Summary:
Cheap muscle car power!
Faults:
Vacuum headlamps are nasty things to work on- this is the most difficult car to change the headlights in, bar none.
Carb needed a rebuild when I first got it.
Electrical boards in the dash needed to be soldered, in bad shape.
Rheostat is not working for dashlights.
Parts are difficult to find, to say the least.
General Comments:
This thing is a beast, people certainly respect your side of the road (and some of theirs) when you come ambling down the lane.
The 425 provides plenty of torque, making this car's acceleration very lateral, whether one passenger or six is riding with you.
It also gets as many looks as my 240z, you just don't see too many of these Oldsmobiles still around.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 28th September, 2003
19th Mar 2006, 20:55
I learned to drive on one of these, and like any teenager, tended to explore its limits. They are VERY fast and VERY hard to stop. The one thing I remember most clearly is the prodigious brake fade from anything over 60 mph. They are complicated cars, and my respect, admiration and thanks go to anyone dedicated enough to restore one.
13th Mar 2009, 21:52
I was about 8 and can remember my great aunt buying a Toronado. It was a dealers model and was the 1st one in our area. It was bronze and I remember the speedometer "rolling"! Later years she upgraded to a 1969 and then a 1977. She loved those cars. I often asked to drive the 1977. She used to say.. too bad you couldn't had driven my 1966.. when you put your foot on the gas... you knew you were going somewhere! I have an old advertisement.. "A car with pull for a man with push". I believe it was a 1968 advertisement from Playboy.