1985 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight Manufacturer Promo
General Motors planned to introduce shrunken versions of its full-size cars for the 1983 model year. The decision had been made back in 1978 and the designs were all but locked in between late 1980 and early 1981.
As a result of unforeseen engineering and plant delays, the introductions were pushed back a full year, to the start of 1984. Further delays pushed the release back to spring of 1984. Ultimately, GM chose not to introduce the cars for a short 1984 model year, thus they were held off until 1985.
GM’s fullsize cars represented the traditional domestic-car buyer in the late 1970s, but the market was headed in an ever smaller direction. Auto companies (those in America, in particular) were faced with big dilemmas with their big vehicles. Charles Jordan, GM’s then director of design, stated, “Designing sporty cars is much easier than a mainstream sedan, since the sporty nature of the job means there’ll be a lot of compromises made to begin with.”
The new cars’ designers had a tall order. Compared to the prior C-bodies–which were huge–they had to shrink on the outside but have no loss of space on the inside. Mr. Jordan went on to say, “The customary elegance of the C-cars dictates a thoughtful design approach. Comfort and ease of entry, and good luggage volume can’t be compromised. The buyer has to have all the things that make a luxury car a luxury car, both visible and useable.”
The resulting designs were described by the design staff as “contemporary elegance” and would be up to two feet shorter than the cars they replaced.
Even though I personally thought the Ninety-Eight was the best looking of the luxury trio, it was apparently panned as the most devoid of character. Interestingly, I even feel out of all of the concepts for the C-body, the Ninety-Eight was the best looking. Below is a clay model from November of 1979. While the two-door Cadillac and Buick models looked like their yet-to-be-released E-body kin, this Ninety-Eight sedan shares an essence of its upcoming Toronado brother in its lines, particularly in the front fender.
This illustration above is from 1979 and includes the final rear window angle, but that is about all it shared with the production model. However, notice the wrap-around glass envisioned for the windshield, a trait that would show up on this car’s 1991, all-new replacement.
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Fantastic! Thanks for sharing and adding this. I do not have this in my collection. I do thank you for sharing each and every day.
I had one of these in Touring Sedan guise. arguably one of my favorite cars ever.
This is awesome.. Thanks!
I really liked these new Ninety-Eights.
1985 – Olds 98 and Buick Electra were not only smaller, but also front-wheel drive. The Olds 88 and Buick LeSabre would get the same treatment the following year.
Please make sure that you have a videos for the Delta 88 and Cutlass Ciera for 1984 because I may be interested in those 2 lovely Oldsmobile cars.
Please post some videos on the olds 4.3 V6 diesel, Thanks