The Toronado was a two-door coupe automobile produced by the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors from 1966 to 1992. The name has no meaning, and was originally invented for a 1963 Chevrolet show car. Conceived as Oldsmobile's full-size personal luxury car and competing directly with the Ford Thunderbird and Buick Riviera, the Toronado is historically significant as the first front-wheel drive automobile produced in the United States since the demise of the the Cord in 1937.
The Toronado was structurally related to the 1966 Buick Riviera and the following year's Cadillac Eldorado, although each had quite different styling. The Toronado continued to share its E-body platform with the Riviera and Eldorado for most of its 28-year history.
Contents
- 1 1966
- 2 1971
- 3 1979
- 4 1986
- 5 1990-1992
- 6 External links
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1966
The 1967 Toronado's 425 engine
The original Toronado (image) began as a design painting by Oldsmobile stylist David North in 1962. His design, dubbed the "Flame Red Car," was for a compact sports/personal car, and never intended for production. A few weeks after the design was finished, however, Oldsmobile division was informed that it would be permitted to build a personal car in the Riviera/Thunderbird class for the 1966 model year, and North's design was selected. For production economy, the still-unnamed car was to share the so-called E-body shell with the redesigned 1966 Buick Riviera, which was substantially bigger than North had envisioned. Despite the efforts of Oldsmobile and General Motors styling chief Bill Mitchell to put the car on the smaller A-body intermediate, they were overruled for cost reasons.
Oldsmobile had been working on front-wheel drive since 1958, a project shepherded by engineer John Beltz (who would later become head of the division). Although initially envisioned for the smaller F-85 line, its cost and experimental nature pushed the program towards a larger, more expensive car. The FWD layout, significantly, had actually been the brainchild of Ford Motor Company, where engineer F. J. Hooven had patented a FWD powertrain package that was seriously considered for the 1961 Ford Thunderbird; Oldsmobile and GM understandably avoided mention of that patent in their publicity and advertising.
The unusual Olds powertrain was dubbed the Unitized Power Package (UPP). It was designed to combine an engine and transmission into an engine bay no larger than a conventional rear-wheel drive car. While 'packaging' (i.e., making the most efficient use of a vehicle's volume) was not novel -- the British Mini being the preeminent example at the time -- what was unusual about the UPP was that it used a great many existing, off-the-shelf components, including an almost standard Oldsmobile 425 cu. in. V-8 engine and even most of the Turbo-Hydramatic TH400 automatic transmission. The transmission's torque converter was separated from its planetary gearset, with torque converter driving the gearset through a chain drive called Hy-Vo, developed by GM's Hydra-Matic Division and Morse Chain Division of Borg-Warner. Although the rotation direction of the transmission's gearing had to be reversed, a large number of components were shared with the conventional TH400. Use of the automatic also obviated the need to devise a workable manual-shift linkage; no manual transmission was ever contemplated.
For space reasons, Oldsmobile adopted torsion bars for its front suspension, with conventional short-long arm location. Rear suspension was a simple beam axle on single leaf springs, unusual only in having dual shock absorbers, one vertical, one horizontal (allowing it to also proivde axle location as well as damping). Brakes were conventional 11-inch drums, which were generally considered the Toronado's weak link. The Toronado's UPP enabled the interior to have a completely flat floor, but interior space was restricted by the close-coupled, fastback styling.
Dimensions
- Wheelbase: 119.0 in (3022.6 mm)
- Overall length: 211.0 in (5359.4 mm)
- Overall height: 52.8 in (1341.1 mm)
- Overall width: 78.5 in (1993.9 mm)
- Track, front/rear: 63.5 in (1613 mm) / 63.0 in (1600 mm)
- Curb weight: 4,660 lb (2,114 kg)
- Weight distribution, front/rear (%): 61/39
Despite its weight, the 1966 Toronado, with 385 horsepower (287 kW) gross, was capable of accelerating from 0-60 mph in a bit under 9 seconds and through the standing quarter mile (400 m) in less than 18 seconds with a trap speed of about 86 mph (134 km/h). It was capable of a maximum speed of some 135 mph (216 km/h). It was far too heavy for its brakes, however, and its brake drums were inadequately cooled, resulting in long stopping distances and considerable fade. The addition of front discs as an option in 1967 provided some improvement. Its handling, with considerable front weight bias and consequent understeer, was not substantially different than other American cars of its size, although it was essentially incapable of terminal oversteer.
The Toronado sold reasonably well at introduction, 32,803 in 1966, and also gained great publicity for the division by winning several prestigious awards, such as Motor Trend's Car of the Year Award and Car Life's Award for Engineering Excellence. Rather remarkably for a Detroit model, it also was a third-place finisher in the European Car of the Year competition. Sales for 1967, which was distinguished only by a slight facelift and the addition of optional disc brakes, dropped to 22,062, and did not match the initial sales again until 1971.
In 1967 Cadillac adopted its own version of the UPP for the Cadillac Eldorado, using the Cadillac V8 engine. The Eldorado also shared the E-body shell with the Toronado and Riviera, but its radically different styling meant that the three cars did not look particularly similar.
The first-generation Toronado lasted with the usual annual facelifts through 1970. Other than the brakes, the major changes were the replacement of the original 425 in³ (7.0 L) V8 with the new 455 in³ (7.5 L) in 1968, and the disappearance of the hidden headlights in 1970.
1971
The second generation of 1971-1978 is mainly noted for the early use of two safety features that are now universal standards. This bodystyle featured the first standard installation of high-mounted auxiliary brake lights, although a somewhat similar feature had appeared briefly as an option on the Thunderbird in the late 1960s. Also, for 1974 through 1976 models, the Toronado was part of GM's first experimental production run of driver's-side airbags.
In the later years of the model, new features were mostly confined to styling, and in 1977 and 1978 the XS model with an unconventional hot wire "bent-glass" (image) rear window was made available. An XSR model with a similar window and innovative power-operated retracting T-tops was announced and advertised, but it is believed that none were actually sold, however the running factory prototype was documented as "restored" by Collectible Automobile Magazine in the late 1990s.[1]
Also in 1977, the 455 in³ (7.5 L) V8 was replaced by a 403 in³ (6.6 L), due to government fuel efficiency standards, and the downsizing of the rest of the line left the Toronado as the largest Oldsmobile. This generation was probably helped in the sales race by the radical "boat-tail" (image) design of the contemporary Buick Riviera, since during this period the Toronado outsold its Buick cousin for the first time.
1979
The third generation (image) ran from 1979 through 1985. This was a seriously downsized model and carried V8 engines of 350 in³ (5.7 L) and later 307 in³ (5.0 L). More startlingly, a larger version of Buick's V6 was made available—252 in³ (4.1 L), up from 231 in³ (3.8 L), and also a diesel V8, converted from Olds' well-regarded gasoline-powered 350 in³ (5.7 L) V8. The V6 was not popular, though, and the diesel conversion acquired a terrible mechanical reputation, becoming a genuine black eye for Oldsmobile.
Rear independent suspension was adopted and helped preserve usable rear-seat and trunk space in the smaller body. Trim packages under the XSC and Caliente names were offered, and digital instrumentation appeared. This Toronado, along with its Riviera and Eldorado cousins, were the last body-on-frame, front wheel drive cars.
1986
The fourth and, as it proved, final generation (image) ran from 1986 to 1992. It was smaller, used a unibody construction, and was the first Toronado since 1969 to feature hidden headlights. V8s were gone, and the 231 in³ (3.8 L) 3800 V6 was the only powerplant. Along with the similarly shrunken Eldorado and Riviera, the car suffered a serious sales decline which would never be reversed. In 1987 Oldsmobile introduced a sportier model called the Troféo package, which had standard leather bucket seats, faux dual exhaust, agressive styling, and stiffer suspension. In 1988 the Troféo was no longer badged externally as a Toronado. The 1989 Troféo could be ordered with the Visual Information Center - a dash mounted touch-screen CRT that controlled the vehicle's thermostat and radio, and also supplied advanced instrumentation such as a trip computer. The VIC could also serve as the interface to an in-car hands-free cell phone. None of these features, though futuristic at the time, could save the Toronado from declining sales, and in 1990 the car had a total cosmetic facelift.
1990-1992
1990 Oldsmobile Toronado Trofeo
For 1990, the Toronado and the Trofeo got all-new sheetmetal, which increased their length by about 1 foot. Through the 1990s, sales fell and the new exterior wasn't enough to save it. Although the Trofeo sold better than the Toronado, Oldsmobile eventually discontinued both models in 1992.
Engines
- 1986-1992 3.8 L (231 in³) V6
External links
- Musclecar Club Toronado pictures
- Encyclopedia of Olds Toronado page
- A good page by a Toronado owner
- A site with a chronological timeline of all Toronado models
- The Oldsmobile Connection - The Site For Oldsmobile Enthusiasts
Search Term: "Oldsmobile_Toronado"
Categories: Oldsmobile vehicles
