Junkyard Find: 1996 Oldsmobile Aurora
With a 250-horse 4-liter version of Cadillac’s Northstar V8 and lines that owed nothing to the nonagenarian-aimed designs of a decade earlier, the Aurora seemed poised to revive the nose-diving fortunes of the oldest of GM’s divisions. That didn’t quite happen, and Oldsmobile— no doubt doomed by the first three letters of the marque’s name— was sent before The General’s Death Panel before another decade had passed. Where have all the Auroras gone? Here’s one that I found at a Denver wrecking yard earlier this week.
With no Oldsmobile emblems anywhere on the car’s exterior, you had to look at the small print on the engine cover to find any mention of Ransom E. Olds’ 19th-century creation.
Like its Quad 4 stablemate, the Aurora V8 made better than one horsepower per cubic inch. The car was respectably quick. In fact, an Aurora seemed so suspiciously cheaty that it earned the People’s Curse at the very first 24 Hours of LeMons race in 2006.
The ’96 Aurora listed at $34,360, just over 50 grand in today’s dollars. The BMW 525i cost about $1000 more and had 35 fewer horsepower, but buyer demographics were very much not on Oldsmobile’s side in that matchup.
Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.
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I've got the Aurora's half-sibling, the last-gen Riviera. I liked its looks better than the Aurora's, and figured the Buick V-6 was a way better bet than the mini-Northstar. (I was right.) Loved what amca has to say about the "raging style" of these cars! But I have to say they were not really short on practicality. There's ample room in the trunk and very decent legroom front & back. KalapanaBlack, I doubt the underseat battery was really a bid for better weight distribution--there's just simply not room for one single more thing under those low hoods. But the upside is that being isolated from all the heat and vibration makes the batteries last forever in these cars. I had 10 years out of one, and I don't think I've ever got a full 5 out of one in the conventional position.
I have a beautiful 2001 Aurora I'd like to sell. Beige leather interior, White diamond, fully loaded. She needs a new engine and air compressor. She died at 101,000 original miles due to the engine pin metal incapability noted in posts above. I would not recommend a new engine as I'm told the new engines have the same flawed metal compatibility problem. The engine needs to be replaced with a rebuilt which is both less expensive and more durable. The flawed pin has been replaced in the the rebuilt. Not so funny thing is, the 3 weeks before the pin snapped, I put nearly 2k into repairs. New tires around, New Alternator etc. She's a desert vehicle so that means, she has no rust and her body is in beautiful condition considering her age. If anyone is interested, you can notify me via a new post. I will send you photos. I will NOT ship the car to you if you're interested. Best offer. Cash only.