A brief history on Oldsmobile

Being a great fan of the big V8 engines, I cannot not write about the Oldsmobile, an American automobile manufacturer.

Oldsmobile dates back to 1879, founded by a man named Ransom Olds. In that year he sold a grand total of 4 cars, while the gasoline powered engine manufacturing was a success. Things changed in the year 1899, a man named Samuel L. Smith took over Oldsmobile car production. Production started in the year 1901, all was going well when a massive fire broke out on March 1^st 1901. One car amongst his concept cars that made it through the fire was the “curve dash.” The curve dash was powered by a single cylinder 4 horsepower motor and the cost of the entire car was $650. In 1908 Oldsmobile was acquired by General Motors.

The Oldsmobile Aerotech that used a 2.3 L quad 4 cylinder motor produced 900hp, although some sources claim that it produced close to 750-800hp. This car was no joke! It consisted of a full carbon fibre shell and an Indy car single seat chassis. This car has world records to be proud of, having reached speeds close to 300 mph. Later on models from GM such as the Chevrolet Volt, a fully electric car showcased the same aerodynamic technology as the Aerotech.

The Oldsmobile V8 that powered the 1949 Rocket was amongst the first post-war front wheel drive V8 cars such as Tornado, which had a 425 cubic inch V8. These engines were painted blue or gold from the factory. The best model would have to be the Tornado Rocket which had a 425 cubic inch 7.0L V8 that produced a healthy 400hp. The Tornado shared its chassis with the Cadillac Eldorado, it used a turbo-hydromantic heavy duty gearbox, and it was a 3 speed. The major week point of the Tornado were its brakes. It had drum brakes.

The Tornado sold well and won awards such as Motor Trends car of the year. It all ended in 1994 when the Tornado was replaced by the Aurora as the 1995 model. Oldsmobile was also famous for the “Viking” which was manufactured by Oldsmobile GM division. In the year 2004 GM decided to stop production of the Oldsmobile claiming that it was “unprofitable”. Oldsmobile was to become another company that GM shutdown due to financial reasons.

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