Oldsmobile · 1989–2004

Oldsmobile Silhouette

The Oldsmobile Silhouette is a minivan manufactured by General Motors from 1990 to 2004 over two generations. Production ended when General Motors discontinued its Oldsmobile brand in 2004. GM continued to market badge-engineered variants of the U-body minivans, the Saturn Relay and the Buick Terraza from 2005 to 2007.

Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Successor: Buick Terraza

All Oldsmobile Silhouette data: UK builds, safety, recalls, model years →

Background

General Motors' first attempt at producing a minivan to compete with the Chrysler minivans—the rear-wheel-drive, truck-based Chevrolet Astro and its twin, the GMC Safari—failed to compete strongly against Chrysler's dominance in the minivan market in the 1980s. The 1990 Oldsmobile Silhouette and its sibling models sold more successfully than the Astro/Safari predecessors. First shown to the public in 1986, the Pontiac Trans Sport concept car featured futuristic styling, individually removable bucket seats with built-in stereo speakers, a gull-wing rear passenger door and extensive use of glass including a glass-paneled roof. The Trans Sport was approved for production without the gullwing door and the glass roof. Chevrolet and Oldsmobile received production vehicles based on the Trans Sport with the Lumina APV and Silhouette respectively. While the Pontiac Trans Sport was targeted at sport- and style-oriented buyers, the Lumina was the value offering and the Silhouette targeted premium markets, competing with the Chrysler Town & Country.

First generation (1990–1996)

The first 1990 Oldsmobile Silhouette was manufactured on August 1, 1989. Assembled in General Motors' North Tarrytown Assembly assembly facility, these U platform vans consisted of a galvanized steel space frame wrapped in composite plastic body panels that were impervious to rust and minor dents and dings, a manufacturing technique developed on the Pontiac Fiero and also used extensively on General Motors' Saturn line of vehicles. The Silhouette was available with seating for seven, with the five lightweight (34 lb (15 kg)) rear seats being individually reconfigurable and removable. In 1994, built-in child seats were added to the option list, which provided the ability to switch two of the rear seats between adult and child seating with the pull of a seat-mounted tab. Included with the level ride package, which utilized a compressor and air-pressurized rear shock absorbers to maintain vehicle height regardless of load, was a control panel and air hose kit that allowed the vehicle to be used to inflate tires, air mattresses, and sporting equipment. In 1994, a remote-controlled power sliding door feature was added, a General Motors innovation. For the 1994 and 1995 model years, traction control was available with the 3800 engine option. The first-generation Silhouette was not available in Canada. European Market. Europeans grew accustomed to sleek minivans thanks to the Renault Espace and did not object to the futuristic styling. For the European market, however, the Oldsmobile Silhouette was sold as the Pontiac Trans Sport by replacing the Oldsmobile badging with Pontiac badging, along with Pontiac wheels. Sales in Europe were good for an American import, but did not represent enough volume to make a fourth, distinct model economically feasible. Like the Oldsmobile Silh

Second generation (1997–2004)

The redesigned 1997 Silhouette was built at Doraville Assembly like other U-body based minivans. Canadian sales began as a 1998 model. The first Silhouettes were assembled in August 1996. Having achieved second place in sales to Chrysler, General Motors brought out an entirely new U platform series of minivans, theoretically based on the lessons learned from its previous missteps. Reeling from the criticisms of the previous "dustbuster" minivans, the new Silhouette would be completely redesigned as conventional in all respects. The vehicle consisted of steel unibody construction, and the styling would be as conservative as possible. The previous generation was also a little too large for comfortably navigating European streets, so this new range of models would be narrower and slightly smaller than was the norm for the United States in order to produce a single range of minivans that GM hoped would fill the needs of both the North American and European markets. At this time, GM continued to offer the Silhouette as their premium luxurious minivan, while the Trans Sport/Montana and the Venture were offered as the mid-ranged sporty and basic value-oriented versions respectively. During the development of this generation of the U-body minivan, General Motors extensively benchmarked the then current Chrysler minivans. The resultant vehicles more closely resembled the immensely successful trio of Chrysler minivans; However, Chrysler would launch a completely redesigned minivan line a year before GM. Two different wheelbase lengths were offered as well as dual sliding doors. The base model (only offered for 1997) was the only model to offer short-wheelbase and a driver side sliding door being only optional, when all the other trim levels of the Silhouette were in long-wheelba

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Specifications

name: Oldsmobile Silhouette
Manufacturer: Oldsmobile
Production: August 1, 1989 – March 31, 2004
Model years: 1990–2004
Predecessor: Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser
Successor: Saturn Relay, Buick Terraza
Class: Minivan
Platform: U-body
Related: Pontiac Trans Sport, Pontiac Montana, Opel Sintra, Chevrolet Lumina APV, Chevrolet Venture