1978 Oldsmobile Omega from North America - Comments

Carburettor jammed regularly. Rebuilt at 75000 miles.

Instruments never worked properly, except the speedometer.

Auto transmision failed completely at 110000 miles, with careful driving and proper servicing.

I bought this car at an auto wholesale yard in Tulsa.

I didn't care about the awful looks of it then, because I desperately needed a car when my Saab was stolen.

It was in very good condition, but never drove tidily or had any usable performance.

It was a typical American late-70's piece of crap.

"Asthmatic V8"...I guess that you had the 260 2bbl.

Positively the worst engine Olds ever made.

The 260 was, nevertheless, one of the most durable engines ever made.

I would take exception to the broad brush approach of the "typical late '70s American crap" line. Maybe GM was making crap then, I don't know. But I do know that the Plymouth Volarè and Dodge Aspen were good cars, as was the Dodge Charger/Magnum and Dodge Ramcharger/Plymouth Trailduster. The Chrysler New Yorker and Newport were still also good. Surely there are some other good late '70s American cars out there as well, enough that they can't ALL be branded as "typical crap."

"Asthmatic V8"...I guess that you had the 260 2bbl.

Positively the worst engine Olds ever made."

- Correct!

I had the V8-260 2bbl in a '75 Omega Salon, which I owned from '79 to '87. Horrible HP (110 IIRC) and acceleration and yet still managed horrible MPGs (13.5 suburban driving, everything tuned up).

Yet, with the Olds equivalent of the F-41 suspension (front and rear sway bars, firmer shocks and springs) it was one of the best handling domestic cars of the era.

The engine survived w/o damage being driven a 1/2 mile to a garage, gushing oil from the torn off oil filter due to my hamfisted use of a cheap filter wrench.

I sold her after 125k miles- too many things were worn out, and the rear quarters were rusting bad. But over 20 years later, I still miss her. Had she had the 350 4bbl, well, I'd miss her even more!

Oldsmobile was and always will be one of the greatest car manufactures that ever existed. Pioneering many technological advancements in the automotive industry though the years. For instance Oldsmobile was the first car company to have the first fully automatic transmission. They were also the first to have a front wheel drive car, which was the Toronado in 1966. One other major invention which was created by Oldsmobile was the air pillow in the 70`s which later became air bags in the 1980`s.

My family has owned three Oldsmobiles all of which were excellent running cars with very few mechanical problems. Two of which we still have and they still provide trouble free transportation despite their age; one is an Omega 31 years old, and the other is a Cutlass 13 years old.