The SC-3 Zebra show cars were built by the GM Special Vehicle Division (SVD), specifically for the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) of 2001.

They were created to help promote sales of the newly released 2001 Aurora body style. Oldsmobile built three of these cars (Aurora, Intrigue, and Alero) exactly the same way- to highlight their Oldsmobile display at the NAIAS and make it stand out from the other division’s displays. Oldsmobile called these cars SC-3 because three of them were built.

Shorter life than expected

Soon after these cars were created (less than one month to be exact) GM announced that Oldsmobile division would be phased out starting December of 2000 and the last Oldsmobile cars would be made in the summer of 2004. GM wanted to keep Oldsmobile’s public perception and exposure to a minimum because they figured the less press that the division got, the easier the phase out would go over with enthusiasts.

As a result of their proclamation and aim to minimize exposure and end any rekindled excitement regarding the dying division, these cars were only displayed 3 times. Once at the 2001 Los Angeles NAIAS which was held January 6, 2001, once at Community Day, May 23, 2001, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and once at the Oldsmobile Homecoming show in Lansing Michigan in August of 2001. After that, the 3 cars got trailered and put away in GM's NAO basement in Milford Michigan, covered up and forgotten about.

At auction - no reserve, Intrigue & Alero SC-3

Fast forward the clock to March 11, 2004 when GM announced that they would be auctioning 2 of these SC-3 cars off to a special invite only (mostly Oldsmobile dealerships) auction at Barrett-Jackson auction. They were auctioned along with 37 other General Motors Special Vehicles that were to be sold at the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction – Palm Beach Auction, March 19-21 at the South Florida Fairgrounds in West Palm Beach, Florida. The cars were then stripped of their non-production equipment which included their CNC billet wheels and loaded on a trailer and shipped from Michigan to Florida to be sold at "No Reserve". The auction itself was the fourth and final public appearances for the Alero and Intrigue SC-3.

A dealership in Columbus, Ohio (Immke Cadillac/Oldsmobile) bought the Intrigue SC-3 and an experimental 2001 Aurora (not the SC-3 Aurora). A private collector named Ken Petrie from Royal Oak, Michigan purchased the Alero SC-3.

In late summer of 2004, GM announced that the Aurora SC-3 would be taken to Schram’s Automotive in Waterford, Michigan along with several other Oldsmobile show vehicles (of which included the OSV Intrigues, Alero, Alero 442 and Silhouette and and the Indy Racing League pace cars) to be destroyed to end GM's liability on non-production cars.

In August of 2004, the owner of Immke Cadillac who purchased the Intrigue SC-3 passed away and his dealership was purchased by the Lucas Oil company. They had zero interest in the Intrigue SC-3, and had no idea what it even was. An Oldsmobile collector named Robert Eye of Toledo, Ohio purchased the Intrigue SC-3 from Immke and purchased all of the original non production equipment (Including the CNC billet wheels) just days before these parts were destroyed by Schram's.

The above text was taken (with permission) from Robert Eye aka IRONDOG442.