I was in Oldsmobile 2 Studio when Ed Welburn was given the assignment to develop the Aerotech. The car was modeled in an out-of-the-way basement studio away from prying eyes. It is interesting to note that two years earlier when the Achieva styling model was being developed, Dave Holls decided to pull the clay out of the studio and put it down stairs so its development could be hidden until it was finished and ready for review. I think the Achieva clay was really starting to look good in the studio and Dave didn’t want Chuck or others meddling with it until it was further along. It came out pretty good and was the subject of a previous post on Dean’s Garage. I did the initial design of the car, full-size renderings, centerline and 3300 sections. But I wasn’t able to see the car through myself, as I was in Olds 1 and the Achieva was in Olds 2. The sculptors did an outstanding job surfacing the Achieva styling model. I wish I could remember the names of those involved.

The Oldsmobile Aerotechs were a series of experimental high-speed vehicles created between 1987 and 1992 incorporating the latest in performance technology with the intention of breaking multiple automobile speed records. The first such car was driven by four-time Indy 500 winner A.J. Foyt to a world closed-course speed record of 257.123 mph (413.788 km/h) on 27 August 1987 at the 7.712-mile (12.411 km) test track near Fort Stockton Texas. Prior to this, on 26 August 1987, the car had posted a top speed over a mile of 267.88 mph (431.10 km/h). The car consisted of a March Indycar single seat chassis enclosed in an extremely efficient aerodynamic body shell. It was powered by a highly turbo-charged version of the 2-litre Oldsmobile Quad 4 engine. The Aerotech body was designed by GM Design staff and was one of the sleekest vehicles ever developed for use on a high speed track. The design of the Aerotech included the capability of adjusting underbody sections to control the distribution of downforce, front to rear. Oldsmobile produced three versions of the original Aerotech to prove the capabilities of the company’s Quad 4 engine. Two were short-tailed (ST) versions and one was long-tailed (LT).

Subsequently, between 7–15 December 1992, another version of the Aerotech, this time powered by a 4.0 litre Oldsmobile Aurora V8 engine and fitted with lights, broke 47 speed endurance records including the 10,000 and 25,000 kilometre world speed records. Other national and international speed records ranging from 10 kilometres to 24 hours were accomplished by a team of drivers working 24 hours a day for 8 days. These records were also set at the Fort Stockton test track.

The Aerotech is also featured in a previous Dean’s Garage post entitled ’80s GMs Image Cars. There is another video of the car in that post.

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Documentary of the Development of the Aerotech

Video includes studio scenes of the clay model at Design Staff.

1992 Oldsmobile Achieva SCX—the last real Oldsmobile?

The 1992 Oldsmobile Acheiva SCX is the last real Oldsmobile in the sense that it was the last Olds to have an engine designed by Oldsmobile, the 2.3 Liter Quad-4. Only about 1,400 SCXs were made with the 190-hp Quad Four. This video is a road test of the car.

I created the basic body design for the Achieva Coupe when I was in Oldsmobile One in 1986. The story and photos of the development of the car is in a previous post on Dean’s Garage.

My 1992 SCX is for sale

I’m thinking about selling my 1992 Achieva SCX. I’m the second owner of this car since 1998. The first owner is a good friend and bought the car new as a GM employee working for Oldsmobile. It has been well maintained. Mobil 1 since 3,000 miles, never overheated. New clutch and shifter cables. Clear title, no accidents. Original paint, no rust. It has been in Arizona since 1995. It needs some paint work to repair a small parking lot ding on the front right fender. The bumpers and rear air dam needs to be repainted. The BFG Comp T/As have tread, but they are nine years old and should be replaced if the car is to be driven any distance. 130,000 miles. Contact me for more information.

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We were working on some platform for a sporty 2+2 car of some sort. I did sketches of proposals for that car and the other projects in the studio and hung them with the other wallpaper I continuously produced. In that studio at the time it was difficult to get anything on the car unless you were, well, running the studio. But Dave Holls, one of the directors, came through and sometimes actually looked at sketches. He seemed to see something in a couple of sketches that I did and asked me to do a full-sized airbrush rendering of the design, which I did. 

Early Achieva Concepts

At the same time, Olds Two studio was struggling coming up with a new design as a replacement for the Cutlass Calais (which would eventually be renamed Achieva). Dave looked at my airbrush and asked me to try the design again on the Calais platform, and I came up with a red rendering of a revised proposal. When the rendering was finished, someone must have liked it, because they took it out of Olds One and hung it up in Olds Two. Dave North was the Studio Chief and Ed Welburn his assistant. I remember they started to model the car but were having some trouble capturing the feeling of the rendering. I was asked to help them by drawing a 3300 section to start the body side modeling. The front and rear profiles could be taken from the full sized rendering.

Achieva Sketch

Early Achieva full-size airbrush rendering

Hide the Model
Well, there were several very talented sculptors in Olds One, and the car was starting to come together. So much so that Dave Holls decided to hide the model in the basement and finish it down there before somebody higher up would see it and want to change something before the original design statement could be presented. The model was finished and a fiberglass styling model was made to freeze the design statement. What made the design unique was it was a shouldered design where the upper sat on the lower instead of a monocoque which was trendy at the time.

Achieva Fiberglass Model, The Red Car. It was a 2-door on one side and a 4-door on the other.

Because I suppose the rendering was red and the fiberglass model was red, it became known as the red car. It was designed in 1986, but didn’t come out until 1992. The design affected the Olds 98 and 88 that were designed after the Acheiva but came out sooner.

Studio photos showing the fiberglass model in the background, as development progresses productionizing the design.

Dave North and Ed Welburn standing in front of my rendering.

From left to right: Dave North, Charlie Stewart, Chuck Jordan, and Dave Holls at a Design Staff styling model patio review.

Patio review of the Olds Achieva clay model in process. There would be many such reviews.

Side view of the car shows how closely the model profile resembles the original red rendering, except for the roofline.

Achieva Upper
The Achieva was built off of the same platform as the Buick Skylark and the Pontiac Grand Am. But the Achieva lost the upper wars, so the coupe has the Grand Am upper, and the sedan had the Buick upper. The sedan looks especially bad with the Buick roof.

Olds produced the Achieva SCX W41 in 1992–93. It had the Olds designed and built 2.3 liter Quad Four engine that made about 190 hp.

My ’92 Achieva SCX I bought in 1998 from my now good friend, Tony Seritella. He bought it new when he worked for Oldsmobile. The straightforward design of the Achieva Coupe aged more gracefully than the Grand Am and Skylark with their busier designs.