Just the other day I showed you an X-Body Skylark in Austria. Now here’s one from the south of France, shot and posted at the Cohort by Benoît. And it’s in immaculate condition. Good luck finding one over here. So this marks the Omega coupe’s first appearance here.
Unfortunately, it appears not to be an Omega Brougham coupe, with its distinctive padded vinyl half roof. Now thta would really be a find.
But the ultimate find would be an Omega SX. I suppose I probably saw one in LA back in the day, but these were super rare from the get-go. It just didn’t click.
We’ll just have to console ourselves with a plain old Omega coupe. And appreciate the fact that there are folks in Europe who are preserving our cultural treasures.
That kick-up at the C pillar is interesting. All the other Olds coupes at the time shared that rounded lower corner glass (that pretty much carried through the 80s-early 90s until the demise of the Toronado and the W-body Cutlass coupe.)
I remember being pleased that each of the four X body coupes got a distinct side profile with division-specific rear quarter glass, in distinct contrast to the lookalike RWD Nova-clone X bodies these replaced. The four-doors all looked different from the side too, though the Olds and Buick didn’t have a rear-quarter window to distinguish them. Mostly unique sheetmetal for each division too, and a different dashboard for each, with the Chevy and Olds getting a new dash along the way. A refreshing change from the badge-engineered NOVAs, probably one that reflected the increased importance of small cars to GM by this time compared to the early ’70s.
So that’s where they all are.
The other one’s there, too?
LOL
You kind of have to wonder if the average European finds the X-body to be more reliable and well built than the average American thought of Peugeot and Renault during the same era.
The shot being in front a recycling bin brings all sorts of uncharitable comments to mind as well, however the car is in far too nice a shape to be entertaining those kind of thoughts.
They were probably more reliable than the typical Renault or Fiat of the era, but not the typical VW, Opel/Vauxhall or Ford of Europe offering.
I think the average European has zero awareness that the GM X Body ever existed. 🙂
This is strictly a car for lovers of something very much outside the mainstream. Just like there were lovers of very obscure European brands in the US, there has always been a small but devoted cult of US car lovers in Europe. And the X-Body cult is a small subsegment of that. Very small.
Agreed with Paul. This car was bought for its X-factor (now what a coincidence…) only, it has absolutely nothing to do with reliability or build quality.
Well, I owned a 1980 Buick Skylark. Made it well over 200.000 miles (2,8 V6) before I sold it. Actually very reliable, later when I could read all tho horrorstories on the internett I was very suprised.
It may not be the half padded roof Brougham but it does have the Brougham package. The featured car has the vinyl roof and also the little Brougham badge(the shiny square one) on the C pillar.
I guess these were considered a step up in luxury and comfort then the average entry level Euro car of the time
That badge says “Omega”, and all of them had it. It’s not a Brougham.
It is a Brougham. Omega Broughams had a square badge on the C pillar that said Brougham in it. It was to the left of the badge that said Omega.
On the non Brougham Omegas only the Omega badge was on the C pillar.
Here is a pic of a base Omega’s C pillar
Here is a pic of an Omega Brougham
Ah, I see. I was going from the half-top padded vinyl roof shown in that 1980 brochure on the coupe. Maybe that changed on the later years.
That blue Omega reminds me of a miniature version of the car I used to have which was made in France by Majorette. At least French kids were aware of its existence.
I had one too, bought from a gift shop in Lake George, NY sometime in the early/mid ’80s. I wonder now how well it scaled-out compared to the Hot Wheels Citation X-11 or whether they had the all-important identical windshield contours.
I remember lots of X-11s and a few Pontiacs with stripes, but can’t say I recall too many Omega SXs. Oldsmobile’s Cutlass Supreme was a best seller at the time, but I recall far more Skylarks and Citations than Omegas.
If I recall correctly, the Omega was consistently the poorest selling version of the X-cars. I believe this was even true with the rear-wheel-drive versions.
The Phoenix was a slow seller, too. Not too sure which one had the poor sales title.
The wife of the senior partner of my first office drove one of these. It was the perfect “wife’s car” for the WWII vet generation. It was well trimmed but economical and maneuverable. When there was serious driving to be done, the husband’s Cadillac was there.
I don’t ever recall hearing complaints about that one. However, when it came time to trade he had moved on from at least 30 years of GM buying. He replaced his Cadillac with a Lincoln Town Car and the Omega was replaced by a notchback Fox Mustang.
It is funny how the different generations have approached the multiple car issue in a household. In my own life the Mrs. has gotten the larger, better car for daily driving while I have used the older or cheaper one.
In my own life the Mrs. has gotten the larger, better car for daily driving while I have used the older or cheaper one.
Ditto.
It often depends on whether there are children to be ferried about in the household. This duty generally falls on the woman.
If this is the case, she gets the larger and newer car.
No kids for us, and my wife has always had the nicer/newer car. I think it starts young now, as most ppl I encounter seem far more concerned with having their daughters drive something safe and reliable than having their sons do so.
When I was a young kid my parents always had a big car and a small one which they shared and chose based on need – long trips or ones involving several passengers or lots of stuff meant taking the big car. There’s was never “Mom’s car” or “Dad’s car” back then; they were both just the family cars. Then the breakdown of their relationship (though they remained married to the end) meant most everything later became separate, including which level of the house their bedroom was on, and which car was my mom’s or my dad’s. My own time in shared households has thusfar not ever included shared cars, although this was for insurance reasons as much as anything and I did let my car occasionally be “borrowed”.
Same here. My wife gets the chauffered Mercedes.
With the high-end four-tone paint job to boot!
Beth’s had a long string of minivans since the boys outgrew our ’90 Honda Civic hatch and we bought a new ’98 Caravan. She’ll probably want another one in five years when her ’12 Routan is up for replacement, even though it’s only her in it most of the time any more. OTOH, I’ve gone from a clapped out ’71 VW van to my current Chev SS as my career advanced and we finally paid off the mortgage (one benefit of empty-nesting).
We’ve gone back and forth. When I met my future wife, I was driving a four year old Marauder in pretty immaculate shape and she was driving a seven year old Alero that had seen better days. Once we’d moved in together and her job had her driving a lot, we switched cars, and when the Marauder was replaced by a brand new Kia, that was her car (though I’d drive it on days she wasn’t using it). Earlier this year, I regained the “nicer” car when I replaced the old Crown Vic with a newer Fusion, but we’ll probably be switching again early next year after our two-person family expands to three.
Not long after that skylark post, I came across this.
That must be a 1980 model. The colors are exactly those featured in the early Citation advertising. I remember the tan and orange two-tone paint really standing out in crowded parking lots, too.
But the grille indicates a 1981-1982 model. You could still get the two-tones in those years.
Grille indicates a 1981. 1982 brought a new thinly spaced horizontal grille replacing the eggcrate, which I think remained unchanged right through to the end in 1985. Here’s one in similar (same?) two-tone paint attire:
Funny – a few days ago I was looking a town in Google StreetView, and came across this two-tone Citation shown driving down a road. I’d love to find this one in person:
That’s one well-preserved Omega. The X-cars seemed to be pretty much 1980s ephemera, with few noticeable on the road by the early 1990s. I haven’t seen one here in Texas in years, even though there are many GM cars (and trucks) from the mid 80s still on the road here.
The x-bodied cars caught my attention because of front-wheel drive — a personal bias dating back to Cord-love, Citroen DS/ID lust, and 58-9 Saab 93 ownership. geeber’s comment raised the question for me: was this same set of body shells used for both front- and rear-wheel drive ? That’s an industry rarity, isn’t it ?
Early criticism I seem to recall had to do with inoperative rear-door glass. Do I have the right car(s) ? Journalists pointed out that this was the result of a desire to maximize rear-seat width — to keep up with the competition, it was said.
The blue Omega and the Citation just above sure look nice to me; another clean-slate and sanitary design from GM. Contrast with today’s compacts, which (for the American market, at least) are tortured with diagonal and curving “character lines,” hardly an unmolested square foot of sheet metal to be found. . .
S
This generation Omega was front wheel drive only, the previous generation shared mechanicals with the rear wheel drive Chevy Nova.
‘Early criticism I seem to recall had to do with inoperative rear-door glass.’
Perhaps you were thinking of certain GM A-body models (1978-1981)?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_A_platform_(1936)#1978.E2.80.931981
I owned 1982 Buick Skylark and 1986 Chevrolet Celebrity: the rear door windows on both cars can be lowered halfway.
Early this year I purchased a 1976 Pontiac Ventura ( RWD X body ) with 123 original miles Yes Not typo!! The car is almost showroom new even after over 49yrs storage. 260V8 Auto Power brakes power steering manual windows No AC
I attached photo of my Pontiac
Wow Alan!
What a find! The average 30-yr old today has no idea the Chevy Nova existed, let alone the Ventura.
I learned to drive on one very similar to yours–a 1975 with a 260 V8.
How / where did you find it? That would be an interesting curbside classic—a Ventura 260!!
In high school, I would complain my mother’s car had the power of a six with the gas mileage of a big V8. However, other than a failed electronic ignition module, between 29,000 miles when my father bought it to 95,000 miles 11 years later, we had no problems.
When the trans started to act up, my father sold it to an acquaintance for $300 or so.
Greetings Tom. I am based in Beirut Lebanon. I did purchase this 76 Ventura from http://www.arnoldmotorcompany.com in Pennsylvania in United States. To be honest I was Never fan of Nova/ Ventura but being All original with 123 miles from new I could Not resist! The car is nothing special 260 V8 Oldsmobile engine v reliable but No real power and having No AC is big negative here its almost 7 months/year hot weather! Anyway its Not meant to be daily driver I do have small collection of American classics also.
Regards.
Alan
How can a 41 year old car be in storage for over 49 years?
It’s hard to fathom a 40 year old GM car remaining intact even if stored in optimal conditions. The soft trim (rubber and vinyl) rotted away, plastics discolored and cracked minus any UV exposure, the same with the inferior waterborne lacquer GM used. Bad stuff!
After 25 years of Olds 98’s, my dad downsized to an Omega in 1980.
It was every bit as luxurious & smooth as the full-sized Olds luxo-boats.
These are my favorite of the X-bodies. Neat little proportions. They look great with the “mini” FWD Olds Super Stock wheels!
I just posted this to my instagram the other day. Maybe the seller should advertise it in Europe!
Saw one for sale here on trademe a while back optimistically advertised as having American muscle V6 power and they were asking good coin too.
I owned a Skylark and a Omega X-Body around 1990, the Skylark had the V6, and really wasn’t a bad car, the Omega was rusting like a French car and with the 4-line was more or less a pos.
I bought a brand new 1981 Olds Omega Brougham two door back in the day. Black exterior, red interior. Air, cruise, tilt, 2.8 V6. My fiancé helped me option it, we drove it away from the wedding a year later and shortly after that someone egged the hood. My wife parked it at the university one day, left it running and locked for about 14 hours until she could finally reach me and get the key codes to have new keys made. Things that make you go hmmmm. I liked that Omega quite a bit, but had traded a ’71 Cutlass on it that I really wish I’d kept. Had some electrical issues that ended up being due to the lack of a ground strap from engine to frame. Warranty issue. Blew through too many cv joints. I think we put over 300,000 kms on that car and it was generally reliable, but at the end needed another (3rd time?) steering rack, which was more than the car was worth.
Next we bought a 1987 Honda Civic Wagovan. 400,000+ kms until it rusted out. Best car we ever had.
Worked at a car wash in the late ’80s, early’ 90s with a guy who had an Omega SX coupe we affectionately called the “Omega SuX”.
Now that I think about it, another guy there had a Citation X-11 at that time as well.
The really rare find would be a SportOmega. One of the guys in the X-Body group has one he is restoring.
The Phoenix SJ’s are pretty rare, too.
Believe it or not but those X-body cars – especially the Citation and the Skylark – made a big splash upon their arrival in Europe.
Specifically in Germany they were “dirt cheap” compared to German cars, as the X-bodies came almost fully equipped with all the gadgets.
At around 17-20.000 Deutsch Marks you would get a mini US luxo barge with 6 cylinder engine, cushy velours upholstering, powered windows..seats…sunroof…everything. Even A/C came as standard during a time, when that was being considered a frivolous, expensive and unnecessary luxury option by most no-nonsensical German buyers (“I dont want to buy a fridge…”)
Some American cars may have actually been sold more or less officially in some European countries. I know Switzerland was one of Europe’s biggest markets for white or grey import American models for decades, and there are still plenty of them driving around over there.
And for downsize models such as the ’80s Chrysler Corp lineup it might’ve actually posed a reasonably sensible choice at the time considering their adequately Europe-friendly size, not half bad fuel economy and surprising amount of features for the price.
Quite a few (mostly Chevrolet and Buick) were sold in Denmark at a price of an Opel Rekord around kr. 100.000.
In 2-door form these are actually nice-looking little cars (I think my opinion there has softened over time). Last one I clearly remember seeing was this guy, which I photographed in 2011 looking to be in rather nice shape other than the missing bumper cover. I moved away from the area in ’12 but street view tells a sad tale–the car appeared to be a frequent driver for a while afterward, but from sometime prior to 2014 through 2016 the car sat in the same place, growing mossy. A handicapped access ramp appeared on the house at the same time so I’m wondering if it was an older person’s car that stopped being driven due to a loss of personal mobility.
As of the August 2016 view, not only was the Omega gone, but the entire house was no more. An event all too common in Raleigh, a nice 1940’s brick bungalow leveled to make way for a 5000 square foot new construction luxury home.
Whenever I see a photo of one of those horrible, insipid X bodies I wish that GM had permanently gone out of business never to inflict automobile ownership pain on another person. GM= Grotesque Machinery
My late uncle had a 1980 Pontiac Phoenix with the 2.8 V6. He ended up dumping his problematic, recall proved, Phoenix for a 1982 Honda Accord of which he drove for 10 years amassing well over 200,000 miles.
I like to watch European crime shows on Netflix and recently I was watching this French show and the detective drove a first gen Cadillac Seville. I am always intrigued when I see an American car out of it’s element. Ironically I don’t give it a second thought when I see an old European or Japanese cars on our streets.