The first year Toronado is truly a sight to gaze upon. The styling, its immense size, and the front wheel drive configuration are all fascinating. This Toronado is a nice survivor having been given attention off and on throughout the years. The current seller has put some work into this Olds and it’s a very nice driver. Oh, did we mention that David North signed the dash of this Olds? Currently bid up to $8,000 with the reserve met we wonder what this Olds will fetch. Find it here on ebay out of Stony Brook, New York. Thanks Jaime B for the submission!
The 425 cubic inch heart is clean with a lovely patina to the decal on the air cleaner. Described as a solid runner that idles like silk, and pulls like a train, this Olds is ready to roll. The engine and bay are very clean. There is no evidence of any rust, or anything that isn’t stock. The paint in the bay is very nice, almost as if new. It is believed this Olds has only covered 60,000 miles. After looking at the engine bay, we can believe it.
The interior isn’t immaculate, but it is very nice. The driver seat suffers from some splits, and the driver side carpet looks to have a little wear. Besides that, the interior is very nice in this Toronado. The interior trim is brilliant, the colors are sharp and un-faded, and the dash looks great. Especially after the current owner rebuilt the dash gauges. All of the gauges are beautiful and in perfect working order. The passenger side of the dash has been signed by David North who worked for GM as Chief of Design, and can be considered the father of the Toronado. The exterior of this Olds is pretty solid as well. At some point in time this Olds was repainted in the factory paint color. Rust is at a minimum, but there are a few spots that need to be noted. The seller mentions some rust in the quarters, but it must be minor as it isn’t that apparent from the photos. There is a bubble on what looks to be the driver corner of the trunk lid. There is also a ding in the body line on the driver door where a little surface rust has appeared. The paint is all one color, but lacks shine wearing more of a matte finish. The chrome and trim looks to all be present. Looking to have very little rust or pitting the chrome shines vibrantly.
In nice condition, this Toronado would make a great restoration candidate or would be a nice driver. There are still some small things this Olds needs (like an operational horn) to make the car 100%. What would you do with this ’66 Oldsmobile Toronado?
first one I’ve seen with wind ups – who’s the ole boy taggin’ the dash?
Add says GM Chief Designer David North
Nice ! I’ve always had a soft spot for these, and I think the original 1966 styling was probably the coolest (see the other feature with a 71 toronado on this site which I think looks pretty clumsy in comparison). There is something really exotic about this car for me, even if it was really a bit of an evolutionary dead-end.
This one looks to be in good condition at least as the start point for a sympathetic rolling restoration. I wonder how much of the interior trim is available “off the shelf” for this model? carpet set probably is, but I’d guess you’d have to have the seat cover set made up from scratch?
From what I read about these Toronados, you’d want to be scoping out a retrofit for the disk brake upgrade too?
Maybe one day I’ll own one of these. I can’t justify the cost or space for one right now and this is in the wrong part of the country but maybe one day.
These early Toronado’s are beautiful and under valued cars. someday I would love to own one. I love the hint of Cord that is incorporated into the front end. also love the drum roll speedo and the deep steering wheel.
My 66 Toronado is Autumn Bronze in and out. Oh how I dig Oldsmobiles.
GM had the best styling during this period. So many great cars. I always loved the Toronado. I had a neighbor growing up who lived on a crazy long uphill driveway and they had a Toronado and a VW Fastback and both had no problems on the driveway during the winter. Even as a little kid in the late 1970’s, I knew that their Olds was pretty damn sexy.
A beautiful car. I worked for a few weeks around Xmas time at O’Hare airport for Avis moving cars around the lot and cleaning them, and they had several of these. Learned left-foot braking there since we had to hustle. Incredibly powerful engine feel. Brakes were a bit heavy. Manual windows were common.
Front bumper looks to have been bent and there are the obvious cosmetic and rust issues. Would like to see the pop-up headlights operate. Suspect the price to be good for this clean a version (without seeing the undercarriage).
I have owned a number of 66/67 Toros….loved them all. Very powerful but big as a tank. I don’t care for the color and interior here but would not change. I would have to repaint complete and fix the upholstery. Will make someone a nice collectible at a fairly reasonable price. I’m not a patina kinda guy.
Unless you’re old enough to recall when these were new, it’s nearly impossible to understand how special they were. Amazingly sleek, muscular yet refined styling, a V8 with front wheel drive when no other American car even had FWD, and that incredible size and stance. The original Toronado was revolutionary and is definitely a classic now. I remember riding in a new one when I was a teenager, and it was extremely impressive in every important way — powerful, quiet, stable, comfortable. It imparted a real sense of well being. It’s hard to believe that Oldsmobile lost its way so badly with this achievement on its resume. But to me, that makes these all the more interesting. Good luck to whoever winds up with this. Fix it up, don’t change the color, and drive it.
I am in to the beauty of a car and handling and these had both. This is one of those designs that do not really hit you until you are standing next to one. In some ways this has more presence than a Rolls Royce. You just look at one in real life and you know that you are looking at something special
I grew up near a Missouri State highway Patrol Officer and he had the fastest ticket every given in Missouri for over 20 year and it gave it to one of these crossing from St. Louis to Kansas City of I-70 very late at night. He said he loved it as he drove it to the impound lot to be picked up later. Seem if you are going 140+ miles per hour in the 60’s you can’t just say you were not paying attention.
He like it then and I love it now. There is a black on black one near me that I see from time to time that is perfect and I have seen him hit a four way stop and every body else wave him thru just to get a better look. I can easily understand why.
I was never a fan of these from an appearance standpoint, but having worked on them many times I found the engineering outstanding, they were impressive to drive, would go in the snow better than many of today’s AWD SUV’s. They lacked the bang when shifted into drive or reverse you get with today’s transverse mounted engines. All said an excellent car that deserves to be saved.
Lived down the street from a dealer. I can still remember them backing them off the truck when new. So different they might as well have been a space ship! Very cool car.