Latest news with #OldsmobileSilhouette
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
1993 Oldsmobile Silhouette: a Wacky Minivan with a Hollywood Past
The aerodynamic replacement for the Chevy Astro, this generation of GM minivan is sometimes called the Dustbuster. The Oldsmobile version found some unexpected fame in 1995's . This example has low mileage and an all-California history, and the auction ends on Monday, February 3. "I ordered a Cadillac." "Oh, well, you got the Cadillac of minivans." And just like that, an Oldsmobile Silhouette became the unlikely transportation of John Travolta's Chili Palmer in Get Shorty, a lighthearted mid-Nineties comedy that sees a mafioso romping through Hollywood, breaking all the rules (and a nose or two). It's great fun, and the Oldsmobile is always either in view or just offscreen, as much of a character as Danny DeVito's slightly clueless movie star or the wonderfully scenery-chewing performance by Dennis 1993 Oldsmobile Silhouette in gorgeous Medium Garnet is up for sale on Bring a Trailer (which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos). It's got just 69K miles on the odometer and has a sunny California history since new. Also known as the Dustbuster van (because, well, look at it), this Oldsmobile was one of a trio of three GM products that was aimed at ending Chrysler's dominance of the minivan segment. The previous Chevy Astro and GMC Safari hadn't quite done the job, and so GM's design department tasked Pontiac with coming up with an exciting did they. The Trans Sport concept van was first shown at the 1986 Chicago auto show, and it featured futuristic styling—with rear gullwing doors, decades before the Tesla Model X. There was even an integrated onboard Nintendo system. Of course, the production version was a lot more conventional. As usual, GM spread the product among its brands, giving each version slightly different flavors. The Chevy Lumina APV was the workhorse. The Pontiac Trans Sport was the sporty one. And the Olds Silhouette, that was the luxury which version didn't sell very well. Part of the joke in Get Shorty is that a Silhouette is exactly something you'd find in a rental lot, because plenty of them went to fleet sales. Those vans were chewed up and scrapped, but this example has remained in the same family since new, and it shows like it's been cared that aerodynamic hood is a 3.8-liter V-6 that was good for 170 horsepower and 225 pound-feet of torque. It has had some recent service including replacement of the water pump and serpentine belt, and it passed California emissions testing last year. With leather, air conditioning, cruise control, and plenty of power features, this is one loaded-up minivan. Sixteen-inch alloy wheels add a further element of bling. A sliding-door Escalade? Perhaps not quite, but it's still a very tidy example. The auction ends on February 3. You Might Also Like Car and Driver's 10 Best Cars through the Decades How to Buy or Lease a New Car Lightning Lap Legends: Chevrolet Camaro vs. Ford Mustang!
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Yahoo
Bond records sealed in Kettering cold case homicide
Jan. 31—Court records were sealed this week for three documents concerning bail for a Centerville man accused of killing his girlfriend nearly 25 years ago in Kettering. Jonathan Eric Link, 60, is charged with two counts of murder in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court in the July 2001 death of 29-year-old Shannon Noel Anderson. Judge Steven Dankof on Tuesday ordered the prosecution's Jan. 13 request for high bond and Jan. 24 request to hold Link without bond in addition to Dankof's Tuesday order denying bail all sealed with no direct or public access. The judge set Link's bond at $5 million and ordered him to surrender his passport during his Jan. 16 arraignment hearing. Link's attorney Dennis Lieberman said Thursday he was not permitted to discuss the judge's order because of the seal. However, Lieberman said it was unlikely he would file a motion for a bond review. "In murder cases bonds are generally very high, if (there is one) at all, because of the charge itself," he said. Lieberman said the defense is maintaining that while Link certainly knew Anderson, he had nothing to do with her death. Link reported to the Kettering Police Department on July 30, 2001, that Anderson had not been seen since July 28, 2001, and that her red 1997 Oldsmobile Silhouette also was missing from their shared home in the 4500 block of Far Hills Avenue in Kettering, just south of David Road. Anderson's two daughters, ages 7 and 9, remained home and police records show that Link told officers he would continue to care for the girls during the investigation into her disappearance. The missing persons case evolved into a homicide investigation when a badly burned body was discovered Aug. 16, 2001, in rural Ross County in south central Ohio, about an hour and a half from Dayton. DNA testing confirmed the body was Anderson, Kettering police said. A few months later, on Oct. 23, 2001, Atlanta police found Anderson's minivan abandoned in their airport parking lot, Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. said during a media briefing earlier this month announcing Link's indictment. Anderson's cause of death was ruled multiple blunt force trauma to the head. In the years after Anderson's death, Link has led a stable life as a father and husband who worked for an insurance company, Lieberman has said. A background search only found a few traffic violations and one for fishing without a license. Link has been held in the Montgomery County Jail since his Jan. 13 arrest at his home.
