In the ’90s, Oldsmobile wanted to see if the public would respond positively to more performance-oriented offerings. To do so, it introduced several hotted-up OSV (Oldsmobile Special Vehicle) concepts, including the Alero OSV, Intrigue OSV, and Oldsmobile Silhouette OSV. The latter of these is currently on sale at Canadian car dealer Empire Motors.
The Silhouette OSV was a styling exercise introduced during the 1999 Specialty Equipment Market Association show in Las Vegas. With a smidge over 114,000 miles on the clock, it’s currently selling for just $8,588 (whether that is in American or Canadian currency was not indicated). And judging from the pics, it has received better than average care, and likely won’t last long at that price. Even better, rumor has it that only one of three OSVs were ever constructed to carry a real title, this would indeed make for the most exclusive of family haulers.
On the exterior, the Silhouette OSV got an aero kit, chrome wheels, and a surprisingly attractive red metallic paint job, all of which dressed up the Silhouette considerably.
The 3.4L V6 in the Oldsmobile Silhouette OSV was allowed to breathe more easily courtesy of a free-flowing intake and exhaust, bumping output from 185 to 210 horsepower. Brembo brakes were fitted at all four corners. Recaro seats, slathered in gray leather, replaced the stock units in all three rows.
To understand how we got the Silhouette, let’s take a brief stroll through history.
In the 80s, GM was already making the Chevy Astro/GMC Safari minivans. These were more akin to light trucks, with rear wheel drive and a size similar to a short wheelbase Chevy/GMC Van. Then came along Chrysler, with a runaway hit of ultra-modern family movers, and GM needed something to compete. So it developed a new series of “wedge-shaped” vans as a direct answer to the similarly-sized Chrysler minivans.
The wedge-shaped models were produced from 1990 to 1996, with a re-style in 1993. In 1997, the Silhouette, along with its other GM brethren, received a full redesign. Having ditched the first generation’s funky styling, the new vans were much more attractive, and the example we see here goes a long way to re-capturing some of the sexiness of that sleek concept.
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Comments
Nice, how much is $8588.00 in Canadian currency???
$8,588 USD is $10,982.38 C (at today’s rate). If its $8,588 C, then that’s only $6,717.72 USD.
A foot long turd is rare too. Doesn’t mean it’s worth anything.
My 2003 Olds Silhouette Premier had 168,000 miles when Sandy storm took it away. The OSV would be a low mileage car for me. It’s not a turd it’s a “dustbuster.” I tried to get an Intrigue OSV but it was seen only at autoshows.
I think it looks cool, I like that flamboyant, tacky style from the 90’s and 00’s. Straight from “Pimp my ride”
Gotta love that late 90s gm center stack. The definition of gm parts bin.
And the horse you rode in on.
My mom bought a 2000 Oldsmobile Silhouette Premier off the showroom floor cash in a beautiful burgundy color similar to this OSV’s Red Metallic paint job. Her van had gold trim on the exterior including gold accented wheels, gold badging, and I believe gold DLO as well. It didn’t have the Recaro racing seats but all three rows were wrapped in tan leather and the second and third rows could either lay flat, or be completely removed for cargo space.
It looked like nothing else on the road. My mom would come home from work with stories about how colleagues who drove vans would stare at her car in the parking lot and how she’d come out the grocery store sometimes and see people circling around her car trying to figure out what it was, and would even wait on her to return just to ask questions! There was a Pontiac version of this van but it didn’t have the same aesthetic at all.
She opted for the fully loaded Premier which came with the rear seat entertainment package; a small centered screen that came down from the roof in front of the second row seats, right behind the front headrest. A set of Oldsmobile branded headphones were individually hidden inside small, black cloth Oldsmobile labeled bags. We also had our own climate control for the rear.
It had air suspension in the rear with a auto leveling system for heavy loads or when towing. Believe it or not, there was also an air pump in the rear behind the third row that we would use whenever friends, family, or anyone in the neighborhood had a bicycle, scooter, or small motor vehicle with a flat tire. The pump worked really well, came with a super long cord made out of what felt like a durable rope material, and a analog pressure gauge displaying PSI.
I would play my Nintendo 64 in the van and remember the third row having so much space that I could sit the steering wheel top part of my controller in between my legs with the accelerator/brake controller pedals on the floor, and still have two other kids my size sitting next to me comfortably. Very spacious interior. My mom would always talk about how fuel efficient her Silhouette was and the low maintenance it required. We took many road trips in that van and had it for a very long time before it was involved in a wreck. It suffered really bad front end damage, and Mom’s insurance basically rebuilt her van, but it never drove the same after that. The new paint job also wasn’t the same as the original paint job which really bothered my mom. She just let it go about 8 years ago. She sold it, not sure for how much. My dad loved his white GMC Envoy that they also shared during the same time. Great post, I’m going to email to my mom!
I have a 2001 Silhouette premier with 170000 miles.it runs great and I have taken it on several trips. It is such a pleasure to drive, except the gas gage only works when the tank is above half and the A/C don’t work, and a couple other little things that I keep putting off to fix. The air shocks were already bad when I got it and took me 2 years to get around to replace them.
This has the best styling of the three OSV’s (less jelly bean). Alero would’ve looked better as a hatch. An LS powered AWD Astro iteration as an Olds minivan, would be remembered well today. Chevy engine stigma wouldn’t have happened. The Olds’ I’m fond of were mostly just tarted-up classic Chevys with nicer crafted details. I’ve said before & now again, letting the Cutlass die (real d. 1988) was a crime.
Oldsmobile was trying hard to stay alive back then I love my 2002 Intrigue big V6 leather seats handles like a dream..