Posts Tagged ‘oldsmobile’

American Innovation – 1962 Oldsmobile F-85

September 24, 2013

Younger folks may remember now-defunct Oldsmobile as the brand that, in spite of advertising itself as “not your father’s Oldsmobile”, was the epitome of that tagline. Towards the end, they were having some success building good cars to try to compete with the Japanese luxury brands with cars such as the Aurora, Intrigue, and Alero. But what many people may not remember is that Olds used to have a reputation for innovation, beating other GM divisions to the punch with the first production turbocharged engine, an early aluminum V8 engine, and the comeback of front-wheel drive in a luxury car. Find today’s innovative 215 Rockette-powered 1962 Oldsmobile F-85 with bidding at $3000 and only 6 hours left in Liberty, KS.

1962 Oldsmobile F-85 left side

(more…)

Accessible Design Icon – 1968 Oldsmobile Toronado

September 23, 2013

Even though they haven’t always had the lifelong recognition some instant classics like the Jaguar E-type have, partly due to going in and out of fashion, there are quite a few design icons in the post-war repertoire of American manufacturers. While many of the cars Americans love and remember from their childhoods are, with hindsight, oversize, cluttered, and overwrought. That said, there was a golden period for design minimalism in the mid-1960s, and one of the cars to benefit from this fashion is the Oldsmobile Toronado. You can find today’s 1968 Oldsmobile Toronado for $3995 in Malvern, OH.

1968 Oldsmobile Toronado right front

(more…)

The Whale Series: 1967 Oldsmobile Toronado

June 5, 2009

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.

1967 Olds Toronado side

(more…)