Oldsmobile Achieva - Initial Production

Initial Production

The Achieva was first seen as a concept car at the 1991 Chicago Auto Show and was said to replace Oldsmobile's compact Calais models. The Calais and Achieva both share the same basic front wheel drive GM N-body architecture including identical wheelbase length. The Achieva started regular production for the 1992 model year. It was offered in four different trims: S and SL that were both available in two and four-door model, and the sporty SC and SCX coupe. The S as the standard model has a 120-horsepower 2.3-liter Quad OHC 4-cylinder. The SL uses the DOHC 160 horsepower (120 kW) Quad 4 engine that was made optional on the S model. A 160-horsepower 3.3 L V6 engine was optional for the SL. The SC coupe had a standard 180 horsepower (130 kW) high-output Quad 4 with 5-speed manual transmission or a 3 speed automatic with the 3.3 L V6 being an option. An interesting design feature for the time, exclusive to the Achieva sedan, was the presence of rear fender skirts. While still used at the time, they were mostly found on traditional large size cars, not compacts. The similar Buick Skylark sedan and coupe built on the same GM N-body platform also had rear fender skirts.