Oldsmobile introduced the Toronado in 1966 and it was a groundbreaking design. It was a personal luxury car with style, power, and innovation. Oldsmobile continued producing the Toronado over 4 generations until 1992. My favorite design was the very first year. The Toronado used the GM E platform that was introduced in 1963 with the Buick Riviera but was front-wheel drive. This example is located in Eden, Utah, and has seen better days. This 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado is listed here on eBay and is currently bid to $500 after 1 bid. The Buy It Now Price is $6,500. There are 5 days remaining in the auction.
This car is in obvious need of restoration but is said to run and drive in its current condition. The interior is tattered, dirty, and worn. I don’t know where you would get replacement parts for this car but if you fix one thing it is going to make the other interior parts look like they need replacement too. The interior is said to be complete except for the rearview mirror is missing. The seat covers and door panels are original. The headliner is sagging and will need to be replaced.
The drivetrain is said to be original to the car. The 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado came with a 425 cubic inch V8 engine from the factory that was rated at 385 horsepower and 475 lb-ft of torque. I was at Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals this year and saw a first-generation Toronado that was a show car and had two engines. One in the front and one in the back. This production model should have plenty of power as is. The seller states that it is hard to start in cold weather due to a choke problem. The engine has good compression measured at 10.5 to 1 and the automatic transmission is said to shift and operate correctly. The car does have an exhaust leak but the power brakes, power windows, and power steering are said to work properly.
The car was originally from California but it does have some rust. There are no pictures of the undercarriage and you can tell that the rear bumper needs replacement or to be rechromed. The body is said to be straight and there are no dings or dents in the body panels. The car needs new paint before it deteriorates further. The front-wheel drive on these cars is operated via a Hy-Vo chain drive and the 0-60 performance of these cars was published to be 9.5 seconds. This is a gorgeous body style and I hope this one gets restored.
The 1st and early 2nd generation are amazing cars. They handle so much better than most think with a big Olds under the hood and they were big hoods. Just keep the front tires pulling in the right direction and the rear followed. Saw one once at a paved think might have been half mile, 69 Tornado was killing it. He would go into the corners hot and hit the brakes late and power into the corner. Front rotors were glowing red the last laps but nobody was near that car! He did that every race that car was in. Big Olds power and all that weight was over the steering wheels so the rear followed. Had a 71 winter beater years ago, I had studded snows on the front and that car went anywhere I wanted to go in the snow. Again point the steering wheels and hit the throttle and go! The ride was smooth and like any big American car fuel economy was not it’s forte.
FWIW, Utah DOT gets their road salt from, yes, the Great Salt Lake; Eden is part of the valley so Caveat Emptor..
Ugh… tough call. The “rear high” stance doesn’t seem right. These things were nose up from the factory. Either the torsion rods have been adjusted to drop the front or someone has added air shocks to the rear. There are very few after market suppliers for early Toronado’s. All of the work the owner sites as needed is going to be $$$ custom. Not to mention that most of the small interior parts are made of “unobtainium”. The cracked dash is going to be very tough to deal with all by itself. BTW. Kudos to the owner for what appears to be an honest description. Hopefully, someone will try to save this Titanic of a car.
John Schmeizer’s Terrifian’ Toronado…had blown Rocket V-8’s fore and after as I recall
Remember that car. Had a lot of steering issues, mostly do to the geometric of the fromt wheel drive under full throttle starts.
My dad got one the first year they came out and it was awesome, especially for a 16 year old me!!!
The speedometer went to 130…and so did the car.
SOLD for $6,500.
Some ones going to have a cool car once it’s sorted out.