Well I checked and the listings for Oldsmobile 88 vs. Eighty-Eight and 98 vs. Ninety-Eight are still split down the middle. We need to find an agreed upon solution and someone needs to fix it, becuase having it the way it is makes it impossible for someone to find a desired 88 or 98, since it could be in either the number-listed ones or the word-listed ones.

I propose, based on the majority of ways that it has been spelled in sales literature and on the cars itself over the years, that we:

-list all 98s as "Ninety-Eight"

-list all 88s as "88"

it seems like the simplest and most logical solution to me...

comments?

88: '49-'68 (for these years, the trim level came before the model name. Ex: Rocket 88, Super 88, Dynamic 88)
Delta 88: '69-'88
Eighty Eight: '89-'99

98: '41-'55
Originally, the 98 was a series 90 with an I8, but the I6 ("96") only lasted one year (1941). It seems this model was only available with 8-cylinder engines until 1977, by which time they were just in the habit of calling all the models 98.

"Ninety Eight": '56-'96
Just because I can't find an earlier car badged that way doesn't mean it doesn't exist, but that seems to be the way it is.

Hyphenation ('Eighty Eight' vs. 'Eighty-Eight') is totally inconsistent, I don't even want to try to sort that out. Does the site's search feature recognize punctuation?

So that's the breakdown. Is there any way to put in AKA recognition, so that a search for "Delta 88" brings up "eighty eight" as well?

It does recognize punctuation, so therefore when you search for "Eighty-Eight" it will not bring up any cars listed under "Eighty Eight" That is yet another unfortunate problem.

I don't really know if we should list certain years under different names (i.e. 1947 model is "98" while 1976 model is "Ninety-Eight") becuase then when the user is searching for a car he might not know which one to search for. I think it'd just make more sense if we used one form, letter or number, for all years of each model, even if it is refered to differently on the car or in sales litrerature.

Though I'm still a litlle unsure on which to use, letter or number for each one? And should we use the same format for both 98 and 88? Becuase it might be confusing to the users if we put 98s under letter notation and 88s under number notation, which is what I proposed previously.... oh, this is so confusing Damn you Oldsmobile! Why couldn't you use more conventional names for your flagship models?

I usually prefer numbers because usually people will search that I think, and also because it solves the "dash or space" problem. We were using letters only for cars where we were absolutely sure they were nevery using the numbers.
For Oldsmobile I cannot help so just notify me when changes have to be made I know that this problem is pending since some time, but there never was a decision taken I think.

Ok, making all the models numbers sounds fine to me. I guess that is the simplest solution after all, now that I think about it. You can just change it to that then I guess, problem solved

Well maybe some others want to still give arguments in favor of letters, or want to discuss the subject?

I'm still in favour of keeping the names in line with what the manufacturer called them, but I agree that this creates a non-user friendly situation.
Ideally, the search feature would bring up both models when someone searches for either, but I don't know if that would be possible to code.

It could be possible, I just would have to add it.
It already exists for some makes (e.g. VW, Chevy, Olds, ... redirect to full-name, and some names with or without dash redirect to the same make without or with dash)

But we still have to decide what do do: having both name styles for a same model is not good.

I broke down when Oldsmobile used each name style above. I'm not positive about the changeover between 98 and Ninety Eight, but I think it's close enough. If it isn't right, it wouldn't be very much work for someone who knows better to correct it.
If we've got the redirects going I don't see the problem with naming each generation the way Oldsmobile did.

Here's something we hadn't thought about. Even when we do find a solution to this problem, what about when new models are added to the site? Not all admins would know which to use, especially if we do it on a yearly basis for each model. Maybe we could put some guidelines up? Or someone who knows which is the correct one to use can keep an eye out for new ones and correct mistakes?

So... is this it? The discussion is over? No concrete solution or fix? I was hoping this topic wouldn't turn out this way (as the previous one did)

Well I think the redirecting thing would be a good idea, but it might be quite a bit of work for you antp, no? But in the meantime I think the best solution is to change them all to numbered names "88" and "98" just to make it more organized and easy to catolauge. After all, they can always be changed later if they need to, right?

I was eventually waiting for other people to comment.
I prefer to not change too quickly if some are already well named, in case we decide to name some years with numbers and some with letters.

What do you mean? At the current time they are all mixed up, not organized at all by any means...

Here's what I got from "The Encyclopedia of American Cars" while my computer was broken and I was very bored (which is why I wasn't posting for a while. Also, I lost my old account's password);

one hundred minus two: The first time Oldsmobile used this number was in 1941 on the "98 Custom Cruiser 8".
-For 1942 they simplified it to "Custom Cruiser 98".
-For 1947 the name changed again to "Futuramic 98".
-For 1951 this model was simply "98"
-From 1952 until the end of production (1996), the model was called "Ninety-Eight" (with a dash). The only exception was 1957 where it was called "Starfire Ninety-Eight" in celebration of Oldsmobile's 60th anniversary.

On hundred minus twelve: Oldsmobile first used this number in 1949 on the "Futuramic 88" (all Oldsmobiles in 1949 were 'Futuramic'+ a number)
-The 1951 models were divided into a cheaper model, simply called "88" and the slightly more expensive "Super 88"
-For 1952 and 1953 only, the cheaper model was renamed "88 Deluxe". In 1954 it became simply "88" again
-For 1957 only (Oldsmobile's 60th anniversary), the two 88s were called "Golden Rocket 88" and "Golden Rocket Super 88" respectively.
-In 1958 the cheaper model changed to "Dynamic 88"
-In 1964, and even cheaper model was introduced, the "Jetstar 88"
-In 1965, the most expensive 88 was renamed from super to "Delta 88"
**In 1965 only, Oldsmobile made a low-volume sports coupe called the "Jetstar I", not to be confused with the Jetstar 88.
-For 1967 the Jetstar 88 was discontinued and the Dynamic 88 was renamed "Delmont 88"
-Starting in 1969, there was only "Delta 88", offered in various trim levels.
-For 1977 only, the '88' was dropped, and the model was just called "Delta"
-But for 1978 it was back to "Delta 88"
-For 1989 the Delta was dropped and the name was spelled out "Eighty-Eight". It stayed this way until being discontinued on it's 50th anniversary in 1999.

Really very simple, isn't it?
Even just looking at that list, it seems it would be a real pain to rename all the entries accordingly. At least the information's here if anybody wants it.