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...
Firenza was a
compact carA compact car , or small family car , is a classification of cars which are larger than a supermini but smaller than or equal to a mid-size 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 1982 to 1988. It was based on the
front-wheel driveFront-wheel drive is a form of engine/transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longitudinal engine arrangement generally found in rear-wheel drive and...
GM J platformThe J platform, or J-body, was General Motors' inexpensive front-wheel drive automobile platform from the 1980s and 1990s. The platform replaced the GM H platform. The J-platform is the only platform of GM to have a model in each of its "Original 5" passenger car divisions...
, which was shared with the
Buick SkyhawkThe Buick Skyhawk are automobiles produced by the Buick division of General Motors in two generations for the 1975 through 1989 model years. 1975 through 1980 models, all 2-door hatchbacks, were built on the subcompact, rear-wheel drive H-body platform...
,
Cadillac CimarronThe Cadillac Cimarron was a compact car built by Cadillac based on the GM J platform. It was first introduced in 1981 for the 1982 model year, and sold through 1988. During its seven-year model run, 132,499 Cimarrons were built.-Development:...
,
Chevrolet CavalierThe Chevrolet Cavalier was a compact automobile produced from 1982 to 2005 by General Motors. Built on the company's J platform, the Cavalier was one of the best-selling cars in the United States throughout its life.- Predecessors :...
and
Pontiac SunbirdThe Pontiac Sunbird, produced by the Pontiac division of General Motors, was Pontiac's second small-car offering of the 70's. The Sunbird model ran for 18 years and was then replaced in 1995 by the Pontiac Sunfire...
. It was not based on the European market
Vauxhall FirenzaThe Firenza is a model of car offered by Vauxhall Motors from May 1971 till 1975. It was a development of the Viva, but had a distinctive coupé body style and only two doors....
, but on the same platform that the
Vauxhall CavalierThe Vauxhall Cavalier is a large family car sold primarily in the UK by Vauxhall Motors, the British division of General Motors , from 1975 to 1995...
mk 2 /
Opel AsconaThe Opel Ascona was a mid-sized car produced by Opel. It had three generations produced from 1970 to 1988. In motorsport, the Ascona 400 rally car driven by Walter Röhrl won the World Rally Championship drivers' title in the 1982 season....
C.
Overview
The all-new Firenza was introduced in March 1982, as replacement for the departed rear-wheel drive
StarfireOldsmobile Starfire are automobiles produced by the Oldsmobile division of General Motors in two generations from 1961–1966 and 1975–1980. The Starfire nameplate was also used for the 1954–1956 Ninety- Eight series convertibles, and all 1957 Ninety-Eight series models. 1961 was the first year for...
. Initially available as a 3-door hatchback and 4-door sedan, the lineup was expanded to include a 4-door "Cruiser" wagon in 1983, and a 2-door notchback coupe in 1986. The name "Cruiser" was applied to all Oldsmobile station wagons at the time; this included the mid-size Cutlass Cruiser and full-size
Custom CruiserThe Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser is large rear-wheel drive station wagon which was produced by Oldsmobile from 1971 to 1992. The Custom Cruiser used the same platform as the Buick, Chevrolet and Pontiac full-size wagons...
. The Firenza was positioned as Oldsmobile's entry-level compact car, priced below the sightly larger
OmegaThe Omega was one of 2 more X-body Chevrolet Nova clones introduced in 1973 . Naturally it shared the Nova's body and many of its mechanicals, but it had its own unique nose and tail, and, being an Oldsmobile, it had a little fancier trim than the Nova...
and later
Calais/Cutlass CalaisThe Oldsmobile Calais, renamed the Cutlass Calais for 1988, and briefly available in 1987 as the limited edition GMO Quad-4, was a compact car produced by General Motors from 1985 through 1991. In part, it was intended to replace the Omega in Oldsmobile's lineup...
. Despite this, the Firenza could be equipped with premium options such as power windows, power locks, and 14-inch alloy wheels.
Although closely related to its J-body siblings, the Oldsmobile Firenza was differentiated by its distinctively Oldsmobile front and rear end styling. The upper portion of the Firenza front end featured quad rectangular headlights separated by signal lights in recessed housings, with a sloped body-color panel between the recesses. A horizontal-barred grille was mounted in the lower portion of the front fascia. The rear featured nearly square taillights with a slight wraparound at the outboard ends of the upper rear panel. This styling was further enhanced for Firenza's last model year, 1988, when it received a new open grille, sealed-beam composite headlamps, and tail lights, styled after those of the
Cutlass CieraThe Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera is a mid-size car that was sold from 1982 through 1996 by the Oldsmobile division of General Motors.It shared the front-wheel drive A platform with the very similar Buick Century, Pontiac 6000 and Chevrolet Celebrity; both Olds and Chevy considered using the Celebrity...
.
Firenza was launched with a 2.0-liter pushrod inline four-cylinder engine as the sole powerplant, but an overhead-cam 1.8-liter engine was added during the model year. Wraparound amber turn signal lights were added immediately outboard of the headlights for 1984. In 1985 the 2.8 L LB6 V6 was added as an option, as well as a new GT package. The GT, with the V6 standard, became a separate trim level for 1986. For Firenza's final year, the hatchback coupe was dropped along with the V6, leaving just the four-cylinder notchback coupe, sedan, and wagon models. Also for 1988, all previous trim level designations were dropped. All Firenza bodystyles came in a single unnamed base model that could be equipped with six various option packages.
The Firenza was never a strong seller for Oldsmobile. In keeping with its premium image, Oldsmobile always had better luck selling larger, better equipped cars, most notably its wide range of Cutlass models. The 1980s were no exception to this. Also to blame was competition from its rebadged J-body siblings. Sales of the Cavalier and Sunbird annually dwarfed Firenzas, as they better fit into Chevrolet and Pontiac's value-oriented brand portfolios. Due to this, the Firenza was not replaced in Oldsmobile's lineup, leaving the
Cutlass CalaisThe Oldsmobile Calais, renamed the Cutlass Calais for 1988, and briefly available in 1987 as the limited edition GMO Quad-4, was a compact car produced by General Motors from 1985 through 1991. In part, it was intended to replace the Omega in Oldsmobile's lineup...
as the division's smallest car. The
CimarronThe Cadillac Cimarron was a compact car built by Cadillac based on the GM J platform. It was first introduced in 1981 for the 1982 model year, and sold through 1988. During its seven-year model run, 132,499 Cimarrons were built.-Development:...
was discontinued that year as well.
Leeds AssemblyLeeds Assembly was a General Motors automobile factory in Leeds, Missouri . It was closed in 1988. The factory produced the A-bodies and J-bodies.-See also:* List of GM factories...
, which built the Firenza, was closed. The
SkyhawkThe Buick Skyhawk are automobiles produced by the Buick division of General Motors in two generations for the 1975 through 1989 model years. 1975 through 1980 models, all 2-door hatchbacks, were built on the subcompact, rear-wheel drive H-body platform...
lasted another year, while
GMGeneral 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...
kept the first-generation Sunbird and Cavalier in production until 1994.
Trims & options
- Sedan:
- base • 1982-1988
- LX • 1982-1987
- Hatchback:
- S • 1982-1987
- SX • 1982-1985
- GT • 1986-1987
- Wagon:
- Cruiser • 1983-1988
- LX Cruiser • 1983-1985
- Coupe:
- base • 1986-1988
- LC • 1986-1987
Engines
- 1.8L I4 • 1982–1986 • 84 hp
Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...
(1982–1984,1986) and 82 hp (1985)
- 2.0L I4 • 1982–1988 • 82 hp (1982–1983), 88 hp (1984–1985), 85 hp (1986), 90 hp (1987), and 96 hp (1988)
- 2.8L LB6 V6 • 1985–1987 • 130 hp (1985), 120 hp (1986), and 125 hp (1987)
External links