Minivans are hardly the type of vehicles that attract enthusiasts or collectors, but alas, even they have not been immune to special and commemorative editions, and even limited-production collectors editions. Arguably the most meaningful and rarest of special edition minivans was the 2004 Oldsmobile Silhouette Final 500, a somewhat somber tribute to its final 500 production examples of each Oldsmobile model as a result of the shuttering of the brand’s 107 years of building cars.
Final 500 Oldsmobiles, which included the Intrigue, Aurora, Bravada, Silhouette, and Alero, all featured special Dark Cherry Metallic exteriors, chrome wheels, Final 500 exterior badging, sill plates and wheel center caps, leather interiors with embroidered Final 500 badging on the seats and floor mats, plus a few other minor badging details and commemorative literature that were largely exclusive to the Aurora and Intrigue.
Unlike the rest, the Silhouette was given the least love, with some examples not even getting their commemorative medallions and in fact, only 360 total examples produced due to plant overcapacity as a result of needing to fulfill fleet orders of the Silhouette’s Chevrolet Venture sibling.
The GM U-body minivans themselves were neither all that notable nor loved, and if this Silhouette owner is not the original, it is doubtful he or she even know the specialness behind their Silhouette. One clue, however, suggests that they might: the whitewall tires. Could this special Silhouette be owned by a elderly couple who had been seasoned Oldsmobile buyers, now holding on to their final Olds?
Unfortunately its driver was nowhere to be found, likely enjoying their bowl of Panera soup on a chilly November afternoon. Now some 15 years later, little is left on the roads reminding us of this once omnipresent automobile brand, but but every now and then one will appear, like this rarest Final 500 360 Oldsmobile Silhouette.
Photographed in Hanover, Massachusetts – November 2018
SK sticker! Seeing these on the backs of our old cars and then on this, quite a surprise! 🇸🇰
The Silhouette name was very apt, as I never noticed or cared enough to notice these things when they were seen semi-regularly in my neighborhood. I always thought that Oldsmobile got a raw deal when they were shut down. Pontiac and Saturn had interesting models when they were forced to close up shop, why not Oldsmobile? Then again, it would have done much good anyway.
What tires are still available with whitewalls? (other than repro/Coker specialty tires)
I wonder if GM would have sold the later long-nose version of these under five brands had Olds survived a few more years, or did Buick only get one because Olds was gone?
Cooper, GT Radial, Michelin, Continental, and a smattering of bottom-end Chinese brands (including captive imports like Firestone’s Giti-produced Primewell line) still offer whitewalls in a handful of sizes. I believe these are either older Michelin Synergies or current Continental ProContacts due to the very narrow white band and presumably 225/60R16 size.
My last set of whitewalls (for a Mazda 323 about 20 years ago) were Coopers – they looked nice but weren’t very good tires. Falken was the only other brand I found with whitewalls at the time. I’m surprised Michelin and Continental still make them unless they’re sized only for Town Cars and the like.
“What tires are still available with whitewalls?”
Well, Hankook Optimo H724s in 14 and 15 inch sizes have white sidewalls. My Isuzu Pickup has those snazzy white bands proudly decorating the inside of the wheel wells.
Good to know, thx
My brother was just “gifted” a ’92 Silhouette with the optional 3800 motor, as a guy in the auto diagnostics business with a bit of land out in the sticks, he seems to attract these unloved older oddball cars like stray dogs. His other vehicles include an ’89 Mazda MPV with 250k miles, a very well preserved ’96 Mercury Mystique GS (5spd) with over 250k miles, and his daily driver ’02 Suzuki XL7 (rare-ish LWB non-third row 5spd 4wd). Says the Olds misses on one cylinder and the transmission is a bit slow to engage, but sure enough he scooped it up!
Brendan, my minivan brother! I had forgotten that these even existed and even here in the middle of midwestern GM country, I am not sure I have ever seen one. Or maybe I just never noticed.
If there would have been the tiniest chance of selling all 500 of these at anywhere near normal retail, you can bet GM would have found a way to squeeze them into the production schedule. I wonder how many Final 500 editions were sold without the steep discounts every other Olds on the lot was getting by then.
Also, I am kind of mystified by the special editions for a brand being axed. Was it a genuine attempt to celebrate Oldsmobile? Or a cynical marketing ploy to take one last opportunity to fleece faithful customers by luring them with a final special edition. “Once they are gone you will never have another chance to own one of these valuable collectors’ pieces!”
Once I started noticing them (early on in our minivan hunt when I very briefly considered continuing on my cheap-car path), I realized these U-bodies were still absolutely everywhere in working class neighborhoods across Indy and rural Indiana. The rocker panels rust out something fierce, but the mechanicals hang in there in a dilapidated state longer than they have any right to, in classic GM fashion.
I think that GM’s success in the world of cheap beater minivans is the final dividend of an ability to make a tolerably durable 4 speed automatic transaxle, something that seems to have eluded every other minivan manufacturer of that same time period (with perhaps the exception of Toyota).
I have to say that 4th gen Chryslers seem to be pretty thick on the ground in those areas as well, with the occasional 3rd gen still grinding along.
Yep, despite the (undoubtedly true) horror stories that many have had with Chrysler minivans, an absolute legion of them still soldiers on, with increasing amounts of rust. The fascinating thing too is how many gen 2 Odysseys with the infamous transmission issues are still on the road and for sale with well over 200k miles. From what I’ve seen it seems to be the final several years (’02-’04) recognizable by rear taillights with orange turn signal reflectors that are mostly still standing. Honda had implemented some fixes throughout the model run that apparently paid off to a degree. The Hondas (and Siennas) are also much more corrosion resistant than the domestic options of the era, from what I’ve observed.
Somehow I’ve noticed a lot of Hyundai Entourages in this corner of PA lately, despite being a “rare” model. The 2006+ Sedona/Entourage has held up well, apparently, even if many are hoopties.
MT I seriously considered a private sale ’07 with 93k miles ($5800 asking), very tempting price and a great value as far as how much life was left in it for the money. Like you, once I researched them I started to notice them absolutely everywhere. But we ultimately decided to live a little and bought a lightly used Town&Country.
Honda also paid for a lot of transmission replacements well outside of warranty including many of the following generation. Our ’06 got a warranty extension for the torque converter that I believe went up to 120k miles (which we never asked for and never needed). That coupled with the fact that a 100,000 mile Honda is generally still worth more than a 100,000 mile Dodge makes for a fairly large survivor pool, or at least less of them just being junked when/if the trans failed.
And, yet, more evidence that GM products run longer badly than other vehicles run at all.
Guessing SK is for Slovakia and not Sealed Knot.
In the UK there used to be identical car stickers for a civil war reenactment society.
Actually, it is for Siesta Key, a barrier island community in Sarasota Florida. The owner must have either vacationed there, or more likely is a seasonal resident. That would mean it is likely the original owner, an old person who is dutifully holding on to their last Oldsmobile.
You must be right, but I find the idea of an Olds-driving English-Civil-War hobbyist strangely quirky and heartwarming.
“Why the minivan, Bob?”
“Carrying pikes.”
With the Massachusetts plates, I’m going to guess snowbird.
Which, if accurate, is somewhat impressive that they’ve been driving the Olds back and forth for more than a few years.
Impressive? Possibly, but not extraordinary. We see a ton of 15-20 year old cars sporting out of state plates with old folks behind the wheel down here. They were normally older sedans, but as times progress we see more minivans and now SUVs and pickups being piloted by snowbirds. Few tend to fly down, and fewer still have a car for “up north” along with a car for Florida, so they drive what they own back and forth. And really, for a day or two drive down (or back), why not have a minivan? Tons of storage, comfortable, good gas mileage, and easy to drive.
I thought it was for Saskatchewan but based on the location of this van the Siesta Key one may be more correct.
I dont know who the owner is but he/she is taking good care of their van. Look at it. Paint looks good, tires have plenty of tread, the front windows have those rain blockers on and in general, it looks like a well-loved vehicle, even after 15 years.
Nice find. The only U-Body I see in reasonable condition anymore is the Buick Rendezvous.
Rendezvous: another Mid-00s GM product that is still stupefyingly thick on the roads around here.
Absolutely love Siesta Key…we go 3x a year. Lay on the white sand and get loaded for a week. Reyka vodka rocks in a solo cup. Going in May. Traffic is horrendous but other than that we love it.
On the subject of the minivan, I didn’t know such a beast existed and I’m stunned that any are still extant.
So let me get this straight: only 360 of the so-called Final 500 were actually ever made. That’s a bit misleading. Typical GM. 🙂
Nah, Typical GM would have been to sell a “Final 360” edition, and then to produce 500 of them!
Seriously 🙂
It’s the Cadillac of minivans.
On the subject of minivan collectability, some aren’t too bad. But the only one I think I’d really like to have would be an original 1984 Mopar. Even today, with all the technical advances and improvements, the original is so honest and practical.
“It’s the Cadillac of minivans…”.
Now that didn’t take too long. Thank you rudiger!
The whole “Final 500” series seemed like a rolling obituary. If I were an Olds enthusiast at the time, I wouldn’t have been able to buy one of these, just to commemorate GM killing off the brand.
That said, I never realized there even was a Silhouette version… excellent find!
I grew up with a 1999 Chevy Venture; what an awful vehicle. The auto sliding door would open when reversing, the alarm would go off on its own (and was eventually removed), the power windows stopped working, the headlights were always full of water. This all happened when the car was only a few years old. I can’t help but wonder what it would’ve been like if my dads love for GM hadn’t gotten in the way, and we rolled around in a Sienna or Odyssey.
Other than at the Olds Homecoming show, I haven’t seen one of these in years.
On the other hand, I see a Final 500 Bravada about once a month. Not sure if its the same one all over town, or if there are a couple of them.
GM kept the Silhouette, but renamed it the Saturn Relay.
I thought the Buick ‘Terraza’ was the rarest of all minivans, but I may be wrong because I never cared for minivans, and I tend to never even give them a glance.
I remember driving around Atlanta by the time the GM plant was closing and we could read on a big banner in front of it : “Oldsmobile Silhouette (and it’s other sibling) proudly built here”. I always felt sad to see that auto plant closing, even if I never cared about minivans.
I own a 2004 silhouette Premiere Final 500. Bought it new it’s my 4th silhouette we love it. Has 160k on it. We use it only for trips. Is in very good shape all stock. It is a jewel