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  Marc K. Stengel
Editor

There are surprisingly few instances anymore of American carmakers' goals exceeding their reach. On the one hand, they no longer seem to care about making affordable, safe, and practical commuter cars for under, say, $10,000. Lately, that seems to be the Koreans' responsibility.

At the other end of the spectrum, they've already pushed the street-legal high-performance envelope about as far as it can stretch with the likes of Chevy's 345-horsepower Corvette, Ford's 320-hp Mustang Cobra SVT, and Dodge's 450-hp Viper. Meanwhile, today's popular trucks, including SUVs of course, remain proudly unsophisticated and serve as poster vehicles for the New Complacency.

There does remain, however, an elusive Grail. It is "the American car with a European feel." There are many claimants, but so far, none has even come close to nabbing the mysterious prize. Lincoln's LS and Cadillac's Seville have drawn the most attention with their loud, cocky behavior.

These are indeed quite enjoyable cars, only not especially European-feeling ones. Chrysler has essentially capitulated: With Mercedes-Benz as its senior partner, who needs it anymore to merely pretend to be European?

There is one knight-errant in this quest who may yet prevail. When dispirited, downtrodden Oldsmobile division debuted its Aurora sedan for 1995, only a few Olds loyalists really took much notice. In the last six years, however, it has slowly but increasingly dawned upon buyers in the sporty luxury class that Aurora is out to change Oldsmobile's reputation and fortunes. Strangely, the car isn't even promoted as an especially European-flavored contender—even though, arguably, it is closer to being so than any American-made rival.

2001 olds aurora interior Enlarge Photo

Comments (2 total)

1. 2001 Olds Aurora 4.0

   By Marc | Posted: Jan 5th 2009, 04:40:41 PM

   I have been driving a 2001 Olds Aurora 4.0 since 12/2000. It has been excellent, and whatever car I own after this one will depend on how closely that car resembles this Aurora.

2. CEO / Owner earthSpell LLC/Disabled

   By Chuck Moll | Posted: May 14th 2009, 12:42:15 AM

   Hello-I have a'97 Olds Aurora-4.0L,Vin"C", and it drives great&Htd.seats help myy3 times-Thrice Broken T-Spine TOO!!But;the person bought from"Fiddled w/the alum.heads&was a 'hillbilly-per-say'&Lied a LOT to make sale-But anyways,car runs"HOT-Much more than should-I.E. easily goes to 225degrees Fast at mere stop light-But will approach"250+-IF allowed to Idle for mere 15 extra minutes!"Yikes!:(Can anyone help?would"Hood louvers Help-OR Custom made'Side by side Functional Hood Scoops to GET Cool air to Engine'??have already done ALL the"Classic fix-its,I.E.Flushed Coolant/Changed T-Stat/Changed oil for lower viscosity for winter/Fans work Fine&High speed too-Am Perplexed??My mechanic-states there may be a"Head gasket issue/leak culminating in said problem??Could a good"head gasket sealant poss. work??OR does it Nee NEW heads entirely??I've read many places where"Running hot IS a major problem w/1995-1999 Models"&They have NO Grille&NO manner to feed engine cool air to speak of in 1st Place-could"Cold air Induction kit Help?Even though it is only really feeding the throttle body the cooler air??thoughts/suggestions??I'm 20 years+ Perm. Disabled & Need reliable car-Plz Help IF any can!.:)ThanxKC

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