Thanks to a popular Hollywood movie, the Oldsmobile version of GM’s dustbuster minivans earned its own nickname: “the Cadillac of minivans.”

In the autumn of 1989, General Motors unveiled its unique contribution to the minivan category pioneered by the Chrysler Corporation. Based on the company’s U-platform architecture, the 1990 GM minivans were offered in three flavors: The Chevrolet Lumina APV was deployed as a basic family hauler, the Pontiac Trans Sport offered some sporting gestures, while the Oldsmobile Sillhouette was a luxury cruiser intended to compete with Chrysler’s Town & Country.

Due to their quirky styling, all three GM minivans soon picked up an obvious nickname: Dustbuster, after the familiar Black & Decker handheld vacuum cleaner. There was an uncanny resemblance, it can’t be denied. However, the Olds version earned a tag of its own, thanks to a popular Hollywood movie of 1995, Get Shorty (based on the novel by Elmore Leonard, a former Campbell-Ewald copywriter). There, the Silhouette became known as “the Cadillac of minivans.”

In Get Shorty, John Travolta plays a cool, hip Miami loan shark named Chili Palmer. Landing in Los Angeles, he is asked to take an Olds minivan at the rental agency when he reserved a Cadillac, but the agent replies, “Oh, well, you got the Cadillac of  minivans.” Chili is amused by the idea, and even manages to persuade a major Hollywood actor (played by Danny DeVito) that the Silhouette is indeed the Cadillac of minivans.

Like all the GM U-body mommy cars, the Silhouette was built on a galvanized steel inner structure with exterior body panels formed in SMC (sheet molded compound) plastic, much like the bodywork of the Pontiac Fiero and Saturn S series. A 3.1 liter V6 and automatic transverse transaxle from the GM corporate parts bins drove the front wheels. The bulletproof GM Series I 3800 V6 was added to the option list in 1992, while a 3.4-liter V6 was the sole available engine for ’96.

The Silhouette’s interior was indeed its most compelling feature. It’s not even that much of a stretch to call it Cadillac-grade—for a minivan, anyway. The three-row arrangement featured seven indvidual leather-covered seats that could be folded or removed separately, A full range of Delco ETR audio systems was offered, and in 1994 a remote-operated power side door became available—a feature that stars in one scene of the movie.

In an interesting twist, the Oldsmobile Silhouette was sold in Europe—but as a Pontiac. There was a market for luxury vans there, so the Silhouette was added to the GM Europe offerings, but with Pontiac Trans Sport emblems and wheels to align with the rest of the export lineup.

Built not in Lansing but in GM’s North Tarrytown, New York plant, the Sillhouette was a modest seller for the Oldsmobile division, bumping along at around the 20,000-per-year level. But by then, none of the Olds models were selling much better. Losing the Dustbuster look with a new, more conventional exterior design in 1997, the Silhouette remained in the Oldsmobile lineup through 2004 when GM closed down the division for good.