A few decades before getting the axe from The General, Oldsmobile was moving quite a bit of iron off the showroom floors, mostly Cutlasses but also plenty of wholesome American station wagons like this one.


Sometimes the owner of a DOTS car comes out to see what's going on while I'm shooting the car, and that's what happened with this one. This guy was pleased that his pride and joy was getting such attention, and was even willing to pop the hood and let me get shots of that 185-horse 403 (also known as the "6.6 Liter" under the hood of many a Malaise Trans Am). With 320 ft-lbs on tap, the 403 worked pretty well as a station wagon powerplant.


This is a lifelong Alameda car, having been purchased from the original owner not long ago. It parks on one of the busiest north-south arteries in town, showing all those SUV drivers what a real family hauler looks like.

We're not sure if this was the pinnacle of GM innovation, the depths of laziness or the height of cool. More than likely, it's all three wrapped up into one liitle deep and tall invention...on the pinnacle of brilliance. Yes, it helped to make the Custom Cruiser weigh north of 5,000 lbs, but it's a small price to pay for sexy. In fact, we now want made standard on all wagons. Ya hear that, automakers — now make it so! [Hat tip to Mark Peters!]

Related:
GM Recalls Nearly a Million Pickups For Crappy Tailgate Cables [internal]