April Foolery: Toyota resurrects Oldsmobile in its own image
We've been trying to keep a straight face today as we report all these April Fools jokes, but this one from Car and Driver is so ridiculous that we must forego all the winks and nods and state plainly that it is not real. C&D concocted an alternate universe in which General Motors forgot to renew its copyright on the Oldsmobile name, a gaff that Toyota exploits by purchasing the rights to the dead brand's storied name. The Japanese juggernaut plans to place Olds between Toyota and Lexus in much the same way it played the middle child between Chevy and Cadillac when it was under domestic control. Toyota also knows that there's no better way to build an Oldsmobile than to rebadge a cheaper vehicle and charge a higher price, but this time it will be a brand comprised entirely of SUVs sporting revered Oldsmobile nameplates from the '80s and '90s like Intrigue and Bravada. The flagship model of the new Olds will be the Super 88, a rebadged version of the Toyota Sequoia with the iForce V8 and 8-speed automatic transmission from the Lexus LS.
Sigh... Oldsmobile just can't get a break, even in the afterlife for automotive brands. Thanks for the tip, Brad!
[Source: Car and Driver]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
cowbell 1:38PM (4/01/2008)
John, nothing about an Alero?
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SPG 3:32PM (4/01/2008)
Hey Alero's rock.
JasonD 1:39PM (4/01/2008)
Read all the comments of the goobers who believed it...THAT'S the funny part.
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Blair Bissonette 1:44PM (4/01/2008)
So a W-30 option on the Super 88 minivan is a must - as is the "vista" roof I can only hope. Doc Olds is spinning is his grave - that is assuming he stopped spinning after the release of the Quad 442 W-30.
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70Olds 2:18PM (4/01/2008)
I am so with U on that one :)
MadeinDetroit 1:52PM (4/01/2008)
Oldsmobile I still miss you.
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70Olds 2:20PM (4/01/2008)
Everyday in my garage I think the same thing :(
BLS 1:53PM (4/01/2008)
I was hoping for a good April Fool's Day post. Not ones that anounced the joke in the headline.
I was really hoping for something along the lines of:
"Nissan to reinvent the minivan with sporty new Forum inspired model using GT-R underpinnings"
Then sit back and watch the comments.
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David Thompson 3:00PM (4/01/2008)
They more or less did that already with the Stagea 260RS.
http://www.fantasycars.com/sedans/HTML/nissan_stagea_autech_rs260.html
RPM 1:53PM (4/01/2008)
Thats a pretty good article, read the comments of the angry Americans (who didn't realize it was a joke) at the end of the article, its really funny.
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Seoultrain 2:10PM (4/01/2008)
ugh, what a boring fake article. Little imagination, poor delivery. Whoever wrote it needs to read The Onion once in a while.
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Chris 2:24PM (4/01/2008)
And they used the old logo, not the newer, chrome one. Epic fail. Dorks.
Don Incognito 3:01PM (4/01/2008)
A good hoax writer would know the difference between copyright and trademark and the proper term to use in this story.
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Justin 4:10PM (4/01/2008)
You know, just when Olds got the ax it was the only part of GM I thought was showing promise. The cars werent looking bad, rode well, were reliable...
Compared to the Chevy's at the time, the Olds looked like a Lexus. Of course GM killed them and kept Buick...WTF?
I miss you Oldsmobile. Maybe you'll return someday, somehow...
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antrow 9:28PM (4/01/2008)
That was just wrong... and yes, I fell for it. I was first upset that Oldsmobile was said to now be owned by another country (like most everything else these days), then I was excited thinking that I could one day be driving a new Cutlass that was reliable and had good resale.
I miss Olds...
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Nelson 10:44PM (4/01/2008)
Pisses me off. Why did they sell them higher? Becuase they used to be as nice as a Caddy. They always had the name of Poor Man's Cadillac. They used to have one the most powerful cars in the 60's. They were pioneers. Olds and Caddy were the firsts to have High Compression engines in '49. I'm proud my dad has a '68 442, Mom has a '68 Cutlass, and I have a '69 Cutlass. Theyre not original by all means, but they're sweet muscle cars. I agree, Doc is rollin' in his grave.
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ladyolds68 12:05AM (4/02/2008)
You tell em' son! I'm Nelson's Mom and proud of the fact that we own 3 Oldsmobiles. If only they were still around. Well I was thinking about buying a toyota until now, bad joke, but none the less par for the course for today's standards. Rest easy Doc you still have the true fans of your namesake.Olds lives on at our house!!!!
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Jim Weidinger 1:46PM (4/03/2008)
I heard about this on the Paul Harvey radio show. Apparently, he bought into the story. I was buying it, too, until I happened to remember it was April Fools Day. This joke was well done, almost as good as the one years ago, about the bumper crop of spaghetti in Switzerland, showing all the happy peasants picking the strings off of the spaghetti trees. I always loved Oldsmobiles in the fifties and sixties - great styling!
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RickG 8:15PM (4/03/2008)
Gee, it would have been nice to see Oldsmobiles racing in NASCAR races .
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