![]() Migrating to the FWD H Platform, the 88 shed 22” of length, 3” of width, 300 lbs., and 2 cylinders. However, overall customer demographics kept inching older, which of course was unsustainable.ġ986 ushered in a big change for the Delta 88, courtesy of GM’s next wave of downsizing. Delta 88s, meanwhile, drew a surprisingly consistent 20% of total sales – even through changes in the Delta itself and in the rest of Oldsmobile’s lineup. Roughly half of 1980s Olds sales were Cutlasses (A/G-bodies, Cieras and GM-10 Supremes), with the FWD Ciera taking a bigger chunk as the decade passed. Source: Standard Catalog of Oldsmobile, 1897-1997.Īmong this soporific model lineup, a certain consistency prevailed. Of course, those characteristics could equally apply to Oldsmobile’s G-body Cutlass range and its A-body Cutlass Cieras, all variations on the same theme. The 88s were solid, decent-looking, roomy cars that offered good value, nice-but-anonymous styling, and more brand cachet than a Chevy. In the early half of the 1980s, Delta 88s were based on the rear-drive B platform – a novel car when introduced for 1977, but rather tired by 1985. The Delta 88 range typified this state of affairs. From a mere numerical perspective, Olds was doing great, so GM instructed the division to continue whatever they were doing that brought in a million annual sales. GM found easy sales to traditionalist customers to be almost intoxicating the company became reluctant to do anything that might turn these buyers away. In retrospect, this surge in popularity likely damaged the brand’s long-term viability. Olds set sales records in the ’80s, peaking at over 1.2 million cars in 1985. Older, financially well-off consumers were at the vanguard of this trend, likely because they rebounded quicker from the late 70s / early 80s recession. Gas prices stabilized, the economy improved and suddenly customers longed for the types of cars they drove before those nasty energy crises. ![]() Oldsmobiles were dull and uninspiring, but contrary to what logic may suggest, the brand’s cars became unexpectedly popular. ![]() Rocket engines, Ninety-Eights, front-wheel drive Toronados, Holiday coupes, 4-4-2s… they all helped to give Oldsmobile an aspirational image, and even its more pedestrian cars presented a solid, upper-middle class status. In more vibrant times – say in the 1950s and ’60s – Oldsmobile sold exciting, innovative cars that people wanted to own. If only… if only… well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. In an era of boxy, lookalike Oldsmobiles, the Delta 88 coupe could have led a revival of the brand. This car, though, makes for a rather frustrating case study because it could easily have been a contender. Ultimately, the Delta 88 coupe had no effect on Oldsmobile’s eventual outcome, accounting for just 1.5% of Olds’s total output between 19. But in the middle of that decade came a car that could have rekindled the spark of Oldsmobile’s past – a graceful, distinctive coupe that seemed like an stylish counterpoint to the rest of the division’s lineup that had become increasingly… blah. The Olds division was directionless, its cars largely mimicked other GM products, and its customer base was rapidly aging. Oldsmobile sold nearly one million cars annually during the 1980s, but trouble loomed beneath the surface of those hearty sales.
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