Editing Oldsmobile Aurora (section)

==Origins==
Early design work on what would become the Aurora began as early as the late 1980s with the 1989 [[Oldsmobile Tube Car]] engineering concept, designed by Bud Chandler. In addition to the overall similar shape, the Tube Car featured many detailed elements that were later found on the production automobile, including a full-width taillamp, wraparound rear windshield, and frameless windows. Unlike the eventual production car, the Tube Car used a pillarless hardtop design with [[suicide doors]]. The final production design was signed off on in July 1989, originally set for a 1992 start of production.<ref name="businessweek.com" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Oldsmobile Tube Car |url=http://www.carstyling.ru/en/cars.1989_Oldsmobile_Tube%20Car.html |access-date=March 6, 2008}}</ref>

By the Aurora's introduction, Oldsmobile sales had fallen from a record high of 1,066,122 in 1985 to 402,936 in 1993; rumors of the division's demise were rampant, which GM at the time firmly denied.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tribune |first=Chicago |date=1992-10-22 |title=OLDS CHIEF TRIES TO SQUELCH RUMORS OF DIVISION'S DEMISE |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1992/10/22/olds-chief-tries-to-squelch-rumors-of-divisions-demise/ |access-date=2024-02-18 |website=Chicago Tribune |language=en-US}}</ref> Competition from [[Acura]], [[Infiniti]] and [[Lexus]] offered similar products that benefited from superior durability and reliability reputations. GM developed the Aurora to rejuvenate Oldsmobile as a result.<ref>{{cite web |title=Oldsmobile Aurora (1996) |url=http://www.theautochannel.com/vehicles/new/reviews/wk9545.html |access-date=December 11, 2011 |publisher=Theautochannel.com}}</ref> The Aurora bore no Oldsmobile badging save for the radio-CD-cassette deck and engine cover (during focus group testing, potential customers had been repelled when they learned the Aurora was in truth an Oldsmobile).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dean |first=Paul |date=1994-09-16 |title=Aurora Outshines Oldsmobile's Image |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-09-16-ls-39305-story.html |access-date=2024-02-18 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> At one point, then-division head John Rock (who had recently arrived from the [[GMC (automobile)|GMC]] division) proposed using the Aurora name to replace the Oldsmobile brand entirely and offer cars in a similar fashion to GM's nascent [[Saturn Corporation|Saturn]] division (a plan ultimately nixed by the GM higher-ups, though for a period Saturn's no-haggle pricing was implemented<ref>{{Cite news |date=2024-01-05 |title=IT'S NOT THE SAME OLDS STORY |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1994/09/10/its-not-the-same-olds-story/295e93a0-1088-415e-a1ae-5d95468fdfdd/ |access-date=2024-02-18 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref>).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2006-06-28 |title=Oldsmobile's Demise -- What GM Could Learn From Radio |url=http://www.kassof.com/insights/ri-wi01.htm |access-date=2024-02-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060628223403/http://www.kassof.com/insights/ri-wi01.htm |archive-date=June 28, 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2024-01-04 |title=OUT WITH THE OLDS, IN WITH THE NEW? |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1992/10/28/out-with-the-olds-in-with-the-new/7b46e9fb-18ac-43ad-a759-63e0f7f636bd/ |access-date=2024-02-18 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Liguz |first=Andrzej |date=15 August 2006 |title=Interview: John Rock, Oldsmobile General Manager |url=https://www.motortrend.com/vehicle-genres/c12-0606-john-rock-general-motors/ |access-date=18 February 2024 |website=Motor Trend}}</ref> Instead, the Aurora used a stylized ''A'' emblem, foreshadowing a similar restyling of Oldsmobile's corporate "rocket" emblem for 1997.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/overview.aspx?year=1997&make=Oldsmobile&model=Aurora
| title = 1997 Oldsmobile Aurora Detailed Pricing and Specifications
| access-date = May 2, 2008
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060915122451/http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/overview.aspx?year=1997&make=Oldsmobile&model=Aurora
| archive-date = September 15, 2006
| url-status = dead
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Oldsmobile Aurora Guide - {{!}} Outright Olds |url=https://www.outrightolds.com/olds-model-guide/oldsmobile-aurora |access-date=2024-02-18 |website=www.outrightolds.com}}</ref>

One bizarre footnote of development was a 1993 incident where a prototype Aurora, driven by freelance car reviewer Tim Dunne, was nearly totaled after a four-foot log fell from a [[Michigan Department of Natural Resources]] truck (Dunne was able to maneuver the Aurora so much that only the right front wheel was struck); this subsequently led then-governor [[John Engler]] to purchase an Aurora (Engler having been a life-long Oldsmobile customer).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tribune |first=Chicago |date=1993-07-11 |title=OLDS LOGS FIRST AURORA SALE TO MICHIGAN'S GUV |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1993/07/11/olds-logs-first-aurora-sale-to-michigans-guv/ |access-date=2024-02-18 |website=Chicago Tribune |language=en-US}}</ref>

Oldsmobile subsequently borrowed Aurora styling cues for its [[Oldsmobile Intrigue|Intrigue]] and compact [[Oldsmobile Alero|Alero]] models.{{Clear}}