The Oldsmobile Antares was a 1995

concept car A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or ...

built by

Oldsmobile Oldsmobile or formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produ ...

. The Antares's design was heavily based on Oldsmobile's new "Aurora-look". Contrary to belief, the Antares' design cues were not used in the

Oldsmobile Intrigue The Oldsmobile Intrigue is a mid-size sedan that was manufactured from 1997 through 2002 by Oldsmobile. The Intrigue's design cues were first seen in 1995 with the Oldsmobile Antares concept car, being unveiled in production form in January 1996 ...

. Rather, the Intrigue was designed in 1993. In 2010, it was spotted in a dilapidated state in a GM parking lot. The Antares is named after

Antares Antares is the brightest star in the constellation of Scorpius. It has the Bayer designation α Scorpii, which is Latinised to Alpha Scorpii. Often referred to as "the heart of the scorpion", Antares is flanked by σ Scorpii and τ S ...

, the brightest star in the Southern Hemisphere, and a prominent star in the constellation

Scorpius Scorpius is a zodiac constellation located in the Southern celestial hemisphere, where it sits near the center of the Milky Way, between Libra to the west and Sagittarius to the east. Scorpius is an ancient constellation that pre-dates the Gre ...

. The Antares is also notable for being the first vehicle to wear Oldsmobile's then-new corporate emblem. It shared the same 113 inch wheelbase as the Aurora, but was 17 inches shorter in length. The original intention of the Antares was to be the 4-door successor of the Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight. Oldsmobile had intended to push the Aurora further upmarket for the second generation, which would have opened up more room within the lineup for the Antares. The second generation Aurora was to ride on the same platform as the redesigned Buick Riviera, as the original had done, however, Buick axed the Riviera as a result of the sales of all coupes in the North American market declining at the time. The discontinuation of the Riviera forced Oldsmobile to re-engineer the Antares into an acceptable Aurora in a short time. As a result, the Antares never went beyond the concept car phase. The redesigned Aurora serving as the replacement to the Eighty-Eight in 2001. The Antares, along with the Intrigue, were designed by Brigid O'Kane. At its debut at the 1995 North American International Auto Show, the Antares was awarded the "Best Concept Car" award by AutoWeek magazine.

References

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