Oldsmobile Touring Sedan

The Oldsmobile Touring Sedan was a special touring car built by Oldsmobile from 1987 until 1993. It used the Oldsmobile 98 as a starting point but catered to a driver-oriented audience. Touring Sedans had all standard 98 model equipment plus heavy duty cooling and charge systems as well as the FE3 touring suspension. All used a 3.8L (3800 Series) V6 and a 4 speed automatic transmission with overdrive. This model was one of the first attempt to re-brand Oldsmobile as a more youthful, upscale division that could be differentiated from Buick and Pontiac in the GM line-up.

1987-1990

The model was introduced during Oldsmobile's 90th anniversary year to compete with the large sports sedans from BMW, Mercedes and Audi. The model was based on the regular production Oldsmobile 98 and used its 165 hp 3.8L V6 but included the W12 Touring Sedan option package consisting of custom leather bucket seats with 6 way power, center console with floor shift, real wood interior trim, Treves anti-lock brakes, 15 (later 16) inch aluminum wheels, black wall tires, FE3 suspension, full gauge cluster (tachometer, 120 mph speedometer, oil, volts, temp, and fuel gauges), gray body side trim, custom steering wheel, special grille, special tail lamp trim, body color lower bumpers, fog lamps, sporty exhaust, and special Touring Sedan badges. There are no emblems or markings to signify the relationship to the 98 model line. For 1989 the model line was updates with 16 inch wheels, driver side airbag and minor grille changes, and steering wheel controls for climate and stereo systems were made standard as well as the addition of an optional CD-player.

Production Numbers[1]
1987- Unknown
1988- 8,531
1989- 7,193
1990- 5,566

1991-1993

The Touring Sedan was redesigned with the rest of the full size GM C body cars for 1991. It retained it's special character but was marked more closely with the 98 line-up. Oldsmobile added the optional supercharged 3.8L V6 for the first time good for 205 hp (compared to the regular 3.8 with 170 hp). After the 1993 model year the Touring Sedan was removed from the Oldsmobile line up in favor of the new Aurora which eventually replaced the 98 (after 1996) and the 88 (after 1999) to become the last full sized Oldsmobile sedan.

Production Numbers
1991- 4,280
1992- 2,795
1993- 1,885

References

1. ^ Helen Jones Early and James R. Walkinshaw, Setting the Place: Oldsmobile's First 100 Years (Oldsmobile: Lansing, MI: 1997), 484-487.

• Setting the Pace: Oldsmobie's First 100 Years, pg 484-487.