(first posted 9/9/2016) SUV sales had begun noticeably taking off by the late 1980s, and by the 1990s began an all-out explosion in popularity. With sales growing exponentially, development of these vehicles typically not requiring a from-scratch effort, and exemption from the stricter fuel economy and safety regulations, the SUV was quickly becoming the cash cow of the American automobile industry. For a faltering brand like Oldsmobile, it only made sense that one be added to its lineup in an attempt to bolster falling sales and give the brand some contemporary relevance.
By the time of the Bravada’s launch, Oldsmobile was in a precarious position. There was major redundancy within its lineup, with at least two different vehicles for every size class — something only confused further by the over-application of the Cutlass name to virtually everything less than full-size.
Likewise, every Oldsmobile car had at least one (and often more) badge-engineered sibling sold under another GM brand, making the purchase of an Oldsmobile over say, a Buick or Pontiac, largely dependent on brand loyalty or preference of styling. Oldsmobile had peaked in popularity, and what once made the brand so appealing was quickly fading away. In just five years, from 1985 to 1990, sales had plummeted some 58 percent, showing no signs of stopping.
Faced with a bleak image of its future, Oldsmobile began the confusing process of *trying* to reinvent itself and appeal to the demographic that was now buying import cars, SUVs and minivans, and not Cutlass Supreme coupes with vinyl quarter roofs and wire wheels. Oldsmobile had already released their Silhouette “dustbuster” minivan all-purpose vehicle the prior year and their anticipated import-fighter Aurora sports sedan was well under development. Was it really any surprise that for 1991 Oldsmobile came out with an SUV?
Actually, depending on whom you ask, the answer might likely still be “yes”, as in the minds of most, Oldsmobile was still their parent’s, or even grandparent’s Oldsmobile. No matter how sleek and space-age the Silhouette was, it would appear that Olds was just going through the motions like they were with most of their other vehicles, introducing a minimally different version of a corporate vehicle.
In execution, the Bravada was no different, itself little more than a mildly altered and upgraded version of the new 4-door Chevrolet S-10 Blazer/GMC S-15 Jimmy, whose 2-door models had been around since 1983. But in theory, the Bravada could be described as ahead of its time, as apart from the significantly costlier and league-of-its-own Jeep Grand Wagoneer and the ultra-premium Range Rover, the idea of an SUV sold exclusively as a luxury vehicle was practically unheard of.
Other SUVs such as the Jeep Cherokee (and later, Grand Cherokee) and Ford Explorer offered comparable luxury features at extra cost, but these were only available in higher trim levels, and not standard on all models. What’s more is that every other SUV on the market at the time was sold by a brand specializing in trucks/SUVs, or at least one that had had considerable experience building SUVs. Oldsmobile on the other hand, had never sold a single SUV before, and hadn’t sold a truck-based vehicle in nearly three-quarters of a century — before many of its stereotypical buyers were even born.
Despite its forward-thinking nature, the original Bravada wasn’t a perfect vehicle. As stated, its styling was little-changed over its Chevy/GMC siblings whose 2-door variants debuted eight years prior. Versus its more humble siblings, Oldsmobile gave the Bravada lower body cladding and eschewed all traces of chrome in favor of body-colored trim for the monochromatic “cladded” appearance then in vogue.
Inside, the Bravada received a complementary list of standard convenience equipment, unique center console, along upgraded upholstery in either standard velour-like cloth or the more commonly seen extra-cost leather. Still, the dash with its somewhat unusual digital gauge cluster, column shifter, and most other materials were carried over from the Blazer/Jimmy and S-10/Sonoma pickups, making for a somewhat compromised take on luxury.
In an age when similarly-sized SUVs were selling hundreds of thousands of units per year, at less than 45,000 total sold across four model years, first-generation Bravada sales were nothing impressive. Even just looking at competitors’ comparable trim levels, such as the Ford Explorer’s Eddie Bauer and the Jeep Grand Cherokee’s Limited, Bravada sales were significantly less, doing little to aid Oldsmobile’s sinking fortunes.
The Blazer and Jimmy were redesigned for 1995, but a redesigned Bravada was curiously absent. It was blatantly clear that the first generation was a hastily-rebadged, testing the waters entry into the SUV segment, but the second generation could’ve been Oldsmobile’s real chance to offer something unique and noteworthy in the fastest-growing segment of the decade.
(My own quick rendering)
According to MotorTrend, initial plans called for the second-generation Bravada to be based on the Isuzu Trooper, but ultimately these plans fell through (maybe because of the Acura SLX?). Consequently, the Bravada took a forced hiatus as a Blazer-based second-generation model was quickly readied. The resulting car was, while improved over its predecessor, still a vehicle that failed to make a significant impact both in the market, and for Oldsmobile.
Visually, the second generation Bravada was still largely just a 4-door Blazer/Jimmy with a different grille, lower body cladding, and a monochromatic color scheme. The Bravada did gain body-colored D-pillars, a rear spoiler, tidier-looking roof rails, fog lights, front tow hooks, and unique alloy wheels. The look was decidedly more upscale, but headlights and taillights were still interchangeable, keeping the strong visual resemblance among the three SUVs.
Likewise, Oldsmobile designers gave the second generation Bravada’s interior a bit more pizazz than before, with upgraded leather upholstery, unique front bucket seats similar to those in the Aurora sports sedan, once again an exclusive front center console but now with a floor-mounted leather-wrapped shifter, and faux but nonetheless attractive woodgrain trim.
While appreciated enhancements, unfortunately, like the exterior, the interior was not all that distinctive, merely coming across as a mildly enhanced Blazer/Jimmy. For a “luxury” vehicle, there were still hard plastics galore, as once again the Bravada shared the same dashboard as its SUV and pickup truck siblings. Additionally, as far as luxury features were concerned, the Bravada failed to offer much beyond what could be had at extra cost on its siblings. Automatic climate control still wasn’t even an option on the new 1996 models.
Mechanically speaking, the Bravada was powered by the same 4.3L Vortec V6 as its siblings, making an identical 190 horsepower and 250 lb-ft torque. Unlike Chevy and GMC, the Olds once again was unique in offering “Smart Track”, its full-time intelligent all-wheel drive system. Using a computer-controlled transfer case, Smart Track decided how much power to send to each axle based on driving conditions.
Sales, however, remained relatively disappointing following the 1996 redesign, with only 15,471 Bravadas going out the door that year. Although these figures would increase and hover around the 30,000 mark for the next several years, Bravada sales were still only about two-thirds the volume of its nearest competitor, Mercury’s Mountaineer. Compared to its siblings, the Bravada sold considerably less than 50% GMC Jimmy volume and less than 10% that of the Blazer during these years.
A few welcomed improvements came over the next few years, chiefly a 1998 facelift that smoothed out the overall exterior design, making it look marginally less truck-like. New headlights, new bumpers, smoother lower bodyside cladding, and a new grille with Oldsmobile’s updated “Aurora” logo completed the exterior design. Curiously, the rear spoiler was deleted.
The interior was also given a minor makeover with a more user-friendly dashboard, as well as a few extra luxury and convenience features such as automatic climate control, optional heated front seats, and later, steering wheel redundant audio controls. Features such as a moonroof, CD player, and power passenger seat were still optional, however, and unfortunately, these little improvements never made a difference in making the Bravada more popular.
For Oldsmobile, the Bravada was just another in a series of misses that had plagued the ailing brand since the 1986 Toronado. Be it a victim of ineffective badge engineering, lack of expected luxury features, poor marketing, Oldsmobile’s general mark of death, or most likely, a combination of all four, the Bravada never resonated with buyers enough to positively impact Oldsmobile’s wavering relevance, and worse, help the case that Oldsmobile was worth keeping around.
As revealed in a November 1997 MotorTrend conducted survey of 1996 Bravada owners, fully 54-percent of buyers were over age 50 and 53.5-percent had owned an Oldsmobile before. For a vehicle that was meant to bring new life and younger buyers to Oldsmobile, the Bravada succeeded to some degree, but in most respects came up short.
Its third, and arguably most optimistic generation yet, arrived as a 2002 model rather early in the 2001 calendar year. However, it was merely too little, too late. The announcement that GM would be phasing out the Oldsmobile brand had already come several months earlier, and Bravada production wound down nearly as fast as it had started up. The last Bravada rolled off the assembly line in January 2004, ending Oldsmobile’s first and last SUV. The former Bravada was hastily restyled and rebadged as the Buick Rainier, sold from 2004-2007, front bumper gaps in all.
White 1998 Bravada photos by Will Jackson
Related Reading:
Curbside Classic: 1990 Oldsmobile Silhouette
Curbside Classic: 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee Orvis Edition
There are a lot of those gen two version here in Blazer badging but Ive never seen the Oldsmobile version, it doesnt appear Ive missed much and now ones been featured no doubt I’ll see one.
There are some down here too. With third gen Explorers, XJ and ZJ Cherokee and FZJ80 Land Cruisers readily available, there is no point in touching one of these.
This is a vehicle I did not even know existed…
Had no idea it almost was a Trooper. That would have made it the American analog of the Opel/Vauxhall Monterey.
The first generation suffered from being a ten year old design already. The second generation just seemed smaller and less substantial than a Grand or Explorer. Still, what surprisingly dismal sales especially considering the Mountaineer was similarly undifferentiated.
That Trooper-based possibility is confusing, given the SLX. Wonder if Isuzu was in talks with both companies and Honda made the better pitch, or offered them more cash? Or if they were going to go with Olds originally and then Honda was given priority due to the existing Isuzu-Honda partnership vehicles (Rodeo/Passport, Odyssey/Shuttle).
Incidentally, it just occurred to me that I can’t remember the last time I saw a Rodeo or Passport on the road.
Funny you should mention that about the Passport. I recently had a client purchase a MINI Countryman for me (traded in a MINI convertible), but during our conversation it came up that she once owned an early Honda Passport, very basic with manual transmission, crank windows, and front bench seat.
She said between her and her daughter who she eventually gave the car to, it lasted several hundred thousand miles and almost 20 years, driven across the country several times.
Honda and Isuzu were already in a business agreement per se besides the Passport/Oasis; back in Japan, when Isuzu stopped making passenger cars circa 1993, Honda began giving Domani (Civic related) and Accord sedans to Isuzu to lightly re-badge as the new Gemini and Aska.
The Bravada/Trooper plan seems ridiculous to me; the second generation Trooper was already 4 years old by 1995… At least with Honda, they were a company with zero in-house SUV experience at the time, so you can see why they would outsource. GM had plenty, so why?
A guy I worked with recently drove a honda Trooper actually badged Honda horizon with a badge on it extolling the virtues of the V6 Isuzu engine it had the better ones had the 3.1 turbo diesel four.
Brendan, An informative write up about a time in automotive history that was very confusing to veteran car watchers who didn’t have a whole lot of time to watch cars.
I really like the 1998 fully instrumented and logically laid out dashboard.
Nicely developed story.
And with one of these, your smart phone will
play in any ride prior to 2005(about when
tape decks were phased out, and Aux jacks
started appearing)!
You show us this just in time for Apple to declare the headphone jack obsolete.
Doesn’t mean you have to ditch your 4,
5, or 6 iPhone. I know I’m not.
The iPhone 7 has a submodel with
DUAL cameras, but they ditched a
more common-sense feature at the
same time: the headphone jack.
Like Van Halen sang on “Right Now”:
…The more you get the more you want
Trading one for another…
Wise words needed now more than ever..
Payphones were so much easier, and cheaper.
You can just use a Bluetooth-to-aux adapter if you can’t or don’t want to upgrade your head unit.
MT:
I’m trying to bust apple’s balls here by
getting people to not upgrade to the
7!
Ultimately it is us as consumers who
drive the technology, not the makers.
Ultimately you will have to upgrade when your battery dies.
I am happy with my Android Sony. Don’t plan to change when the contract is up. But it will eventually die and will need to be replaced.
I’ve got a bluetooth cassette adaptor for my 77 Chevelle’s cassette deck, trips people out when I use it.
I use a cassette adapter in my 91 Marquis. It seems to work okay.
The dash input jack could’ve been introduced over a generation ago were it not for the desire to sell factory radios; think of what the Sony Walkman could’ve done to factory & aftermarket tuners & cassette players.
Crutchfield sells USB and microjack only stereo units now that are without a CD player. Come to think of it, I haven’t used my CD player in my car in a while. My flash drive holds so much more and I don’t have to change it every 70 minutes.
+1 on not using a CD player in years. In fact, the last time was downloading everything to a thumb drive, then transferring to an onboard media file. Once that process is accomplished, it’s definitely more user-friendly than inserting/removing a CD, even for us geezers resistant to change.
The story I’ve read on why the iPhone7 doesn’t have a headphone jack is to make it more water-resistant. It sounds plausible, and it will be interesting to see how it shakes out. Frankly, considering how popular wireless, Bluetooth-enabled devices have become, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least to discover that, in just a few years, wired headphones go the way of many other wired devices that have since disappeared (or are on their way out).
I have rediscovered CDs, and play original source discs
(vs ‘remasters’) in my car on a regular basis. Streaming
audio over the net, or Blue Tooth between a source
device and a BT-compatible rig, will just never sound as
good to me as a physical source in an actual player.
The demise of physical hard-wire connections in audio
is a sad and disturbing trend as far as I’m concerned.
The original source discs are key in my opinion. I clung stubbornly to physical media until very recently but the convenience in a car streaming application is just too good to ignore. I hate having a pile of CDs taking up the console or glovebox, or worse going on a long trip and realizing the CD I wanted to listen to I forgot. I do dislike remastered music, and the trouble is if you listen to mostly old stuff as I do chances are the only versions you find to stream online are those. I still buy/own CDs mind you but I convert all of them on my desktop and stream them to my device immediately if I plan to listen in the car. Fidelity never really bothered me.
XR7Matt wrote: ” I still buy/own CDs mind you but I convert all of them on my desktop and stream them to my device immediately if I plan to listen in the car. Fidelity never really bothered me.”
+1! Same here.
The source, in both our cases original CDs, is more
important that converting them to mp3 for putting on
an iPod or smart phone. It will still sound better
than a dynamically-squashed super loud hyped up
remaster! lol 😉
I use an MP3 CD, along with a USB stick in my Cruze. The CD comes in handy when the radio quits in USB mode and tries to reboot itself after an hour or so. Turns out these recent GM radios have lots of trouble like this, and no aftermarket solution since everything is integrated into the dash.
Nice write-up, Brendan!
I miss the days when only the every-man brands
(Chevy, Dodge, Ford, GMC, Jeep, and Toyota)
carried SUVs. And serious ones at that – not ones
based on car platforms.
When Buick, Cadillac, Lincoln & Olds jumped on
the wannabe-wagon nearly 20 years ago, I already
sensed what a MONEY-GRAB it was. Those
divisions were hard up to maintain their identities
in an increasingly crowded sedan & coupe
segment, and felt that shallow rebadges of the Blazer,
Expedition and Suburban were the way to go.
I guess I’m just getting old: When I think of
pickup trucks, Caddy & Lincoln are the LAST
makes that come to my mind, LOL!
“I miss the days when only the every-man brands
(Chevy, Dodge, Ford, GMC, Jeep, and Toyota)
carried SUVs. And serious ones at that – not ones
based on car platforms.”
Same here! Wussified watered down bloated minivans with molded in ‘pushbars’ on the plastic bumpers based on fwd car parts on stilts don’t cut it. Ive owned and offroaded 5 Jeeps (CJs and Wranglers) so I know what it takes to tackle rough conditions. I just cant see downgrading to an awd system that’s only good for inclement weather and paying more to get it! Chances are, if the most you do is hit some rutted gravel roads then a fwd will have plenty of traction. Paul has shown the roads he drives in that Xbox and that thing practically wears trike tires. But those also don’t cost as much as a house, either.
The updated dashboard in 1998 had a much better “flow” and did not look like a refugee from the parts bin. And I kind of liked the Aurora grill.
My aunt and uncle had a first generation example purchased used that later went away for a second generation. At the time, they were one of the purchasers below age 50.
The first one must have had an optional instrument cluster as there wasn’t anything analog on it. The one time I drove it, my uncle mentioned how the cluster had to be replaced (it went dark) and there was a glitch in the computer as the new cluster showed him having considerably fewer miles that what the vehicle actually had.
Like you, I always viewed these as the result of desperation. Thanks for including the sales numbers as I knew they had been paltry, but did not know to what extent.
It is hard to think of the Trooper being sold as a Bravada. I doubt Isuzu could have supplied any big volume. Their vehicle was more directly aimed at the import buyer, with the smaller engines and off brand Land Cruiser styling.
It is lucky it did not happen. Isuzu was buying undersized automatics for their SUVs and the roll safety was not there. The liability to GM of these vehicles would have been huge.
The Trooper was sold under many names, worldwide. I think one of the articles on here about Troopers mentioned all of them.
It was probably one of the most rebadged vehicles of all time. Tranny problems? Find one with a 5-speed. My ’94 is probably THE most trustworthy vehicle I’ve owned in my 28 years of driving.
(Then again, I do have a tendency to buy oddballs. Saabs, Peugeots, etc.)
The Bravada was a sales disappointment, but considering the obviously low-effort badge-engineering job, its sales were probably better than they could have been.
I remember reading that the change to a column-shifter for the 1st-generation Bravada was done to lessen sound intrusion into the cabin and that a good bit of extra sound insulation was put in Bravadas, which (in addition to the upgraded upholstery) was the main benefit of buying the Oldsmobile.
I knew the Bravada was in trouble when a local government around here bought several of them for their general fleet use. I assume they got a good deal from one of the local dealers — that’s generally not a good sign of a healthy product.
My son had a ’98 a couple of years ago. Just over 100,000 miles. Bought from original owner. Constant issues with the SmartTrak. Ended up trading toward a Honda Accord.
I SWEAR GM decontented their compact SUV’s for the 1998 model year.
Having owned three ’95-’97 Blazers (whose styling I VASTLY prefer to the facelift for ’98), and a ’99 Jimmy…plus having poked around under the hoods of multiple 2nd-gen Jimmys/Blazers/Bravadas over the years, I found…
1) They had to have switched suppliers for many parts. Look in a parts catalog and you’ll find many replacement items are different for ’98-’04. One small but annoying item – GM had to have changed suppliers on this – the bottom-of-the-side window molding. The ones built after ’97 curl up; they don’t stay in place. Never saw that with a ’95-’97.
2) The underhood wiring is visibly thinner gauge. We took the aforementioned ’99 Jimmy back to the dealer and made him give us a full refund after wiring issues left my wife stranded 400 miles from home.
3) Maybe it’s me, but the newer ones just looked and felt cheaper inside than before the facelift.
All that said, wiring issues are what did in the ’97 Blazer I’d owned for eleven years and over 220,000 miles. Although the wiring was heavier gauge than the ’98-newer models.
True that the transfer case and front axle were the only original mechanical parts left after 307,000 miles, but even after changing the engine (intake leak became a gusher at 207,000, I ended up with a next-to-new replacement), transmission (’cause why would you do an engine change and NOT change the tranny at the same time?) and rear axle (achilles’ heel in one of these, was changed twice), I was still under $13,000 all-in including the purchase price for 11 years and over 220,000 miles of service. (Not counting routine maintenance items) It had 86,000 on it when I bought it in 2004.
I suppose I could go to my son’s FIL’s place, where it currently sits, pull the entire engine harness and try a junkyard replacement. But when time is money, it’s probably cheaper to junk it. Just hard to do with new tires and over $1000 in recent parts/repairs.
Now that I own a 2002 Tahoe, it’s easy to see where GM’s heart lies. Smooth, comfortable, the 5.3 has plenty of power and for what it is it’s not bad on gas. And the newer ones (2007-up) have much greater attention to detail.
Reading this writeup, especially this paragraph:
“Likewise, every Oldsmobile car had at least one (and often more) badge-engineered sibling sold under another GM brand, making the purchase of an Oldsmobile over say, a Buick or Pontiac, largely dependent on brand loyalty or preference of styling. Oldsmobile had peaked in popularity, and what once made the brand so appealing was quickly fading away. In just five years, from 1985 to 1990, sales had plummeted some 58 percent, showing no signs of stopping.”
…just confirms my long-held notion, once again, that Olds and Pontiac should’ve been killed long before they were. What worked in 1970 no longer worked in 1990. GM was spreading itself too thin, adding Saturn rather than simply building better Berettas, Corsicas, Cavaliers and Celebrities/Luminas.
Because of those past deadly sins, GM today, arguably building the finest vehicles in its history, faces an unnecessary, self-imposed, uphill battle to get people to check out their wares over the competition. And with no chief marketing officer to lead with a coherent brand strategy.
This is a perfect example of why (as much as it pains me to admit it) marques like Olds, Pontiac, Mercury and Plymouth needed to be retired by 2000 if not before. There really was no differentiation any more between any of these brands’ models and their platform mates from Chevy, Dodge, Ford, et al. Realistically speaking, I’d guess that stricter safety regulations, more complicated engineering, etc. all conspired to make it very difficult and expensive to make truly different models from several different brands, but when GM, Ford or Chrysler can’t even afford (or aren’t willing to invest the $$) to put a different dash layout or exclusive panel designs on different branded vehicles, they’re just phoning it in, and it’s all senseless redundancy. In truth, after 1985 or so it made less and less sense for any of the recently deceased brands to continue to exist for any reason other than keeping dealers happy. I wonder how much the ADA had to do with brands like Olds, Mercury and Plymouth hanging around and stinking up the automotive landscape for longer than they should have.
Growing up in the 60’s and noticing cars, it seemed to me that Buicks and Oldsmobiles were much the same thing. The big difference was engine design. I could see that Pontiac was lower end, but really not much different either. The need for all the makes really came under pressure with the 1977 downsizing.
Closing Oldsmobile cost about 1 billion, although they lost sales afterwards. But they were already losing sales. Buick makes little sense for the American market, but is big in China.
Great write up Brendan.
“Oldsmobile on the other hand, had never sold a single SUV before, and hadn’t sold a truck-based vehicle in nearly three-quarters of a century — before many of its stereotypical buyers were even born.”
While that is certainly true, where there any fully independent Oldsmobile dealers in the 90’s? I’m guessing that most appeared in the Pontiac-Buick-GMC fashion, meaning the sales staff would be plenty experienced selling trucks and SUVs. I can’t believe too many people being fooled into thinking GM’s brands were truly distinctive, even before the internet.
There were, especially around Lansing.
This was the stand-alone Olds dealer here in Fairfax, Va. The picture is from 1986, but the dealership was there through the ’90s as well. I have a feeling that most Olds franchises were coupled up with other GM brands, but there were still quite a few stand-alones out there as well. I have no idea whether that helped or hurt sales prospects.
Wow I had no idea, thanks guys.
Stand alone dealers were probably in large metropolitan areas. However, were they part of some larger collection of dealerships? Car sales people tend to move around rather than spending their lives at one dealership. So any stand alone dealership is likely to have a few experienced sales people in SUVs.
Paddleford Oldsmobile in downtown Palo Alto sold Cadillacs too at one point, but sold Oldsmobile exclusively for several decades before it closed in the 80s. The showroom survives as a Whole Foods store.
He also had an Isusu dealership….
I wonder where the Cadillac franchise went.
Not that uncommon. In Los Gatos, where domestics were struggling, there was a stand-alone Olds dealer. In Iowa City too, but that was back in the 60s in not so relevant.
If there was another GM dealer in the area that already had the GMC franchise, than the Olds dealer had to go it alone. I seem to remember many more Buick-GMC pairings than Olds-GMC pairings.
Where I live the Pontiac dealer had a GMC franchise in the 60’s. But at some point the Oldsmobile-Cadillac dealer got it. The owner of the Olds-Cadillac-GMC dealership also had the Ford-Lincoln dealership. Then they took over the Buick Pontiac deanship and lost the Cadillac franchise.
Countryman Olds in Los Gatos, CA. Yes! Though I think they also sold Cadillacs too for awhile.
In San Jose, it was Merry Olds.
Pearson Oldsmobile of Sunnyvale today survives as a Buick/GMC dealer
Merry Oldsmobile! That brings back some memories!
Cerrone Oldsmobile in Attleboro, MA, also had GMC. Around 2001, the story got complicated (http://www.thesunchronicle.com/dealership-changing-hands/article_8edcd46e-746e-5d77-b4ab-589079488bb9.html) and long story short, they are now a Chevrolet-Buick-GMC dealer. They sold Pontiac in the 00s until it got axed, and Cadillac for some time in the 00s.
Cape GMC-Pontiac, while teamed with GMC, did stand alone in that sense until I moved from the area in 2001.
For reference, Cape Girardeau has a population of 40,000. When I moved, the Olds-Cadillac dealer was just up the street and the Chevrolet dealer was directly across from the Olds dealer.
Collins Oldsmobile in Indianapolis was still selling 1,000 new Oldsmobiles a year up until GM pulled the plug on the Division. Olds had always done well in the midwest.
Our Old’s franchise followed the trajectory of the brand in an amazing fashion.
A new stand alone store was built on the edge of town in the late ’50s. The nearby homes were new and sought after, populated by people with a penchant for upscale GM product. As the ’60s and ’70s progressed, the Olds dealer expanded a couple of times and became a huge facility on some expensive real estate. They started a Honda franchise in the corner of the building, and eventually built a dedicated Honda store a block away.
The family that had the Olds franchise dumped it in the ’90s, but has stayed dedicated to Honda to this day. The big Olds store was torn down and redeveloped into a mall.
Another long time car family picked up the Olds franchise, and surprisingly, built a small stand alone Olds store in the suburbs, miles away from any kind of auto row. Within a few years of completing the store, Olds closed down. The family was given a Buick franchise to replace it. The Buick store struggled, so the family built a new Buick / Pontiac / GMC dealership in a new auto row on the edge of town.
The little Buick store was changed to a Saturn store. (This was when a lot of people were calling Saturn the new Olds.) The store was extensively remodeled with the latest Saturn look, and Saturn was proclaimed defunct almost on the day the remodel was complete. Saturn really was the new Olds in more ways than one.
The whole mess, and being the depth of the recession, the new Buick / Pontiac / GMC store was literally raided by its financial backers who took all the inventory keys and closed the store. Cars sat for months while things were settled. The brand new dealership was sold and became a successful Ford store.
The little remodeled stand alone Saturn store liquidated its inventory, and sat empty for a few years. I think an office furniture store is now in there.
The Old’s story is a sad one. From hero to zero in about 15 years.
How sad.
I grew up in Santa Clara County, CA, and remembered how Larry Hopkins Pontiac in Sunnyvale, CA began selling Hondas as well as Ponchos. Of course, they dumped the Pontiac franchise before GM closed the brand (it was moved to Pearson Oldsmobile, now Pearson Buick-GMC, just down the road a block away), and now they’re one of the biggest Honda dealers in the area.
Plaza Oldsmobile in Braintree, MA was an exclusive Olds franchise, where my grandfather bought many of his cars. It closed sometime in the early 1990s I believe when Quirk bought it out and turned that location into a Quirk Nissan. The Oldsmobile dealer was consolidated with their Chevrolet franchise.
I remember reading something some auto industry wag wrote about the “Bravada” when it was introduced..He said something to the effect that” Oldsmobile knew that 95 percent of Bravadas would never go off roading, people just want these types of vehicles, so lets badge engineer one and market it to our target audience.”.I guess the ploy didn`t work out too good. Another reason why GM vehicles of this era are interesting for all the wrong reasons.
Phil B: That was GM all the time: Give dealers “Something to sell in the segment” was the quote I remember from the period, along with claim “We’re not going to do that any longer”.
Then came Malibu/Cutlass, the 4 corporate minivans, SUVs, the Pontiac G3, etc.
That something to sell in the segment crap started in the 70s with the NOVA compacts, followed by the H Body Monza and gained momentum with the Xs, Js, Ns, As
The only Bravada buyer I know, at the time a twenty-something, was driven by price, which was slashed at the end of a model year to get them off the lot. With the slow sales this made a well-equipped Bravada (probably with the dealer’s deferred-payment flooring about to expire) the same price as a midline Chevrolet Blazer.
When Oldsmobile folded, there would be no lack of dealer service support. The Olds dealer also sold GMC, and the Chevrolet store was a block away.
The Oldsmobile name was, by then, irrelevant.
Olds was better when they had their own styling, engines and independence. Was all lost when they dropped Chevy motors into Delta 88’s.
Also, overnight in 1986, “Cutlass Supreme coupes with vinyl quarter roofs and wire wheels” simply went out of style. Younger buyers wanted trucks [Blazer/F-150] or modern sedans [Taurus/Accord]. Older buyers went to full size cars that still sold well, [Grand Marquis/Caprice]. Olds dropped their B bodies.
The “Blazer-mobile” just was another “we got one too” for the left over Olds dealer network. But what was so special about it? Just get a Blazer.
Interesting observation on the “overnight” thing with the demise of Brougham midsize coupes. What factors do you think contributed most to that shift? Is something similar happening now with the huge shift to CUVs from
Midsize sedans?
I think I’ve only seen a couple of these in the metal as I’m quite sure they didn’t bother selling them in Canada. The last generation may have made it here but I never would have noticed.
I’m pretty sure the second generation Blazer/Jimmy got an extended life in Canada, being sold alongside the new Trailblazer/Envoy until 2005. My parents bought a new 2 dr Blazer around 2004 for real cheap. Absolutely bare bones, 5spd and no options but held up well under their meticulous care. I’m sure it depreciated rapidly nonetheless, so someone got a good deal on a low miles Blazer when they sold it.
I live were domestic cars usually sell well, and seeing a Bravada was not unusual. I too am surprised a bit by the poor overall sales numbers.
With a history as an Olds fan, and a three time owner of the marque, I always looked forward to Oldsmobile’s efforts in the ’90s, but was usually disappointed. The early Blazer / Jimmy / Bravada were simply too small, and the bits of tacked on luxury in the Bravada looked out of place next to all the Chevy plastic.
I will say that I thought GM finally got the mid-size SUV right with the GMT360 platform. I had a Chevy version as a rental for a week in 2006, and it was very pleasant and accommodating for a family of five, including child safety seats.
Nice summary of the history of these. I knew a guy who owned one. It seemed like almost every CPA I met in the 80s or 90s had an Olds. This guy kept his a long time until it started a bad oil leak. I think he replaced it with one of the final models.
I hate to come off like an automaton, but “Deadly Sin” is what comes to mind. Or at least a venial sin. One of so many during these dark times for GM.
The Bravada was an up market version of the Chevy/GMC. The GMC Denali models started in 1999, which make more sense. Why Olds got the is not clear to me, but I think Olds knew they were doomed unless sales picked up. But adding more product lines did not help. Buick had a limited range of products, so even though overall sales were not great, they were not bad for the few platforms that they were on. Olds had twice (about) as many platforms, but sales were about the same as Buick.
The basic problem at Oldsmobile is that they had to work with GM’s basic platforms, which were wrong for the direction they were trying to go.
I was thinking that too afterwards to. My only hesitation for calling it a deadly sin is that the idea and timing of the Bravada was actually spot on for once. It was only the execution that was severely underwhelming.
Maybe it’s the rarity but the 96-97 front end looks pretty cool, almost like a modern interpretation of a 1970 Cutlass(which is my favorite olds), the 98 facelift I hated as a whole, I never liked Chevy’s stacked horizontals(including on their large pickups) and the filled out lights of the olds just looked out of proportion.
Note that all I have to comment on are the front end treatments, because, well, that’s about all I ever noticed about the Bravada. In it’s defense it’s Mercury competitor wasn’t a much better execution, the Explorer seemed to be the better executed SUV than the Blazer, but in terms of being a “better” blazer/explorer through a premium brand it’s not as clear cut.
The Mercury wasn’t a very interesting badge job, but the Explorer it was based on was simply much better than the Blazer / Jimmy / Bravada in most every respect. Little wonder that Mercury was moving respectable numbers of Mountaineers.
Speaking of the Cutlass, I’m surprised they didn’t call this thing one too.
The dealership I was working for in ’97 had Olds, along with VW, Volvo, and Mazda. Around 2000 they sold the Olds franchise to the local Cadillac dealership, it was great timing. A few months after the sale Olds demise was announced. Pretty much dismissed Bravada’s for what they were, basically an S10 with nicer trim and a more trouble prone AWD system. The ’98 dash redesign which came with the addition of a passenger air bag was a big improvement. They didn’t do so well in the front crash tests either.
Youd see these (and their Chevy/GMC bretheren) all the time back in West TN. One thing I found amusing is that in the lowered minitruck scene people were all about swapping parts around off of related vehicles to get a different look. The first generation Bravada’s wheels and grille found their way onto a LOT of customized S-10s. Definitely a different look and it could be attractive if the rest of the truck’s mods were tasteful…as in no neon pink splatter or drip paint, etc.
Very well done article on another “also-ran”. I rather like design of the final iteration of the Bravada. Perhaps GM should have tried to make the Bravada more unique, earlier in it’s life. Doing so may have attracted more customers.
The final, mid-size Bravada turned out to be quite a headturner IMO, especially in Final 500 Dark Cherry paint. And apparently, it was so good that it was used for both the Buick Rainier and Saab 9-7X after Olds kicked the bucket.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/uncategorized/automotive-history-capsule-the-last-oldsmobiles-falling-with-style/
I remember when it came out, and if I recall, it appeared several months before the TrailBlazer and Envoy, making it even more exclusive at least for a little while. I only wish that the interior used some better quality plastics and leather, and that there wasn’t that massive gap between the front bumper and the body. It’s really too bad that the third generation Bravada couldn’t have come along around ’98 or ’99.
My dad’s cousins and uncles had an Oldsmobile store (Simon & Fischer) in Newport KY (where the Newport Aquarium stands now) from the 20s till the early 90s, then they moved to Alexandria KY, opened a GMC store next door to the Olds store. They had spun off Honda and Mitsubishi stores in Florence KY then sold the whole kit and caboodle to the Jeff Wyler dealer group in the late 90s…got out while the gettin’ was good.
The Simons and Fischers were in business a long time together and are buried really close to each other in St. Stephen’s Cemetery in Ft. Thomas KY.
I have NEVER ridden in, or driven a Bravada. The chestnut leather in the pic above of the 1st version looks beautiful, but in typical GM fashion, probably didn’t feel so great, and didn’t hold up. I’m surprised that the multiple GM brands lasted as long as they did, they got squeezed from top and bottom and had nowhere to go. Even now, I wonder how viable Cadillac is when an Impala has 90% of the features of an XTS for a helluva lot less money.
It astounds me how much you brand-aware buyers used to be…my dad bought Oldsmobiles and wouldn’t have been caught dead in a Buick…nope, he was an Olds man. He thought a Buick gave the wrong signal to people…he worked at a university that had money problems in the 70s and was nervous about being too flashy at work…a modestly-equipped Delta 88 gave the perfect vibe to the powers-that-be at XU.
I seem to recall that the first generation “baby Blazers” and their GMC and Olds twins, all had single-stage paint on them…and some colors were prone to really serious fading/chalking. I suppose that might be better than the failing clearcoat and peeling issues GM would have on their multi-stage finishes to come…
No mention of the Smart Trak AWD system?
“Unlike Chevy and GMC, the Olds once again was unique in offering “Smart Track”, its full-time intelligent all-wheel drive system. Using a computer-controlled transfer case, Smart Track decided how much power to send to each axle based on driving conditions”
– please refer to the 16th paragraph 🙂
thanks. it did distinguish the Bravada as a great winter vehicle. I still see many on the roads
The only person I knew who had a Bravada bought it (used) specifically for the AWD and snow. He was extremely hands-on and car savvy (the Bravada replaced an older Subaru DL and his other snow vehicle was a Tucker SnoCat) but I lost touch with him so I don’t know how well the Bravada worked out.
One of your photos features a prime example of that repulsive “taupe” leather GM used in so many of it’s cars of the period, Brendan. That and the dashboards that resembled molten lava as one of the automotive scribes called it at the time.
Should have been called cadaver beige.
Cynical, cheap and nasty re-badge to shake down a few short term bucks at the expense of long term viability. I really despise these things and all the other thrown together offerings offered by the Big Three. ”
“Just change the hash, our buyers are too stupid to know the difference”.
I had a friend who owned a Bravada. I was embarrassed for him.
I remember when the Oldsmobile Bravada first hit the American market. I felt it was more attractive than the Chevy S10. Throughout its production run, I thought it was better looking than either the Chevy S10 or the GMC Jimmy. My least favourite year for the Bravada was 1998. I didn’t find the grille very attractive. I thought it was hideous in fact. I did like the 2002-2004 Bravada. What GM should’ve realised was that it takes more than just changing the appearance of a car for people to want to buy it. I would’ve liked the Olds Bravada if it were offered with a turbo diesel engine as an option. Sadly, it was never offered in any of GM’s small SUVs, not even as an option.
I notice some min truck enthusiasts stick the front end of a Bravada on their S-10s and Sonomas. Not too many Bravada are still road worthy in Portland, OR, but I have seen a few rotting away in yards or crusher bound.
I remember these and knew a few folks that had them.
If I recall correctly, the Buick Rainier came out just about the time the Bravada expired. I suspect it was a lather, rinse, repeat experience.
I wasn’t ready for these. And I thought the Chevy Blazer was especially attractive. So the Bravada wasn’t ever convincing for me. I wasn’t sold on the idea of a luxury SUV – (still not), and the Bravada was clearly NOT an Oldsmobile. I found their ads to be completely unrelatable. Even in Chicagoland Olds country, we just didn’t see the rides around.
While Oldsmobile is not a brand I found interesting, I posthumously became quite interested in the 4.2-liter Atlas LL8, otherwise called the Vortec 4200. These inline DOHC engines in six cylinder, 4.2, five cylinder 3.5, and four cylinder 2.8 liter. Per Topspeed, those engines could be found in the Chevrolet Trailblazer, GMC Envoy, Buick Rainier, Oldsmobile Bravada, Isuzu Ascender, and Saab 9-7X, starting in 2002. This engine family came to a dismal end, except for the four cylinder in 2009, or thereabouts. Thoughts?
While Oldsmobile is not a brand I found interesting, I posthumously became quite interested in the 4.2-liter Atlas LL8, otherwise called the Vortec 4200. These inline DOHC engines came in six cylinder, 4.2, five cylinder, 3.5, and four cylinder, 2.8 liter variants. Per Topspeed, those engines could be found in the Chevrolet Trailblazer, GMC Envoy, Buick Rainier, Oldsmobile Bravada, Isuzu Ascender, and Saab 9-7X, starting in 2002. This engine family came to a dismal end, except for the four cylinder in 2009, or thereabouts. Thoughts?
https://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-news/the-forgotten-inline-engine-gm-s-4-2-liter-atlas-i-6/