While this car is actually not a Toronado, there is no denying its Toronado roots. In mid-year 1987, Oldsmobile introduced a sportier model for the Toronado and called it Troféo. By 1989 it was no longer badged as a Toronado, but a stand-alone model. The things that made a Troféo stand out from a Toronado were body color front air dam, FE3 touring car ride and handling suspension system, fog lamps, blacked out grille, and halogen headlights. Here is a 1989 Oldsmobile Troféo for sale here on eBay in Buffalo, New York.
Shared with Toronado were concealed headlights and wide taillights divided by a backup light. This car along with the Buick Riviera and Cadillac Eldorado were criticized for their styling and size after the 1986 downsizing. At 187.5 inches, this car was actually about five inches shorter than a 1989 Cutlass Supreme. In 1990, the Troféo and Toronado were lengthened, mostly in the trunk area. This car is from the west and has no rust and no dents. There are a few scratches on the car. This Troféo has been garaged since new.
Interior features found standard on Troféo not standard on Toronado were automatic power door locks, automatic day/night mirror, visor vanity mirrors, leather-wrapped steering wheel, leather front bucket seats with power adjustments for lumbar, back, thigh, and reclining, and console. The condition of the interior is good, showing normal wear on the leather seats. The headliner is in good condition but the air conditioning is not working because it is in need of a compressor. All other features work.
The seller didn’t specifically provide a picture of the engine, but a picture of the car with the hood up, so this is the best we can see the engine. The engine is a 3.8 liter V-6 with sequential port fuel injection. The Troféo has four-wheel power disc brakes with an anti-lock system. The seller also sells parts for 1990 to 1992 Troféos. That may be a key reason he/she is trying to part with this one, because parts for 1989 models may be harder to find due to the updates made in 1990. There were 6,143 Troféos sold in 1989, outselling the Toronado which only sold 3,734 that year. The car has 69,600 miles. It is being offered at a Buy it Now Price of $3,850. Is this 1989 Oldsmobile Troféo something you would be interested in?
Heaven help anyone needing to replace the integrated ABS/Master Cylinder unit on this if a replacement could be found…
The Club holding up the hood is a nice touch…….
All the engineers who were responsible for the Eldorado/Riviera/Toronado fiasco lost their jobs promptly after ruining these stablemates. GM dominance really began to slip when these vehicles which were solid moneymakers fell to nothing. A sad end to a beautiful line of cars. I know that vehicles have to evolve and change, but this was an abject failure.
I doubt anyone lost their jobs, and it shouldn’t have been the engineers if anyone did, it should have been the product planners. Though I imagine they had a false sense of security, the prior downsized full size 1985 C-body car were well received and did increase sales, so they probably thought these would be well received too, but the personal luxury market is different and these cars landed with a thud.
The fact that they started coming out with fixes almost right after these came out, the mild re-style for the Eldorado in 1988 and the Riviera in 1989 shows that they knew that these were too small.
This was also not the end of the line for any of these cars, the Riviera had another very attractive generation from 1995-1999, the Eldorado had a successful restyle for 1992 and managed to be the last personal luxury coupe from a US carmaker in 2002 and even the Toronado was redesigned for 1990 and it was replaced by the Aurora, which was related in spirit and styling.
If there is any such thing as less than zero, that’s the appeal that GM cars from this era have. It’s sad that this poor car is still even around. It would look more at home in a junkyard on top of a stack of other 1989 GM vehicles that should have never been made (much less purchased). $3850 invested in lottery tickets would be a wiser investment than taking this junk home. Please crush it now and put it out of its misery.
You’re a ball of laughs…….
Wake up on the wrong side of bed today? You may not like something, but that doesn’t mean that your opinion is law. These cars are far from junk; they’re actually very good cars; I had a ’91 Trofeo, and it was one of my all-time favorite cars. They drive well, they’re well-appointed and good-looking, and they last a long time if properly cared for. Try getting some sleep tonight so you don’t have to resort to being a troll on Barn Finds!
I’ll take an 89 vette, iroc, turbo TA, blazer Fleetwood caprice classic, van etc over a lot of stuff from that Era. GMs front drive junkers that pissed you off so badly aren’t the whole story.
Went through the lemon law with one of these turds that I bought new! The electronics were garbage.GM tried to fix it but gave up after nine weeks!
Hi Vance. An abject failure, indeed. A Company with poor judgment and worse Management. I stopped buying GM cars when the company went to stupid and stayed there. And by the way, the reason the cars companies were bailed out as a result of their poor business practices was because the workers are voters.
I think the subsequent longer car is one of the most attractive cars of the era. Bulletproof 3800,gorgeous interior. Love it
I remember the commercial on tv 📺 for these in the late 80’s early 90’s. They took the harry bellafonte somg that goes day-o…. and made it trofe-o.