Comments: 1-15, 16
My dad was a used car dealer. He bought it in 1980. It was a dealer's car in Iowa. I think it was the looks and the good shape it was in that prompted him to buy it--a beautiful dark-sky blue. I remember loving to drive it because it had a vertical speedometer and because it reminded me of the Batmobile(heh, heh). My dad had retired and has collected antique and collector cars since 1974. He sold a building that had 17 cars he had no room for in his main storage area and I said I would help "Wake up" the cars there. Little did I know that when I opened the doors to the building I would see my baby... It had a bad water pump, but was otherwise quite serviceable. I have been working on it the past year and would love to hear from someone who has a line on parts and would just like to relate about not being able to pick your nose while in this beautiful beast because everyone is looking! skippy_wn@yahoo.com.
It was Car and Driver's Best Car of the Year in 1967. With 385 brake horsepower it is a serious mover... if you don't mind watching the gas gage go down as the speedometer winds up.
My uncle owned a '67 Toronado and I have to agree the vertical speedometer was captivating!! As a child, I was also amazed when he would hit the gas and fry the front tires, I grew up around cars (dad owned a cab company) but didn't know such a thing as front wheel drive existed! Anyway, sadly my uncle let this car rot to pieces and it literally disappeared into the earth!These are rare beauties and the 455 Rocket Engine leaves the rest in the dust!
Not to pick a nit, but the 455 engine did not show up in the Toronado as original equipment until 1968. The 1966 and '67 carried a 425 engine.
And I have a '67 for sale if you are interested. Runs, but needs restoration. Cheap.
Actually it was Motor Trend's Car of the Year in 1966. The 67 is considered the more refined car though. I have a 67 that is almost finished being restored and have many contacts for parts as well as many parts myself. The 67 is more desirable, since they only built half as many as in 1966. I have to agree - you can have your Camaros and BelAirs, but give me my Toro any day! (I have 3 old restored Corvettes, but love driving the Olds).
I am thinking of buying a 67 olds toronado, it is fully restored and in beautiful condition. The price is around 10k, not knowing much about cars, and this car in particular, wanted to see if anyone could help me decide if the price is fair. Had it checked out and the car is in "excellent" condition both int and ext.
Are there any sites that specialize in these cars, with message boards etc...?
Also, how reliable a car is this for an every day driver (20mi/day)?
ANY advice/info appreciated.
Thanks.
Just found this site to night. Would like to get in touch with the person who posted on 5-4-2004 about a 67 for sale, if that is permitted. Thanks very much. Sthomas7182004@yahoo.com.
I owned 2 1967 Toronados prior to 1981. Of all the other cars I have owned, they were my favorites. Although burning the front tires all too often attracted the attention of law enforcement officers, the accelleration, styling and comfort were all worth it. I echo the sentiments of the other posters here. You will find only ONE Toro for every 20 Chevelles. There was nothing else on the road like it and now I have come full circle back to wanting another one. Feel free to contact me at Dano23669@aol if you have any leads.
If you are looking for reliability in an old car, I'd say that a Toronado is a good bet. Mine is a 1970 and is essentially unrestored, with 140,367 miles. I bought it more than two years ago and have put on almost 10,000 miles, and have had no mechanical problems. The car has left me somewhat stranded before, only because the battery's ground wire to the body fries itself when the engine is cranked hard. Other than that, Oldsmobile took special care to make sure the car was well-built so not to give front wheel drive a bad rap. Mine has its original engine and transmission, and they are both working wonderfully.
I own a 1967 Toronado Deluxe and have for about the past 5-6 years. It was my teachers car when I was in the 5th grade. She owned it for over 20 years and sold it to someone who started a restoration, but never finished it. I am the third owner. I had it restored and was on my way to one of the many car shows I take it to about this time last year and the engine caught on fire. Luckily there were some firemen in town for a competition and were at a fast food restaurant close by and helped put out the fire. It has been in the shop since then, but we've finally found all the parts to get it back together. I'm hoping to have it done in time for the same car show this year. I really enjoyed the car and miss driving it. It is really cool to rolling down the highway and have someone in a $80,000 Mercedes blow the horn and give you a thumbs up.
In 1968, I was a young mother of two and had to look for a "family car". I drove a '67 Toronado into the driveway of our house and what could my husband say? He'd just bought a '66 T'bird! I still wonder if the reason we're now divorced is that he had it towed to sell it when it threw a rod and my next car was a '74 Datsun station wagon!!! OK, thanks for letting me vent--but I want a Toronado. I live in the Tulsa, OK, area, so if anyone knows of one for sale, let me know through this venue. I'll be watching eagerly. Sunny. PS.-it's 2006 now.
I posted the 5/4/04 comment about the '67 I had for sale. I contacted the two subsequent posters, neither of whom ever responded. I have since sold the car locally. It needed some work though. Try looking on collectorcartraderonline or one of the other many older car trader sites, or one of the Toronado enthusiast site classifieds.
Sunny,
I have an all original 67' Toronado with 93k miles. Is not restored yet, but runs great. Needs seats and paint.
Ben.
How rare is a 1970 Toronado GT? I have a chance to buy one reasonably that needs some work, but definitely isn't a junker. Thanks.
--------billyjoe
Billyjoe, I'd grab it if the price was right. The 70 was the last year the Toronado was worth keeping in my opinion. The GT was pretty rare, and should be fun. Be sure you get a line on parts, particularly drivetrain parts, and know somebody who will know how to work on that transmission or those driveshafts if needed. Watch the CV joint boots and check the front end for wear, those cars were hard on front suspensions and tires. It is helpful to find one or two in the junkyard to get those unobtainable trim and interior parts. A final plea: keep it stock. Too many people do hamfisted modifications to them that ruin them.
DL.
I happened on the site and went to find my photo of the family's red '67 with a black top and red leather interior. I was 5 when I remember going with my Dad to Walz Olds in Alton IL. to pick it up. Dad traded in his '65 Imperial Crown Coupe for it because he said it was "classier". I also remember my brother getting grounded for a whole month after a picture of the Toro was on the front page of the Post Dispatch doing a burnout at Alton Dragway, all that was visible was the nose and a whole lot of tire smoke! Oh what a memory!!! Does anyone have a 67 for sale? I need a new winter project, jimthompson6@juno.com.
I'm almost getting old enough to drive and I'm kind of a car person and I found a '68 Tornado for 2800 in cash, but the owner said it needs pickups... does anyone know what pick ups are? - chuck.