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Thread: Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera (2nd gen) 1989-1996

  1. #1
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    The Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera is a mid-size car that was manufactured and marketed for model years 1982-1996 by the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors. It shared the front-wheel drive A platform with the similar Buick Century, Pontiac 6000 and Chevrolet Celebrity; both Oldsmobile and Chevrolet considered using the Celebrity name, which had originally been used on the Eighty Eight model in the 1960s. Available body styles included a 2-door coupe, 4-door sedan, and the Cutlass (Ciera) Cruiser station wagon. Based on the GM X-Body, this platform served as the basis for the GM U-Body vans.

    Development
    The 1980s was a time of great transition for General Motors. CEO Roger B. Smith invested heavily in computerization, front wheel drive and advanced assembly processes. One of the first products to reach the marketplace under this program was the GM A-Body. The Cutlass Ciera, like its A-Body platform mates, benefited from GM's Computer Command Control system, MacPherson strut front suspension, body color urethane bumpers, flush mounted glass, front wheel drive and on many models, fuel injection. The Cutlass Ciera shared the Cutlass nameplate with the smaller Cutlass Calais and the larger Cutlass Supreme, often creating confusion among the buying public as all three were available concurrently during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

    Initially, the Cutlass Ciera and its platform mates were premium mid sized offerings, holding a higher market position than the X-Body, from which they were derived, and the N-Body Calais, which would follow for 1985. Upon its discontinuation in 1996, the Ciera line was still Oldsmobile's best selling product. The Cutlass Ciera and Cruiser were intended as replacements for the venerable rear wheel drive G-Body Cutlass models, but strong sales kept the higher trim Cutlass Supreme in production until the 1988 model year, when it was replaced by the all new GM W-Body models. As such, these front wheel drive sedans carried the A-Body designation, previously reserved for their rear wheel drive showroom companions. In order to keep both lines in production, General Motors rechristened the rear wheel drive mid sized platform as the G-Body beginning with the 1982 model year. When the W-Body intermediates were introduced for 1988, Oldsmobile "decontented" its Cutlass Ciera by reducing the number of options and configurations available to the public. During the model years that followed, luxury and performance options such as FE3 suspension, Auto Calculator, bucket seats, leather seating areas, sunroofs, and full instrumentation were eliminated. After 1990, special editions were dropped from the American market and by the end of 1991, the coupe was discontinued. Although slimmed down to just two trim levels and two body styles, sedan and wagon, the 1996 final run of Oldsmobile Cieras were still Oldsmobile's best selling product line.

    Special editions
    The car enjoyed many factory specialty models including the Holiday coupe, GT, ES, XC, and International models – the latter of which had a stock body kit.

    Holiday Coupe
    From 1984 to 1986, Oldsmobile offered a special edition Holiday Coupe package, option WJ5, on the Brougham coupe. This package included a unique landau vinyl roof (RPO C10), opera windows, special rooftop trim and painted pin stripes. The Holiday Coupe package required tinted glass and could not be ordered with standard pin stripes. It was discontinued part way through the 1986 model year, when Oldsmobile introduced the updated coupe roof line. All Holiday coupes were converted by the American Sunroof Company (ASC) outside of the factory. Oldsmobile would ship ASC Brougham coupes equipped with tinted glass to modify at their facility. These models have an ASC decal in the driver side door frame indicating the factory authorized conversion.

    ES
    The ES (RPO W48) sedan was available from 1983-1985. These vehicles feature unique wheel covers, blacked out trim, F41 performance suspension, black sidewall tires, center console with bucket seats and a sport steering wheel.

    GT
    The GT (RPO W45) was first offered as an option on the 1985 Ciera coupe. It featured blacked out trim, V6 engine, center console with bucket seats, fog lamps factory body kit, alloy wheels and performance suspension. For 1986, it was expanded to the four door sedan, replacing the ES sedan. Following the 1987 model year, it was replaced by the International Series.

    XC
    The XC was introduced as part of Oldsmobile's 90th Anniversary celebrations (XC being Roman Numeral or 90). It was available on coupe and sedan models. Sharing much of its sporty appearance with the International Series, the XC is distinguished by orange body side stripes in place of the typical black and chrome trim.

    International Series
    From 1988 to 1990, the International Series was the top performance trim available on the Ciera. It featured the 3.8 liter V6 for 1988 and the 3.3 liter V6 for 1989 and 1990. Available on coupe and sedan models, it featured a factory body kit, bucket seats with console, FE3 performance suspension, alloy wheels, full instrumentation, air conditioning and unique ornamentation.

    Source: Wikipedia
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    Last edited by Man of Steel; 11-15-2019 at 01:04 PM.

  2. #2
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    Second generation (1989-1996)
    The Cutlass Ciera was updated for 1989, with the sedan receiving a modern roofline (similar to the coupe), and revised body side moldings and deletion of hood ornaments. Rear seat shoulder belts were added. Both coupe and sedan models received updated rear-end treatments. The older Buick 3.8 liter V6 was dropped in favor of GM's new 3300 V6 engine.

    For 1990, the front seat belts were moved from the B-pillars to the doors. This would also be the last year for the 'International Series'.

    The changes for 1991 included a new instrument cluster with a trip odometer and an engine temperature gauge.

    For 1992, the coupe was dropped, and the line-up included only sedans and wagons in 'S' or 'SL' designations. The wagon now had some internal competition in the form of the new Oldsmobile Silhouette minivan (itself based on the Cutlass Ciera's A-platform), offering buyers a choice of traditional station wagon or a multi-configurable minivan. Despite the all-new Olds Achieva and Delta 88 models for 1992, the Cutlass Ciera was still Oldsmobile's best-selling model line, with over 132,000 sedans and an additional 7,793 wagons produced this year.

    For 1993, the 2.5 L Tech IV engine was replaced by the 2.2 L "2200" OHV engine with a 3-speed automatic transmission.

    In 1994, the 'SL' designation was dropped. The 'Cutlass Ciera S', available in sedan or wagon form, featured a driver airbag as standard equipment, along with anti-lock brakes, adjustable steering column, electric rear-window defogger, automatic door locks, and delay wipers. The 3.1 liter, Chevrolet V6 engine with a 4-speed automatic transmission replaced the prior year's 3300 Buick V6. This engine was standard on the Cruiser wagon and optional on the sedan. The 2200 I-4 received minor updates, resulting in a 10 horsepower increase.

    For 1995, the 'SL' designation returned in place of the 'S'. The 1995 Cutlass Ciera SL featured a new shift interlock system that required stepping on the brake pedal before moving the gear shift out of park.

    For 1996, the final model year, the 'Cutlass' nomenclature was dropped and the car was now known simply as the 'Ciera SL', which continued to be available in 'Series I' or 'Series II' equipment levels. The chrome "Oldsmobile" badge above the driver's headlight was deleted. During this time, Oldsmobile attempted to revamp itself as a European-styled upscale make with new products such as the Aurora, but the Cutlass Ciera's continued strong sales proved almost an embarrassment due to its dated design and perceived image as an "old man's car". On the other hand, because the tooling for the A-body platform had long since been monetized, GM was guaranteed a profit off each Cutlass Ciera and Buick Century sold (At the same time, GM was losing massive amounts of money on its other midsized platform, the W-platform). In addition, build quality and reliability of the cars was extremely good by this point. Production of the Ciera ended on August 30, 1996. It was replaced in the U.S. by the N-body 1997 Oldsmobile Cutlass, also built at the Oklahoma City assembly plant. As a result, the 1996 Cruiser wagon was the final Oldsmobile station wagon model produced. Sales of this Ciera replacement peaked at 53,438 in 1998 and it was discontinued in 1999.

    Source: Wikipedia
    Last edited by Man of Steel; 11-15-2019 at 01:05 PM.

  3. #3
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    Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera (2nd gen) #3

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