General Motors was in the midst of their “badge engineering” heyday when the downsized third-generation Oldsmobile Toronado was in production, but the General somehow managed to give it (and its platform-mates the Riviera and Eldorado) a personality of its own. Although many feel that the Oldsmobile earned the bronze medal in that heralded triumvirate, and the sales numbers bear that out, it’s still fun to see a nice example of these handsome personal luxury coupes.
Yes, all three coupes sold spectacularly well throughout their 1979-85 production run. Cadillac surprisingly moved almost 75,000 units in both 1984 and 1985, but even in its leanest years, Oldsmobile sold over 30,000 Toronados annually. In 1985, its final year, 42,000 found new owners.
This one is a fairly low-mileage original, with just under 81,000 miles. The current owner bought it just over a year ago and has been using it as a daily driver. We’ll start with the bad stuff: the air conditioning, cruise control, and radio don’t work, and there’s also a cracked front bumper filler. The buyer will throw in an extra OEM radio, however, and they do mention that the air conditioning was working until recently, so there’s hope that the repair cost won’t outweigh the purchase price.
The owner has also done a lot of the hard work to get the Toronado back on the road (there’s a comprehensive list of the work he’s done in the advertisement). These mid-’80s Oldsmobile 307s were not exciting performers, but they earned decent fuel mileage and indeed moved the car around. I still remember looking under the hood of my parents’ Buick LeSabre 307 and wondering if there was an engine under the labyrinth of vacuum hoses and wiring; it does look like a truly awful engine to work on.
The seller also claims that the leather interior is in good shape with no rips, and the dark red upholstery is a nice complement to the dark gray paint. If you get the air conditioning and cruise control working, this would be an outstanding long-distance cruiser: It’s possible that this Toronado and cars like it represented the peak of relaxed 12-hour-a-day driving.
This Toronado comes to us by way of Barn Finds reader Mitchell G., who found it on Craigslist in Connecticut. The owner is asking $6200 and is open to offers, but it has been for sale for almost a month, so it’s possible that there’s a good deal to be had if you’re an Oldsmobile person.
Nice write up Adam. It sure seemed like there were a lot of Toronados Rivs and Eldorados from this time period back in the day. I had an Olds 307 in my 82 Buick Electra. I can tell you first hand, even as a 10 year old car there were countless vacuum lines. And yes, they were a bit of a pain to work on. Mine had a dead miss when I bought it because it had one original plug from the factory no one was willing to attempt to change, you couldnt really even see it. My Dad helped me with a bunch of swivels and extentions and a lot of patience. The one thing that woke mine up was, my original pellet style Cat plugged up, and I replaced it with a free flow style. After that, the engine even sounded more like a true Oldsmobile V8. Hope this Olds goes to a good home.
Like the full instrumentation, funny how alot of BMW’s dont even have an oil pressure gauge
A profile picture would have been nice. Otherwise it looks pretty nice for a forty year old. Yes, these were everywhere, before that generation of owners left us here.
New license plate just registered, already selling? May be something else not disclosed?
I agree Mark that new reg is a red flag. Definitely have to see and test drive in person.
Thought it was a police Diplomat at first glance lol. Good write up Toth, true comfortable transportation. I dont remember many Toros w these wheel covers.
Thanks Stan – you know, maybe Lansing used Toronado patrol cars. :)
LPD used Cutlass patrol cars around this time.
It seems that every time I find something interesting, it’s located opposite the coast I live near. Rats. The 85 I had years ago ran great and actually got pretty decent MPG (20+), not to mention it was dependable and a comfortable car.
I have the same issue Dan. I live in Mn. & all the ones I see are in Pa., Ill, N.J., etc.
With the surface corrosion on some engine parts, & me being in the salt belt, I’d want to see the underside & trunk compartment. Paint looks good though, no checking or cracks scene but these are only pics. We all know the dark
GM paints of the 80s did that.