Nothing said awful like the Olds Toronado. I owned one of these (a '66) my Junior year in Highschool. If I wasn't changing the front tires, I was constantly refilling the transfer case! What tore it for me was the time the drive shafts came out while towing a buddy's johnboat to our favorite fishin' hole. To this day, I'm soured on FWD. vehicles. I'll sure have one of those RWD wagons though! Congrats guys, well done!
Beauty is only skin deep. These 1st gen Toronados suffered from serious repair issues such as excessive tire wear, front brake malfunctions, lousy gas mileage, engine over- heating, and driveshaft failures. I know, I owned a '66 model in high school, and unloaded it 3 months later--after sinking over $1,000.00 into it. Worst car I ever owned!
While it's true that most of the bugs were worked out, not too many buyers were impressed. Many people compared them to the Cord 810 for all the wrong reasons. It would take the public a few more years to warm up to the Toronado, but by then the car was almost axed due to poor fuel economy in the mid '70's. Only in the'80's did Olds get it right. They lightened up the car so that the FWD and the fuel economy could improve. Even though the inclusion of the deisel V-8 was a big mistake. These units never worked out well particularly in cold climates where the deisel fuel would turn to jello. Other than that, they went on to become one of GM's success stories.
I had a 1979 with the 350 blue block. That engine and front wheel drive equals never getting stuck in the Toronto snow, even without snow tires. That red velour sofa and orange (bronze) metallic paint; my sister refused to get in lest they think I was her pimp. Wish I could cut out the rusty back, weld on angle iron frame and build that low floor fwd camper!
Best of OPC. 
6 comments:
Nothing said awful like the Olds Toronado. I owned one of these (a '66)
my Junior year in Highschool. If I wasn't changing the front tires, I was
constantly refilling the transfer case!
What tore it for me was the time the
drive shafts came out while towing
a buddy's johnboat to our favorite
fishin' hole. To this day, I'm soured
on FWD. vehicles. I'll sure have one
of those RWD wagons though! Congrats guys, well done!
Dude, totally awesome. Out of the first generation OLDS Toronados I like the 1970 the best. I live that grill. Awesome post!!!!
Beauty is only skin deep. These 1st gen Toronados suffered from serious repair issues
such as excessive tire wear, front brake malfunctions, lousy gas mileage, engine over-
heating, and driveshaft failures. I know, I owned a '66 model in high school, and
unloaded it 3 months later--after sinking over $1,000.00 into it. Worst car I ever owned!
This is the last year of the first gen however. They must've ironed out all the kinks by then.
While it's true that most of the bugs were worked out, not too many buyers were
impressed. Many people compared them to the Cord 810 for all the wrong reasons.
It would take the public a few more years to warm up to the Toronado, but by then
the car was almost axed due to poor fuel economy in the mid '70's. Only in the'80's
did Olds get it right. They lightened up the car so that the FWD and the fuel economy
could improve. Even though the inclusion of the deisel V-8 was a big mistake. These
units never worked out well particularly in cold climates where the deisel fuel would
turn to jello. Other than that, they went on to become one of GM's success stories.
I had a 1979 with the 350 blue block. That engine and front wheel drive equals never getting stuck in the Toronto snow, even without snow tires. That red velour sofa and orange (bronze) metallic paint; my sister refused to get in lest they think I was her pimp. Wish I could cut out the rusty back, weld on angle iron frame and build that low floor fwd camper!
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