Autocide Part II - Out with the old

So, in my last post, I addressed all of the new makes that sprung up during the last 30 years.  Now I will talk about the brands that have been sent out to pasture.  Not only will I talk about the brands, I will talk about some specific models that I am sad to see go (and maybe a few that I am happy to see gone).

Oldsmobile - I am starting here because the first car that was truly mine was an '86 Cutlass Supreme Coupe that was Banana Creme yellow with the partial tan vinyl top and tan interior.  I loved that car and still miss it today despite its problems.  Oldsmobile fell prey to becoming a brand without a true identity.  Pontiac was the sporty brand, Buick was the golfer's car (eg - older people).  Chevy was value and performance, while Caddy had the high-end market.  Oldsmobile was flipping somewhere between Pontiac and Buick for a while before it was finally killed.  The 442 in its true form will be missed.

Saturn - Saturn had a good run and was becoming a great platform to bring euro styling to the states with the Opel models.  Unfortunately, they weren't selling.  Maybe it was Saturn's former image, but they were very nice models in the Aura and Astra.  The model that will be missed the most is the Saturn Sky.  This sporty 4-cyl two seat convertible had more of a edge to it than the Miata in styling.  It would have been a good model to move to Chevy when Saturn was shut down.

Geo - Not really missed, not much more to say here than I already did.  It served its purpose for the time, but GM needed to step away from Geo.

Hummer - The H1 was a hulking beast of beauty.  Even the H2 had its charms.  The H3/H3 SUT were REALLY pushing the brand to far though, so in that sense, it is good the brand died.  The downfall was caused by gas prices, and its image.  Maybe its own popularity was its demise.

Pontiac - In my opinion, this is the greatest loss to the GM family.  Pontiac had some great models.  Sure the GTO was a bit of a flop, but the G8 was taking off.  In its time, the Grand Prix was a great car.  The Grand Am was a bit weak, but the G6 was a great replacement for it.  The Pontiac Solstice was like the weaker cousin to the Sky in styling, though.  Pontiac even had a great opportunity to bring back the Firebird based upon the new Camaro, but the brand didn't survive.

Plymouth - Other than the loss of the rightful brand for the Barracuda, Plymouth's loss wasn't that big a deal.  Plymouth was slotted between Dodge and Chrysler and was just "badge engineering" at its worst. Sure the Prowler came out as a unique model, but I was not a fan.  The PT Cruiser was being designed to be a Plymouth, but since the brand was dying anyway, the moved it to Chrysler.  Shame it didn't die with the Plymouth brand.  It's success lead to horrible things like the SSR and HHR from Chevy.

Eagle - Ok, so maybe Plymouth wasn't badge engineering at its worst....Eagle takes that cake.  It shared models with Mitsubishi mostly and some vehicles were common across even more than those two.  This is another brand that will not be missed.

Mercury - The most recent of the brands to go away, Mercury found itself in much the same boat as Plymouth.  Were they supposed to be nice Fords or cheap Lincolns?  They were mostly badge engineered with a few unique models coming out (such as the Mercury Cougar in the 90s).  Sales were slumping and Ford eventually killed the brand.  The last Mercury to roll off the line was a Grand Marquis.  Another brand bites the dust.

Well, that about rounds this up.  I hope you enjoy these posts as much as I enjoyed writing them.