Minneapolis Street Sighting: Oldsmobile Firenza Cruiser

In the 1980s, FWD compact cars were slowly starting to become the norm; Chrysler had the K-car, Ford hard their Escort/Lynx twins and derivatives, and GM had introduced it's J-body lineup all across the board. After failing to produce relatively decent compacts, 1980 is when Detroit finally started to get serious about competing with the Japanese. Sadly enough, even though they tried, the domestic compact couldn't match their Japanese counterparts for quality. Over the course of the J-car's 1982 to 2004 production, the Buick, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac versions would all bite the dust, leaving only the Chevy Cavalier to remain at the end of the car's life cycle. Teat should tell you something about the car's popularity alone. While sedans were the most common variations, coupes, fastbacks (hatchbacks) and wagons were less so.
Now this is a rare beast! I can't recall ever seeing a Firenza Cruiser at all-- ever. I think I've seen the other J-Body wagons, though. I know this particular example isn't really in "pristine" shape, but dammit it's nearly 30 years old; it's certainly not exactly common, and it isn't laden with rust, so I shot it. From a distance (ie a block away), it looked mint. Up close, though, the various imperfections shone through. While not overly terrible, I wasn't as enthralled up close as I was upon initial sighting.
While not quite mint, this particular example is a nice, honest driver. The paint is in terrific shape, especially for an econobox of this vintage; the wheels even have their factory paint. The trim, too, was in equally good shape; not peeling, not broken, and not faded -- it was all there for me to carefully inspect, right down to the oft-missing fender script. Such a time capsule of GM's biggest dreary period. While I'm not quite a fan of the J-body, I am grateful that someone is taking relatively good care of one of the earliest examples of the platform.