(first posted 5/21/2012) So far, I’ve found all the versions of GM’s fabulous X-bodies (even a Phoenix coupe) except for the Olds Omega. So when I saw this fine example posted at the Cohort by improbocat, how could I resist? Now of course it was the Citation that was the big seller of the bunch, and the Skylark did quite well too, but the Omega and Pontiac Phoenix were the laggards. So which of those two was on the bottom of the sales barrel?
The Omega and Phoenix (Iron)duked it out for that spot. The Omega was last in 1980, and then traded places with the Phoenix for 1981, which is what this car is.
Now here we have a fine example indeed, and it has the rather uncommon steel wheels with puppy dish hub caps. I like!
Now if one is to see an Omega, it’s almost certainly to be a four door. The coupes were very uncommon indeed; especially as a Brougham,
or even more so as the sporty SX. It’s been so long, I almost forgot about the kick up over the rear wheels. Oooh; SXy!
Let’s take in the Omega’s fine waterfall grille before we bid it adieu.
Sporty Omega SX?!?
Why everyone knows that blackout trim, matte black decals and a rear spoiler are worth an extra 5 MPH on the top end! Good thing they didn’t come with a 140MPH speedo, someone might think it could go that fast!
So is this the GM version of a Vtec sticker and fart-cannon exhaust being good for 5HP?
You forgot the Formula 1 grade spoiler and the `racing’ air filter. Go really well with the Vtec sticker.
As Paul will confirm, the speedo in the TSX Sportwagon goes to 160!
What to say? Badge Engineering at it’s best or worst?
Someone call NASA, because its obvious that some sort of wormhole connecting 1982 and 2012 has opened up in a WalMart parking lot and this Omega is what was sucked through. Somewhere back in 1982, there is a confused Omega owner wandering through the Woolworth parking lot looking for their tomato bisque Omega sedan…..too bad, I guess they will miss Magnum P.I tonight.
Times like these make me wish CC had a “thumbs up” like over at the ‘Verse that is Hoon.
Imagine the reaction back on the other end of the Wormhole as they puzzle over the bright yellow H2 that was sucked back.
Even stranger, an Escalade.
2nd theory could be that it was snatched by aliens back in 1981 so they could examine our technology and it was returned today right back to the same place it was taken from, since the aliens travel at faster than the speed of light the trip was instantaneous for the Omega, which explains why it has not aged, the aliens found nothing of value, so were safe for now, but they are upgrading all their space craft to snazzy silver faced gauges.
The Omega Brougham Coupe looks like a Cutlass Supreme Brougham Coupe that’s been left in the dryer too long. Don’t think I’ve ever seen one of those.
All the X-cars had semi-baby intermediate cues, the Citation looks like a little Malibu, the Skylark like a mini-Regal/Century, the Phoenix is a mini-LeMans/Grand Prix.
Anyone still see these in the wild? I dont think I have in at least a decade!
Depends on where you live as even here where rust forgot we existed (Puget Sound), Omegas are a rare sighting, as are the phoenix, though they seem to be seen more than the Omegas overall of the two.
Have had my share of experience with these cars back in the day.
Yeah, in the Puget Sound area I still see Citations from time to time. The rest of the X-cars, not so much.
There’s a light yellow ’81 or ’82 Omega that’s always parked in the General Aviation lot of the Albuquerque Int’l Sunport. I’ve seen it there almost every time I’ve cruised the airport over the past five years (if not longer) so I’d bet it belongs to a charter pilot.
I haven’t looked at it closely, but from 10 feet away it looks to be in fantastic shape for its age. It occurred to me that the Omega might make a good CC, which is why I just checked the site…and saw this post.
I last saw an omega of this gen several years ago, in ct.
Thankfully these thing didnt venture down under though there are one or two about as private imports. GM out here went to Germany and picked something good and repowered it.
Every one I have ever seen (all 2 or 3) have been baby blue. I wasn’t aware they made them in any other colors. 😛
I also have to laugh at the use of the name Omega at Oldsmobile, it begs the tagline… “Omega, the end of Oldsmobile.”
Great tagline.
I think we’ve seen the same cars. I’ve only seen a handful and all have been baby blue as well. I didn’t know GM squeezed these out in other colors.
Which models of the X-body coupes were hatchbacks? I vaguely remember back in ’79 my dad looked at a Phoenix two-door hatch and THANK THE LORD went with a Grand Prix instead.
The 2 door hatch was exclusive to the Chevrolet Citation, but the Phoenix and Citation did share the 5 door hatch.
Chevrolet had the most hatchback X-car versions, they had a 5 and 3 door hatch, and a Citation Club Coupe which was also Chevrolet only and low production, it had the large window greenhouse like the hatchback cars, but with a small trunk on the end.
Chevrolet had no notchback X-car sedans, neither did Pontiac. Pontiac had the 5 door hatch and a 2 door notchback coupe.
Buick and Oldsmobile were more conservative, they had no hatchback X-cars at all, the Skylark and Omega were only available as a 2 and 4 door notchback
Chevrolet most certainly had a notchback Citation, know as the Citation Club Coupe. Here is in all its POS glory:
http://www.productioncars.com/gallery.php?car=12857&make=Chevrolet&model=Citation
“and a Citation Club Coupe which was also Chevrolet only and low production, it had the large window greenhouse like the hatchback cars, but with a small trunk on the end.”
Its not a notchback with an upright rear window like a Skylark or Omega it has a different model designation they carried a 37 designation for their body style the Citation Club coupe carried an 11 designation for its body style.
Notchback
Club Coupe
Oddly, the club coupe was nixed for the ’81 model year, then brought back for ’82. The X-11 model with the high output V6 was a reasonably competent sports coupe for its time.
hence the X11 ?
Notchback=has trunk, not hatch, as in hatchback.
I always thought that the Citation club coupe was a handsome little car, particularly the X-11 version.
I never said the Club Coupe was a hatch. stop now, they are both 2 doors, but they are different models and body styles, GM….who made them says so.
no no no no ….. you got me all wrong!
You mentioned that the Citation was an X body, that’s when the dime dropped for me. that is, i realized why their sporty package was the x- 11
No your ok, it was for someone else, the X-11 was an offspring of the creation of an Ciation that could be used to showroom stock racing series, Chevrolets performance vehicle development guys came up with the suspension and stuck it in a Club Coupe, creating the X-11, though most X-11s were hatchbacks.
Um, NOPE.
Is it possible that Buick and Oldsmobile did not get hatchbacks because those brands got the hideous Aeroback coupe and sedans in the Century and Cutlass, which Chevrolet and Pontiac did not get in the Malibu and Lemans?
The 2 door X-car coupes were nice looking cars. As for the engineering and dependability……well that’s another story.
Try finding an affordable 2 door car these days.
Kia Forte Koup and Honda Civic coupe. Depending on your definition of affordable, the Subaru BR-Z/Scion FR-S twins and the V6 Mustang may also qualify (all three are right around $25K, though you’re quite unlikely to find a Mustang at least with no options).
it’s not much but it’s something. That’s why there’s a ’12 Forte Koup in my driveway–the wife wanted 2 doors and the choices weren’t extensive.
This reminds me of driver ed when I was 16 and we were using a Silver Buick Skylark with the same body.
Brougham Omega coupe=Baby Riviera?
Well … maybe a Mini Toronado….it was a FWD OLDS
In ’81, my dad still drove his ’69 Olds 442 convertible and my mom still drove our ’76 Vista Cruiser. Compared to those cars the Omega was quite a let down. I rode in a few Citations but never the Omega (same thing).
A friend of mine had one of these as his first car, around ’96. Oxidized dark grayish color, rear end sagging like a K-car or “busted airbag” Panther.
I reminded him of it around ’03. At first, he refused to acknowledge it had existed. It took several beers to get him to admit his X-body ownership. I think he had literally blocked it out of his mind.
Styled steel wheels. Don’t here that anymore.
My sister had a Skylark coupe, an 83 or 84 I believe, complete with the padded half roof and wires. Plain Jane -ahem – “Custom” interior. I almost crashed the sh!t out of it once whilst driving down a slick road (Olive Blvd for my STL friends). Applied the brakes and felt the car lunge forward courtesy of extreme front weight bias and soft “little limousine” suspension settings, and the rear drums locked up instantly, providing me with quite the joy ride.
X Cars were rather famous for that. The 1980’s were the worst, the early ones anyway, as GM left off the proportioning valve to save money. To compound matters they changed the rear brake lining material, also to save money, at the last moment. It was downright dangerous and so bad all the cars so produced had to be recalled before they could be released to the public. This on car that had a huge lead in and an enormous advertising budget telling the world how wonderful it was.
Always sad that they’d advertise quality rather than implement it.
The car that is the subject of these photos is currently for sale on ebay. The seller claims that it has 35,000 original miles and based on the engine code in the VIN, it’s equipped with the 2.8 liter V6.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1981-OLDSMOBILE-OMEGA-ORANGE-35K-MILES-/261022853999?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item3cc62cab6f
It’s really sad that I actually like these. Well based on styling and their “theory” that they “could” have been fun (as, well, the 6000 STE proved with most of the same bits).
That 6000 was a hoot, i agree. I especially loved the engine note, fun car. .
Didn’t the STE have the steering wheel with two dozen buttons?
Yep, 86 and up.
I had an 86 STE and it was a blast! not particularly fast or quick, but competent enough to sit at 110 for a while, or hit 125mph if you were willing to press the mechanical rev limiter’s tolerance with the 3 speed automatic. that tuned-port 2.8 six was a willing partner and loved to rev.
Car handled very well, still nose-heavy understeer at the limit, but pretty well balanced, though I did learn about FWD lift-throttle oversteer on a wet road, unloaded the rear tires and put it sideways into a ditch.
For some reason I feel like these had the best interpretation of Oldsmobile’s styling theme back then, especially the Omega 2-door sedan. For a Great Brougham Epoch car they’re impressively clean and lean. The waterfall grille and taillights give them an impression of smoothness that the Citation lacked.
Did this morph into the Ciera or the Calais?
Yes and no.
The 1985 Calais and its N-car brothers, the Grand Am and Somerset Regal were more or less the replacement for the X-cars within their line ups, except for Chevrolet, which never got an N-car to replace the Ciation(Citation II: The Sequel) Chevrolet got the L-body Beretta/Corsica in mid 1987 as 88’s.
But the side misson of the N-body cars was to slowly replace the G-body RWD coupes in case gas went through the roof as it was predicted, they were introduced with names similar to their larger RWD counter parts, the Calais was a CUTLASS Calais and the Buick was a Somerset REGAL, also, like the W-body cars of 1988, the N-cars came out as coupes only for 1985, with sedan versions appearing in 1986.
Yes, it morphed into the Cutlass Ciera, with respective twins: Buick Century, Chevrolet Celebrity and Pontiac 6000.
I owned a 77 Olds Vega. I think it was actually called a skylark. My memory is repressing it. It actually had a 3.8 and it went through some engines and transmissions before the warranty expired. As soon as that happened it got traded for a 78 AMC Concorde.
All this to say that this model which apparently succeeded the Olds Vega clone, brings back memories of the bad old days. I listen to those of you who like the looks and agree. So do I. A rattlesnake may be pretty in a sort of way but I’m not going to get very close to it. I feel the same way about the GM cars of this era.
Btw. The AMC made a believer out of me. I’m sorry (maybe) that we didn’t have free spending presidents being generous with our money back then. For the period, I sure liked it better than GM. It worked.
Oldsmobile’s H-body was known as the Starfire. Buick’s was the Skyhawk.
My sister had one of those too. A brown 77 Skyhawk 3.8. Her friends aptly named it the Poopmobile.
Worst. Car. Ever. The engine rusted. It wouldn’t go uphill. There was a pool of water in the passenger footwell. Accelerate, and the water went into the backseat. Apply the brakes and it came right back.
Wow. This is just super duper right here.
Ugh, GM’s X body cars, they can’t seem to disappear soon enough. My parents had 2 different X body cars, the first one they bought new in 1983, the Buick Skylark limited 4 door sedan.
Then in 1987, my Dad replaced it with, you guessed it, an ’83 Citation 5 door hatch, why? The Buick, he thought was too nice for him to drive after they’d bought a 2 year old Honda Accord SE-I sedan, so he sold the Buick and went to the US Gov’t GSA auction and bought a blue 5 door Citation that they happened to be selling at that auction. It, too, had the 2.8 V6 and autobox as did the Buick.
The Buick was the nicer Limited sedan with vinyl roof and other options and features like both outside remote mirrors for starters. The Citation was a base model, though it had the AM radio and AC, but that was it though.
Neither car left any of us stranded, but neither were fabulous either. I don’t recall the brakes or steering rack being an issue on the Buick, but they WERE on the Citation though. the brakes on that Chevy were wretched and due to excess back pressure, stopping quickly was easier said than done.
Thankfully, the AC worked as I drove it from Tacoma Washington to Klamath Falls in August of 1990 for a job interview and had to go through the Rogue Valley in 90F degree heat, but man it was an uncomfortable car to drive, the seats were squishy and hard on my back but it made it – and back, outside of a tranny leak that manifested itself on the drive home by slipping some, hit a gas station who’s garage was still open even though the sun was setting and was able to fill it up with tranny fluid and make it back home without incident. Dad got it looked at right away and all’s well.
Gave that Chevy to my oldest sister and her current hubby shortly after they moved out our way for wheels. They donated it about a year later with a falling down headliner to someone at their former church and that’s the last I heard of that car.
While drivable, it was NOT a joyous thing to drive in any way. glad they are out of my life.
Although I have to agree, this Omega is a cool find and in a very cool color.
I love love love these! They, along with the Buick and Olds J-cars, are incredibly rare. I really like the Omega Brougham coupe, which I don’t really remember ever seeing, even when new. It’s similar to the much more popular Skylark Limited coupe. You have to admit that, even though badge-engineered, these little Omegas scream Olds, from the vertical taillights to the upright split grille. If anything, it’s more of a mini-98 than a baby Cutlass. Great find!
The Cutlass had vertical tail lights and a split grille too.
I’ve always liked the Omega’s. I had a ’80 Citation and this garage down the street from me had this ’82 Omega sitting on the side of the shop pretty much from ’84 to ’98…even after the plaza management tore down the Ame’s department store that was there with the garage attached to it.
What a find! It really does look it came from 1983!
This car has got to be a whole bunch of rare, from the bodystyle alone, not to mention the slotted wheels and the dog dish (well, plate) hubcaps…
I wish I liked X cars better, but these are the cars that inspired my trademark “Cockroach of the Road” comment…
For this time period, I’d rather have an Olds Firenza hatchback…
As a former “X Car owner” , there are many reasons not to “like X Cars better”. Quality was not built in!
I had a loaded Buick Skylark Brougham as a rental for a trip in eastern Canada in 1985. Full on mini-brougham too, complete with loose pillow seats and fake wire wheel caps. By this point, GM had the cars pretty well sorted out and there was nothing really bad about it at all. The interior was comfortable and adequately roomy and the 2.8 V-6 never seemed under-powered. The ride was smooth and it felt very much like a traditional GM rear driver, which is what GM was trying to accomplish with the cars. The only thing I can remember that I didn’t like was it seemed a little heavy on gas for what it was. The quality of the car was in fact quite good; it really was worth spending the extra money for the Buick to get the better interior and assembly quality.
We all know the long term durability of these cars, however. My family made very nice money wrenching on them after their warranties expired. In ten years, the were all gone. Disposable cars that were not cheap to start with.
Bad car, nicely preserved.
Glad you liked the shots. You should have seen me running like a crazy person across the parking lot to grab a shot of it.
While I was there a cart wrangler said he knew the guy who owned it and asked if I wanted him to go get it so I could make an offer.
It took a lot of politeness to explain that while I really wanted pictures of the car, there was no way in hell I actually wanted the car itself.
Thanks for shooting this car — it’s in incredible condition! On one of my car buying binges I picked up a heavily optioned Omega Brougham for $50 — it had full power, the 2.8 and a 4-speed manual. I never had time to mess with it so it bit the dust when I moved out of state.
It’s too bad these cars had so many problems because I always thought they were very good-looking cars. I especially liked the “Sport Coupe” Skylarks — I remember the blacked out taillamps and really cool gauge cluster — I’m sure the package included a lot more than those two features. I seem to remember the Skylark cars seemed to be on the road the longest, maybe it was due to the typical “Buick” owner demographic (?)
Here’s another $50 special that is hanging out with the remainder of the pile back in Alabama — I couldn’t bring myself to letting the crusher get that one. The spoilers really helped the rear appearance of the X-11s. Believe it or not, GM made the cowl induction hood on these things functional.
The Canadian sitcom “Corner Gas” featured a Oldsmobile Omega as Oscar and Emma’s daily driver. This sitcom is set in Saskatchewan and anyone that has been there know that the cold winters (thus, sand is used instead of salt on the roads) and warm, dry summers tend to preserve cars well.
Omegas first came out as RWD Nova clones in 1973, but could be had with Olds 350 4bbl V8. Sold fairly well here in Chi-area, but not as well as Skylarks, both F and RWD.
Last time I saw a FWD Omega was 2005 and it was hanging in there, but rusty.
BTW: This Omega for sale would be good for a period movie.
Had a great chance to score a “77 Omega” back in “pre historic” times; was young , dumb enough to go for the “shiny new 81 Citation”.
That Omega was a looker too.
I haven’t seen one of those in a while, but then again if I did would I notice?
Graduating from University in 1991, one of my roomates replaced his Chevy Monza with one of these, except it was baby blue. I told him that was not a cool car and he should keep the Monza, even if it was brown. Once I had some money in my own pocket I replaced the Concord with an RX7 with racing stripes. I bet the Omega was more reliable than the RX7, but the RX7 was cooler!
Your story reminds me of my law school days from around 82-85. One roommate had an 80 Monza, second had a 75 Mustang II (both sticks), third split time between his parents’ 79 LTDII and an 82(?) Pontiac Phoenix. I had a 71 slant 6/TF Plymouth Scamp well into its second 100K and I had no desire to trade with any of them!
I need a car experts help. How expensive would it be to do the 1970s version of badge engineering – where the components of a Monte Carlo and a Cutlass were the same, but the sheet metal was different – compared to – this 1980s version where it is the exact same car except for 3 or 4 stickers?
Well, although the X-cars have the same shape, many of the exterior sheetmetal does not interchange, you cant put the hood from this Omega on a Skylark for example. The decklid and quarter panels are all unique to the Omega too.
I can’t imagine why anyone except a “Buy GM” diehard would have bought one of these heaps new in the early 1980s – when the Fox-body Fairmont was available as a direct competitor, and could be had with a 5.0 liter V8.
The front wheel drive was my reason.
I missed this CC when it was posted some months back.
I’m gonna buck the trend here…and I’m actually glad to hear these things were no great shakes to drive. Now I’m not high on Broughamides, but something about the Olds Omega of that era tripped my trigger.
I thought it was a clean, well-balanced, nicely proportioned model – given the limitations of specified size and platform.
They rusted fast, but in Western New York where I was when it came out, EVERYTHING rusted fast. They lasted about six years; there were a few Omegas about but I never knew an owner. So, it was only much later I heard of brakes making the car swap ends or of how tired and anemic was the four.
Nice find, though. Shows to go ya, any car can be loved.
I owned this same exact car in high school, minus the window tinting but plus a sunroof…with black vinyl interior! That car got me through some good times…cheap to drive, ran forever, was okay in the snow. I bought it for $400 in 1988 2 months after I got my driver’s license…it was sort-of a funny joke because my very first car was a 72 Omega, and a month after I got my license I was rear-ended in it and it totalled the car. Looking for a cheap car, I came across my red 4-door Omega and decided it was destiny that I own an Omega. Good times. Thanks for posting this pic, it makes me miss my old car!
What a hoot. My first car was a power blue 1980 4 door omega brougham. Complete with navy blue velvet interior, genuine simulated wood trim and white wall tires. I bought it in 1985 for $2,400.00. I loved it.
After the Oldsmobile Omega, this car was later replaced by the Calais, then the Achieva and afterwards by the FWD Malibu based Cutlass and the last model was the Alero. Here are the Oldsmobile Omega Four Door Sedan Family Tree.
You left out its true mechanical heir, the long-lived A body Cutlass Ciera, which was a restyled FWD Omega with added trunk and hood length (and wagon) but same wheelbase.
Now the Oldsmobile Omega Two Door Coupe Family Tree.
Wow. Back when I was in high school I was friendly with a girl who’d graduated a few years prior and was working in the guidance office at the time, as an admin of some sort. Upon graduating from college she bought her first new car, which she lamented as not befitting her “hot chick of the 80’s” persona. It was an Omega Brougham Coupe, in a non-metallic cream color, with deep burgundy vinyl half top and the same color velour interior. It was not a terribly ugly car, all things considered, even with the kinda cheesy fwd version of the rally wheels (which were body colored on her car, light cream color) The kicker was that I got into her car one day to grab lunch or something and was totally shocked to see that it was a stick shift car with center console. I have no idea whether it was a 4 or 6 cylinder, or whether it was a 4 or 5 speed, but the make, model and options list just didn’t seem to make sense. I do remember that she didn’t love the car, but had gotten a good deal on it as a leftover, and her stepdad had encouraged her to buy it for that reason. I’ll bet there weren’t many similarly outfitted Omegas out there.
It sounds as though it was ordered by someone who didn’t buy it when it came in, and the dealer got stuck with an oddball car that was a tough sell even if it weren’t so oddly equipped.
The promise of these cars was so much more than what they actually delivered. In true GM fashion, I think the last ’84-85 models were much improved over the earlier models, but that’s not saying much. My Dad had a lot of cars in the ’90s, and one of them was an ’84 Buick Skylark 4dr Limited. Brown with a beige pillow tufted velour interior. At 10+ years old, it ran ok and had comfy seats, but it just felt clunky somehow and not as nimble or well put together as the ’84 Honda Accord he later owned.
I do like some of the design details on this Olds however, like the wrapover front grill and tail lights. The Brougham Coupe looks really nice too.
What a unique color. I bet it was called something along the lines of Bittersweet. GM had some really different color choices back then. This car brings back memories of my Grandmother’s 1982 Pontiac 6000 LE coupe, itself a better interpretation of the x-car. Hers was Light Redwood Metallic, although if I had to describe it, it looked much more “apricot” than anything else. That car was loaded; power everything including the seats, A/C, V6, strong stereo, red velour… The only option it possibly did not have was alloy wheels, if that was even available then. And in true GM fashion it was every bit as junky as the preceding x-cars it was supposed to supplement. I remember constant oil leaks and door locks with ADHD. Grandma had no tolerance for shenanigans, and the fact that the Pontiac replaced a stone cold dead reliable Valiant only infuriated her more. After some expensive electronic gremlin surfaced around the 42,000 mile mark, she had enough. Off to the Honda dealer she went, and with that Accord, she never looked back.
A shame really, because the early x-cars and a-cars had so much potential to be standard bearers. As fate would have it, they likely sent more buyers in droves to the competition than any car before, or since.
GM called this color Cinnabar. It was quite attractive in the sunlight, but turned into a red-brown-gray at night. I had a 1980 Chevy Monza coupe with camel interior painted this color.
Lincoln used the color in 1952, as did BMW in the late eighties. Ford had a dark Cinnabar, while Lexus marketed a Cinnabar Pearl.
I still like the color. Anything but white, black and silver, please.
http://paintref.com/cgi-bin/colorcodedisplay.cgi?color=Cinnabar
My sister’s 81 Skylark was about this color. Was “burnt Cienna” as i recall. Inside was buckskin color fabric.
To the best that I can recall, here’s some memorable comments from contemporary reviews of GM ‘s early ’80s FWD models –
“The styling reminds us of little kids dressed up as nightclub singers.”
“The electronically-controlled carburetor is supposed to automatically adjust for all normal driving conditions. However, we must have experienced many abnormal driving conditions due to the constant hesitation and frequent stalling.”
“It’s like driving a Honda Accord that doesn’t run very well.”
Happy Motoring, Mark
I saw one of these in Aarhus, Denmark about five years ago. It was gold. Last year I aaw its cousin, the Buick Skylark Sport (1982?):
https://driventowrite.com/2015/03/29/a-photo-series-for-sunday-1982-buick-skylark-sport/
I can well understand importing a classic American muscle car or land yacht or a good recent car like a 1990 Riviera or 1990 Park Avenue. To have an X-body car is strange. They do nothing special and are faintly horrible in most ways. What would you want with an Olds Omega in Scandinavia?
+1 There was an N-body Pontiac for sale about 2 years ago here, converted to right hand drive and everything. My reaction was the same- Why?
Of the FWD X-cars the Oldsmobile Omega was my favorite, especially the 1980-81 models.
What makes it better than the Buick?
I find the front end treatment pretty cool, sort of 67 Cougar like for the 80s. The coupe with the coke bottle hips is a nice touch nice too, and quite a distinctive execution during the peak of sheer-look tyranny. Overall these X bodies are stubby looking but they were distinctly executed division to division, really the final cars for a decade that could be said about, especially their platform derived A-bodies with their narrow tracked awfulness(yeah yeah, cockroach, doesn’t mean they don’t deserve to be squashed!) and if one can overlook their notorious reputation you could almost see the hope and promise these cars offered just before GM got completely cynical, greedy, and lazy as the Roger Smith decade unfolded(unraveled).
I don’t remember the last time I saw one of these. It has to be 20 years at a minimum. Once you got below the Delta 88, younger me had a tough time differentiating all of the square Oldses from one another (other than the Cutlass Supreme coupe) so it is nice to know what this is.
The rear side marker lamps are a carbon copy of the ones on my ’75 Ninety Eight.
These sorts of cars were the end of Oldsmobile and almost Buick. They didn’t need to offer these dinky things, but they chased “sales” and diluted the brand.
Oldsmobile-RIP.
Gasoline prices hit an inflation-adjusted high in early 1981 that was not exceeded until 2005 or so. Plus, interest rates on car loans were at double-digit figures for people with GOOD credit.
Given those conditions, Oldsmobile and Buick dealers wanted a small car that good gas mileage to sell, and GM management wasn’t about to tell them “no.”
+1. The cars that chased sales and diluted the brand were their direct predecessors, the ones who all used the same exact Nova shell, and considering the economic climate there just was no putting the genie back in the bottle. The 1980 FWD Xs were as well differentiated division to division as the B-bodies, and by all accounts GM sunk more money into the X body than anything else in the lineup. These were important cars for GM, if fuel shortages became the new normal these would have potentially been the biggest volume sellers, and they wanted the same brand identity there was with a Caprice, Electra, ect. (which admittedly wasn’t much in 1980 either)
What sunk Olds and diluted the brands were: 1. These X bodies were notoriously undercooked, undoing whatever good there may have been. 2.The A body derived off these, the N body that replaced them, the J body, the H body, T body weren’t at all differentiated, they all took a page from the Nova era simply putting different front clips on identical bodies and they dominated the lineups of the 80s. 3. The A body stayed in production forever and was as ancient in car years as it’s demographic in people years, i.e. OLDsmobile.
FWIW, Buick Skylark appealed to older buyers, but the Omega was overshadowed by the still good selling Cutlass line, including Cieras.
What diluted the brands was simply poor quality. Nothing wrong with small, ‘dinky’, luxury cars if done right, see BMW 1, Audi A3, and Lexus IS.
The Brougham coupe kinda turns me on. Is that so wrong? The X car seems to make more sense as a coupe than a small and dowdy sedan.
Weird, these were the most popular X bodies sold in Israel for some unfathomable reason, perhaps because the Citation was “too European” for those who wanted an American car (which at that time still had a bit of prestige, lingering on from earlier days). Dad had an Iron Duke auto Citation 5 door – it was the worst car he ever had (according to him) and made certain he’d never buy another US-made car until the day he died. I got to drive it quite a bit and whereas performance could be termed as “adequate” for Israeli conditions back then, it felt… Dead. Dead steering, brakes and throttle – it was as if you drove it by wire, but not in the modern way where some artificial feel is engineered into the system. It was gotten rid of after it ran a small end bearing, to be replaced by a Peugeot 505 which was, in its turn, not a particularly nice car to drive but at least reliable. But that’s another story.
This could well be Oldsmobile’s worst car
Olds Omega, Opel Omega, Chevrolet Omega; Olds Calais, Holden Calais, Chevrolet Calais; Corvair Corsa, Opel Corsa, Chevrolet Corsa; Corvair Monza, Chevrolet Monza, Opel Monza; Chevrolet Cavalier, Vauxhall Cavalier… Some names of cars was so much used that they alone already reminds a GM car
Also Vauxhall Nova and YES even Holden Nova to add to the recycled names.
I love these. And yes, I would want one. The back story alone and historical context of them make them interesting. I had an 84 Citation 2 door Club Coupe and loved it.
And if you find one today….most of the bugs will have been worked out.
“{There are} No Boring Cars”.
While I’m no fan of the X-cars in general, an early Omega like this would probably be my favorite of the bunch. The details were extremely well-executed, such as the wrapover grille and taillights–it still had a modicum of “Oldsmobileness” to it. It also managed to be squared-off without being blocky. Plus, on this particular example, the body-color wheels with trim caps are nothing short of fantastic! Like several others have noted, I don’t know that I’d want to own or even drive this car–but I quite enjoy looking at it. Unlike the X-body Skylarks, which I find singularly unattractive for some reason.
Found a coupe in 2011; not sure if it was driveable or not but it didn’t seem in too bad shape:
My Mother bought a new 81 Olds Omega Brougham coupe, it was white on the sides and the trunk and metallic navy blue on the hood and front roof, the back portion of the roof was white paint, no vinyl. Navy blue interior like the add above, it was very quite and had a great 8 track sound system….other than that, I hated it. Too stubby on both ends, too bad they didn’t lengthen it a bit more, because the interior was comfy. I’ll always remember that the power antenna worked with the radio off on switch, if you shut the radio the antenna would lower…
The overall impression is of a red-haired fellow with walleyes and heavy eyebrows. In short a Simpsons character.
It seems like the Omegas were never a big seller-way back in the ’70s I saw a lot of Novas and Apollo/Skylarks but Omegas were like hen’s teeth. In the ’80s with the X-cars again the popular versions were the Citations and Skylarks-at least in the area I lived in. Personally, the Omegas simply left me cold, I thought they were totally dull cars. In 1980, there was an Oldsmobile dealership near where I lived, I would pass by walking my dog. The dealer had an Omega, judging by the interior a top of line model; a four door with manual transmission, black wall tires, dog dish wheel covers, manual steering and brakes, no a/c. It sat there for months, one day I passed the dealership walking the dog and it was gone. Perhaps some cheapskate purchased it.
I used to have a Majorette diescast of this, in the metallic blue, sadly lost when I moved.
https://majorette-model-cars.fandom.com/wiki/Oldsmobile_(Omega)
Don’t think the claimed scale is right though.
Omega was overshadowed by the popular Cutlass line. Ventura/Phoenix were also in the corner, ignored by buyers and dealers.
However, Buick customers liked the compact Skylark, since seemed to be better trimmed than the Olds and Pontiac, and had name recognition with the previous mid size versions. Also, it got the ‘Buick on a budget’ buyers, all the way to the N body.
Wow – my namesake uncle was notorious for choosing bad cars and his list of cars included going into the Oldsmobile dealership and buying a new Olds Omega right off the showroom floor. It was optioned to not include options – to be the cheapest version of the new X car. His was a white coupe with a radio and a/c. I don’t know what he paid for it.
It was a 1980. White. Vinyl bench seat. No power anything. Naturally he shows up with it at home and surprised my saintly aunt. He did this every time he got a new car. He would just show up with it at home. My aunt was never consulted. While she ran the house, was a vital part of his business, she let him handle automobiles. You would think that after suffering through a pair of Crosleys thirty years earlier, she’d never let him buy another car. Love conquered all.
It was a horrible car. Just like the Oldsmobile Delta he traded it in with. Just like the Chrysler Newport before that. Just like the Jeep Wagoneer before that. My uncle had the worst luck with automobiles.
So, the showroom-floor purchased Omega lasted two years of constant nightmares. He traded it in for a for a Ford Tempo. His bad luck streak continued. When he passed away ten years ago, it was one of the things we laughed about. He was an accomplished gentleman and community leader – just don’t listen to his auto recommendations.
Your uncle and my father had similar taste – an ’81 Omega Brougham coupe, followed by a Tempo, though that one was a company car. Before the Omega was a Pacer. Before that…a Gremlin, so there you go.
I remember the Omega being very uncomfortable, especially the back seat, which was too upright. Definitely not good mechanically – there was an issue with the wheel pack losing lubrication, or something to that effect, and it was in the shop a lot. He eventually sold it to his former secretary when he got a new job that included the company Tempo.
Curbside Classic effect. Saw one of these on the road a coupla days ago. Old man driver may have been the original owner, the car looked like it had 40 years of patina. Shocking how small these are among the giant SUVs and pickups around it.
Believe it or don’t—see for yourself!—they went to the trouble and expense of making and homologating a European-spec version.
Quick Photoshop. Think I prefer how the Delta 88 handled this. Larger light assemblies and lenses for safety. And move the backup lights to either side of the licence plate. To clean up the design, and for family resemblance to the 88.
I especially think the larger taillights would be the big advantage. Lights on the Omega look too small.
Yup, yours is an improvement. You’ve got a good point about safety, too, but the European regs don’t care about this; they allow brake and turn signal lights to be much too small and much too dim. They don’t have the minimum-lit-area requirements that exist in the American regs.
I think GM went as narrow as they could with the taillights, to maximize the width of the smallish truck opening. Interesting, as I thought European makers often made their lights larger than the American makers. This, in spite of not being required to, by law.
Sometimes the European makers’ lamps are large, but often the lit area for the brake light and/or turn signal is small—at least outside the North American regulatory island.
An acquaintance of mine bought one of these Omegas brand new, when they first came out. It was a stripper, two-door in medium gray, a trim that actually enhanced the basically good lines.
I chided him about it.
He was about 30 years old, stolid, not very bright and not very handsome. But he was a loyal kind of guy, practical and hands-on, with a big heart and without a grain of pretension.
In hindsight, I believe he chose the car very carefully. Visually, size-wise, equipment wise and brand wise it was a solid choice, reflecting his own personality.
Lots of people saw these as a welcome departure from typical American marketing, a sensible and attractive alternative to the power, bloat and bling that infects American automobile sales and preys upon insecure psychology.
Too bad that GM double-crossed him.
So much potential, yet GM was in the habit of dropping the ball with each pass during this time period (8-6-4 V8, Iron duke, diesel, HT 4.1, Cimarron, etc, etc, etc). Appears that GM has not learned its lessons considering the EV Bolt is on fire!!
Have not entertained the purchase of a GM product since my ’83 Cutlass Supreme. How many others have been alienated.
My Uncle had one of these, briefly, he must have bought new around 1980. Drove it to (my sister’s, my mother’s and my) College graduation, he brought my Grandmother with him….thinking back on it, that’s probably the last time my surviving grandparents, uncles (and aunts) and cousins got together at our house. We were still living in Vermont (only 2 years later moved to central Texas, have been here 40 years now). Other than my immediate family, most of my relatives still live in the Northeast or Atlantic states, so haven’t seen them much since then (though we had a period where we’d drive up every year or so, we didn’t get to see all of them).
Don’t know how long he kept the Omega, but think his next car was his favorite, a 1984 Audi 4000. Must not have liked the Omega much, when my Dad bought his Impala my Uncle kind of chided him for buying “a GM”. My Dad actually copied my Uncle in 1969 when my Uncle bought a new ’69 LTD with 302, a 4 door coupe with drum brakes. My Dad even bought from the same dealership (sounds normal, but we didn’t even live in the same state as my Uncle) his ’69 Country Squire, 351 2bbl, with front discs.
I drove Omegas for Hertz when I was a transporter in ’77 and ’78, but those were the prior RWD version…never drove the X car one, though I guess I dodged a bullet when I test drove a Pontiac Phoenix in ’81….don’t know what I was doing, at the time I was newly hired, and really couldn’t swing a new car yet, but I like hatchbacks, and needed a car with better traction than my ’74 Datsun 710, which hit some black ice and slid it into a guardrail earlier that year. Ended up with a ’78 Scirocco, financed at the credit union where I worked, my boss was actually president of the credit union (odd situation, the president was a non-paid voluntary position on the board…neither my boss nor I had a job that involved banking nor finance). I got $500 extra on the loan than I was entitled to by my dates of service (the loan amounts were also based on how long a time you’d been a member and as a new hire I hadn’t been a member long).
It was probably the last Oldsmobile in our family. I had a pair of spinster Aunts who’d made a habit of buying Oldsmobiles from the 30’s to 1969, and my Dad bought a ’65 Olds F85 wagon new after his ’63 Rambler Classic Wagon got clobbered in front of our hotel room when we’d moved out of our house and were just about to leave for new home in Vermont (we actually moved there two times, ’65 and ’75, my Dad’s job had him moving a lot in his younger days).
Too bad GM didn’t spend more time/money making these right. They could have been a great thing for them, but turned to be an early 80’s black eye that probably persists to this day. Even like the styling (but I tend to like “blocky” cars or ones with sharp edges rather than “swoopy, rounded” cars).
I owned one of these p.o.s. cars! I bought it used from a construction worker. It was in burnt orange like this, with a standard a.m. only radio, vinyl tan bench seats front and back and a four on the floor manual shifter. Carpeted floors with a decade of ground in construction dirt.
These were the most awful looking cars i ever saw. Somehow worse than the 1973 Cutlass Supreme. What kind of malaise depression was plaguing the oldsmobile department in the early 80s?
I can’t think of a single nice thing to say about it. Not even the SX, which looks like a fancy Datsun.