The General whacking Olds was especially painful, given that it was the oldest American marque still making cars. In fact, if your car company wasn't named Daimler or Peugeot, it was younger than Oldsmobile. Was the fact that the world "Old" was right in the name of the 107-year-old brand part of GM's decision to put it on the chopping block by the '04 model year? Marketers probably cringed every time they saw those three letters and then contemplated the ever-increasing average age of Oldsmobile buyers.

I don't have much of a personal Olds ownership history; the only Oldsmobile that I ever drove much was a purple '69 Cutlass that I bought for 100 bucks from a friend when I was 19, after she loaned it to someone who got drunk and slid it into a tree. The entire passenger side was completely trashed, but it had a rip-roaringly powerful 350 4-barrel engine (and it was purple) and I couldn't resist making the deal. However, I can make the claim that the very first car I ever rode in was an Oldsmobile: a '56 with the 324 V8.

Now it's your turn. What was your first-ever Oldsmobile? Did you love it (Dynamic 88) or hate it (Starfire)?
Photo source: Old Car Brochures