Cars of Futures Past - Oldsmobile Aurora

First-generation Oldsmobile Aurora. All images courtesy GM Media Archives, unless otherwise noted.

Prior to its 2004 shuttering by General Motors, Oldsmobile, founded in 1897 by Ransom E. Olds, had the distinction of being the oldest U.S. automotive brand. Once considered a premium and aspirational marque with a history of innovation (such as the first fully automatic "Hydra-Matic" transmission, launched in 1940, and the first turbocharged production V-8 engine, launched in 1962), by the early 1990s the once-proud brand was struggling for survival. Faced with an aging buyer demographic and too much competition from other GM divisions, Oldsmobile sought a Hail Mary pass, in automotive form, that would turn its fortunes around. That go-big-or-go-home vehicle was the 1995 Oldsmobile Aurora.

Though described by Oldsmobile as "the ultimate synthesis of art and science," the Aurora didn't break new ground in terms of materials used or construction techniques, but it did foretell the future design direction of the Oldsmobile brand, while proving that GM was capable of building a car that rivaled some of the best luxury sedans in the world. Neither the Aurora itself nor the models that followed it to market were enough to save Oldsmobile, but the stylish and content-rich sedan did go a long way towards upping the perceived quality of American automakers.

A halo car for the Oldsmobile brand, the Aurora's mission also required it to distance itself from the Oldsmobile marque. Instead of the traditional rocket logo used on other Oldsmobile models of the period, the Aurora received a distinctive swirled-A logo that foretold the "launching rocket" Oldsmobile logo that would debut in 1997 and see the brand to its final days. The Aurora's only labeled ties to the Oldsmobile brand were found on its engine cover and in the fine print on the audio system.

The logic behind such a bold marketing move was twofold: First, Oldsmobile hoped to target a new demographic of buyer with the Aurora, one that previously wouldn't have set foot in an Oldsmobile dealership. It also looked to rivals for branding inspiration; Acura, for example, was built by Honda but sold as a premium brand through a separate dealer network, with few identifying links to its parent company. While the Aurora was sold through Oldsmobile dealers, the brand still wanted to distinguish it as a premium model that broke the perceived Oldsmobile mold.

The Aurora's aerodynamic styling produced a drag coefficient of just 0.32, and set the design benchmark for Oldsmobile's later models, such as the Alero and the Intrigue. While the Aurora's primary mission was to attract luxury import buyers, its secondary mission was to draw younger buyers of all incomes into Oldsmobile dealerships. Those who could not afford an Aurora (or didn't want a full-size sedan) could still drive away in a similarly  styled Intrigue or Alero.

Achieving the conquest of import buyers would take more than just stylish sheetmetal, and General Motors held little back during the Aurora's development. It’s 4.0-liter (244-cu.in.) V-8 engine, for example, was derived from Cadillac's premium 4.6-liter Northstar V-8, which had been exclusively reserved for Cadillac models prior to the Aurora's development. Output of the Aurora's dual-overhead camshaft, 32-valve V-8 was rated at 250 horsepower, or better than one hp per cubic inch, and the engine was mated to a four-speed automatic transmission that featured both a "normal" and a "performance" shift mode. In performance mode, the Aurora was capable of an eight-second sprint from 0-60 MPH, yet the car still delivered fuel economy of 26 MPG highway and 17 MPG city.

In its initial Aurora brochure, Oldsmobile was quick to point out that the same 4.0-liter V-8 engine used in the Aurora had broken a 25,000-kilometer (15,500-mile) speed and endurance record previously held by Mercedes. At a time when many buyers still questioned the quality of American cars, Oldsmobile also pointed out that the Aurora's first tuneup wasn’t needed until 100,000 miles, and that the car could be driven without any coolant (at reduced speeds) as far as 50 miles, thanks to sensors that would alternately shut down four of the car's eight cylinders to reduce engine temperatures. As further evidence of the Aurora V-8's durability, Oldsmobile touted the fact that the engine contained 556 fewer parts than Lexus's 4.0-liter V-8, yet it delivered the same 250hp and 260-lbs.ft. of torque.

A rigid and strong chassis structure was a design goal from both a ride quality and a safety perspective, and the Aurora’s engineers exceeded the car's targets to the point that GM's existing test equipment proved insufficient to crush the Aurora's body. A 1997 Aurora brochure stated that, "The roof structure withstood more than 8,000 pounds of force in a crush-resistance test - far exceeding the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard for passenger cars - before the test equipment simply gave out."

Inside, the Aurora's focus was on luxury. Image courtesy of OldCarBrochures.com.

Technology and amenities were also selling points for the Aurora, and the sedan featured a driver-centric cockpit layout that spoke of its sporting intentions. All controls, including those in the center stack, were angled towards the driver, and ergonomic research was used for the placement of switchgear. The standard features list was a lengthy one, including dual-zone automatic climate control, a trip computer, anti-lock brakes, traction control, a "dimensional" audio system, solar control glass, a remote-linked driver's seat position memory, genuine burl walnut trim, magnetic variable-ratio power steering and dual front airbags.

In its rookie year of 1995, Oldsmobile managed to sell nearly 46,000 Aurora sedans, but the car's ambitious base price of $34,360 hampered second-year sales. While considerably less than the $43,500 commanded by a Mercedes-Benz E320 (a reported development benchmark for the Aurora), it was still a stretch from the Acura TL's $29,950 base price, and Oldsmobile sold just 22,349 Auroras in the car's sophomore year. In the final year of the Aurora's first generation, 1999, Oldsmobile would sell less than 19,000 units, a clear indication that something was missing from the model's lineup.

The second-generation Aurora, introduced in 2000 as a 2001 model.

The second generation of the Aurora, which debuted in February 2000 for the 2001 model year, was originally supposed to take Oldsmobile even further to the luxury side of the scale (creating more room for additional models within the brand), but economic realities caused GM to downsize its total product offerings. While the second-generation Aurora still retained the 4.0-liter V-8 atop the range, it also debuted a 3.5-liter V-6 variant of the engine (for 2001 and 2002 only), good for an output of 215 horsepower.

A lower-priced Aurora may have helped boost Oldsmobile's falling sales, but 10 months after the second-generation Aurora's debut (and seven months after its second appearance as an Indianapolis 500 pace car), General Motors announced plans to shutter its oldest division in the coming years. Perhaps equally damaging, the updated Aurora never managed to feel as "special" as its predecessor, perhaps due to styling that was no longer innovative, but prevalent throughout the Oldsmobile lineup.

The second-generation Aurora wore more mainstream rear styling.

In the end, the Aurora may have prolonged Oldsmobile's life, but a single car, no matter how forward-thinking and well-built, wasn't enough to save the once-proud marque. Still, the Aurora was proof that bold design, innovative engineering and cutting-edge technology are enough to attract buyers, even if the sticker price is perceived as ambitious for the brand.