The last of the hidden headlight first-generation Toronados, this 1969 Oldsmobile Toronado looks like a great project car. This Powder Blue front-wheel-drive two-door beauty has been in storage for a few years but we don’t know exactly how long it’s been hidden away. The seller has it posted here on craigslist in Lumberton, New Jersey and they’re asking a mere $3,500. Thanks to T.J. for sending in this tip! Here’s the original ad in case someone grabs this car soon.
Just to get it out of the way, Hagerty is at $8,300 for a #4 fair condition 1969 Olds Toronado and $15,800 for a #3 good condition car so this one is really intriguing given that rock-bottom asking price. The 1968 and 1969 Toronado grilles are my personal favorites of the entire run of this groundbreaking personal luxury car. I’ve always wondered what a four-door Toronado may have looked like… hmmm… (scratching gray chin whiskers)… Yeah, that doesn’t quite work, I’m glad they were only offered with two doors.
This Toronado is appropriately dusty from having been hidden away in storage for an unknown period of time and the body sure looks good. I don’t see any glaring issues at all other than a hanging driver’s side mirror and that isn’t really a glaring issue, no pun intended. You probably noticed that there is no exterior passenger-side mirror. It’s rare to see a Toronado from this era with a passenger-side mirror and a lot of cars didn’t have them. That’s one of those things that most of us think were always there but they weren’t.
This car appears to have the standard interior with white, or parchment, vinyl seating material and without full-length armrests. Wait, is that a window crank and no power seat? Roll-up windows on a luxury car?! Yes, power windows were a $110.59 option and a 6-way power seat was an extra $100.05, too much for the original owner of this Toronado. The back seat looks pretty good but you can see that a little work will be needed on the front seat and elsewhere inside.
The engine (there’s an engine photo!) is Oldsmobile’s 455 cubic-inch V8 which had 375 horsepower and it looks much better than I thought it would. It cranks over with the key but doesn’t start and there’s no spark. I can’t imagine that it’s anything too serious that changing a few 53-year-old tune-up parts wouldn’t fix. This car looks great for the price, what do you think: Good Buy or Good-Bye?
I love these cars also. I also like it when Scotty shows a photoshop picture of what a four door version would look like.
As for the passenger side mirror about twenty years ago I proudly went for a Mass inspection sticker for my 71 Skylark that I rebuilt after a ten year snooze and the inspector refused me because the car was missing it’s passenger side mirror. I calmly and then angrily explained that it wasn’t built with one but it didn’t matter, he wouldn’t give me a sticker. There were mounting holes in the door from an ugly aftermarket mirror that I got rid of, that was his reasoning. Of all the things I had to worry about failing for, that one was never on my radar.
Ha, thanks, Bakyrdhero! I wasn’t sure if anyone clicked on those or not.
I wonder if he failed any pre ’64? cars – many with not even a driver’s door mirror!
Or a ’50s mopar with rearview mirror on the dash. lol
My ’65 Barracuda came from the factory with no side mirrors. It still doesn’t have them.
Great cars that never got the love, except J Leno and his has been modified. Styling like no other. Even the Cadillac ran the same platform hasn’t been shown a great amount of love. As big as they are they drive great.
Clean the points and I bet you get spark.
Toronados were great cars. Sure stuffed it in the faces of people like my old mans, who thought FWD was just a passing fad, nothing to see here. And to an extent, that was true. Even with the benefits of FWD, people were slow to buy these. More of a novelty, as even the styling was a bit out there for most. People like the old man, wanted conventional, square Cadillacs and such, not swoopy fastbacks with some corny front drive setup. Full size cars just had RWD, and if it wasn’t for Asian cars, we might never have gone to FWD.
Cars like this that require a full restoration, and not just cosmetic, electrically speaking, these are a nightmare. It’s not a bad find, it’s just fewer and fewer people today are willing to take on a project like this. Maybe, not likely however.
My Dad had two Toros (as he called them), and the first one – I believe it was a ’70 – was a flat-out beauty/beast, metallic green.
On vaca we’d peek over the seatback to check the drum-style speedometer, which might wander up to 90mph if Mom happened to fall asleep in the passenger seat, lol.
I remember him explaining the front-wheel drive phenomenon – pulling vs. pushing the car, traction advantages, etc.. That car was a virtual spaceship in its day.
Pleease, I just bought a 1970 Toro to restore. That shade is called Ming Green, and it is spectacular (though mine has looked better)! Mine was awkwardly paired with a green vinyl top, as well, though that will get replaced with a white one for the resto (original interior is Ivory, so there is a reason for this madness).
Another example of GM taking a classic design (1966) and screwing it up.
I had a 68 Toronado with that same 455 engine… It would smoke the front tires so much you couldn’t even see the car. Incredibly fun to drive and you could pile 4 in the front and 4 in the back very easily… As we all know, things were different back then!!
Speaking of tires, Toronados had a knack for wearing out tires, and not from burnouts. So much so, Firestone came out with a “TFD” tire,”Toronado Front Drive”,, made specifically for Toronados,sounded iffy to me,,,I guess you really can sell air conditioners to the Eskimoes.
On my bucket list of cars. However I ran into an owner of a 68 who had gotten his from Alabama. He said never get one from up north as the rust problems are expensive to fix. He worked at an auto body shop so I take him at his word.
I had a girlfriend that her bff drove a 70 Toronado that was maroon with black vinyl top & black interior, we would cruise around in it with the 3 of us in the front seat. I would make her friend so mad cause when we would leave a red light I would put my left foot on hers & mash the pedal to the floor & it would boil the front tires! It was too easy with the flat floor board & no hump due to the front wheel drive, man she would be pissed & I was laughing the whole time!
Too many extra wires under the hood
Gone! (Thanks for saving the orig ad) Great looking car, someone got a great deal. New points, condenser and coil only cost about $30 from rockauto. I’ll bet it fires right up and has a lot of life left in it.