't light up. It's not as though the bar was set very high for me back then, but I was in love with the way these cars looked! My old neighbor from across the street, Ed F., had a two car garage with a white 1995 Aurora inside, parked alongside a yellow, Targa-top Porsche 911. I wanna say it was a 1978, but it may have been older - I can't quite remember. He later traded the White Aurora for a Final 500 (second generation) he had managed to acquire as it's first owner -brand new! He moved out of State around 15 years ago or so, and I have no idea what happened to the cars, or even if Ed is still alive. He was one heck of a neighbor, though, and I miss those days. He would let me come over any time I wanted to look at his cars. He would also let me sit in the driver's seat and pretend to drive them, which was awesome, being a 6-year-old! While everyone else I knew was having fun with Gameboys and Tomagotchis, I was goofing off around my neighbors cars, and I had a blast doing it! Those two cars, and my Dad's 1987 GMC Sierra 3500 (single cab flareside) were among the very first cars I ever got to know, and they kicked off my life as a car enthusiast! I'd love to have one of these as they're becoming increasingly rare, although parts are also hard to find nowadays. Still, it would be a wonderfully unique, comfortable, fly-under-the-radar, IYKYK-type of daily driver car, which is the best kind of daily driver car, honestly. Thanks for this video, Doug! I love the old quirky stuff, but especially this! Thanks for the throwback! I enjoyed that little trip I just took down memory lane.
Oldsmobile was actually trying to take on the Germans with the Aurora and Intrigue. The Intrigue had an "Autobahn package" which upped the limiter from 108 to 128mph as well as gave it slightly different suspension and tuning. I had a 2001 Intrigue with that package.
They were excellent cars for the time just badly marketed. The OSV models were unbelievably cool and so good looking for their time and even today! The Intruigue OSV looked sinister and a super sleeper machine.
@paralyzes I had it up to 147. That's the fastest I ever drove, and despite having cars that wouldbeasily do that speed now I haven't done it since we had the Auoroa.
There was sort of a "hierarchy" of the GM brands. Lore tells it when you were a young first driver you'd start with a Chevy. You grew up a bit, wanted performance and had a bit more money so you traded for a Pontiac. Then a few years later you decided you want the performance but wanted luxury entwined with it so you traded up to Oldsmobile. Get a little older, maybe a tinge of gray, performance dwindled to luxury in your eyes so Buick it is. Finally you rounded it off in your retirement age with a Cadillac just in time to afford one for the pinnacle of American luxury.
That was my understanding too. Except I was never too sure what Pontiac was supposed to be. I heard in the 50s and 60s, Pontiac was the absolute no-frils, basic car below Chevy. Then it rebranded itself as sports car division. So I wasn't sure if it was like a Chevy, but better, or maybe edgier?
@@ressljs Yea that's pretty much what happened to it. The "better looking" performance cars over the performance cars at Chevrolet. It got really muddy for Pontiac in the 90s and 00s until the Solstice, GTO and the G8 showed up. Those were cars that Chevrolet did not have at the time at all. Camaro was dead, they had the front drive SS cars (Cobalt, Malibu, Monte Carlo and Impala) those 3 Pontiacs showed there was some hope left, but just too late. And I'm sure if they pushed stronger and better marketing, they could have sold more of those 3 and stayed exceution.
In the 70s, Olds was among the top selling American brands and their cars were stylish. GM sort of let the brand go during the 80s until they were just making "me-too" boxes indistinguishable from a million other cars. Buyers forgot about them. When the 90s came GM tried to revive Olds but it was too late.
I have always loved the Olds brand, I’ve done reports on them. All the way thru college, actually. I remember when these were out, I thought they were very interesting and curvy. And I always wanted one of the last “Final 500” Oldsmobile models. I ended up getting a 2004 Oldsmobile Bravada a few years back now. I love driving it, I’m going to put a sound system in it soon. I also have a 2008 Saturn Aura 3.5 V6 that I’ve had for over 12 1/2 years now since high school, so I guess you could say I have a thing for dead GM brands and nostalgia lol. Good review of a great car.
Doug, this is quite an unexpected surprise that you're reviewing an American passenger car from the era of the 80's to the 2000's again, especially something like this Aurora or any other General Motors product. I have to say, I love it!!! Its always a good day when you review some truly quirky cars, nonetheless the severely underrated stuff like this, and I'd love to see you do some more vehicles like this. One suggestion for a car I would want you to review is a 1999-2005 Pontiac Grand Am, perhaps a GT or a Ram Air version. It would be really cool if you can try and review one of those. These cars are shockingly quirky, such as with two sets of working reverse lights, air conditioning vents that you can litteraly orient any way you could, the trunk release button on the inside of the drivers door, and even some other interesting design and styling quirks too.
Speaking of Grand Ams would love to see an 80s Firebird. The one with pop up headlights. Especially the pacecar one with the 3,8l V6 Turbo from the Grand National
Thank you -- I appreciate hearing that :) Cars & Bids has allowed me to go and review some of these old oddballs and still have it make financial sense. I'm thrilled with it!
I have always like the first generation Oldsmobile Aurora. The styling was ahead of its time and something not many people had seen when it launched. The Aurora did the tail light bar before tail light bars gained popularity, even though most of that tail light bar did night light up. I would love to own a first generation Aurora.
@@Bartonovich52 Oh, okay. Well, this was the one car I remember from GM in the 1990s that had one. I am sure there were others, as mentioned in the comments.
I remember seeing the very first one of these when it arrived at Browning Oldsmobile in Long Beach, CA. It was back in the PDI area of the service department, but they let me see and sit in it. The salesperson declared, "Oldsmobile is not printed anywhere on the entire car." I gleefully pointed out "Oldsmobile" was on the radio face plate, and am once again gleeful in mentioning the quirk to you.
Browning Oldsmobile was in Cerritos (1980; new store in 1984). The Long Beach location was "Browning's Long Beach Oldsmobile", opened in 1991. I worked at both locations from 1990 to 2004. I also attended "Oldsmobile University" in January 1994 for a full week of training for the new Aurora.
The Twilight Sentinel dates back to the '50s on Cadillacs. It was controlled by a device on top of the dash, called an "Autronic Eye". When I was a little kid, my grandfather gave me one he'd pulled out of a '57 Caddy. It looked like a ray gun from a sci-fi movie from that era.
I'm so happy, I was waiting for the day when Doug would review an Aurora. I still have mine, a 1998 in Navy. I had a 99 in Bronze that got totaled. Best cars I've ever driven. Smooth riding, solid, reliable. One fun fact about the 4.0 is Shelby used a modified version of it in the Series 1 car they built. It's a really solid motor. My only real disagreement with Doug is the car does feel pretty fast for what it is. Though it's not breaking any records at a 15s 1/4 mile. Planning to hold on to mine for as long as I can.
My friend's dad had one of these. I remember road tripping with this on our way to a travel hockey game. I was 12 and remember thinking it looked really wild back then, especially the tail lights. We were used to such generic taillights.
I was a car Porter at a Oldsmobile dealership in Phoenix when this car was brand new. I remember driving it and being in awe of all the switches and lights on the dash. The car was ahead of it time
My grandmother had one of these brand new. Freaking loved it when I was a kid. My grandfather and I still reminisce about it and how much he regrets selling it. I believe it was pearl white with the chrome wheels. I also think it was the last year of this generation so a 99 if I recall.
I owned a 1998 Aurora and I absolutely loved it! I did have quite a few issues with the Northstar which probably surprises no one. Still to this day one of the most comfortable cars I have ever owned. Interesting notes with the specific example in this video... These cars had very few options... And this car seems to be missing all of them. The options were the Bose Acoustimass sound system (you would see the enclosure in the trunk if it had it because it took up a ton of space). It also doesn't have the heated seat option, which is a shame. And the only other option I remember was the Autobahn package which raised the speed limiter and had different tires, I think.
I worked at a GM dealership in the late 90’s to early 2000’s and I remember really liking these cars. They were very comfortable! The “tuck” on the wipers (as I used to call it) was even on my 97 cavalier Z24. I remember when I saw the 2nd generation re-design of the Aurora I wasn’t so much a fan. This one was in beautiful shape and kinda like a rolling time capsule.
Yes thanks for doing this car, I've had three doing the years, I loved each one, this car still looks good to this day, most don't know what it is, that's what makes it still cool, the car seating was very comfortable, it also felt good the way everything was positioned , the car wasn't extremely fast but it felt good to drive and press the gas, I think it was how tight the car felt with comfort , it had no bounce or sag feeling at all, it was very quiet as you drive it , no noise at all, it even felt kinda good around corners it felt tight and pinned to the ground , it felt safe , I can say it was well put together ,lol it's crazy that I'm typing this and Douge is saying the things I'm saying , I swear right as I was typing it was well put together, I swear to God he started saying it as I finished typing it, how freaking cool is that, it just made me smile, so I hope he reads everything I put and tell me if I said everything right on, all in all this car was and is still a nice representation of our much earlier days before we got to where we are now, the car would be awesome with a LS swap a nice soft flowmaster sound not the loud kind, a smoke grey pearl paint finish with some nice tires all shined up, light tinted windows, some new projector headlights that goes with today's brands, all black leather interior kinda plush feeling but tight for comfort, and there you have it , still a nice survival late 90s early 2000s badass Oldsmobile just waiting on anybody to test it's ability, that new LS gone launch this beautiful car right in front of whatever all the way to the finish line while looking good doing it... Leave your comments on did I leave anything out and do you agree, because now I'm looking for one to do so....
I live in Poland and when I was a teenager in late nineties or early two thousands I saw almost identical Aurora and I had no idea what brand it was then. I found later it was Oldsmobile. I was quite impressed with its design and started to be more interested in Oldsmobile cars and american cars.
I've been to Poland in the mid-2000s and was quite surprised as to how many American imports I saw there. I saw a Hummer H2, Lincoln Navigator, Chevy Avalanche, Lincoln Town Car to name a few off the top of my head. Seems like these cars have a cult following there like JDM cars do here in the US.
@@juanzingarello4005 Yes , there is possibility to import cars from US or Canada into Poland and many people do this. We dont have 25 years old rule like in the USA but because of the taxes you have to pay when importing cars from outside EU its cheaper to import slightly damaged cars and then repair them in Poland.
It was a very big deal to have a American car in Poland in those days. The only real way to have an American car in Poland in the nineties was to import one from the US. there were companies in Chicago that specialized in sending cars to Poland. Wild times.
I have always been in love with the first generation Aurora; wish I had one. Fun fact, the second generation was meant to be a model called the Antares to slot between the Intrigue and Aurora, but was turned into the second generation Aurora when the writing was on the wall for Oldsmobile. I hope you follow up with a video on its platform mate Buick Rivera. Love that car as well, and it's super quirky and weird.
There are precursors from other GM cars in the Aurora: the band of idiot lights above the DB is from Cadillac; the data readout is a greatly simplified version of Buick’s info center; the Pontiac Grand Prix pioneered the driver-centric dash. The reason the Aurora drove so competently was because it was a 25 Hz design per GM leadership order. It resulted in some exterior design changes, but they pulled it off nicely. RIP Oldsmobile.
I really find that car interesting! About shared parts: Being from Europe, I recognize the gauge cluster being suspiciously similar to the Opel Omega B of the 90s, Opel being also a GM brand at the time... so maybe not shared in the US, but on other markets...
I live in Chicago and I used to see a LOT of these cars back in the early 2000s. These cars would mostly be in the color white and would be seen in the hood with 22 inch chrome rims and 12 inch subs in the trunk. Ah good times those were. I never owned nor driven one but I do like them.
Same here in Detroit - Once these started hitting the used car lots you would see all the young guys driving them with 20" rims, custom paint, subs, etc - These Aurora's became the go-to "hood rich" vehicles of the early 2000's - Same thing happened in the late-2000's with the 2002+ BMW 7-series, at least until they all inevitably broke down and got repossessed by the finance companies lol - Now the Dodge Charger/Chrysler 300 has the floor as the go-to hood rides.
One of my favorite near luxury cars at the time.. Aurora & The Mazda Millenia we’re the quintessential when it came too styling.. they’re designs were flawless
I am so happy this popped up on my feed. I haven't watched Daddy Doug in quite a while. Before I watch the video I will share my thoughts on the Aurora. Back in 1998 my father and I leased matching Oldsmobile Auoras. They were the best-looking cars out there. Big heavy sedans that have power, they handled pretty well, have huge interiors, and are very comfortable. The biggest difference between our cars was that my father's Aurora had the Authoban package which had no speed limiter, had a stiffer tuned suspension that didn't affect ride quality because it still ran on 16" wheels, and had a sunroof. While my car would hit the limiter at about 120, his would get close to 150, and I was able to confirm that on a lonely stretch of road. Design wise there was nothing else out there that looked like the Aurora. It was such a head-turner. Mine was bright silver, and in certain light looked like a different color. It looked like a spaceship. I pulled up to a friend of mine's house one night and she said it looked like a spaceship pulled up to her house. My father's was jet black. With the marker lights on his Aurora looked like a panther prowling through the night. We received many compliments. Both cars were leased for 4 years. Both were dealer-serviced on a regular basis according to GM's schedule. I changed the oil on my car more frequently because I was racking up the miles. I would occasionally use a quick lube for that. All the major work was done by the dealer. As comfortable, and great looking as the Aurora was, the reliability was not great. In our respective first 6 to 8 months of leasing the Aurora my father's car was plagued by electrical issues that required the ABS abd BCM computers to be replaced. Once the issues were repaired on his car it was fine for the remainder of the lease. I can't recall anything major. He had an oil leak from the oil pressure-sending unit that he didn't even know about. The dealer found it and replaced it under warranty during a routine service. Mine on the other hand had issues from the moment I took delivery. It threw a check engine light as soon as the tires hit the pavement leaving the dealership. I had a bad EGR valve that caused the car to sound like a jet. The car wouldn't shift out of second gear. I needed new Transmission solenoids. It would have hesitation issues while driving like it was going to stall or had a misfire. The check engine light was ALWAYS on. The dealer changed plugs, wires, sensors, belts etc. It was ongoing. I do recall we both had to have the AC recharged. after 18 months Mine completely emptied out. No one knows why it happened. It was recharged and it was good for the remainder of the lease. My father's car needed to be topped off towards the end of his lease. My passenger-side window motor stopped working. There was a short. It took multiple trips to the dealership to sort. Finally, I was so frustrated I went to a local window shop and they told the dealership how to fix it. It needed a new wire harness that GM used exclusively on that car. My gas gauge wasn't accurate. The sending unit was replaced.It didn't fix it. The fuel pump was replaced it didn't fix it. I learned to live with it. The big problem I had was how the car ran. I traveled a lot for my job and was racking the miles up. I was also over my miles. with about 10 months to go on my lease and 64,000 miles I leave my office, get in the car turn the key and nothing happens. Barely cranks. The battery is good. Maybe the starter? There was a mechanic in the industrial complex where I worked. We push it over. He calls me the next day and tells me the motor is bad. WTF!?? He doesn't know how it happened. Oh, and BTW I'm out of warranty because of the miles. It was a total fiasco. GM didn't want to know anything. My insurance broker told us to put a claim in with our insurance carrier because we had mechanical breakdown insurance. They covered $2800 towards a motor. The only thing is a new motor for that car, A Northstar motor wasn't being sold directly from GM and they were about $15,000. My only option was a used motor. The service manager at HL Oldsmobile, Jack who I hope is still alive was great. GM or HL Oldsmobile wouldn't allow work to be done on the car because it was out of warranty and we weren't able to buy a new Northstar directly from GM. Jack directed us to a mechanic who could handle sourcing the motor and installing it. You have to remember this was back in 2000. The internet wasn't what it is today. Today everyone is online. The Indy mechanic finally takes delivery of a motor he likes. I think we had 3 motors delivered, and the 3rd time was a charm. I personally learned a lot watching them work on the car. I had no idea that the motor could be removed and installed from the bottom. I had never seen that done before. When putting the parts from the old motor on to the new motor he discovered the AC compressor was frozen. Upon further inspection, he discovered that the compressor seized and didn't free wheel like it was supposed to and somehow put enough stress on the motor that it broke a cam. I would find out years later that GM knew of this issue. It's very possible that the constant hesitation wasn't a misfire it was the AC compressor locking up and causing the motor to go into limp mode. I recall hearing a belt squeak on occasion and I did change the belts on both sides of the motor. So about $5,550, and 6 months later the car is fixed. It's driving ok, and the fuel gauge now works like it was supposed to. Summer is upon us and I am driving down to the Jersey shore. I enter the Garden State Parkway, I'm merging with heavy traffic going over the Raritan bridge and the car shuts down. No power, no start. nothing. I manage to get over to the shoulder. I had to call 911. I get towed back home. I parked the car and that was it I was done with it. I had it towed to the mechanic that did the motor. The ECM was shot. It shorted out. I left the car there until the lease was over. I needed a car. I leased my first VW and never looked back. Since 2001 I have only driven German and Japanese cars for use as my personal vehicles. My father was so disgusted by my experience that he stopped leasing from GM. for 23 years the man owned and leased nothing but Cadillacs, and Oldsmobiles. He leased himself back to back 300m's before going to Lexus and regretted not doing it years earlier. Looking back now I realize that it's experiences like this that caused GM to go bankrupt. People like me and my father were so accustomed to issues with GM cars always breaking down that we didn't know any better. I don't know if they are any better today, but GM has yet to produce a better-looking car than the Aurora. The sad thing is that these cars were so underappreciated. They did not sell well, and many didn't survive clunkers for cash. On occasion, I do search for them and the ones that did survive are so ragged out that junking them would be a mercy killing. Despite all the issues the Aurora is still one of my favorite cars. It's in my top 5. I have a ton of great memories from that time of my life that were spent in that car. If I found a 1999 which was the last year for that design, and in mint condition I might consider buying it. I'll give my thoughts on Doug's take after I watch the video.
My teacher has this car, a 1998 oldsmobile aurora with green interior and a cherry metallic finish on the exterior. What a fantastic car! The V8 engine it had was so quiet for its time
Went from a 96 Corsica to a 97 Aurora!! Let me tell you what a difference that car made in my life lol. To me it was a damn rocket at the time. Powerful, smooth, got amazing fuel mileage and mine was reliable as hell for the 4 years i drove the snot out of it!
I cannot express how glad I am that you finally got to review one of these. I remember when these came out as a kid and always thought it'd be the kind of car you'd be interested in.
I owned a 97 Aurora early in my adulthood, and it was a lot of fun to be honest. It was sporty (enough) and the suspension was awesome. It was comfy and I enjoyed the hell out of it. Until the Northstar inevitably died and I learned how much it costs to fix Cadillac things haha
I'll never forgot when my girlfriends father purchased one of these in the 90s and surprisingly bragged about it. Everyone was getting the all new Lexus, and he was frustrated that no one cared about his Aurora. Seems like it was a cooler car than people realized. Seems like a case of GM/Olds waiting too long to update their brand, and their last harrah went largely unnoticed.
These were such a nightmare at the dealership I refused to do any more Aurora warranty work as a line mechanic. We had a family friend that owned one that ended up parked in our back yard for years, I refused to work on it because the wiring was insane.
I used to own the Aurora's cousin the Intrigue. It was a really nice car but for several years i kept switching back and forth between sedans and pickups when i couldn't afford both. I never seen the inside of an Aurora until now and i love the cockpit style cars where it feels like everything is driver focused and easy accessibility. Now it seems like most cars are centralized between driver and passenger
I think this car still looks great! The design has aged well. It actually looks better than the "meatloaf" cars we have now. This car looks sleek and sculpted. I never really paid much attention to GM cars in the 90's but I wouldn't mind giving one of these a test drive if I was in the market for a cheap "nostalgic" cruiser.
I enjoyed your review. I had a 1998 with a pearl white exterior and tan interior, also a sunroof. I loved the exterior styling as well as the cockpit interior. The seats were comfortable, the ride was quiet and smooth. I really enjoyed the car. After watching your video I wish I had mine back.👍
I remember reading an article about this car when I came out in a magazine (possibly road & track). Gm took a couple of these to drive on some European roads. Because it didn't have any Oldsmobile badging many of the locals were surprised when they were told it was an American made car. It had positive response to it's looks. I liked it at the time and got to drive one.
Fun fact: An early, highly modified, prototype of this engine was used in one of the Oldsmobile Aerotechs in the early 90's to break a bunch of speed endurance records. I know this because I worked for Batten Performance in Romulus Michigan, which developed and built one of the two Quad 4 variants that were used in the Aerotech .
The Aerotech prototypes used a Quad 4 boosted to an unbelievable 845hp! Not a typo, 845 hp.. They hired none other than AJ Foyt to drive it He hit an insane 260 mph. Remember, it only had 4 cylinders. They were considering a 4 Dr Cutlass Supreme with that engine to humiliate the BMW M5. I am still furious that the Aerotech never became reality. They don't have to give it that much hp. Just 500 is plenty for most people.
@@largol33t12 IIRC, the single turbo Quad we built at Batten made 900hp, on pump gas. Something like 1100-1200hp on race gas. Something you don't hear about is that one of the Aerotechs hit a deer crossing the track while going 200+mph. I remember the video footage (wish I still had it). The deer was literally vaporized, nothing but a red misty cloud.
@@jeffy210 vaguely. Another neat vehicle we did was for Ford. It was a twin turbo V6 Bronco II 4x4. I don't remember how much hp it made, but it was bonkers.
@@devongee1776apparently changing the title and thumbnail of your video causes TH-cam to promote it more. Not sure why but I’ve heard other TH-camrs talking about it. Maybe that’s what they were talking about it
I bought an Alero 18 months old V6, it hauled ass. I liked to drive it, I could get 37mpg on the highway at 75mph. Seats were rock hard, fit and finish was pretty bad on the interior, but I liked it. I got T-boned it folded in half, I'm glad my daughter wasn't with me, her car seat ended up in the trunk. My wife's door and seat were one, and the side pillar was pushed mid-way in. I walked away with glass in my mouth and underware. I moved up to a Caddi SLS that was on the Chevy dealers used lot, that car was pretty good too.
Alero was a great looking steaming pile of throw away 100,000 mile garbage. That car was probably $500-1,000 worth of gm investment per car away from being as reliable as mid-late 90s delta 88 but with better handling....
My Parents had a 1999 Aurora and I used to love that car when I was a kid. The frameless windows were my favorite feature along with the then incredible at the time to me, Monsoon sound system if I recall correctly. Such good memories!
I found one 2 years ago with 10k miles for $10k that was a score pearl color like brand new in and out! a car ahead of it's time and still an eye catcher!
That's such a shame it didn't do well, seemed well thought out, the design has aged well too! The drivers side of the dashboard looks a little Saab to me, the hidden buttons is SO cool!!!
We owned a 1998 Aurora and we loved it. We still find ourselves thinking that we would like to still be driving it. It was a delight on long road trips. It had two drawbacks. One, it was easy to get stuck in deep snow and, two, (this was the dealbreaker for us) the finish coat on the 98s didn't bond well to the primer. Our car began losing large pieces of paint and a new paint job was $8000. Now I could afford the paint job. Boy I miss that car.
My 1990 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight had many of the features found in this car including: Driver Information Center, Twilight Sentinel (controlled the automatic sunlight-sensing lights that would turn on as the sun went down, not the amount of time the lights stayed on after the car was off as Doug falsely mentioned) and the cig lighters and ashtrays in each of the rear door. Obviously they were trying to differentiate the Aurora from other GMs but still used a lot of parts bin parts that had been around for years at that point.
I owned this car. I bought it years after it was made, roughly 2011. It was my favorite car I've ever owned. Decently the most comfortable car I ever owned. I used to hammer the snow in my parking space and it just went right through it. I drove it until someone cut the brake lines... that's another story. But dam, even in an accident, you barely felt it
Doug. Appreciate your reviews of these unappreciated survivors! It’s cool to hear the history about the car’s development and purpose to try to revive Oldsmobile. I remember how much GM put into marketing these cars and how different they looked compared to Oldsmobile 80s and early 90s products at the time. My dad was and still is a huge GM car guy. I grew up around Suburbans, Buicks, Oldsmobiles and Cadillacs. Would LOVE it if you would review the following soon: 1) Lincoln Mark VII LSC 2) Saab 9000 Aero 3) Saab 900 SPG
I always liked these. I got my license in a 1973 Buick Riviera and I currently drive a 1997 Buick Riviera which is considered the sister car to the Aurora. Both forward thinking models by G.M. for sure.
For some reason, I absolutely love the dashboard shape a lot of cars in the 90s had as in the Aurora! When I had my 1997 Daihatsu, it followed the same shape, though was very small compared to Aurora itself.
The 90's era T-Birds had a really cool driver centric design. The center stack was seriously angled towards the driver. I always liked that about those cars.
That windshield wiper action was very common on GM cars in the 70's and 80's. Hidden wipers all had that retract setting when they were turned off. I miss hidden wipers. Much cleaner look. Plus, many luxury cars had dual ashtrays with lighters in the rear.
The other really interesting part of this car is the safety. They tested the crash test of this car, and it broke the crash simulator GM had. They had to use one of their Heavy Duty Truck Crash ranges to find out how well it survived. What a fantastic car.
Been waiting for an Aurora review and finally the day came. That car always caught my attention. From a brand like Oldsmobile which made boxy cars back in that time, that was such a good design. I remember that somebody in town owned one in pearl white and it looked so good. Nowadays its rare to see one of those on the road. It would also be nice if one day you can do a review of a Daewoo Lanos hatchback. Those cars are getting less common to see.
I had a second generation Aurora with the V6 “ShortStar” engine and it remains one of my very favourite cars ever. I didn’t even know it existed but I’d totaled a 6 year old Golf with nearly 400,000km on the clock and I had a $6,000 insurance cheque in hand. I just went to a dealer I trusted and asked him for the best thing on his lot for $6k and it was the Aurora. In common with NorthStars, eventually the head gasket went. But I loved that car for 4 years.
Owned a 95 when they first came out. A few QC issues being an early build but nothing major. Headroom was compromised a lot with the sunroof and the seatbacks were uncomfortably low and hit me in the shoulder blades. The trunk was big but the opening was pretty small and compromised by the mounting location of the CD changer. That being said the highway ride was very smooth and unusually quiet. The tech was very forward for its day. The engine was also a great feature. It idled so smoothly you could balance a nickel on it at idle (won a few bets with that one). Still have the original brochure that had two sides, one showing the development process and the other side the finished product. Thanks for allowing me to revisit it.
It was like a "blue collar" luxury car. It was a brand to hate, and forget....sometimes like work ( lol ), but it did it's job for as long as the brand stayed....transporting people around. It was also a unique brand, with some nice, or cool, styling. Those warning lights, above the gage cluster, reminds me of my grandpa's 1958 Olds, so that is nothing new really. And I am sure us Canadians had that CD changer, specially when the harsh winters came 😉😉
THIS car did NOT fail miserably. The Aurora was not only a sales success but it also set new standards for structural rigidiity and styling that is still being utilized and copied to this day. Still not another car on the road that comes close to the unique styling of the 1st Gen Aurora
@nomenclature9607 I was fortunate to have a Pearl White 97. She was a winner. Had every option except the Bose Accoustamass Sound System. Only let her go because the price was right 🍺
I remember, in my senior year of high school (02), looking at one of these with my uncle. He debated it, but ended up buying a Toyota Avalon instead, mostly because it had a front bench seat option. While we both liked the Olds V8 extra power, I am really glad he went for the Avalon. I have since inherited it; I doubt the Olds would have still been around for me to still be driving today. The Auroras did have an interesting look to them.
I find myself watching more of these videos about normal "traffic" cars I grew up around than the cars I'll likely never see in real life outside of a show. Partly because the supercars are already all over youtube on tons of other channels, and partly because the quirks and features are much more relatable.
You should check Buick Park Avenue or Lesabre of that time. It also had separate lighting bar for the warning lights, separate passenger temperature control on the passenger door. Ashtray for every passenger. A great mix of 70th style and 90th technology. I had a 95 Park Avenue. Loved it. You should check it one day
It's a shame these did not do insanely well once they went on sale. Way sleeker looks than most anything else available at the time, drove pretty darn nice for its size, and especially with the V8, had some real power to it. Between this and the Intrigue, those were some of Olds' best years in the 90s, imo. Edit: fwiw, I always saw the difference between Olds and Buick as: Olds gives you the comfort and tech of a Buick, but with a forward looking design aesthetic and a at least noticeable performance improvement. In other words: your kinda cool Uncle buys the Olds, grandpa buys the Buick.
@@TrevorSchulz666 Name a 90's car that wasn't full of cheap crap that would break other than a Toyota? BMW? HA! Mercedes? have fun replacing that heater core! 90's American cars can be fixed in parking lots with a socket set and $100.00 bill.
Pre-bailout GM had the best seats. Soft leather with plush padding that you sank a couple of inches into. Soft suspension that could cruise all day. It's a shame the Germans taught us that luxury must mean rock-hard seats with tight "leather" and suspension you can feel every crack in the road through. Bring back land yachts.
I owned the 2001 4.0 version and, outside of the TCC solenoid issue, the car was great. Cruising along at highway speeds gave you this feeling of riding on a cloud attached to rails. Peppy and responsive, yet comfortable, and the one I owned has more appointments and accessories than some of the Cadillac cars of the era.
Hi Doug, I was the lead creative interior designer for this Aurora at GM. My team and I designed everything in it. (Except for that rear vent knob!). We had a blast working on that project. I still have a lot of the sketches. We had free reign with the content. The materials used was another story. Thanks for your positive review! Still proud of that work.
You did a GREAT job! 👏👏👏
Question: Why did GM and other car makers move away from driver oriented consoles/dashes? I loved them as a driver. However, it seemed like in the early 2000s car makers decided that it had to focus more on the passenger and so they started making these really plain clusters with big knobs to make it easier for the passenger riding shot gun to control.
I came from Europe, I moved to Canada couple of years ago. When I first see a vehicle parked by the curb and it had only one "brand name" on it: AURORA, I had no clue what is it? It was a good start, dropping Oldsmobile brand and using a stylized "A" as a logo and using the Aurora name only. But GM never was able execute something special well. The story is the same here: GM supposed to terminate the Oldsmobile brand when Aurora unveiled and go with the brand AURORA. And build vehicles with European/Japaniese influenced design and technology. But GM always failing due to desing/engineering/manufacturing/marketing (pick one of it, pls.) and this mistake/error ditch the project forever. Hyundai started with a Hyundai Genesis sedan... and they made it a successful brand, we know as GENESIS today. This is the path that GM had to follow back in the day. But they failed.
The driver oriented cockpit in the AURORA came from SAAB, I'm 100% sure about it! Let's check the interior/cockpit in the Saab 900 NG (1994-1998) and it continued (and looked much, much better) in the first generation SAAB 9-5 (YS3E, 1997-2010)...
I was a kid when this debuted! I loved the look of it when it came out and still think it looks good!
Who also loves it when Doug reviews these run of the mill of the cars instead of the quarter million dollar exotics?
This indeed is way more interesting.
Me and based on the views of his other vids, maybe 75% of his viewers :)
Agreed
Especially since I have one in white sitting in my barn rn. Haha. The v8 was great for how small it is.
I agree. I find this also much more interesting than another giant SUV.
Loved this car as a kid. A year ago I found a clean one and drove it for a year for grins and giggles with my other cars. It really was a great car. Things you missed: the rear was self leveling air shocks, all the wood in this car was real burl wood, and the unibody structure was so strong for the time it broke GM's crush test machine for cars and they had to put it on the truck one.
That explains why he kept saying no rattles.
WTF? The wood was real in this?
Dough is the automotive equivalent of CNN. Lots of biased info, some of it true, most is omitted
@@ogisgarage9721 , he was more detailed up to like a year or two ago. I live here in San Diego and one day I will see him.
Did all cars have that? Or just the ones with the Autobahn package?
I owned an '97 Aurora and it was one of the best cars I've ever had. Roomy, comfortable, luxurious while at the same time it hauled ass like nobody's business. The icing on the cake was that it looked phenomenal...it bore s striking resemblance to the 4-door Maserati Quattroporte of that same year. PS. The Bose sound system was second to none....a very impressive car from top to bottom.
I worked for a business owner that had this car new, and it was a big deal.
@peteshea8010 For a factory system...you've obviously never heard it. What factory sound system was better in the '90's?
Seems to me the dreaded Aurora would surprise red light pundits who would scoff and snigger at it and its equally "loser" driver, and then the smirks and sniggers would turn to shock and even a touch of awe as they didn't expect a car that looked like an old school 90s ufo to accelerate like an actual old school ufo from a 90s made for tv low budget sci fi show! It wasn't cinema level ufo acceleration from reports, more made for that low budget tv level ufo acceleration. But nonetheless it was not to be messed with as the ultimate budget sleeper-sleeper sleeper sedan!
I wouldn't be surprised if back in the day grannies late to have heart medicine prescriptions filled racing to the drug store before closing to prevent heart attacks would not only actually have heart attacks due to this cars ufo like acceleration but would be accidently winning red light drags in the process during those heart attacks.
@peteshea8010 Yeah, I was never impressed by anything Bose. I had Bose in one of my cars, and it sucked. My current Audi has a Bang & Olufsen system, and my sister's Volvo has a Harmon Kardon system. Things have gotten WAY better lately.
Cool azz car and when i saw the Tweeter on the doors , i figured it had good crisp tunes :))))))
I unironically really like the styling. It does the no grille look WAY better than modern cars tend to. It's only a shame the rest of the lightbar doesn't light
The tech was available back then on. The Lincoln Mark VIII had full neon light up taillight bar
I had one with a nasty radiator leak...but she never got hot. And I was able to do the radiatior myself. Very tight space.
Doug was wrong when he said no other carmakers did away with the front grille. It was common on many Ford/Mercury models and the original Infiniti Q45 also went grille-less. Of course both companies had abandoned the no grille look by the mid 90s.
What? Bro modern cars all have massive grilles
@@JonathanMoosey My Avanti was built in late 1962
As a European this car is dream tier. In the 90s we still had fairly boxy cars, some Japanese imports being the exception, so seeing these cars in American movies was quite the culture shock.
Funny from the American perspective of the time, these were seen as a relatively cheesy alternative to Lexus/Acura/Mercedes etc. Also didn't help they were driven by mostly senior citizens which killed any kind of cool factor. Thirty years later, this definitely brings back the 90's American nostalgia vibes.
Same opinion here. I am from
Hungary. And all we had were Ladas, Suzukis, Daewoos and some crappy old Mercs and BMWs. I always loved american cars. Nothing compares to the American people’s need for comfort. And growing up, low middle class, my parents always had shitty small cars. I think Americans take these things for granted. I gotta admit I fuckin love GM. I have a C5 Corvette now and even that is just insanely practical and so straightforward. Lovely to be honest. But I guess what’s not available is always more desirable.
Same here. I grow up In asia where Jdm cars are very cheap and everywhere. Those american cars fascinated me so much. I saw amrican people ball sck jdm cars so much and little or no respect for their country made make me very sad. If you drive a american v8 cars here You're like a god of car guy. And better than most jdm cars too. I don't know why they don't see that.
@@matveyfeniya9979I’m a very patriotic American and I love both Japanese and American cars. I’ve owned six American cars and about 8 Japanese cars.
I think the reason the JDMs took over in the 80s and the 90s was that they were good at one key thing we were not good at.
American D3 always struggled to build good compact sedans and coupes and our four cylinder engines left a lot to be desired in terms of refinement, power output (there were exceptions there, however) and reliability.
Simply put, Honda and Toyota (and to a lesser extent Nissan, Subaru, and Mazda) built superior compact cars in every category. Their compact economy sedans were better in almost every way, they built superior compact sports cars (compare a Pontiac Fiero to a Toyota MR2 and you’ll get where I’m coming from), their compact trucks were MILES ahead of our domestic options (the only good S10 has a LS V8 swapped into it; otherwise Toyota or Nissan all the way), and they were very competitive in the mid size and full size game starting in the late 80s.
There are areas where we excel and still do in many cases. We build better full size trucks than the Japanese, the pony car segment (well mainly the Mustang since the Challenger and Camaro are both dying this year) has no competition from Japan and are the only semi-affordable V8 sporty cars in the world, and we build world beating high end sports cars for a fraction of what the Europeans charge.
But the compact segment, especially back then, was a dominating segment of American auto sales and the competition was ferocious. And simply put, the Japanese built better compact cars than we Americans ever did. And still do today, since our D3 has mostly exited the compact car business entirely. We lost and the Japanese won. It’s really that simple.
My taste in cars, compact sporty sedans with good economy, leads me to Japan. Because we never did a good job at it.
Compare a 1998 Chevrolet Cavalier and a 1998 Honda Civic. The Civic is the WAY better car in reliability, fuel economy, performance, and refinement of the driving experience. And that’s where the Japanese have always dominated and we Americans struggled.
@@matveyfeniya9979yeah cause they always say that GM build quality sucks. But they always had nice cushioned leather seats, great low end torque bulletproof V8’s, Air conditioning, electric seat adjustements, and cruise control, even automatic shifter.
What they don’t seem to get that cheap cars here in East Europe didn’t have none of that stuff and the build quality STILL SUCKED 😂😂😂 oh and our cars didn’t have any space! Small and uncomfortable!
My parents didn’t even have electric window switches until like 2000.
Lol. So in my opinion USA had much higher standards in their automobiles which is not a suprise because of the distances they drive and the big differences in climate.
The exterior design is quite good. 30 years later, it doesn't look bad at all, it has nice lines.
...If you like the front end of your Oldsmobile looking a Saturn . I can see a lot of similarities between this Olds & the Taurus of that time...too many curves and no front grille , could have been contributing factors to its unpopularity.
I wish new cars still looked more like the Aurora than what they look like now-- new car bodies have so many creases they look like they've already been in an accident before they leave the new car lot. Hate them.
@@rachelblack3816 Let's not even talk about the size of the grilles.
I want to like it, but I can't not see a monte carlo looking at this.
It’s a beautiful car
I owned a ‘98. By ‘98 Olds made many small, but important, changes to the suspension, brakes and interior trim. Mine was black with chrome wheels. As you observed, the fit and finish was excellent. I put 238,000 miles on it. Not only was it a great performer, but it had really good fuel economy. I loved every minute driving this car.
Thank you Doug for a great presentation. You forgot one really important aspect of the Aurora project. Not only was it an Indy pace car, the Aurora engine was a winner several times over in various racers over several years! I also believe that it had much more h.p. than advertised.
@roysmith6118 I don't get the stogy Oldsmobile reputation. Have we forgotten the Olds Cutlass, the Olds 4-4-2, the Jetfire with the Rocketfire V8 engines? The 1962 Olds Jetfire was the first turbocharged production American car. That's right 1962. A tv show did a great feature on the Jetfire. I won't mention names but the show's initials were Jay Leno's Garage. By 1964 Olds OHV engines ranged from 250 to 455 cubic inches. By 1966 you could get a tri power 4-4-2 with a hi performance cam and Ram Air induction. By 1970, the 4-4-2 came std with a 455 ci big block. Not exactly your granddad's Oldsmobile..
@@rtflone It's in the name: Old. The 442 was a classic car by the time this one was made, or at least the good ones that people still think are cool, and there was not much cool about anything they made in the '80s and '90s and they weren't fast or sporty. This Aurora may have been an exception, but you can tell by the badging that even Olds designers were trying to distance themselves from the brand. I actually owned a late '80s Delta 88 for a while with the 3800 V6 and it was a great car. Quicker than I expected and way better on fuel than I expected too. It was still somehow better on fuel than any V6 full or midsize V6 sedan I've driven since. Got low to mid-20s around town and crowded 30 on the highway. I beat the snot out of that car too and it still got great mileage and was very reliable.
Those Aurora race engines were putting out 650hp, there was even an Aurora GTS-1 race car that looked ultra sexy..👌
Word has it that Auroras made junkyard operators wring their hands in anguish.....due to the car's remarkably over-engineered unibody structure. The 1990s Mercedes S class was benchmarked for structural rigidity.
I had a1966 442 with tri power 4speed trany.Had the engine built,the car was a true sleeper.i loved that car but being young with a led foot I aquire to many speeding tickets,my father said he had used up all of this favors for me keeping my license and he did not want to bury me so the car had to go.Most beautiful car I ever owned and worth a small fortune today.
When this came out I remember thinking how incredibly futuristic this car looked….It hasn’t held up well, but I still appreciate it.
I thought from the side profile it looks like the stereotypical car a kid draws.
It held up really well
It held up better than anything else. Looks amazing still.
I respect brands taking risks to impress their customers
Looks like a molten Saturn!! Aged about as well as one of them blobbendale 65 year old male strippers who have spent far too many years in the Floridian Sun!!!
Worked at an Olds dealer in 96 and we sold Aurora....it was meant to challenge Lexus and had the northstar derivative. The seats were designed ground up and unique to that vehicle support wise and leather quality. Unfortnately as Doug mentioned it was too little to late it seemed and a few years later Olds met its demise. Most people coming on the lot either bought Pontiacs or if going for this level of vehicle bought Cadillac as far as GM.
What do you do now
No, they all bought SUV's. The Bravada sales picked up the same time as all SUV sales picked up. Everybody wanted an SUV.
Yeah this car went up against the Grand Prix which was much more popular. Even the 3rd gen Taurus SHO was a competitor for those who wanted that type of swoopy look.
@@tientrinh943
He does write a comments on TH-cam.
@@FuckTrumpFuckYouIfYouVoted4Himpeople still want SUVs.
Ive had two of these, a 2001 V8 and a 2002 V6. They were actually very comfortable vehicles and both were surprisingly reliable. I was always worried about the 4.0, but it only ever needed regular maintenance even though I was young and drive it like I stole it. I had a blast with both of them and still want another one, but this time I want a first gen. There's just something about these that I really like.
I absolutely adore my 95!
Did the 4.0 have head gasket issues from the head bolts like the 4.6? I was never worried about the 3.5. However, the 3.5 should have been the 3.8 supercharged.
Yes my buddies blew up. Head gaskets we’re non existent 2 months after he got it 😂
Probably just nostalgia for you
Prob they used normal bolts for the engine head
My mom's name is Aurora, so she had to get one. I drove it a few times, and it was exactly what it was meant to be - a comfortable, fairly high tech for its day, and high quality piece of transportation. It was probably comparable to something like a BMW 525-528 in its comfort/performance level. I thought it was a pretty advanced and elegant looking care. Shame it didn't work out.
I love it when Doug reviews a car like this. He knows the views will be crap, but he knows he'll enjoy making it. It's my favorite type of Doug video.
You know you’ve made it when 200k views in one day is considered crap😂
My Mother had one of these. It was actually a really nice car and it drove awesome.
But, the fear of engine issues and the starter being buried inside the engine was the drive to dump it before the miles got too high.
Ahh the north star headbolts
The 4.0 v8 is a pretty reliable motor and the starters are super easy to change. Much easier then buried on the bottom side of the motor. I’ve changed many of them and it takes about an hour max.
@@BorisBidjanSaberi11 I don't think the 4 liter had those issues.
My dear late wife owned one of these, it was a really nice car.. The ads said “not our father’s Oldsmobile” but even that backfired as the Olds fans apparently wanted their father’s Oldsmobile>”
@@user-bl4dj4zg7u @matt9c1 a family member had 250,000+ miles on theirs, very regular oil changes and she ran well.
Who said the Aurora was a failure? I used to see them absolutely everywhere. And I spent a few months with the 2nd gen Aurora and it felt absolutely magical, very smooth ride, buttery smooth power delivery and fantastic engine note, and looked stellar at the time both inside and out.
@@ArbitraryFilmingsThe Cutlass was junk compared to the Aurora, it sold more because it was an affordable car most people could afford at the time. My family had both and the two vehicles in the same brand were really an odd match. Had GM done something similar with the Cutlass instead of rebadging the Chevy the brand may have had a chance of surviving. I honestly think the 2nd generation Aurora was purposely allowed to stylistically flop so the brand wouldn't continue as most of the execs at GM during that time knew little to nothing about design.
DEEZ NUTZ.
Ya I disagree with Doug that the second gen was just a boring sedan. That car was outstanding, striking in styling, completely unique, and actually better than any Caddy of the time.
@@JayCAlan I actually liked the 2nd Gen more. Not to discredit the 1st gen model but the 2nd gen model just looked cleaner and less cluttered on the inside.
@@ArbitraryFilmings Oldsmobiles biggest problem was Buick. With Buick in the same picture there was really no point to the brand. Buick was clearly a premium car while Oldsmobile seemed to suffer from Edsel syndrome (a brand that people could not figure out where its placed on the luxury spectrum). Unfortunately, the same fate would fall Mercury. I feel Ford really screwed the pooch with Mercury by failing to move Lincoln upmarket (like GM did with Cadillac) and placing Mercury more at Buicks level. I know Buick sticks around now mostly because of China but it has clear differences between Chevrolet and Cadillacs. Mercury on the other hand, literally had little differences with Fords.
I was in one of these, my buddy had one. They are not slow and don't just "keep up with traffic".
They do move quite quickly for such a big car. You can definitely feel the torque hit you. This car probably had more HP than anything else in its class. It was probably near the top for all models in the 90s.
Its more the body being FAR ahead of its time. Cars now are just getting active grille shutters which close off the grill. This one grill was eliminated completely! The mechanics were a recycled cadillac mill with a more radical camshaft (than the caddy). IDK if the lack of a grill is a good attribute with the Northstars KNOWN overheating issues. AHH GM 🙂 They definitely made a greater effort on this car so thats gotta count for something!
@@willc5512 Much of the air goes under a vehicle to be brought up by the fans.
Doug has been totally spoiled by modern sportscars so if it doesn't do a sub 5 second 0-60 then it is slooow.
@@willc5512 Both the 1980's Firebird (beginning in 1982) and the 1980's C4 Corvette (beginning in 1984) didn't have any grills. This was YEARS before the Aurora began production.
I have always liked these cars, and have a car in the same class which is a Mark VIII which definitely had more power and moved a little better than the equivalent Cadillacs with the larger 4.6 engines. A lot of people dont know about the Shelby Series One, which used the Aurora engine and they had a forced induction version that put out a good amount of power. The Northstar engines had a lot of issues for many years before they were fixed, but I dont recall the Aurora having this issue. The later Aurora models actually had dropped the V8 in favor of a snappier V6 if I remember correctly.
i had a 96 , it was a great car , the bose cd changer in the trunk held 12 cds, also the battery was under the back seat and mine lasted 10 years ., because there are no temperature extremes to degrade it ,another quirk was the exhaust was supported by rubber grommets that had to be replaced periodically, so i kept spares , mine was a touring model and had the gold emblems , great review doug thanks
Nothing “quirky” about rubber exhaust hangers lmao
@@gtemnykh lol yeah it was strange , in order to change them you had to support the muffler with a jack , very strange system , also the car had airbags and the rear failed and jacked the back of the car way up in the air ,another of the many fixes that had to be sorted out
99% of the cars had and probably still have rubber grommets holding the exhaust
@@PlanBProductioninc You probably had a switch in the trunk to turn off the suspension air bags when jacking it up. If someone didn't turn off the rear air bag suspension, the system could break.
@@DUCKSAREEVILLLLLLLL I remember I went out in the morning to get in the car and the rear of it was way up I know there was an electric eye under the car that supposed adjusted levels but I ended up removing the bottom of the rear seat and pulling the fuse and it went back to normal
I always loved the design of the Aurora. That and the last Buick Riviera were gorgeous cars that you almost never see anymore.
I always thought that the Riviera was the more attractive of the two, but they were both beautiful
I own a mint 81K mile 1999 Riviera. I like the car way more than I thought I would. Feels smooth and solid.
My favorite thing about that model of Riviera was the huge font they used on the gauge faces, for the geriatrics, even though I was still quite a young dude at the time.
I have never understood why some car manufacturers seem so determined to make customers have to squint to read the same information, and think it's an intelligent design choice.
@@revolutionday1 The font and gauges of the 95-99 Rivy's were retro versions of the gauges from the First Gen Riviera's 1963-1965. In addition to the 99 SC Riviera that I own, I also own a 1965 Riviera.
Man, the Riviera was a gorgeous car. Haven’t seen one in quite some time in the road. Such a shame, too.
My mom had a ‘97 back then and it was… great! I was 16/17/18 at the time and I loved driving it. It was “cool”. It looked cool. It was “fast” enough that it was “cool”. It was by far the nicest car mom ever owned up to that point. Thank you for bringing back those memories!
What happened to it?
This also had adaptive steering feel. As your speed increased the steering would tighten. It was not a slow car either, it was quite fast for it’s day. My father bought one of the first in our town off the showroom floor. It was an excellent car compared to other offerings in its day.
I will forever love you for reviewing cars like this, Doug, I know they don't get as many views as your supercars/sportscar videos, but I love stuff like this so much so please keep doing them.
From a preservation perspective, so many of the old cars like this are trashed with no real efforts made to document how they looked at their peak. These cars were an importnat part of history of the American automobile! For a lot of cars which don't really have any survivors, we are left with only memories. I think there is something noble about documenting survivor cares like this, even if it's only to sell on Cars & Bids.
The ironic thing is that many did believe these were going to be collector cars when they were new, and treated them accordingly, expecting them to be worth real money one day. I think the mistake was not realizing that 90's cars were going to last much longer than the cars of the 50's and 60's, and the time before they became valuable was going to be decades later than expected.
My grandparents had two of these. Incredible car. My grandpa knew how much I loved driving it, so I got to spend a lot of time behind the wheel of these for years. Probably one of the smoothest engine and transmission pairings I’ve ever driven. That Northstar V8 gave it effortless acceleration. Each of theirs had over 120,000 miles without any issues. They’re a rare site on the road nowadays, but Oldsmobile really did a great job with the Auroras.
Most of which is fairly accurate except for while I work in the gm dealership those north stars were a problem child, and known for leaking oil
@@luryix9982
And blowing head gaskets, and cracking blocks, and leaking coolant, and having engine electronics that were almost as unreliable as a British engine.
The Northstar was an AWFUL engine that GM wasted way too much money and time pouring money into. I was happy to see that pile of mediocrity get discontinued and Cadillac adopt the LS engines for their V8 models.
@@OrtadragoonXMmmm… American Engineering
@@OrtadragoonX Stop trashing the car...in a public forum nothing is a good car. Everything is trash everything is a piece of shit everything is garbage. You people will trash a damn space shuttle if you had the chance. Show some respect. When someone dies you don't celebrate their life by trashing it you talk about all the good things they did. Same with an automobile. It is obsolete. It is discontinued. It was a fabulous automobile way ahead of its time that was better than its Cadillac rival in all aspects except acceleration. Which could be fixed with a 4.6 swap. The 4.6/4.0/3.5 NorthStar series engines are wonderful machines. Drive them like they're a Lexus and keep the coolant system serviced and you won't have no issues with them. Driving them like their Corvettes will send them to the shop on a tow truck just like any other vehicle.
@@Kxvito we can engineer good cars when we play to our strengths.
In the 90s we were constantly attempting to beat the Germans at their own game. Which wasn’t one of our strengths.
When I think pure American engineering excellence, I think of things like my 99 Trans Am. It wasn’t a perfect car by any means, but as a performer for the price that car was amazing.
A car to continue 7 production years is not a failure. This car as a kid in '95 looked pretty futuristic to me. A lady at my church then had one with the chrome wheels and it was dope. It was then a couple years later other makes started to pick up on the design like the '97 Taurus and Sable while the Mark VIII was already there as a coupe for '93. To me those four cars paved the way for the elegant ellipse design and to me that said futuristic.
Well said. I remember all the rounded futuristic shapes coming out in the mid-late 90's. I was a teenager then and remember driving many of these cars. My favorite cars since they are simple to work on and seem to last if you don't live in the rust belt. Something about simplicity I can appreciate. Simple fuel injection systems, 4 speed transmissions, etc.
Well to put it into perspective, the Alero sold more units each year it was on sale than the entire 7 year lifespan of the aurora. I would call that a failure.
@@samuelisch2196 Also the final model and car to exit the assembly line before OLDS closed down!
I agree, not a failure. The problem the rest of Oldsmobile's line up was archaic.
I just commented that this put me in mind of my '03 Taurus. That car had a powerful engine, was built solid, handled like a dream, and had a smooth and quiet ride. From the reviews I've come across I know I got lucky with a great one.
Man, my grandma had one of these when I was a baby (I'm 26 now) and that car is one of the very few memories I happen to have from that time. Hers was a blue-ish silver with a navy blue leather interior. That car was so subtle because if you punched that V8 it would smoke any 4-cyliner car. My dad told me once when we were with the family, he was driving the car around Lincoln Nebraska and some kid with a suped-up fake hot rod type car revved his little engine at a light. When the light turned green my dad said he floored the Aurora and it left the kid in the dust, lol. Great review Doug!
That wood inside is real!, no joke. There was a performance package available the Autobahn trim, higher rated tires, different gears as well as pcm for 140+mph crusing watching the gas gauge move too. Amazing build quality for a gm.
If you can, I'd like to see you get your hands on a mid-90s Riviera with supercharger. That was an interesting cart that still looks kind of fresh nearly 30 years later.
I know, it's not a new car built today. It's low on tech by 2023's standards but I love it.
Okay in which reality does this car still look fresh? It just screams 1990s all over, especially in the interior. Literally no one designs cars like this anymore, and for good reason.
I had a 97 Supercharged 3800 Series 2 Engine. 😌
@@champsammy13 If Oldsmobile exists, sales would've been on fire.
I own a mint 81K mile 99 Riviera (last year of the Rivy). Garage kept it's whole life. I need to get Doug to review it.
My grandfather had 2 of these as I was growing up and I used to love them!! They always seemed super cool and ahead of their time, I’m excited for this because it was a very quirky car!
Edit:
Holy crap, what a trip down memory lane. I could remember what almost all of the buttons and dials felt like as Doug showed them in the video. The info screen with the lid, passenger climate controls/vents, the squishy black foam at the bottom of the rear cup holders. All of it brought back long lost memories.
Thank you Doug, it felt good to remember some great times with my late grandfather!!
These things looked like spaceships when they came out. It was a sad day when GM discontinued the Oldsmobile marque.
My mom had an Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser when I was a kid.
I lusted after the 1990-1992 Oldsmobile Toronado Trofeo.
My uncle had an Oldsmobile 98 that spoke to you.
Americas longest running car brand, ruined by years of GM bean counters, “good-enough” executive mentality and badge engineering.
The Aurora was too niche to save the whole division.
I shed a tear for Oldsmobile.
The last good car Oldsmobile made was the 442. Full Stop.
My first new car , a 1978 Olds Cutlass. I thought I was IT. The car was a icon of the time🏖️olds had the best color matching wheels 🏖️
I think GM CEO Wagoner in the 90-s was a disaster. "Ol'boy" executive who also killed off the EV-1, when no other car company had even a paper sketch for an electric car, let alone a production car.
Aurora wasn't a failure on its own merits. It was an outstanding car for it's day. It's remarkable what they produced and got away with releasing, especially under the GM umbrella. The design was really striking, both inside and out and it was the touchstone for the last chapter of Olds lineup. Overall, the biggest single problem with Olds was the Ciera. That's what people in this time thought of when anybody said "olds"...grandma's Ciera. You could walk into the showroom, see this thing in the middle of the floor and have a Ciera next to it. One note...the Gen 2 Aurora wasn't supposed to be an Aurora at all. It was supposed to be the second car in the Aurora lineup, the Antares. Accurate that sales slumped to the point that GM decided to scrap the more expensive to manufacture flagship and just badge it as Aurora for the duration, but it honestly wasn't too far off of the original in most ways.
A lot of reliability issues....including the head gasket issues of the Northstar based engine. Paint peeling issues since GM had not quite figured out how to paint aluminum for long term use
That was the problem. Reliability. My brother had one and is an engineer and would sort things out. Then the engine pfffttt…something bad. He traded it on a Chevy pickup that he still has almost 20 years later.
By the late 90s, the Intrigue and the Alero gave Oldsmobile a pretty nice lineup alongside the Aurora 3.5 and 4.0, but it was alas too late.
@@LeviRamsey and reliability too poor to compete with the Japanese brands
they really should have put the 3800 V6 in it.
What I like about your TH-cam channel. Is that your car reviews are about any kind of vehicle. New and old to where everyone else is just doing just new vehicles. That's why I think your videos are much more interesting than all the other car reviewers.
I owned a 99 Aurora, and later a 97. They're gone now, but this car will always hold a special place in my heart. There's just something about them I've always loved.
I was 12 when this car came out and I was obsessed with it for a minute (and to a lesser degree the Oldsmobile Intrigue). It was a very unique car for the era, thanks Doug. Revisiting my youth.
I bought an 01 V6 and drove it for 15 years. A friend of mine had an Intrigue. Although they looked similar, the Aurora was a much better driving car.
Love the creativity of 90s American cars. The Aurora did not fail miserably, it sold well for a while and was critically acclaimed
GM's late 90s sedans used to be everywhere. The second-gen Aurora is also a great-looking car and very comfortable.
The Oldsmobile Cutlass was the best-selling car in the US for many years until the Taurus came out and shook up the market with aerodynamics. There was still some brand appeal by the time the Aurora came out.
Seeing one of these was wild in the late 90s. The oldsmobile aleros sold extremely well, still see them at the auctions. Gm has it's faults, and so does the imports, this was very comparable to the imports of the day and these were WAY cheaper.
"Creativity" 😮😅
Always a good day when Doug reviews a quirky car 😎
😎
I rented one for a business trip and was utterly amazed that this was an Oldsmobile. It had a truly wonderful ride and had great handling. What a shame it did not save the company. Too little too late.
I had an 03 and really loved it. I think it was the last year. Most comfortable back seats I've ever sat in.
It looked different from this one though
I've got a few fond memories of this car! I'm in my late 20's now, but when I was much younger, say around 5 or 6, I thought this was the coolest, most futuristic car I had ever seen. It looked like a spaceship to me, and that light bar was absolutely wild! Although, as a kid, I didn't know the center didn't light up. It's not as though the bar was set very high for me back then, but I was in love with the way these cars looked!
My old neighbor from across the street, Ed F., had a two car garage with a white 1995 Aurora inside, parked alongside a yellow, Targa-top Porsche 911. I wanna say it was a 1978, but it may have been older - I can't quite remember. He later traded the White Aurora for a Final 500 (second generation) he had managed to acquire as it's first owner -brand new!
He moved out of State around 15 years ago or so, and I have no idea what happened to the cars, or even if Ed is still alive. He was one heck of a neighbor, though, and I miss those days. He would let me come over any time I wanted to look at his cars. He would also let me sit in the driver's seat and pretend to drive them, which was awesome, being a 6-year-old!
While everyone else I knew was having fun with Gameboys and Tomagotchis, I was goofing off around my neighbors cars, and I had a blast doing it! Those two cars, and my Dad's 1987 GMC Sierra 3500 (single cab flareside) were among the very first cars I ever got to know, and they kicked off my life as a car enthusiast! I'd love to have one of these as they're becoming increasingly rare, although parts are also hard to find nowadays. Still, it would be a wonderfully unique, comfortable, fly-under-the-radar, IYKYK-type of daily driver car, which is the best kind of daily driver car, honestly.
Thanks for this video, Doug! I love the old quirky stuff, but especially this! Thanks for the throwback! I enjoyed that little trip I just took down memory lane.
Oldsmobile was actually trying to take on the Germans with the Aurora and Intrigue. The Intrigue had an "Autobahn package" which upped the limiter from 108 to 128mph as well as gave it slightly different suspension and tuning. I had a 2001 Intrigue with that package.
Aurora had an optional Autobahn package as well.
They were excellent cars for the time just badly marketed. The OSV models were unbelievably cool and so good looking for their time and even today! The Intruigue OSV looked sinister and a super sleeper machine.
@paralyzes I had it up to 147. That's the fastest I ever drove, and despite having cars that wouldbeasily do that speed now I haven't done it since we had the Auoroa.
I daily drive a 2001 Oldsmibile Intrigue. It's a great car.
There was sort of a "hierarchy" of the GM brands. Lore tells it when you were a young first driver you'd start with a Chevy. You grew up a bit, wanted performance and had a bit more money so you traded for a Pontiac. Then a few years later you decided you want the performance but wanted luxury entwined with it so you traded up to Oldsmobile. Get a little older, maybe a tinge of gray, performance dwindled to luxury in your eyes so Buick it is. Finally you rounded it off in your retirement age with a Cadillac just in time to afford one for the pinnacle of American luxury.
That was my understanding too. Except I was never too sure what Pontiac was supposed to be. I heard in the 50s and 60s, Pontiac was the absolute no-frils, basic car below Chevy. Then it rebranded itself as sports car division. So I wasn't sure if it was like a Chevy, but better, or maybe edgier?
@@ressljs Yea that's pretty much what happened to it. The "better looking" performance cars over the performance cars at Chevrolet. It got really muddy for Pontiac in the 90s and 00s until the Solstice, GTO and the G8 showed up. Those were cars that Chevrolet did not have at the time at all. Camaro was dead, they had the front drive SS cars (Cobalt, Malibu, Monte Carlo and Impala) those 3 Pontiacs showed there was some hope left, but just too late. And I'm sure if they pushed stronger and better marketing, they could have sold more of those 3 and stayed exceution.
In the 70s, Olds was among the top selling American brands and their cars were stylish. GM sort of let the brand go during the 80s until they were just making "me-too" boxes indistinguishable from a million other cars. Buyers forgot about them. When the 90s came GM tried to revive Olds but it was too late.
I think that was by design.
back then, from bottom to top, it was Chevy, Pontiac, Olds, Buick then Cadillac.@@ressljs
I have always loved the Olds brand, I’ve done reports on them. All the way thru college, actually. I remember when these were out, I thought they were very interesting and curvy. And I always wanted one of the last “Final 500” Oldsmobile models. I ended up getting a 2004 Oldsmobile Bravada a few years back now. I love driving it, I’m going to put a sound system in it soon. I also have a 2008 Saturn Aura 3.5 V6 that I’ve had for over 12 1/2 years now since high school, so I guess you could say I have a thing for dead GM brands and nostalgia lol. Good review of a great car.
Doug, this is quite an unexpected surprise that you're reviewing an American passenger car from the era of the 80's to the 2000's again, especially something like this Aurora or any other General Motors product. I have to say, I love it!!! Its always a good day when you review some truly quirky cars, nonetheless the severely underrated stuff like this, and I'd love to see you do some more vehicles like this.
One suggestion for a car I would want you to review is a 1999-2005 Pontiac Grand Am, perhaps a GT or a Ram Air version. It would be really cool if you can try and review one of those. These cars are shockingly quirky, such as with two sets of working reverse lights, air conditioning vents that you can litteraly orient any way you could, the trunk release button on the inside of the drivers door, and even some other interesting design and styling quirks too.
Speaking of Grand Ams would love to see an 80s Firebird. The one with pop up headlights. Especially the pacecar one with the 3,8l V6 Turbo from the Grand National
Thank you -- I appreciate hearing that :) Cars & Bids has allowed me to go and review some of these old oddballs and still have it make financial sense. I'm thrilled with it!
@@DougDeMuro Maybe even a 2004-05 Monte Carlo SS Intimidator and a 2006-2007 Monte Carlo SS.
I have always like the first generation Oldsmobile Aurora. The styling was ahead of its time and something not many people had seen when it launched. The Aurora did the tail light bar before tail light bars gained popularity, even though most of that tail light bar did night light up. I would love to own a first generation Aurora.
Light bars were actually winding down at the time. They were a feature on a lot of 80s cars like the 1982-1996 Buick Century.
@@Bartonovich52Don’t forget the front light bar on the first & second gen Mercury Sable (1986-1995) The 1990 Grand Prix sport sedan also had one.
@@Bartonovich52 didn't the foxbody capri have one?
@@Bartonovich52 Oh, okay. Well, this was the one car I remember from GM in the 1990s that had one. I am sure there were others, as mentioned in the comments.
Light bars began in Buicks in 1964.
I remember seeing the very first one of these when it arrived at Browning Oldsmobile in Long Beach, CA. It was back in the PDI area of the service department, but they let me see and sit in it. The salesperson declared, "Oldsmobile is not printed anywhere on the entire car." I gleefully pointed out "Oldsmobile" was on the radio face plate, and am once again gleeful in mentioning the quirk to you.
Browning Oldsmobile was in Cerritos (1980; new store in 1984). The Long Beach location was "Browning's Long Beach Oldsmobile", opened in 1991. I worked at both locations from 1990 to 2004. I also attended "Oldsmobile University" in January 1994 for a full week of training for the new Aurora.
This is so awesome that you reviewed this! I always thought the Aurora was a beautiful car. It's such a bummer that it couldn't save Oldsmobile.
The Twilight Sentinel not only was a coming home timer. It also switched on the headlamps when the ambient light went below a certain level.
So it's an automatic light feature if you put it on today's lingo.
The Twilight Sentinel dates back to the '50s on Cadillacs. It was controlled by a device on top of the dash, called an "Autronic Eye". When I was a little kid, my grandfather gave me one he'd pulled out of a '57 Caddy. It looked like a ray gun from a sci-fi movie from that era.
I'm so happy, I was waiting for the day when Doug would review an Aurora. I still have mine, a 1998 in Navy. I had a 99 in Bronze that got totaled. Best cars I've ever driven. Smooth riding, solid, reliable. One fun fact about the 4.0 is Shelby used a modified version of it in the Series 1 car they built. It's a really solid motor. My only real disagreement with Doug is the car does feel pretty fast for what it is. Though it's not breaking any records at a 15s 1/4 mile. Planning to hold on to mine for as long as I can.
My friend's dad had one of these. I remember road tripping with this on our way to a travel hockey game. I was 12 and remember thinking it looked really wild back then, especially the tail lights. We were used to such generic taillights.
I was a car Porter at a Oldsmobile dealership in Phoenix when this car was brand new. I remember driving it and being in awe of all the switches and lights on the dash. The car was ahead of it time
My grandmother had one of these brand new. Freaking loved it when I was a kid. My grandfather and I still reminisce about it and how much he regrets selling it. I believe it was pearl white with the chrome wheels. I also think it was the last year of this generation so a 99 if I recall.
I owned a 1998 Aurora and I absolutely loved it! I did have quite a few issues with the Northstar which probably surprises no one. Still to this day one of the most comfortable cars I have ever owned.
Interesting notes with the specific example in this video... These cars had very few options... And this car seems to be missing all of them. The options were the Bose Acoustimass sound system (you would see the enclosure in the trunk if it had it because it took up a ton of space). It also doesn't have the heated seat option, which is a shame. And the only other option I remember was the Autobahn package which raised the speed limiter and had different tires, I think.
Yes, the Autobahn option had V rated tires. Also noted this example was missing the sun roof.
I worked at a GM dealership in the late 90’s to early 2000’s and I remember really liking these cars. They were very comfortable! The “tuck” on the wipers (as I used to call it) was even on my 97 cavalier Z24. I remember when I saw the 2nd generation re-design of the Aurora I wasn’t so much a fan. This one was in beautiful shape and kinda like a rolling time capsule.
Yes thanks for doing this car, I've had three doing the years, I loved each one, this car still looks good to this day, most don't know what it is, that's what makes it still cool, the car seating was very comfortable, it also felt good the way everything was positioned , the car wasn't extremely fast but it felt good to drive and press the gas, I think it was how tight the car felt with comfort , it had no bounce or sag feeling at all, it was very quiet as you drive it , no noise at all, it even felt kinda good around corners it felt tight and pinned to the ground , it felt safe , I can say it was well put together ,lol it's crazy that I'm typing this and Douge is saying the things I'm saying , I swear right as I was typing it was well put together, I swear to God he started saying it as I finished typing it, how freaking cool is that, it just made me smile, so I hope he reads everything I put and tell me if I said everything right on, all in all this car was and is still a nice representation of our much earlier days before we got to where we are now, the car would be awesome with a LS swap a nice soft flowmaster sound not the loud kind, a smoke grey pearl paint finish with some nice tires all shined up, light tinted windows, some new projector headlights that goes with today's brands, all black leather interior kinda plush feeling but tight for comfort, and there you have it , still a nice survival late 90s early 2000s badass Oldsmobile just waiting on anybody to test it's ability, that new LS gone launch this beautiful car right in front of whatever all the way to the finish line while looking good doing it... Leave your comments on did I leave anything out and do you agree, because now I'm looking for one to do so....
I live in Poland and when I was a teenager in late nineties or early two thousands I saw almost identical Aurora and I had no idea what brand it was then. I found later it was Oldsmobile. I was quite impressed with its design and started to be more interested
in Oldsmobile cars and american cars.
Aż mnie ciekawi, gdzie widziałeś ten samochód 😮
I've been to Poland in the mid-2000s and was quite surprised as to how many American imports I saw there. I saw a Hummer H2, Lincoln Navigator, Chevy Avalanche, Lincoln Town Car to name a few off the top of my head. Seems like these cars have a cult following there like JDM cars do here in the US.
@@rolandbudzisz6143 W Kłomnicach koło Częstochowy. Widziałem go kilka razy, ktoś w okolicy go miał.
@@juanzingarello4005 Yes , there is possibility to import cars from US or Canada into Poland and many people do this. We dont have 25 years old rule like in the USA but because of the taxes you have to pay when importing cars from outside EU its cheaper to import slightly damaged cars and then repair them in Poland.
It was a very big deal to have a American car in Poland in those days. The only real way to have an American car in Poland in the nineties was to import one from the US. there were companies in Chicago that specialized in sending cars to Poland.
Wild times.
I have always been in love with the first generation Aurora; wish I had one. Fun fact, the second generation was meant to be a model called the Antares to slot between the Intrigue and Aurora, but was turned into the second generation Aurora when the writing was on the wall for Oldsmobile. I hope you follow up with a video on its platform mate Buick Rivera. Love that car as well, and it's super quirky and weird.
There are precursors from other GM cars in the Aurora: the band of idiot lights above the DB is from Cadillac; the data readout is a greatly simplified version of Buick’s info center; the Pontiac Grand Prix pioneered the driver-centric dash. The reason the Aurora drove so competently was because it was a 25 Hz design per GM leadership order. It resulted in some exterior design changes, but they pulled it off nicely. RIP Oldsmobile.
I really find that car interesting!
About shared parts: Being from Europe, I recognize the gauge cluster being suspiciously similar to the Opel Omega B of the 90s, Opel being also a GM brand at the time... so maybe not shared in the US, but on other markets...
I live in Chicago and I used to see a LOT of these cars back in the early 2000s. These cars would mostly be in the color white and would be seen in the hood with 22 inch chrome rims and 12 inch subs in the trunk. Ah good times those were. I never owned nor driven one but I do like them.
Same here in Detroit - Once these started hitting the used car lots you would see all the young guys driving them with 20" rims, custom paint, subs, etc - These Aurora's became the go-to "hood rich" vehicles of the early 2000's - Same thing happened in the late-2000's with the 2002+ BMW 7-series, at least until they all inevitably broke down and got repossessed by the finance companies lol - Now the Dodge Charger/Chrysler 300 has the floor as the go-to hood rides.
One of my favorite near luxury cars at the time.. Aurora & The Mazda Millenia we’re the quintessential when it came too styling.. they’re designs were flawless
I am so happy this popped up on my feed. I haven't watched Daddy Doug in quite a while. Before I watch the video I will share my thoughts on the Aurora.
Back in 1998 my father and I leased matching Oldsmobile Auoras. They were the best-looking cars out there. Big heavy sedans that have power, they handled pretty well, have huge interiors, and are very comfortable. The biggest difference between our cars was that my father's Aurora had the Authoban package which had no speed limiter, had a stiffer tuned suspension that didn't affect ride quality because it still ran on 16" wheels, and had a sunroof. While my car would hit the limiter at about 120, his would get close to 150, and I was able to confirm that on a lonely stretch of road.
Design wise there was nothing else out there that looked like the Aurora. It was such a head-turner. Mine was bright silver, and in certain light looked like a different color. It looked like a spaceship. I pulled up to a friend of mine's house one night and she said it looked like a spaceship pulled up to her house. My father's was jet black. With the marker lights on his Aurora looked like a panther prowling through the night. We received many compliments.
Both cars were leased for 4 years. Both were dealer-serviced on a regular basis according to GM's schedule. I changed the oil on my car more frequently because I was racking up the miles. I would occasionally use a quick lube for that. All the major work was done by the dealer.
As comfortable, and great looking as the Aurora was, the reliability was not great. In our respective first 6 to 8 months of leasing the Aurora my father's car was plagued by electrical issues that required the ABS abd BCM computers to be replaced. Once the issues were repaired on his car it was fine for the remainder of the lease. I can't recall anything major. He had an oil leak from the oil pressure-sending unit that he didn't even know about. The dealer found it and replaced it under warranty during a routine service.
Mine on the other hand had issues from the moment I took delivery. It threw a check engine light as soon as the tires hit the pavement leaving the dealership. I had a bad EGR valve that caused the car to sound like a jet. The car wouldn't shift out of second gear. I needed new Transmission solenoids. It would have hesitation issues while driving like it was going to stall or had a misfire. The check engine light was ALWAYS on. The dealer changed plugs, wires, sensors, belts etc. It was ongoing. I do recall we both had to have the AC recharged. after 18 months Mine completely emptied out. No one knows why it happened. It was recharged and it was good for the remainder of the lease. My father's car needed to be topped off towards the end of his lease. My passenger-side window motor stopped working. There was a short. It took multiple trips to the dealership to sort. Finally, I was so frustrated I went to a local window shop and they told the dealership how to fix it. It needed a new wire harness that GM used exclusively on that car. My gas gauge wasn't accurate. The sending unit was replaced.It didn't fix it. The fuel pump was replaced it didn't fix it. I learned to live with it.
The big problem I had was how the car ran. I traveled a lot for my job and was racking the miles up. I was also over my miles. with about 10 months to go on my lease and 64,000 miles I leave my office, get in the car turn the key and nothing happens. Barely cranks. The battery is good. Maybe the starter? There was a mechanic in the industrial complex where I worked. We push it over. He calls me the next day and tells me the motor is bad. WTF!?? He doesn't know how it happened.
Oh, and BTW I'm out of warranty because of the miles. It was a total fiasco. GM didn't want to know anything. My insurance broker told us to put a claim in with our insurance carrier because we had mechanical breakdown insurance. They covered $2800 towards a motor. The only thing is a new motor for that car, A Northstar motor wasn't being sold directly from GM and they were about $15,000. My only option was a used motor. The service manager at HL Oldsmobile, Jack who I hope is still alive was great. GM or HL Oldsmobile wouldn't allow work to be done on the car because it was out of warranty and we weren't able to buy a new Northstar directly from GM. Jack directed us to a mechanic who could handle sourcing the motor and installing it. You have to remember this was back in 2000. The internet wasn't what it is today. Today everyone is online.
The Indy mechanic finally takes delivery of a motor he likes. I think we had 3 motors delivered, and the 3rd time was a charm.
I personally learned a lot watching them work on the car. I had no idea that the motor could be removed and installed from the bottom. I had never seen that done before.
When putting the parts from the old motor on to the new motor he discovered the AC compressor was frozen. Upon further inspection, he discovered that the compressor seized and didn't free wheel like it was supposed to and somehow put enough stress on the motor that it broke a cam. I would find out years later that GM knew of this issue. It's very possible that the constant hesitation wasn't a misfire it was the AC compressor locking up and causing the motor to go into limp mode. I recall hearing a belt squeak on occasion and I did change the belts on both sides of the motor. So about $5,550, and 6 months later the car is fixed. It's driving ok, and the fuel gauge now works like it was supposed to.
Summer is upon us and I am driving down to the Jersey shore. I enter the Garden State Parkway, I'm merging with heavy traffic going over the Raritan bridge and the car shuts down. No power, no start. nothing. I manage to get over to the shoulder. I had to call 911. I get towed back home. I parked the car and that was it I was done with it. I had it towed to the mechanic that did the motor. The ECM was shot. It shorted out. I left the car there until the lease was over. I needed a car. I leased my first VW and never looked back. Since 2001 I have only driven German and Japanese cars for use as my personal vehicles.
My father was so disgusted by my experience that he stopped leasing from GM. for 23 years the man owned and leased nothing but Cadillacs, and Oldsmobiles. He leased himself back to back 300m's before going to Lexus and regretted not doing it years earlier.
Looking back now I realize that it's experiences like this that caused GM to go bankrupt. People like me and my father were so accustomed to issues with GM cars always breaking down that we didn't know any better. I don't know if they are any better today, but GM has yet to produce a better-looking car than the Aurora. The sad thing is that these cars were so underappreciated. They did not sell well, and many didn't survive clunkers for cash. On occasion, I do search for them and the ones that did survive are so ragged out that junking them would be a mercy killing. Despite all the issues the Aurora is still one of my favorite cars. It's in my top 5. I have a ton of great memories from that time of my life that were spent in that car. If I found a 1999 which was the last year for that design, and in mint condition I might consider buying it.
I'll give my thoughts on Doug's take after I watch the video.
My family had a similar experience and no GM’s to be found anywhere in the following generation driveways.
My teacher has this car, a 1998 oldsmobile aurora with green interior and a cherry metallic finish on the exterior. What a fantastic car! The V8 engine it had was so quiet for its time
Went from a 96 Corsica to a 97 Aurora!! Let me tell you what a difference that car made in my life lol. To me it was a damn rocket at the time. Powerful, smooth, got amazing fuel mileage and mine was reliable as hell for the 4 years i drove the snot out of it!
Love the excitement from Doug when he reviews these types of cars. Quirky, 90s, this is what this channel is all about!
I had one of these when I was in my early 20s, and put many miles on it. I got it well used, and that thing rode SOOOOO smooth.
The 03 Aurora was my first car, and it was powerful and smooth riding, but above all the space dash and the roomy bench seat, was so much fun.
I cannot express how glad I am that you finally got to review one of these. I remember when these came out as a kid and always thought it'd be the kind of car you'd be interested in.
My dad had one of these when I was a kid and I thought it was the world's coolest car. Love to see Doug finally review one
I owned a 97 Aurora early in my adulthood, and it was a lot of fun to be honest. It was sporty (enough) and the suspension was awesome. It was comfy and I enjoyed the hell out of it. Until the Northstar inevitably died and I learned how much it costs to fix Cadillac things haha
I'll never forgot when my girlfriends father purchased one of these in the 90s and surprisingly bragged about it. Everyone was getting the all new Lexus, and he was frustrated that no one cared about his Aurora.
Seems like it was a cooler car than people realized. Seems like a case of GM/Olds waiting too long to update their brand, and their last harrah went largely unnoticed.
These were such a nightmare at the dealership I refused to do any more Aurora warranty work as a line mechanic. We had a family friend that owned one that ended up parked in our back yard for years, I refused to work on it because the wiring was insane.
I used to own the Aurora's cousin the Intrigue. It was a really nice car but for several years i kept switching back and forth between sedans and pickups when i couldn't afford both. I never seen the inside of an Aurora until now and i love the cockpit style cars where it feels like everything is driver focused and easy accessibility. Now it seems like most cars are centralized between driver and passenger
I think this car still looks great! The design has aged well. It actually looks better than the "meatloaf" cars we have now. This car looks sleek and sculpted. I never really paid much attention to GM cars in the 90's but I wouldn't mind giving one of these a test drive if I was in the market for a cheap "nostalgic" cruiser.
I enjoyed your review. I had a 1998 with a pearl white exterior and tan interior, also a sunroof. I loved the exterior styling as well as the cockpit interior. The seats were comfortable, the ride was quiet and smooth. I really enjoyed the car. After watching your video I wish I had mine back.👍
I remember reading an article about this car when I came out in a magazine (possibly road & track). Gm took a couple of these to drive on some European roads. Because it didn't have any Oldsmobile badging many of the locals were surprised when they were told it was an American made car. It had positive response to it's looks. I liked it at the time and got to drive one.
Fun fact: An early, highly modified, prototype of this engine was used in one of the Oldsmobile Aerotechs in the early 90's to break a bunch of speed endurance records. I know this because I worked for Batten Performance in Romulus Michigan, which developed and built one of the two Quad 4 variants that were used in the Aerotech .
Did you remember the Intrigue OSV where they dropped a Northstar V8 in it? I had an Intrigue and always wanted a OSV
Nice. Yeah I remember reading about that. Also, love your AutoBahn sign image profile pic 🤙.
The Aerotech prototypes used a Quad 4 boosted to an unbelievable 845hp! Not a typo, 845 hp.. They hired none other than AJ Foyt to drive it
He hit an insane 260 mph. Remember, it only had 4 cylinders. They were considering a 4 Dr Cutlass Supreme with that engine to humiliate the BMW M5. I am still furious that the Aerotech never became reality. They don't have to give it that much hp. Just 500 is plenty for most people.
@@largol33t12 IIRC, the single turbo Quad we built at Batten made 900hp, on pump gas. Something like 1100-1200hp on race gas. Something you don't hear about is that one of the Aerotechs hit a deer crossing the track while going 200+mph. I remember the video footage (wish I still had it). The deer was literally vaporized, nothing but a red misty cloud.
@@jeffy210 vaguely. Another neat vehicle we did was for Ford. It was a twin turbo V6 Bronco II 4x4. I don't remember how much hp it made, but it was bonkers.
Only Og's will remember the title "The Oldsmobile Aurora Was GM’s Failed Attempt At Futuristic"
yes
Are you anticipating he’s going to change the title? Lol. It’s a grammatically correct statement outside of all of the capital letters.
Indeed
imma comment just in case u get like 20k likes😂
@@devongee1776apparently changing the title and thumbnail of your video causes TH-cam to promote it more. Not sure why but I’ve heard other TH-camrs talking about it. Maybe that’s what they were talking about it
The Oldsmobile Alero and intrigue were underrated cars at the time. Probably general motors best cars they put out in the early 2000s.
I bought an Alero 18 months old V6, it hauled ass. I liked to drive it, I could get 37mpg on the highway at 75mph. Seats were rock hard, fit and finish was pretty bad on the interior, but I liked it. I got T-boned it folded in half, I'm glad my daughter wasn't with me, her car seat ended up in the trunk. My wife's door and seat were one, and the side pillar was pushed mid-way in. I walked away with glass in my mouth and underware. I moved up to a Caddi SLS that was on the Chevy dealers used lot, that car was pretty good too.
Alero was a great looking steaming pile of throw away 100,000 mile garbage. That car was probably $500-1,000 worth of gm investment per car away from being as reliable as mid-late 90s delta 88 but with better handling....
My Parents had a 1999 Aurora and I used to love that car when I was a kid. The frameless windows were my favorite feature along with the then incredible at the time to me, Monsoon sound system if I recall correctly. Such good memories!
We had one. Loved it. It had a cockpit interior and fairly fast
Every Subaru in the 90s had frameless doors lol
I found one 2 years ago with 10k miles for $10k that was a score pearl color like brand new in and out! a car ahead of it's time and still an eye catcher!
That's such a shame it didn't do well, seemed well thought out, the design has aged well too! The drivers side of the dashboard looks a little Saab to me, the hidden buttons is SO cool!!!
We owned a 1998 Aurora and we loved it. We still find ourselves thinking that we would like to still be driving it. It was a delight on long road trips. It had two drawbacks. One, it was easy to get stuck in deep snow and, two, (this was the dealbreaker for us) the finish coat on the 98s didn't bond well to the primer. Our car began losing large pieces of paint and a new paint job was $8000. Now I could afford the paint job. Boy I miss that car.
My 1990 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight had many of the features found in this car including: Driver Information Center, Twilight Sentinel (controlled the automatic sunlight-sensing lights that would turn on as the sun went down, not the amount of time the lights stayed on after the car was off as Doug falsely mentioned) and the cig lighters and ashtrays in each of the rear door. Obviously they were trying to differentiate the Aurora from other GMs but still used a lot of parts bin parts that had been around for years at that point.
I owned this car. I bought it years after it was made, roughly 2011. It was my favorite car I've ever owned. Decently the most comfortable car I ever owned. I used to hammer the snow in my parking space and it just went right through it. I drove it until someone cut the brake lines... that's another story. But dam, even in an accident, you barely felt it
you can't leave everyone hanging with the brake lines story! 😃
Doug. Appreciate your reviews of these unappreciated survivors! It’s cool to hear the history about the car’s development and purpose to try to revive Oldsmobile. I remember how much GM put into marketing these cars and how different they looked compared to Oldsmobile 80s and early 90s products at the time.
My dad was and still is a huge GM car guy. I grew up around Suburbans, Buicks, Oldsmobiles and Cadillacs.
Would LOVE it if you would review the following soon:
1) Lincoln Mark VII LSC
2) Saab 9000 Aero
3) Saab 900 SPG
I always liked these. I got my license in a 1973 Buick Riviera and I currently drive a 1997 Buick Riviera which is considered the sister car to the Aurora. Both forward thinking models by G.M. for sure.
For some reason, I absolutely love the dashboard shape a lot of cars in the 90s had as in the Aurora! When I had my 1997 Daihatsu, it followed the same shape, though was very small compared to Aurora itself.
The Lincoln Mark VIII wins my award for best 90's dash layout, as it was reminiscent of the bridge on the Star Trek: The Next Generation Enterprise.
@@revolutionday1was just going to mention that. Lincoln Viii wins, Aurora is a decent 2nd choice esp if you need 4 doors.
The 90's era T-Birds had a really cool driver centric design. The center stack was seriously angled towards the driver. I always liked that about those cars.
That windshield wiper action was very common on GM cars in the 70's and 80's. Hidden wipers all had that retract setting when they were turned off. I miss hidden wipers. Much cleaner look. Plus, many luxury cars had dual ashtrays with lighters in the rear.
The other really interesting part of this car is the safety. They tested the crash test of this car, and it broke the crash simulator GM had. They had to use one of their Heavy Duty Truck Crash ranges to find out how well it survived. What a fantastic car.
Been waiting for an Aurora review and finally the day came. That car always caught my attention. From a brand like Oldsmobile which made boxy cars back in that time, that was such a good design. I remember that somebody in town owned one in pearl white and it looked so good. Nowadays its rare to see one of those on the road. It would also be nice if one day you can do a review of a Daewoo Lanos hatchback. Those cars are getting less common to see.
I had a second generation Aurora with the V6 “ShortStar” engine and it remains one of my very favourite cars ever. I didn’t even know it existed but I’d totaled a 6 year old Golf with nearly 400,000km on the clock and I had a $6,000 insurance cheque in hand. I just went to a dealer I trusted and asked him for the best thing on his lot for $6k and it was the Aurora. In common with NorthStars, eventually the head gasket went. But I loved that car for 4 years.
Owned a 95 when they first came out. A few QC issues being an early build but nothing major. Headroom was compromised a lot with the sunroof and the seatbacks were uncomfortably low and hit me in the shoulder blades. The trunk was big but the opening was pretty small and compromised by the mounting location of the CD changer.
That being said the highway ride was very smooth and unusually quiet. The tech was very forward for its day. The engine was also a great feature. It idled so smoothly you could balance a nickel on it at idle (won a few bets with that one). Still have the original brochure that had two sides, one showing the development process and the other side the finished product.
Thanks for allowing me to revisit it.
It was like a "blue collar" luxury car. It was a brand to hate, and forget....sometimes like work ( lol ), but it did it's job for as long as the brand stayed....transporting people around. It was also a unique brand, with some nice, or cool, styling.
Those warning lights, above the gage cluster, reminds me of my grandpa's 1958 Olds, so that is nothing new really. And I am sure us Canadians had that CD changer, specially when the harsh winters came 😉😉
THIS car did NOT fail miserably. The Aurora was not only a sales success but it also set new standards for structural rigidiity and styling that is still being utilized and copied to this day. Still not another car on the road that comes close to the unique styling of the 1st Gen Aurora
I thought that was strange of him to say. These cars were extremely popular. At least in the Orlando area.
@nomenclature9607 I was fortunate to have a Pearl White 97. She was a winner. Had every option except the Bose Accoustamass Sound System. Only let her go because the price was right 🍺
@@adamstrachn she was popular in EVERY state 🍻
I had one of these back in the day, I loved it
Yeah, I read that during testing the Aurora broke GM's frame testing machine
I remember, in my senior year of high school (02), looking at one of these with my uncle. He debated it, but ended up buying a Toyota Avalon instead, mostly because it had a front bench seat option. While we both liked the Olds V8 extra power, I am really glad he went for the Avalon. I have since inherited it; I doubt the Olds would have still been around for me to still be driving today. The Auroras did have an interesting look to them.
I find myself watching more of these videos about normal "traffic" cars I grew up around than the cars I'll likely never see in real life outside of a show. Partly because the supercars are already all over youtube on tons of other channels, and partly because the quirks and features are much more relatable.
You should check Buick Park Avenue or Lesabre of that time. It also had separate lighting bar for the warning lights, separate passenger temperature control on the passenger door. Ashtray for every passenger. A great mix of 70th style and 90th technology. I had a 95 Park Avenue. Loved it. You should check it one day
It's a shame these did not do insanely well once they went on sale. Way sleeker looks than most anything else available at the time, drove pretty darn nice for its size, and especially with the V8, had some real power to it. Between this and the Intrigue, those were some of Olds' best years in the 90s, imo.
Edit: fwiw, I always saw the difference between Olds and Buick as: Olds gives you the comfort and tech of a Buick, but with a forward looking design aesthetic and a at least noticeable performance improvement. In other words: your kinda cool Uncle buys the Olds, grandpa buys the Buick.
I LOVE 90's GM cars. Lots of neat quirks and the most comfortable seats and suspension in existence!
Translation… I love 90s crappy American cars lots of cheap things that break that need to be fixed
@@TrevorSchulz666 Name a 90's car that wasn't full of cheap crap that would break other than a Toyota? BMW? HA! Mercedes? have fun replacing that heater core! 90's American cars can be fixed in parking lots with a socket set and $100.00 bill.
@@kruck96 but you’re still fixing it lol
Pre-bailout GM had the best seats. Soft leather with plush padding that you sank a couple of inches into. Soft suspension that could cruise all day. It's a shame the Germans taught us that luxury must mean rock-hard seats with tight "leather" and suspension you can feel every crack in the road through. Bring back land yachts.
@@TrevorSchulz666nope. You're most likely one of them typical Brits who hates anything and everything merican
This car was my graduation present from high school in 2005, I rode the wheels off lol. Great car. Never had any issues. ❤
How many miles did she end up with
I owned the 2001 4.0 version and, outside of the TCC solenoid issue, the car was great. Cruising along at highway speeds gave you this feeling of riding on a cloud attached to rails.
Peppy and responsive, yet comfortable, and the one I owned has more appointments and accessories than some of the Cadillac cars of the era.