About Opentopia
Opentopia Directory Encyclopedia Tools

Oldsmobile Aurora

Encyclopedia : O : OL : OLD : Oldsmobile Aurora

Contents

Overview

The Oldsmobile Aurora was a luxury automobile made by the Oldsmobile division of General Motors and launched in 1995. It was a luxurious 4-door sedan riding on the same Cadillac-derived G platform as the 2-door Buick Riviera. Since the demise of the Ninety Eight in 1996, the Aurora became the flagship Oldsmobile. Also, in a way it is the successor of the Eighty-Eight. It was introduced to bring new life to Oldsmobile, but the first few years of Aurora did not even feature the Oldsmobile name. There was even a rumor at the time that the name of the whole Oldsmobile marque would be changed to simply "Aurora."

1995

The 1995 Aurora introduced Oldsmobile's "Aurora" L47 V8, a DOHC engine based on Cadillac's 4.6 L Northstar V8. The Aurora was highly regarded at the time for its refined engine, excellent build quality, and well-balanced ride. As a symbol of its clean break from other cars in the lineup, the Aurora bore no Oldsmobile badging or script, except on the cassette deck and engine cover. Oldsmobile quickly launched other new models with the Aurora "look," including the all-new Intrigue and Alero, the redesigned Eighty-Eight, and even updated the division's "rocket" logo to be more visually in-line with the Aurora's emblem. The 1997 redesign of the Silhouette and the 2002 redesign of the Bravada also saw the "Aurora look" on their front fascia.

The first generation Aurora went into production on January 31, 1994. All Auroras were built in Orion, Michigan, along with the Buick LeSabre, Buick Park Avenue, Buick Riviera, Oldsmobile 88, Oldsmobile 98 and the Pontiac Bonneville. Production of the first generation Aurora ended on June 25, 1999.

Specifications

Engines:

Year-to-Year Changes

1996 Oldsmobile Aurora: Daytime running lights were installed in 1996 Auroras, and Oldsmobile claimed to have eliminated the distortion in the rear window, which had produced many complaints.

1997 Oldsmobile Aurora: An electronic compass was incorporated into the inside rearview mirror this year. The right-hand outside mirror now tilted down when the car was put into reverse, allowing the driver to see the curb edge. An in-dash CD player joined the optional Bose sound system, and a 12-disc CD player could be ordered with the Bose setup.

1998 Oldsmobile Aurora: For '98, Oldsmobile modified the suspension and steering to provide a more comfortable ride and better low-speed steering feel. Also new was an optional satellite navigation system/cellular phone called OnStar.

1999 Oldsmobile Aurora: Changes for '99 included daytime running lights, automatic level-control suspension, and a power down-reverse passenger-side mirror. Aurora production continued through the year, but no 2000 model was offered. A redesigned 2001 model debuted early in 2000.

2001

Oldsmobile's original intention for the second generation was to move the Aurora further upmarket, retaining its V8-only drivetrain and sharing a platform with the new Buick Riviera, as the original Aurora had done. This would have created more room within the Oldsmobile lineup for a four-door Eighty-Eight successor known as the Antares. However, Buick dropped its Riviera development plans and fiscal trouble found Oldsmobile, so Oldsmobile was forced to re-engineer the Antares into an acceptable Aurora in short time. The 2001 Aurora is the product of that re-engineering.

The second-generation Aurora went into production in early 2000 as a 2001 model. It used a new, less-expensive version of the G platform with a shorter wheelbase. Unlike the original Aurora, this platform was shared with other GM divisions, with Buick offering the Park Avenue and LeSabre, and Pontiac offering the Bonneville.

Oldsmobile also offered a V6 engine in the Aurora for the first time. The V6 in question was the LX-5, a cut-down relation of the DOHC Aurora V8, dubbed the "Shortstar." The V6-powered Aurora was produced for the 2001 and 2002 model years only, with production ceasing in mid-2002.

The second generation Aurora went into production on November 10, 1999. The last Aurora 3.5s rolled off the assembly line on June 21, 2002. The Final 500 Aurora 4.0s ended production on March 28, 2003. The Orion, Michigan plant built a total of 71,722 second-generation Auroras (53,640 in 2001, 10,865 in 2002, 7,217 in 2003).

Specifications

Engines:

Future

It is not clear what the future of Aurora would have been if not for the shuttering of the brand. At one point, it is said Oldsmobile asked to borrow the then-developing rear wheel drive Sigma platform from Cadillac, which the Cadillac STS is now based on, a proposal Cadillac refused. Whether or not this Sigma-based Aurora was Oldsmobile's second choice after the original abandoned second-generation project or a proposal for a third-generation is unclear.

In pop-culture

External links



Oldsmobile
([http://encycl.opentopia.com/ edit])
Historic:
Cars: 40 | 53 | 66 | 88 | 98 | 442 | Achieva | Alero | Aurora | Curved Dash | Custom Cruiser | Cutlass | Cutlass Calais | Cutlass Ciera | Cutlass Cruiser | Cutlass Supreme | F-85 | Firenza | Intrigue | Limited Touring | Omega | Series 60 | Series 70 | Oldsmobile Series 90 | Starfire | Toronado | Vista Cruiser
SUVs/Minivans: Bravada | Silhouette

Oldsmobile road car timeline, 1980-2004
American market 		[[http://encycl.opentopia.com/ edit]]
Type 1980s 1990s 2000s
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4
Compact Starfire Firenza
Omega Cutlass Calais Achieva Alero
Mid-size Cutlass Cutlass Ciera Cutlass
Cutlass Cruiser
Cutlass Supreme Intrigue
Full-size Eighty-Eight
Nintey-Eight
Toronado Aurora
Custom Cruiser
Minivan Silhouette
SUV Bravada Bravada

 

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

Search Titles
0123456789
ABCDEFGHIJ
KLMNOPQRST
UVWXYZ?

E-mail this article to:

Personal Message: