Yahoo Autos Junkyard Gem: 1984 Oldsmobile Omega Brougham Sedan
When General Motors created the first-ever front-wheel-drive Chevrolet, the 1980 Citation, the stage seemed set for sales domination of the new decade with an import-crushing compact that looked and drove like a proper slab of genuine Detroit Iron. Alongside the Citation came three other models on the same X Platform: the Buick Skylark, Pontiac Phoenix and Oldsmobile Omega. All four sold well at first, but well-publicized quality problems and recalls took their toll, and the final model year for the X-Body Omega was 1984. Here's one of those cars, found in a Northern California boneyard recently.
Parked with its hatch facing the Omega's trunk is another interesting piece of mid-1980s GM history: a 1987 Chevrolet Sprint ER, the Suzuki-built fuel-economy champion of America in its day.
The Omega name had been used on the Oldsmobile-badged sibling of the Chevrolet Nova for the 1973 through 1979 model years. Since the Citation replaced the Nova, it made sense to keep the Omega name alive on the Oldsmobized Citation. The same thing happened with the Nova-sibling Phoenix and Skylark names.
Other than the prestige of the Oldsmobile name, there wasn't much difference between this car and its cheaper Chevrolet and Pontiac twins.
The cheapest 1984 Omega was the base two-door, which listed at $7,625 (about $23,031 in 2023 dollars). This car is the top-of-the-range Brougham Sedan, which had an MSRP of $8,095 ($24,451 after inflation). Meanwhile, a new 1984 Chevy Citation four-door cost $7,037 ($21,255 now).
The Omega, like its siblings, could be purchased with an optional 2.8-liter V6 engine. This one has the base engine, however: an Iron Duke 2.5-liter pushrod straight-four and its 92 horsepower. The Duke (known as the Tech IV when equipped with fuel injection, as is the case here) held together well but was a hilariously outdated rough-runner.
