Oldsmobile will lose its Intrigue when engine plant idles

As its engine goes, so goes the Olds Intrigue.

Sources say GM will halt production of its 3.5 Liter Twin Cam V-6 engine next year. And since that's the only engine used in the Oldsmobile Intrigue, the death of the engine means the Intrigue is the first Olds for which an impending obituary can be written.

A GM source confirms that the engine's production will cease in the summer of 2002, with enough of them stockpiled to get the Intrigue through that year. The Intrigue debuted in 1997. It was billed as an import fighter. In fact, GM began positioning Oldsmobile as its import fighting division, the one that would convince import car owners to make their next vehicle an Olds.

It didn't work out that way. The division's sales continued to fall, leading GM in December to announce a four-year phase-out of the venerable brand.