Oldsmobile silhouette

Oldsmobile silhouette
Production period:	1990-2004
Class :	Van
Body versions :	Station wagon
Successor:	Buick Terraza

The Oldsmobile Silhouette and its sister models Pontiac Trans Sport (later Pontiac Montana ) and Chevrolet Lumina APV (later Chevrolet Venture ) were three vans that were presented in the 1990 model year. After the Oldsmobile brand was abandoned in 2004, the Silhouette was replaced by the Buick Terraza in 2005 .

The first generation silhouette was featured in the 1995 film Snap Shorty , where it was more often referred to as the Van's Cadillac . The appearance of GM's first front-wheel drive van in 1990 encouraged the company to launch one of the first luxury editions of a van when Chrysler released the Town and Country .

Original concept

The Pontiac Trans Sport concept car was introduced to the public in 1986 and was very well received. It had a futuristic styling, individually expandable seats with built-in stereo speakers, a folding door for the rear seat passengers, and large glass surfaces including a large glass roof.

Due to the positive response, production of the Pontiac Trans Sport was started, but the styling and equipment details of the concept vehicle were only partially taken over into series production. The wing door in particular would have been too expensive to manufacture. The glass roof was also too heavy and too expensive, and so the production vehicle was left with a steel sunroof, which was painted in high-gloss black, reminiscent of the glass roof of the concept vehicle.

Chevrolet and Oldsmobile also received modified versions of the Trans Sport to serve the largest possible clientele. The Chevrolet Lumina APV was supposed to be the cheapest version, the Trans Sport was meant for customers with a sense of “style & sport” and the Silhouette was supposed to be the van for the luxury vehicle market.

First generation (1990–1996)

First generation
Oldsmobile Silhouette (1990-1994)
Production period:	1990-1996
Body versions :	Station wagon
Engines:	Petrol engines : 3.1-3.8 liters (88-136 kW)
Length:	4933-4945 mm
Width:	1877 mm
Height:	1656-1669 mm
Wheelbase :	2789 mm
Empty weight :	1630-1766 kg

Oldsmobile Silhouette (1994-1996)

Production of the first generation of the Oldsmobile Silhouette began on August 1, 1989 in Tarrytown, New York . The cars were built on the GM-U platform and consisted of a space frame made of galvanized steel and a body made of GRP , which was insensitive to rust and minor damage. This production technique was developed on the Pontiac Fiero and also used for most Saturn cars . The Silhouette had seven seats; the five rear seats each weighed around 15 kg and could be removed individually.

There was a level control system with a compressor and gas pressure shock absorbers at the rear, so that the vehicle level could be adjusted regardless of the load. There was also a switch combination and a set of air hoses so that the compressor could also inflate the tires, air mattresses and other sports equipment.

Engines

• 1990–1995: 3130 cm³ V6-60 °, 120 bhp (88 kW)
• 1992–1995: 3785 cm³ V6-60 °, 170 bhp (125 kW)
• 1996: 3392 cm³ V6-60 °, 170-185 bhp (125-136 kW)

Low sales success

The styling of the vans was discussed very controversially. When the Oldsmobile Silhouette and its sister models came out, marketing an elegant or sporty van was a first. GM anticipated great market potential. These vans were designed lower and slimmer than any other vans before. The extremely long and flat windshield and the resulting large distance between the driver and the lower edge of the window made for a strange driving experience until the driver got used to the "slightly different" proportions. Automobile magazines called the car “Dustbuster” because its side silhouette looked similar to this handheld vacuum cleaner.

The first engine for this van was a somewhat weak 3.1L V6 with only 120 bhp (88 kW), which did not give this rather heavy car sufficient performance.

In 1992, the Silhouette and its sister models were given a 3.8 l V6 with 170 bhp (125 kW) on request, which gave the van much better torque and better acceleration and made them the most powerful and manageable vans of their time.

In response to the criticism (and very modest sales) attributed to avant-garde styling and the response from potential customers, auto magazines and even a 1994 Chrysler ad, the Trans Sport and Lumina APV received a facelift by adding shortened its nose by 3 "(76 mm) and curved the front of the vehicle downwards, giving it a more conventional look. In addition, an edge was attached to the dashboard in order to visually shorten the distance to the lower edge of the windshield.

European customers, who were used to slim vans with the Renault Espace , took the futuristic styling well, and the sales figures were respectable. The Oldsmobile Silhouettes, manufactured for the European market from 1994 onwards, became Pontiac Trans Sport models through Pontiac logos and wheels. The sales figures in Europe were good - at least for a US import car - but did not justify an independent fourth model economically.

Production of the first-generation Silhouette (including Lumina APV and Trans Sport) ended in 1996 and the Tarrytown plant, which had made the cars and had operated since 1900, was shut down. The last first generation Oldsmobile Silhouette left this factory on May 17, 1996.

Model history

1990

• A brand new model - The Silhouette as a luxury model is available with leather seats as an option, a feature that its sister models cannot offer, but the Chrysler Town and Country can .

1991

• Customer complaints about reflections on the huge dashboard in the windshield are answered by exchanging the light-colored plastic parts from the previous year for black carpets.

1992

• New this year is the 3.8 l V6 engine in conjunction with a Hydra-Matic 4T60 automatic transmission with four stages and electronic control.
• The fixed radio antenna mounted on the bulkhead is abandoned in favor of an integrated roof antenna. It is installed between the roof and the headliner.
• The side mirrors are now foldable and larger.
• The brakes are enlarged and combined with ABS as standard .
• A lifting roof is available on request.
• There is an optional control lever for the stereo system on the steering column.

1993

• The design of the taillights changes from a mesh design to completely red lamps that run into black towards the edge. This equipment was previously only available at Trans Sport.
• There was a new center console with large, recessed controls for the air conditioning and large shelves.

1994

The silhouette was given a facelift with combined indicators and parking lights reaching around the corners of the vehicle and fog lights installed as standard.

There was also an electric sliding door with remote control and the rear side windows were given a darker tint.

Until 1995, an ESP was offered in combination with the 3.8-liter engine and there was still an optional traction control and a standard driver airbag. Built-in child seats that could be installed between two of the rear adult seats were optionally available. In order to visually reduce the large distance to the lower edge of the windshield, an additional edge was attached to the dashboard.

1995

• There were automatic door locks that locked the doors when the automatic selector lever was pushed out of the park position and unlocked them again when the car was parked.

1996

• Last year of production. In August, the series is replaced by a newly developed car of the same name.
• Both the 3.1 l V6 and the 3.8 l V6 are no longer available, but the 3.4 l V6 engine is available.
• There is no traction control.

Second generation (1996-2004)

Second generation
Oldsmobile Silhouette (1996-2001)
Production period:	1996-2004
Body versions :	Station wagon
Engines:	Petrol engines : 3.4 liters (125-136 kW)
Length:	4760-5116 mm
Width:	1834 mm
Height:	1712-1730 mm
Wheelbase :	2845-3048 mm
Empty weight :	1681-1736 kg

Oldsmobile Silhouette (2001-2004)

The revised 1997 model year silhouette was manufactured in Doraville, Georgia. The first cars left the assembly line on August 6, 1996. In Canada, the car was sold from 1998.

General Motors had now twice failed to steal a crucial chunk of the domestic van market from Chrysler, and so started a third attempt with new vans on the GM-U platform , which - at least in theory - were based on the lessons of earlier failures . Remembering the criticism of the "Dustbuster" vans, the new edition was completely conventional in every way. The car was a monocoque steel construction and styling was as conservative as possible. The previous generation was a bit too big for European roads, so the new vehicles got a bit narrower and smaller than was normal for the US so they could also be used for Europe.

During the development of the new generation, GM clearly oriented itself towards the current Dodge Caravan , Plymouth Voyager and, for the Silhouette, above all towards Chrysler Town and Country . The resulting vehicles bore clear resemblance to the successful Chrysler trio, which at the time served half of the domestic market. Unfortunately for GM, the Chrysler vehicles they used as a benchmark were replaced in 1996 by a whole new generation that - to GM's annoyance - was much slimmer and more elegant than their predecessors. The new Chrysler vans also offered many new equipment details and packages that were not available in any other van on the market at the time. GM had a nice new vehicle, after all, but one that was designed for a generation of competitors that had already outlived itself.

There were two different wheelbases and two sliding doors. As the top model, the Silhouette offered many equipment details as standard that had to be paid for separately in its sister models and competing vehicles. In 1998 it was one of the first vehicles to offer a video recorder with an LC screen in the roof for rear seat passengers.

In 2001 the Silhouette got a small facelift, which could be recognized by the enlarged and completely chrome-plated radiator grille.

Equipment lines

• Standard (1996)
• GL (1996-2004)
• GLS (1996-2004)
• GS (1998–1999)
• Premiere (1998-2004)

engine

• 60 ° -V6 with 3392 cm³ displacement, 170 to 185 bhp (125 to 136 kW)

Low sales success

The Silhouette and its sister models achieved slightly better sales figures than their avant-garde predecessors, but did not achieve a decisive market share. The Silhouette was a serious contender in many important categories, but couldn't win any over the Chrysler vans. The van market was much more densely populated than before, and the Silhouette was considered the second choice, certainly quite beautiful, but not outstanding in any way.

The model remained in production until 2004 without any major changes. That year Oldsmobile was discontinued. The last Oldsmobile Silhouette left the assembly line on March 31, 2004.

The successor to the Oldsmobile Silhouette in the GM model range is the Buick Terraza (2005 to 2007), which was created on a revised variant of the GM U platform and took the place of the premium van that the Silhouette had previously held. But because the third generation of GM vans did not sell well either, the company decided to turn its back on the van market entirely. The Terraza was discontinued in 2007, the Chevrolet Uplander in 2008.

Web links

Commons : Oldsmobile Silhouette  - collection of images, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Michael Lamm: Oldsmobile Silhouette - Score one for 21st-century styling . In: Popular Mechanics Co. (Ed.): Popular Mechanics . August 1991, p. 37-39 ( google.de ).
2. ↑ Brendan Saur: Curbside Classics: 1990-1996 Oldsmobile Silhouette - An OG Luxury Minivan, But By No Means A Cadillac. Retrieved February 12, 2020 (American English). 
3. ↑ Brendan Saur: Curbside Classics: 1990-1996 Oldsmobile Silhouette - An OG Luxury Minivan, But By No Means A Cadillac. Retrieved February 12, 2020 (American English). 
4. ↑ Brendan Saur: Curbside Classics: 1990-1996 Oldsmobile Silhouette - An OG Luxury Minivan, But By No Means A Cadillac. Retrieved February 12, 2020 (American English).