This is at it's heart.... a Love Letter to a brand I love that's gone far too early for me.

Another honorable mention when it comes to Oldsmobile innovations is the 1962 Jetfire, the first production car equipped with a turbocharger. Oldsmobile had great cars and I miss them as well.

The 442 W-30 holds a special place in history. A true legend.

The Olds museum in Lansing Michigan is well worth the effort!

Amazing how poor management can take the best selling brand in the late 70s and early 80s to being gone 20 years later. My dad even had a 78 Cutlass

My first car was a 1964 Oldsmobile Jetsar 88 and I love it. I’m 20 now and I’ve had it since I was 15.

I had a '68 442. I purchased it in '71 and loved the way it road and handled for its time.

Oldsmobile was also one of the first American car brands, (along with Buick and Cadillac), to offer an optional air bag restraint system back in 1974

I worked for an Oldsmobile dealer in the '60s as a new car prep and troubleshooter. It was a maniacal time. Great cars and great fun. I made $1.50 an hour for a $60/wk paycheck.

Very well done Jon ! This is a great tribute to my 1981 Oldsmobile Delta 88 sedan which I still own . That was a really sad day when GM canceled Oldsmobile .

Have been an Olds/Pontiac guy for a long time. Dad had multiples starting with a 330 ci 64 Cutlass a Vista Cruiser and a 70 Cutlass s equipped with a high output 455. I have personally owned 3 1967 442's a 1968 Vista Cruiser, a 62 Starfire and a 1970 442 W30. The W30 and one 67 with a transplanted 455 were 4 speed cars. Oldsmobile was GMs test bed. After they proved front wheel drive reliability with a large V8 in 66 with the Toronado, Cadillac came out with the1967 Eldorado. Thumb up for your information.

I had a 79 Tornado diesel & had no engine problems through 249,000 miles & still got 3 grand for it in the early 90's. I enjoyed mine.

I remember the day that my father picked up his new Delta 88 in 1966 (2 door brown with black vinyl top). I can't remember my third grade teacher or anything that happened that year at school, but I remember every moment of picking up that car. I drove it to get my first drivers license and abused it for years afterwards. Many good memories. Thanks for the history lesson...👍

With bucket seats and a 5-speed manual, I thought I was hot stuff in my brand new '86 Olds Calais, the first new car I ever purchased. It was no hot rod, but was fun to drive. Glad to have run across your channel today. Good stuff. 😁

Kudos, Jon! That was short, sweet and to the point. My first car was a '67 Cutlass sedan. I've owned a '76 and '77 Cutlass, a '82 Cutlass diesel, a '99 Intrigue and a '02 Alero. I gave that Intrigue to my mother in 2007 with 200k miles on it, and she drove it until 2019. Also, thank you for clarifying that Ransom E Olds invented the assembly line, not Henry Ford. Henry Ford automated or revolutionized the assembly line. I've had several arguments on that fact. Great review! 😊

Thankyou for your interesting but slightly sad video about Oldsmobile. I have a '65 Old's Cutlass Sports Coupe down here in New Zealand which is my pride and joy. They certainly did some clever things over the years. I have an article about a 455ci engine that had twin turbos and was built by staff in their own time in the early seventies.

I remember vividly my dad buying his 1974 Oldsmobile Cutlass for $4000.00 He loved that car until he passed away. I inherited it and drove it for many years after. The 350 Rocket engine was indestructible.

Owned a few 90s Cutlasses, '99 & '02 Alero & leased a loaded '98 Aurora that my wife absolutely loved. All great cars. But the best memory of an Olds was my uncle's '50 Rocket 88 Club coupe when I was 7 or 8, going to Flint from Detroit on US 23 at 112 mph. My aunt was sitting in the back seat & couldn't see the speedo but mentioned the telephone poles were going by awfully quick. The smile on my uncle's face was priceless.

I found your channel this morning and I'm glad I did. The two videos I've watched (this one and the Checker Cab video) are well researched and very interesting. I'm what most would call a Mopar guy, but I've always had a soft place in my heart for Oldsmobiles and Pontiacs. Both of those divisions were innovative and had great styling. I've always been a Mopar muscle car fan and as such, I saw GM's Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Buick divisions as 3 of the same. Once I expanded my horizons, Pontiac and Olds muscle cars stood out to me. It saddens me that those two divisions are gone along with Plymouth and even Mercury. I've never understood the Chevrolet-centric mindset of GM. We've all heard the story of the Pontiac Banshee that was stolen from Pontiac and given to Chevrolet. GM also had the edict that no engine could make more power than the Corvette. When they killed off all of the different engines and went "corporate", they killed off the individuality each division had. Realistically, they should have kept only Chevrolet, Cadillac, and Buick back when they went "corporate" with the engines. I don't know this to be true, but I imagine the GMC division was started so Buick, Olds, Pontiac dealers had a truck to sell. I rarely see any stand alone GM dealerships. Most, if not all of them, sell all GM products, so to me GMC is totally unnecessary.

GM was targeting Oldsmobile since 1968 they started putting a stigma on the brand calling Oldsmobiles “young mobile”

I remember when Oldsmobile was discontinued, leaving GM with only two mid-priced cars. At the time, I figured that GM would discontinue either Buick or Pontiac, leaving only one mid priced offering. Later on, it was Pontiac that would be next to get the ax.

I have a 1998 Oldmobile Cutlass 3.1L, 252,000 Miles. Drove the crap out of it food service delivering for 10 years and it's still my daily driver. Drives almost like a new car. I change oil every 10,000 miles and it's a tough automobile for sure. I've had it longer than any car. Handles like a dream. I had an emissions test done on it and it more than passed it. Guy doing the test couldn't believe a car that old was running that clean.

Cutlass Supreme, Delta 88, 98 Regency, Toronado were great models.

yes! I bought a 66 toro this year to restore. such a legendary vehicle

Awesome video!! My first car was a 1968 Cutlass S - I remember paying $1850 for it back in 1988! I was a car guy back then, but that car made me an OLDS car guy!! I did the usual performance upgrades - cam/intake/carb/headers/exhaust/wheels, but unfortunately ended up totaling it in 1990. 😞 In 2010, I was able to finally buy my dream car, a 1968 Olds 442 convertible, but it has a 455 instead of the 400 (that's an upgrade I can live with!). It still has nice paint and convertible top, from a mid '90's restoration. Overall, I've already told my son (27) that it'll be his someday!

I learned to drive in a Delta 88. One of my first automotive loves is the Olds Cutlass Supreme coupe of the 1980s. Most folks preferred the Monte Carlo, and it was also great, but the Cutlass just was a love.

My oldest sister's best friend Dorothy Schell had a pink 1957 Olds 2 door hard top that she kept for over 20 years! It was elegant gorgeous!

I was born in 73 to parents who drove a 70 Cutlass Supreme Holiday Couple. It was gold. I absolutely loved it then they bought a 72 Custom Cruiser and I cried when my uncle came over and bought the Cutlass 😭. He had it a few years and then I never saw it again. After the Custom Cruiser, they bought a 79 Buick Estate Wagon with the Olds 403 engine. The first one was silver and the second was red, both with woodgrain 😉yes they had back to back 79 Buick Wagons because of the engine. The last Oldsmobile was a beautiful baby blue 1982 98 Regency Brougham with a dark blue landau top. It had a 307 and barely got out of it's own way, but that interior was plushhhh. I still love the old wagon style and my daily driver is my mom's 2001 Dodge Durango SLT Plus they got in 2006. (RIP💔) There's something about a roof rack on a long roof that tugs at the heart strings. FYI Between the Oldsmobiles and the Durango, they also had an 87 Nissan Stanza GXE(sharp baby Maxima) and a 1995 Grand Cherokee Limited My Oldsmobile journey started at Royal Oldsmobile in Birmingham AL

Great video and thanks for posting it. Nice synopsis of Oldsmobile!

I'm glad to own an '03 Alero, the legacy lives on!

The 394 was a super strong engine that set records in riverboat racing.

55 olds 2 door hardtop was a tank!!!!! used to push dumpsters around parking lot with it could not bend,dent,or scratch the bumper,grille front end!!!!!! best built car i ever had!!!!

In 1974 as a 17-year-old young man, I turned down an opportunity for a clean low-mileage 1970 Chevelle convertible for an equally clean 1971 Cutlass Supreme coupe that I thought was a much more refined car. It was beautiful and a delight to drive. But, I sold the Cutlass in 1978 and bought...a '75 Chevelle Malibu Classic. Poor decision, but sadly that's what happened.

Huge Oldsmobile fan here. My first car was a 1990 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight Regency Brougham with the 3800 V6. When I first drove the car I fell in love. It had been owned by an old lady so even though it was almost 20 years old when I got it, the thing was IMMACULATE. I've never felt a smoother riding car EVER than my Ninety Eight on its factory air suspension (which later failed and due to budget restraints was replaced by conventional shocks). I really appreciated the style and the luxurious interior and fun options like the Driver Information System computer in the dash that could be used to check mpg, gallons used, oil life monitor, tach ometer, exact digital readout of all engine functions and a timer among other things. For 1990 that thing was WAAAY ahead of its time, he'll I've been in newer cars that won't tell you gallons used or give you exact digital readouts for temp/volts/oil. Something this car had 33 years ago! I also wanted to mention your reference to the "Oldsmobile" name. I had the car in high school and when kids would ask what I drove and I told them "Oldsmobile" and either 1. they had never heard of it or 2. They thought I was joking by calling it an "Old-mobile" due to the cars age. I gave rides to friends and they were SHOCKED when they saw "Oldsmobile" on the dash, they had never heard of them! Odd how changes in generational taste can dictate the success and failure of companies so quickly! (Less than 20 years between Old's best sales year and it's worst). A huge mistake by GM for sure. I'm a GM guy but I could never agree with them killing Olds. Instead of giving up so easily, they should have continued developing the division's unique identity. RIP

Miss the Olds. I grew up in the third seat of vista cruisers. Loved those fake wood gain door panels

Thanks for doing a history of Oldsmobile....BTW my favorite GM Muscle Car is the Olds 442....

All my mom would drive was Oldsmobile. We had several growing up. My 1st car was a seafoam green 81 cutlass supreme

Don't forget the very limited production Hurst Olds (68-69,72-79,83-84)..

Great video,,,well narrated,,sad ending for a great Iconic Motor Vehilce..Oldsmobile,,I am glad she made it to 100 years...OLD......

Unfortunately like Pontiac,the last Oldsmobiles lost their exclusivity... Same with Plymouth and Mercury...and that's why all 4 are long gone..

A couple of missteps I noticed years ago was in 1986 my buddy Paul bought a Buick century and I got a Cutlass Cieara . Parking both cars side by side with the help of a tape measure we determined that the doors , trunk lid and window glass were interchangeable and the front fenders were a toss up , even though they looked a little different they had the same bolt pattern . Secondly changing the name of all their models was a bad move . Toyota still sells Camrys and Corollas and Honda sells Accords and Civics , the American buying public were scratching their heads asking what's a Allero . Had the Aurora been the new generation 88 with it's new V8 engine might have caught on . Throwing your legacy names in the trash when they were successful cars in their day is a big mistake .

My first car was a 1950 Rocket Olds convertible, the muscle car of it's time

My dad was an Olds fan, leading me to own three Olds. ‘66 and 69 442s , and the last an Olds Aurora. All awesome cars. My favorite was the tri-powered 66 holiday coupe 442, with four speed. Autumn Bronze with matching Bronze interior with a Black vinyl top.

My parents had an Olds 98 in the 70's with a 455 motor. The thing was a tank, but it could still get up and go. I miss that car.

I bought a new 1999 Alero with the college grad discount program. It was a fine car with the 3400 V6 engine. It would move.

Fascinating and very well presented. Growing up my family had Olds and Buicks. I did my driver's license test in a 73 Olds 98, (Land Yacht). Good times.

I still find the whole "not your father's oldsmobile" marketing spiel hilarious, as your father's olds (at that point), would completely smoke those 80's models and look damn fine doing it

I still have my 84 olds 2door with a 73 olds 350 engine and running strong also💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾

Thank you. I had a 67 Delta 88. It was great.

The 1983 cutlass was awesome

My very first car, a custom ordered '82 Cutlass.

GM should bring OLDSMOBILE back as a special edition once again to test the waters and also marketing of the history and innovation of the OLDS brand history.

I'm stunned that I see a right-hand drive on the '37 Olds. Never heard of it. i had one I restored.

The REO Speedwagon always reminds me of the rock band by that name. Now, their hit "I Can't Fight This Feeling" is playing in my head, lol!

I was always fond of Oldsmobile my dad owned several of them when I was a kid it's been a favorite from General motors I would like to go to Lansing Michigan one day to the Oldsmobile museum they have the last v8 produced in 1990 it has all the worker's signatures all over it

My first car was a 1996 olds aurora pearl white. Tan leather interior was amazing car.

I had a 69 ,442 with ac tinted windows, yellow with large brown stripes on the hood. Mickey Thompson L60 on the back a very cool car.

My parents had a couple of Olds. For GM cars they were the best built I thought. Much better than the Cadis my parents also had. Thanks for the show.

My sister had a 1965 Olds F-85 Deluxe. It was a beautiful green with a two-toned beautiful dark/light green interior. I loved that car. She had it for several years. Later, she had a 1978 Olds Custom Cruiser. I loved to drive both of these cars. They were so smooth and just beautiful. Later I rented a 1981 Olds Cierra. It was a joy to drive as well. I was sorry to see this company close up shop. There were a lot of really interesting Oldsmobiles over the years! Love your vids!

The 1922 Oldsmobile Super Sport had a V8 engine with an Aluminum block which had the cylinder banks bolted to the AL block.

Diamond REO, but also REO Speedwagon. That's kind of impressive! Really good cars, too bad they got axed.

Loved my Cutlass..88... and finally 98. The 98 rode as smooth as a Cadillac 😊

I was passed down a 4 dr. 1973 Cutlass Salon in dark brown with tan velour bucket seats.. It was luxurious, I thought.. lol ,as a kid in college...

And the Cutlass W31 package (68-69) and Rallye 350(70)..

I learned to drive in my Mom's 1972 Vista Cruiser.

love these 80 s car reminds of my childhood in the 80 s best time on earth where every body use to be normal and live use to be less complex

Can't forget the rock band REO Speedwagon from the late 1970s throughout the 1980s. 😊 ❤

I know that a big part of the outside factors of Oldsmobiles decline was foreign imports specifically Toyota and Honda, but I’m also curious if GM never made Saturn? And focused their efforts into Oldsmobile and making that for younger people and more budget friendly would they have won back buyers with their “quality” and without badge engineering. I really like the unique final models of Oldsmobile.

I’m still driving my 1996 Oldsmobile Delta 88 LS. Since I had company vehicles for the majority of my working years I only drove it for pleasure so it only has 82,000 miles on it at this point. It’s still a joy to ride in with its soft sprung suspension. I’ve had to do some work on it and of course the big problem is finding parts for it particularly since GM no longer supports it.

My first car was a 1985 Olds Cutlass.

The 49 Olds is arguably the first muscle car..

Amazing work..... just wow

My dad worked for Oldsmobile back in the 60's and 70's. All our family members drove them (and GMC trucks). Back in 1980, I was in a campground and met with some day laborers who were tearing down an old building and asked if my friends and I needed some lumber. We went to the site and hauled away roofing rafters from the REO truck building that had long ago closed. Also, my step-dad's last name was Olds.

When I was working for the Olds dealership, we often got deliveries with another Division Badge. Frequently station wagons badged as BUICK. I owned 1980 Oldsmobile, Regency DIESEL GM replaced the Engine (without it having any problems, by their suggestion). Later I owned the First Olds Silhouette, in the state Until the state imposed a personal Income Tax. I was told by the new owner that the engine died the year after he bought it.

Hi Jon, nice video! My late grandfather (my mother's father) was Oldsmobile brand loyal all the way. I performed some research on this. Back when Oldsmobile came out with the "Oldsmobile Rocket V8" it was the most powerful regular production automobile engine at that time, and also GM built a brand new state of the art engine plant to produce the engine, I.e. fully controlled climate, fully automated, scrap shavings of metal dropped down through steel grills on the floor to be taken away by a conveyor belt to the factory's own recycle room. In the mean time, Motor Trend Magazine tested the Rocket engine with an automatic transmission against other cars and said it was the only car equipped an automatic transmission that would go 100 mph. With that said, people flocked to there Oldsmobile to pay full price for one. My grandfather was the kind of person who if he found out that his brand new Oldsmobile came with a Chevrolet engine, he would have demanded another car. I think this one issue that hurt the sales of Oldsmobile. Please reply. Dave...

My son and I attempted to build a 442 Cutlass clone car. Unfortunately life got in our way and we had to dispose of the frame, 455 engine and the body and donor car, parts etc. to another enthusiast.

Since the 2000s, GM's quality has gone (especially after the 2009 bankruptcy) as they make cars more cheaply to reduce costs. Some Oldsmobile models were rebadged Chevy, Pontiac or Buicks. It's sad how GM treated its brands.

I noticed that the Alero had a dash that swooped down into the console which looks a lot like a C4 Corvette dash and console.

For me, when Buick, Olds, Pontiac, I’ll throw in Cadillac too stopped casting their own engines told me this was GMs turning point of mass production. I understand this from the simplicity of eliminating multiple casting factories but it sure took away all the uniqeness of these cars

For decades and decades Oldsmobile produced the most durable cars made in the United States by far. They should never have adopted the campaign slogan “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile.” when they were still the hottest selling division at General Motors and no one thought of them as a dated car. That ad campaign put the thought in people’s minds.

Let's not forget the Beverly hillbillies drove an Oldsmobile truck.

Until my family bought a parts house in a small town (Dickinson Texas)between Houston Texas and Galveston Texas and our best customer was a Pontiac dealership my mom drove nothing but Oldsmobiles And back when my mom drove Oldsmobiles you couldn't mistake that ying ying sound Oldsmobile engines made my father said it because Oldsmobile engines ran at a higher compression.

very professional channel...thank you

My favorite Muscle Car is the Plymouth Road Runner....My dad bought a new 68 after Vietnam...Just an idea for a future video a history of Plymouth, Pontiac,Mercury,AMC would be 😎!!

Still drive my 84 olds cutlass everyday 70k miles clean as a mint

I had a 1980s Olds 98 which I got from my parents. It had a cast iron engine/motor which eventually rusted out passing coolant out the exhaust, but it was a good car and it served my family well

It was all downhill once the car guys got pushed out in favor or brand managers who didn't care if they were selling detergent or cars.

at one point in the early 1970s three of my grandparents had an Oldsmobile maternal grandfather had a 1972 Olds 98 Holiday Coupe maternal grandmother had a Delta 88 Rocket 455 engine and paternal grandfather had a 74 Cutlass S that my father later traded for his 1979 Toyota Corolla station wagon grandma also had a 2nd 1978 Oldsmobile Delta 88 with a 350 Ci V8 she drove that until 1983 when she traded it for a used 1981 Cadillac Coupe Deville etc.

Hey, that's not my father's 442. Thanks for sharing

AB Volvo is very much still a Swedish company manufacturing trucks among other products, Volvo cars on the other hand was hived off in 1999 to Ford before becoming the property of Geely in 2010

I enjoy the information Thanks

Oldsmobile won the first Daytona 500.

@11:50 Ford designer to staff: This 1958 Olds is what bad styling looks like. Okay, now let's get back to work on next years Edsel.

My grandma loved Oldsmobile. she had 3 oldsmobile cutlass ciera's then when her last one got flooded she bought a buick

I think I could be in love with a 1964 Starfire 1…if only I could find a perfect survivor..! 2nd Place is a tie between the 1964 Wildcat Convertible…with 4-Speed…and a ‘63 or ‘’64 GP with those wheels..! They were all great choices..!!

at one point in the 70s three of my grandparents owned an Oldsmobile car maternal grandfather had a 1972 98 Holiday Coupe maternal grandmother had a 72 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale Hardtop sedan with the Rocket 455 V8 engine and paternal grandfather has a 1974 Rocket 350 V8 equipped Cutlass Sport coupe Maroon and Silver 2 tone exterior over black vinyl interior 4 speed manual transmission etc.

Never heard of the band ‘diamond reo’(country band), before you named it(had to look it up!) But I think the original story, came from the band ‘Reo Speedwagon’, who took the name from the very brand!

Good stuff John

I always loved Oldsmobiles. I had a 68 Oldsmobile and I love that thing it was awesome. The transmission starts slipping and I took it to my transmission man. He calls me and says what kind of transmission do you think you have in this Oldsmobile? I said well it's two speed automatic just has low and drive it's a GM so I I assumed at some sort of powerglide. He says no this is the rarest Oldsmobile I have ever seen in my life a special motor and a special transmission from the factory. It was a 300 Jetta racing transmission and there was only about thirteen hundred of these made it's a ramrod Cutlass. They actually had to manufacture parts that they could not find but they did a good job on it I should have never sold that car

I think he is trying to reference the band REO Speedwagon