The
Oldsmobile Alero was a compact car produced by the
OldsmobileOldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory...
division of
General MotorsGeneral Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
from 1999 to 2004.
The Alero was introduced in spring 1998 as a 1999 model to replace the
AchievaThe Oldsmobile Achieva was introduced for the 1992 model year and was a front-wheel drive, compact car based on the GM N-body platform which it also shared with its siblings the Pontiac Grand Am and Buick Skylark...
and
CutlassThe Oldsmobile Cutlass is a line of automobiles made by the Oldsmobile division of General Motors. The Cutlass began as a unibody compact car, but saw its greatest success as a body-on-frame intermediate car....
. The Alero went into production on April 6, 1998. All Aleros were built in
Lansing, MichiganLansing is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located mostly in Ingham County, although small portions of the city extend into Eaton County. The 2010 Census places the city's population at 114,297, making it the fifth largest city in Michigan...
. The Alero was Oldsmobile's last compact car as well as the last vehicle sold under the brand. Production ended on April 29, 2004.
History
The design of the Alero was originally previewed in 1997 with the
Alero AlphaThe Oldsmobile Alero Alpha was a 1997 concept car. The Alero Alpha was a 2-door coupe and its design was inspired by the earlier Tube Car and Antares concepts, as well as the Aurora production car. Many of its design elements were seen in the 1999 production version, which was simply called...
concept carA concept vehicle or show vehicle is a car made to showcase new styling and or new technology. They are often shown at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or may not have a chance of being produced....
, a V6-powered sport coupe that featured many design elements seen in the production Alero as well as some that were never meant for production.
The Alero was sold either as a 4-door sedan or as a 2-door
coupéA coupé or coupe is a closed car body style , the precise definition of which varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, and over time...
. It shared its chassis and many parts, including engines, with the
Pontiac Grand AmThe original Grand Am was introduced in the fall of 1972 as a 1973 model. It was based on the GM A platform along with other cars such as the Pontiac LeMans, Pontiac GTO, Chevrolet Chevelle, Buick Century, and the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme...
, the other compact
N bodyThe General Motors N platform was a front-wheel drive compact automotive platform produced from 1985 to 2005. The GM N platform replaced the GM X platform....
sedan. All Aleros came in base
GX, mid-level
GL, or high-end
GLS trim;
GL trim was split into three levels: 1, 2, and 3.
The Alero experienced minimal changes during its 5-year run. Most of these changes were either in choice of engines or options. In 2003, the Alero's
daytime running lightsA daytime running lamp is an automotive lighting device on the front of a roadgoing motor vehicle, installed in pairs, automatically switched on when the vehicle is moving forward, emitting white, yellow, or amber light to increase the conspicuity of the vehicle during daylight...
were changed from high-beam to low-beam.
The Alero was also sold in select countries in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
as the
ChevroletChevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...
Alero, and was only available as a sedan. The car still featured its Oldsmobile badges even though sold under the Chevrolet brand. Since most European consumers would not recognize the badging, Chevrolet badges were added to the grille and rear fascia for the 2000 model year. Since the phase-out of the Alero, it was replaced in Europe and
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
by the
GM DaewooGM Korea Company is South Korea's second largest automobile manufacturer and is a division of the General Motors Company. GM Korea's roots go back to the former Daewoo which was split from its parent company, Daewoo Group, in 2001...
-sourced
Chevrolet Evanda/EpicaThe Daewoo Magnus is a mid-size sedan developed and manufactured by Daewoo Motors until its purchase by General Motors, and now built for GM Daewoo Auto & Technology by Daewoo Incheon Motor Company at its Bupyeong facility in South Korea. GM Daewoo and other GM divisions, as well as GMDAT stake...
.
The Alero's production ended with a special Final 500 Edition. These last 500 Aleros featured custom graphics inspired by vintage Oldsmobile logos, dark cherry metallic paint, and a plate featuring the car's number out of 500.
The final Alero Final 500 Edition (#500 of 500), a
GLS 4-door, also happened to be the final Oldsmobile ever built, and was signed under its hood by the employees of the General Motors Lansing plant and then given to the R.E. Olds Transportation Museum.
A preview of the planned replacement for the Alero was seen in 2001 with the unveiling of the
Oldsmobile O4The Oldsmobile O4 was a front-wheel drive concept car designed by the Oldsmobile division of General Motors in 2001. The O4 was a roadster that was aimed at a younger demographic...
concept, designed by Bertone. The car was an open top 4-seater with European styling but some Oldsmobile traits, and powered by the latest Ecotec I4 engine. The name had multiple meanings, including "Oldsmobile 4-Seater" as well as implying the year 2004 as a planned date for production.
Unfortunately, the O4 concept was unveiled a few weeks after
General MotorsGeneral Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
announced that they would be phasing out the Oldsmobile brand, meaning that production possibilities of the O4 would never become reality. Because of this, a second generation Alero was never built and the car was phased out with the Oldsmobile brand in 2004.
Engines
| Years |
Engine |
Power |
Torque |
| 2002–2004 |
2.2 L Ecotec L61 I4 The inline-four engine or straight-four engine is an internal combustion engine with all four cylinders mounted in a straight line, or plane along the crankcase. The single bank of cylinders may be oriented in either a vertical or an inclined plane with all the pistons driving a common crankshaft....
|
140 hp |
150 lbft |
| 1999–2001 |
2.4 L LD9 I4 The inline-four engine or straight-four engine is an internal combustion engine with all four cylinders mounted in a straight line, or plane along the crankcase. The single bank of cylinders may be oriented in either a vertical or an inclined plane with all the pistons driving a common crankshaft....
|
150 hp |
155 lbft |
| 1999–2004 |
3.4 L LA1 V6 |
170 hp |
210 lbft |
Variant Prototypes
General Motors commissioned the construction of Alero
prototypeA prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
s either for testing or to gather public opinion on possible future plans for the Alero. These variants include:
- Alero OSV - "Oldsmobile Speciality Vehicle", an experiment in an aftermarket
The automotive aftermarket is the secondary market of the automotive industry, concerned with the manufacturing, remanufacturing, distribution, retailing, and installation of all vehicle parts, chemicals, tools, equipment and accessories for light and heavy vehicles, after the sale of the...
parts brand for Oldsmobile. Featured a body kit, supercharged I4, custom interior, and special cherry red paint with ghosted Oldsmobile emblems in the rear quarter panels.
- Alero OSV II - Another experimental vehicle, this time featuring an LX5 DOHC 3.5 L V6 (used in the Oldsmobile Intrigue
The Oldsmobile Intrigue was a mid-size sedan manufactured from 1998 through 2002 by the Oldsmobile division of General Motors. The Intrigue's design cues were first seen in 1995 with the Oldsmobile Antares concept car...
and AuroraThe Oldsmobile Aurora was a full-size sports sedan made by the Oldsmobile division of General Motors and launched in 1995. The Aurora rode on the same Cadillac-derived G platform as the 2-door Buick Riviera....
) and featured custom dark green paint.
- Alero 442 - A set of show cars based on the Alero coupe fitted with a body kit similar in design to the Oldsmobile 442
The Oldsmobile 442 was a muscle car produced by the Oldsmobile division of General Motors. It was introduced as an option package for F-85 and Cutlass models sold in the United States beginning with the 1964 model year. It became a model in its own right from 1968 to 1971, then reverted to an...
. Each Alero 442 show car had a unique color, including white with gold stripes and white with pink stripes.
- Alero California - A custom built version of the Alero coupe featuring parts including a large rear wing, racing seats, sport tires, and custom graphics painted in brown and yellow.
- Alero Convertible - An experiment in the possibility of creating an Alero with a convertible
A convertible is a type of automobile in which the roof can retract and fold away having windows which wind-down inside the doors, converting it from an enclosed to an open-air vehicle...
soft top to help broaden the appeal of the car to young buyers. The Oldsmobile O4 concept also hinted that the next generation Alero could have had a convertible model.
- Alero Pace Car - Built by General Motors as part of their fleet
Fleet vehicles are groups of motor vehicles owned or leased by a business or government agency, rather than by an individual or family. Typical examples are vehicles operated by car rental companies, taxicab companies, public utilities, public bus companies, and police departments...
of Oldsmobile safety cars for the Indy Racing League, featuring custom yellow, blue and white checkered flag graphics.
Safety
The
Insurance Institute for Highway SafetyThe Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is a U.S. non-profit organization funded by auto insurers, established in 1959 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It works to reduce the number of motor vehicle crashes, and the rate of injuries and amount of property damage in the crashes that...
(IIHS) gives the 1999-2005 Grand Am (same platform as the 1999-2004 Alero) a
Poor rating in its frontal crash test for its marginal structural integrity, a possible head injury, a potential right leg injury, and poor dummy control.
The following are 2003
National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationThe National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is an agency of the Executive Branch of the U.S. government, part of the Department of Transportation...
(NHTSA) Crash Test Ratings.
Coupe
- Frontal Driver:
- Frontal Passenger:
- Side Driver:
- Side Rear Passenger:
- Rollover:
Sedan
- Frontal Driver:
- Frontal Passenger:
- Side Driver:
- Side Rear Passenger:
- Rollover:
Production Figures
| Year | Sales |
| 1999 |
142,242 |
| 2000 |
137,140 |
| 2001 |
129,726 |
| 2002 |
98,979 |
| 2003 |
109,773 |
| 2004 |
79,796 |
External links