Oldsmobile is lengthy gone. By the point the model was phased out within the early 2000s it was a shell of its former self, however Oldsmobile used to make attention-grabbing vehicles just like the 442, Trofeo and Aurora. One of many model’s final attention-grabbing vehicles, and sure one of many rarest, was a badge job of Normal Motors’ full-size wagon from the early Nineties: the Oldsmobile Customized Cruiser.
The Customized Cruiser wasn’t a brand new nameplate for the model. The mannequin had been round because the early Seventies, and it was all the time Previous’s model of GM’s full-size B-body vehicles, fashions just like the Pontiac Parisienne/Safari, Buick Electra and Chevy Caprice. By the Nineties, solely three of those full-size B-Our bodies had been left in GM’s portfolio: the Chevy Caprice, Buick Roadmaster and Oldsmobile Customized Cruiser. All had lately acquired rounded, aerodynamic redesigns in 1991, making the earlier generations sq. designs look archaic compared. Whereas the Caprice and Roadmaster had been obtainable in each sedan and wagon physique kinds, the Customized Cruiser was solely obtainable as a wagon. Olds did this so it may nonetheless market the Ninety-Eight as its full-size sedan.
Save for issues like brand-specific trim and options, the Customized Cruiser was practically an identical to the Roadmaster and Caprice. Up entrance, the Customized Cruiser had the identical actual grille because the Caprice, simply bisected by a physique coloration panel with the Oldsmobile badge. The roof saved the second-row skylights that had all the time been a function of the Customized Cruiser, however this time across the function was shared with the Roadmaster.
Low-skirted rear fender wells had been additionally shared with the Roadmaster and made the wagon look decrease than it actually was. One large distinction that the Customized Cruiser had over its platform-mates was the outside trim. Olds did away with issues like shiny chrome trim, wire wheels and wooden paneling for the Customized Cruiser, as a substitute going for alloy wheels and two-tone or physique coloration paint and bumpers.
Inside, the dashboard design was an an identical bi-level setup to the Caprice and Roadmaster. The one distinctive issues had been the seats, wooden trim, and analog gauges; Caprices and Roadmasters had an old-fashioned 85-mph speedo or non-obligatory digital gauges.
Fortunately, that replicate and paste engineering prolonged to the Customized Cruiser’s powertrain. One of many issues that made these wagons nice was their commonplace V8 energy. When the Customized Cruiser (and Caprice and Roadmaster) debuted for 1991, it was obtainable with Chevy’s 5.0-liter Small Block V8 that made 170 horsepower and 255 lb-ft of torque. Energy was despatched to the rear wheels by a four-speed automated transmission. When 1992 rolled round, GM dropped in Chevy’s 5.7-liter Small Block V8. Whereas horsepower in comparison with the 5.0 was simply up 10, torque jumped to 300 lb-ft.
Sadly, this didn’t appear to be of curiosity to patrons. Gross sales of the Customized Cruiser in its first yr had been simply 7,663, lower than half of Caprice gross sales. In 1992 gross sales had been even worse, dropping over 43 % to simply 4,347. It appears patrons wished the Caprice and Roadmaster extra. The Customized Cruiser was killed after 1992, with the model focusing its efforts extra on the Bravada SUV and Silhouette minivan. Simply 12,010 Customized Cruisers had been ever constructed, method lower than the over 50,000 models of Caprice and Roadmaster wagons that had been revamped their 5 years of manufacturing.
It additionally grew to become the final rear-wheel-drive V8-powered Oldsmobile. This rarity comes up if you attempt to discover one on the market. Simply two 1991-1992 Customized Cruisers have appeared on Convey A Trailer within the final yr, and there’s just one at the moment on the market on automotive shopping for websites like Cargurus and Auto Dealer. In case you ever come throughout one and have an opportunity to get your fingers on it for affordable, seize it and by no means let go.
