How the Original Oldsmobile Toronado Redefined America’s Luxe Two-Door

Oldsmobile rolled its last car off the production line in 2004, relegating the 106-year-old marque to the history books. The once-great brand had been making mostly mediocre, badge-engineered GM clones for decades, but there was a time when Oldsmobile was on the forefront of engineering, performance, and style. Probably no Olds in the postwar years made as big a splash as the first-generation Toronado, introduced in 1965 as a 1966 model, and built through 1970.

The original Toronado was the one that made its mark, while subsequent versions became more compromised with each succeeding generation. By the time the fourth iteration wheezed into the sunset, no one was sorry to see it go.

During the mid-1960s, General Motors was thinking big—literally—and the time was right for an Oldsmobile that could distinguish itself from Cadillac’s Eldorado and Buick’s Riviera, as well as confront Ford’s then-desirable Thunderbird in showrooms across America. Oldsmobile stylist David North created a drawing called the “Flame Red Car” concept in 1962, a smaller-sized design that was enlarged and became the full-sized Toronado.

With that, the Toronado became the first front-wheel-drive American car since the Cord 810/812 in 1937, adapting GM’s excellent three-speed Turbo-Hydramatic transmission to turn the front wheels. A healthy 385 hp, 425 ci (7.0-liter) V-8 engine (growing to 455 ci in 1968), gives the 4,500-pound Toronado impressive thrust, getting it from zero to 60 mph in 7.5 seconds.

The Toronado (the model name has no meaning) was built on GM’s E platform, developed for Buick’s beautiful rear-wheel-drive Riviera and subsequently used for the front-wheel-drive Eldorado, introduced in 1967 after the Toronado had proven its mettle. Handling, albeit with a heavy front end and front-wheel-drive understeer, is responsive, as was the public reaction upon its debut, with almost 41,000 examples sold for the 1966 model year. What the front-wheel-drive architecture allows is a truly cavernous interior, whose flat floor improves entry and exit for rear-seat passengers, with comfort and a sense of spaciousness unlike any other luxury two-door vehicle from the U.S. at the time.

What set the early Toronado apart was its dramatic styling. Annual facelifts continued though 1970, and while all the first-generation examples are attractive cars, those from the initial two years—with pop-up headlamps, “meat-cleaver” front fenders, and a Kamm-tail rear end—are generally regarded as the most collectible. By the 1980s, the concept of “badge engineering” was in full swing, leveraging economies of scale that allowed every GM brand to use only unique front- and rear-end sheet metal and cursory details to distinguish a Chevy from, say, a Buick, while nuts, bolts, and drivetrains were shared.

Yet in its day, the Toronado was its own discrete design, and one worth preserving and driving today. The Toronado is a well-built car, with power-everything and a robust drivetrain. But fifty years later, rust is a consideration, especially around A-pillars and the top of rear spring mounts. So buy the best example available, because needy cars are challenged by a paucity of plentiful parts. This is no Mustang or Camaro restoration project, where a catalog and a credit card can have a new car delivered to one’s door.

Values don’t remotely reflect the cost of restoration, an indicator that owners preserve these cars because they love them, and not for any investment appreciation that might accrue. A Toronado in good condition can be had for under $20,000, while $50,000-plus is the price of entry for a concours-quality example from a kinder, gentler, and altogether more optimistic time.

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Click here for more photos of this 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado.