Background | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983/1984 | End of the Road

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END OF THE ROAD

Unfortunately, bowing to pressures of government fuel economy standards and industry-wide vehicle downsizing, the beautiful rear-wheel-drive Olds flagship was discontinued after 1984. In its place came a lopped-off, front-wheel-drive vehicle which bore no resemblance to the elegant car it replaced. This would be the end of an era for large, body-on-frame RWD American luxury cars as GM replaced the Cadillac DeVille, Olds 98, and Buick Park Avenue with smaller unit-body cars.

The "family" car versions of these beautiful designs -- the B-Body Buick LeSabre and Olds Delta 88 -- went one more year before being replaced in 1986. In 1985 Pontiac brought back the B-Body Bonneville body, re-badged as the Parisienne, but this lasted only two model years.

But GM did not kill all RWD cars in the mid-eighties. Demand continued to be high, so they wisely permitted the B-Body Chevrolet Caprice Sedan to continue until 1990 -- along with the various wagon models from Buick, Chevrolet, Oldsmobile and Pontiac -- until they were replaced by new, more futuristic designs in 1991. The D-Body Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham, however, survived intact from 1977 until 1992. After that, the chassis went on through the 1996 model year when the entire RWD line of B-Body and D-Body cars was discontinued for good.

Oldsmobile later tried to revive the classic style of the '80s Olds 98 with an early '90s C-Body redesign which featured a low rear wheel opening and similar lines overall, but this smaller, FWD Regency could never compare to the classic American luxury car which inspired it's design.