In the last few years, I’ve found casual interest in the early Olds Toronados. With some strikingly modern touches, an uncluttered design, and some creative technology this is a pretty remarkable car. As many others have pointed out, in certain ways this is what you’d imagine Cord would have done had they had a chance to update their front drive coffin-nose 810/812, which likewise had flip-up headlights.
Not surprisingly, it’s hard to find such an iconic design on the budget we’re looking at. However, with some research I was able to find a couple of examples under $3000 that appear to be potential rusty-but-trusty partners, including this 1967 example for $2300 in Lincoln, CA. The happy news is that while the 1967 still retains the clean styling and pop-up headlights that later model years lost, it got such upgrades as front disc brakes, which is key for a car that weighs around 5000 pounds.
The engine is a gigantic 425 V8 (7 liters!) that put out 385hp, giving acceleration to 60 in 7.5 seconds. I’m sure some people at Chevron will be watching their stock go up if you actually put that to the test. Since it’s shared with many other cars and even provided the platform for a camper, it should be pretty easy to find drivetrain parts to keep it running. Contemporary reports showed the handling to be pretty docile, which is not what you’d expect from a car with 385hp going through the front wheels. However, with that heavy lump over the wheels, it can’t be as jumpy as a turbo Saab.
Viewed from the rear 3/4 angle, you can also see how this car influenced the early second generation Camaros with its fastback profile. While I’m not a fan of the all-light-blue treatment, as an exterior color it works pretty well on this car. On close examination, the paint appears to have a bit of a sunburn on the roof and rear deck, but at this price that’s to be expected.
As you can see, the interior is not as revolutionary as the exterior or the platform, but for one thing: check out that floor! It’s entirely flat, which means even if you stuff 6 people into this car with a bench seat, they won’t be grumbling with you about leg room. The interior on this car looks pretty good in terms of being intact, but I’d want to go through it with a steam cleaner, or pull out the carpet and pressure wash it.
Tags: american, Feature, oldsmobile, toronado
Rusty But Trusty 
June 17, 2009 at 11:09 pm |
you forgot to mention the coolest thing ,the rolling speedometer.
i’ve bought 2 of these in the last year,a gold 66 standard and a 67 white deluxe.
the 66 i payed $1,200 for and had to replace the entire interior,other than that the car is sweet.
the 67 i payed $2,000 for and had to do brakes and drive axles,cost about a grand.
other than that i just cleaned it up,it has minor rust and bondo popping,the car was painted in 94.
if you’de like i can send ya some pics,let me know. lorne
June 18, 2009 at 9:46 am |
Sure, I’d love to see some, especially of the speedometer… I’ll send you an email.
July 20, 2009 at 12:24 pm |
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