The Oldsmobile Alero is a 2-door coupe / 4-door sedan from Oldsmobile, built from 1998 to 2004, when airbags, anti-lock brakes and Japanese build quality became the world standard. Under the bonnet: 2.2 L Ecotec L61 I4. Dave Lyon drew it.
The story
The Oldsmobile Alero is a compact car that was produced by General Motors for its Oldsmobile division. Introduced in 1998 as a 1999 model, the Alero was the replacement for both the Achieva and Cutlass. The Alero was Oldsmobile's last new model nameplate, and — on April 29, 2004 — was also the last Oldsmobile manufactured.
What is underneath
Power comes from 2.2 L Ecotec L61 I4; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. It weighs 2997-3124 lbs. It shifts through a 5-Speed Getrag F23 manual / 4-speed 4T40-E automatic / 4-speed 4T45-E automatic. The layout matters: the engine drives the front wheels, the packaging choice that gives a small car a big cabin. The wheelbase is 107 in. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Its place in the line
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the Oldsmobile Achieva; its successor was the Chevrolet Evanda (export models); assembly was at Lansing, Michigan (Lansing Car Assembly), United States. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Chevrolet Silverado, the Peugeot 206, the Cadillac Escalade — show what else the money bought that year. Nearby in the Oldsmobile catalogue sit the Oldsmobile 442 and the Oldsmobile 88.