GTP Cool Wall: 1992-1993 Oldsmobile Achieva SCX W41

1992-1993 Oldsmobile Achieva SCX W41

  • Total voters
    114
  • Poll closed .
White & Nerdy

White & Nerdy

4,209
United States
Wasilla, AK
1992-1993 Oldsmobile Achieva SCX W41 nominated by BerettaGTZ

1992-Oldsmobile-Achieva-SCX.jpg


Stats:
Production: 1992-1993
Style: 2-door coupe
Engine: 138 ci/2,261 cc naturally aspirated DOHC inline 4 (rated 190 HP & 160 lb-ft)
Transmission: Getrag 282 5-speed manual
Layout: Front-engine, Front-drive
Related: Buick Skylark, Chevrolet Malibu, Oldsmobile Cutlass, Pontiac Grand Am, Chevrolet Cavalier, Pontiac Sunfire​
 
The combination of a 190hp engine and a 5-speed stick in a smallish coupe body would have been interesting, if it didn't look so god awful. Seriously Uncool.
 
White & Nerdy
But it has specific output! Shouldn't that make it cool?
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Every engine has specific output. Perhaps you missed a word off - which would be amusingly unspecific - but I've no idea what word you'd even put in there.

84hp/litre isn't high. It's not low. It's middling I guess, but then "But it has about average specific output! Shouldn't that make it cool?" would be an even less sane juxtaposition of sentences.


And to refer back to my earlier answer:
Famine
No.
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An American car from about the I was an infant, 🤬 no.

Park this POS next to my car!
 
I really don't know what to make of this.

The power output isn't too bad for the time. (My 2.8i made 160hp but that was made 7 years earlier). It has a manual not an auto gearbox.

The looks aren't appealing, it's not something that'll turn heads, even over here. Just looks like a business mans coupe from the time. It's FWD.

I'm going to have to go with uncool.
 
I actually quite like this car. It's not catastrophically ugly, I quite like how it looks. The power isn't that bad, it's 5 on the floor and I'm not prejudiced because it's FWD + American + 1990s.

And it is an Oldsmobile which can be cool these days because it's a defunct brand. Not true in all cases of course, but Olds is fine.

I wouldn't care what people thought of me if I had one, so I give it a minor cool.
 
It looks bad, I imagine it's performance is even worse, and even the name is dreadful. SU. I probably wouldn't give one of these a 2nd glance in a parking lot in the US, they're just 100% bland. With teeny wheels.
 
I would say it's more dull than ugly. The sedan looked atrocious, but the coupe is fairly inoffensive to look at, and I find the SCX to be rather likeable.

Still, it's an early-90s GM product and it's too dull to be noticed even here in Europe, so this was an easy decision.
 
"Our entry level Oldsmobile hasn't been meeting sales expectations set by the outgoing Cutlass Calais. This certainly can't be related to how it looks like an even more awkward Ninety-Eight, whose sales similarly fell of a cliff when we made it look like an over-inflated Caprice. Ideas?"

"Sir, I know! Let's give it our very best performance package; the one that isn't even available on the Sunbird or Cavalier where it would do the most good as the sport compact market is burgeoning again. And let's make it more powerful than any other car we make that offers the same engine combo, even though all of them are much sportier than this one so would stand to benefit a lot more. We can even try to do a very successful touring car campaign to show out Oldsmobile buyers that this isn't your fathers Oldsmobile."

"Brilliant Fitzimmons! This is sure to attract new people to Oldsmobile instead of just being one of the first steps towards killing the oldest brand in the American market. We definitely need to make sure it has a random assortment of numbers to make up its name, though. Give yourself a raise!"
 
Liquid
I actually quite like this car. It's not catastrophically ugly, I quite like how it looks. The power isn't that bad, it's 5 on the floor and I'm not prejudiced because it's FWD + American + 1990s.

And it is an Oldsmobile which can be cool these days because it's a defunct brand. Not true in all cases of course, but Olds is fine.
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Pretty much my mind, plus this was never offered here so it would be an absolute oddball, and thanks to it's power (at least on paper, who knows), it could be a bit of a sleeper.

I'd have one in a heartbeat, specially here in Mexico. And damn, those wheels look awesome.

Still, uncool.
 
This falls into the low to mid Cool range for me.

Reasonably quick for the time, and being an Olds made it a bit of a sleeper.
 
Adamgp
This falls into the low to mid Cool range for me.

Reasonably quick for the time, and being an Olds made it a bit of a sleeper.
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Totally forgot this car was built as a homologation special for use in what was then called the SCCA World Challenge, where it did well. Won the championship from '92-'94.

Still would vote it cool, but now a mid-high cool.
 
At least in terms of the specs sheet, I like the engine, it should pack a nice little punch. There's that.

But it's incredibly bland. It lives in a world of blandness only understandable by Oldsmobile themselves. Even the name is bland "Oldsmobile"...oh goodie, it's got the name old in it but it's trying to be young with an engine close to 200HP...nop, it doesn't work out.

Bland = Meh. Oldsmobile bland = MEGA MEH. MEGA MEH = Seriously Uncool.
 

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