First car was a 69 Toronado, dark green with white interior. That thing was unstoppable in the snow, and would go anywhere without getting stuck. People would watch in amazement as I drove past all the cars stuck on icy hills. A 455 sitting on top of the drive wheels helps.
The Toronado was a revolutionary and magnificent effort from Oldsmobile, which showed how GM was at its supreme Apex form in terms of styling engineering and marketing.
This ‘66 Toro and ‘65 Riviera…near styling perfection. Bill Mitchell had a tough act to follow after Harley Earl but he delivered and arguably surpassed his predecessor in execution and historic impact.
Being 11-years old when this was introduced, my friends and I thought the Toronado looked like something designed by NASA. It was always a head-turner, especially on the freeway. The lack of a driveshaft tunnel made the interior feel huge. Nice review, Adam! 👍👍👍
Exactly. I was also 11 when this model came out. In my simplistic way of thinking back then, I thought the only purpose of FWD was having no driveshaft, thus creating more room. Why this would make a difference in a 'personal luxury car', I don't know. I still have my Corgi version of the 66 Toronado. It's nice too, in that tan/orange color.
I was six then, and I got a 1/25 scale promo with a friction motor, in green. I’ve been a Toronado fan since they came out. My favorite years are the ‘66 and the ‘70 models, and any of the Toronado GTs.
@@sharkinstx I still have my gold 1/25 1969 Toronado, also with the friction wheels (Jo-Han). I used to think these things would be worth some kind of fortune by now, but, not really.
The Toronado and Riviera in their original forms were almost too perfect and beautiful for words. They created a purely emotional response. When GM ruled the world.❤️👍🇺🇸
I truly believe that this was the best looking car that any manufacturer presented in 1966 and IMO the best looking one period. The first time I saw one in person was around 1983 down the street from me. I was always mesmerized by the design and I was barely a teen, I considered it to be the perfectly designed car, better than anything else at the time. My family was an Oldsmobile family, ton's of Cutlass (I still have my 71 Cutlass), Delmont's, D-88's, 98's, VC's, but sad to say never a Toro. My dream stable would have a 1966 Toronado.
So, I was working at a home and in the garage was a 66 which needed a new home. I bought it about 15 years ago and it is 100% original. I love the car. I took it to a local car show recently and I was amazed how many people freaked out over it. Runs great !
I was 13 when this car came out. A buddy and I went down to the town's Olds dealer, on the rumor that they had one in the showroom. They did, in silver, with black interior. We just stared dumbfounded. We had seen the future.
I worked with a guy at the John Deer shop when I was in high school that had a 72 Toronado and we thought it was such a strange car back then (1986)........until he would leave work spinning the front tires. It sounded awesome with the air cleaner lid flipped.
Purchased one of these last year with only 17k original miles on it. 1966 model. She still has the new car scent in her. She is one of my prize possession's.
A family friend's new 1966 Toronado was the first car I noticed as a kid that looked markedly different from any other. Effortlessly futuristic. Thirty years later I would acquire an example as my one and only collector (non-daily-driver) vehicle. Tropic Turquoise and nearly every option except Comfortron control of the air conditioning. Never a hint of torque steer - same for a 1971 version I owned in the mid-1970s. But they both suffered from impact harshness, even the softer full-frame '71 where it seemed particularly out of character, so I had to wonder if it wasn't a specific characteristic of the torsion bar suspension.
This, in Autumn Haze, was the car I used for my very first drivers license test (passed). My mother had bought it that year, and the dealer said it was one of the first 3 or 4 in the state. My mother had no idea how significant it was, only that her car crazy teen was obsessed with it. My father drove 88s for years. After they divorced, she spent a few years proving she was doing just fine. She took my issue of Motor Trend (COY) to dealer and asked if this was higher in the model line up than the 88. Then she said any color but Trumpet Gold. It was a great car, and her last one. She kept it until it rusted away around her, but it always ran like a top.
The interior door look buttons were the giveaway on early and later production. If you could reach the button on the door to lock or unlock, not the electric switch in the arm rest, you had a later production car. GM moved the mechanical button forward from the back of the door so front seat occupants could operate it. Dad bought his ‘66 before they hit the showroom floors and was one of the first 500 built. I can still hear him saying “hit the lock” when I was in the back seat. Many many happy Toronado memories!
While in High School, I worked at an Oldsmobile Dealer as a Gopher when the Toronado was introduced. To promote this radical design, Oldsmobile had 3 Toronados as Dealer cars that were passed among dealers. We drove to Columbus, Ga. to get the cars, which was a 100 mile trip. For a 17 yr. old kid, it was a thrill ride as it would be up to 80 mph. before you realized it. My all time favorite was the 4-4-2 which could flat out fly. Gosh, I miss those days.
The Toronado and El Dorado from the late 60's were always my favorite cars.....growing up in NYC in the early 70's they were quite common and my brother and i always go a kick in pointing them out........my dad always had VW bugs at that time....and they were quite good in the snow...when all the streets were absent of cars after a big storm .....we unburied my dad's VW and our neighbor down the street with his 67 Toronado took it out from his garage and were always the first ones roaming the streets.....great memories....
I had a friend who was in design school at that time. I still have, and treasure, a sketching exercise she did of a '66 Tornado. It was and is, rolling sculpture, an absolute work of art.
Dr Shaft, from Shaftsburg (15 miles east of Lansing) an old country doctor used to run house calls with his 66 Toro. I think of Doc Shaft every time I think, see, or watch a video of the the first gen Toro
I've always loved this car. My dad purchased its E body sister the Buick Riviera new in 1966. I was fortunate to have driven that as a teenager in the mid to late 70's. Both amazing cars that are starting to appreciate in price. I too loved that drum speedometer!
I remember the neighbors bought a new '66 Toronado, black with white interior. That car was so futuristic compared to anything else on the road, even the turn signal had a science-fiction tone. The 1970 restyling also looked great although the original was still the best! 👍
Finally a Toro! As a young Marine brat getting stationed all over the US in the early 70’s THIS was the car that caught my eye. All of your cars are beautiful, Adam, but the Toronado is my favorite.
I was an army brat in the 60s and saw my first Tornado just minutes after getting off the plane in Ft. Dix New Jersey, having flown back to the States after two years in Germany. I was deleriously happy and excited to be back in the States. My siblings and I went outside and waited out on the grass for my parents to go through customs etc. and suddenly a hold 66 Toronado came around a curve and right past us. Little did the driver know that 5 or 10 minutes after getting off of that plane just in from Germany, the image of his car has been burned into my memory bank since that very moment and I will take it to my grave.
So many exciting cars in the 1960's, and I remember when most of them were introduced. There were exciting cars in the 1950's, but I was born in the very late 1950's, so I don't remember them. Having older brothers who were car buffs helped make me aware of the new offerings as a young boy. It seemed like most years of the decade had at least one really dramatic new offering. 1960 had the Corvair. 1961 had the Continental and the beautiful XKE Jaguar as an import. No big splashes in '62, but '63 made up for that with the incredible threesome: the new Stingray, the Avanti and the Riviera...all of them iconic today. 1964 had the GTO, but 1965 (or close to it) made the biggest splash of all with the Mustang. Yes, the Toronado was THE big automotive news of 1966, at least for me as a little boy. (For a lot of grownups, too.)
.My dad had either the ,66 or the 67. I drove it a good bit when he would let me. Every time I took for a spin I was in awe. It was a light blue with a black vinyl top. I remember always showing friends what was under the hood. Fantastic engineering .
These Tornadoes were revolutionary & are a timeless classic!!! When I was in high school in the seventies there was a girl that drove a 70 Tornado, it was like no other car!!!! Thanks Adam for sharing another exciting video!!! 👍👍
I had a 1969 Toronado. It was a beast, power to spare and felt like it could climb a tree the way it pulled you along. The strongest and most solid car I’ve owned.
My dad bought one in the same exact red color with a few additional features here... The very last feature in this vid was more identical bcuz there were no marker lights on the bottom front fenders...The doors could be opened from the back seat and the headrests had speakers. That's about all I can remember other than the dual exhaust cutouts in the back bumper. I always said if I were to ever restore an automobile, It would be that '66 Toronado had it not been traded in but of course I was still a punk at the time. - [Bought in 1969, Had it til around 1974 I believe].
This certainly will reveal my age. My father bought a 1966 Toronado new. It was deep burgundy. Not certain of the paint name. I took my ND driving test in that thing, in Fargo. So many years back. Thanks for the memories. I remember being excited about the car's introduction etc. and was surprised when he brought it home.
Adam, seeing this podcast brings back funny memories. My Great Aunt bought a 66 Tornado in blue with a white interior. The story went the salesman at an Olds dealer in Auburn, NY didn’t want to sell it to her because she was in her late 70’s and he told her the car was very powerful. She got her way and drove it til she died in the early 70’s.
The earliest ones are the best looking. One feature of those cars, which I didn't see shown here, was the console with floor shift. The shifter was rather innovative, as it featured no vertical member! The handle stuck out from the side of the console shell, with the section of the handle which went down to the floor and linkage being concealed by the console. As if it was floating there... I first saw one in the very early 1970s as a young child, and it actually blew my mind a little. I think I looked through the passenger side door window and wondered, "where is the shifter?" When I went around and looked in the driver's side, I saw it. The beautiful gold one @8:49 looks to have bucket seats, but if they didn't order the console, then it would typically still have a column shift. I find bucket seats with a column shift to be a particularly distasteful configuration. Other GM cars were optioned that way, and Ford and Chrysler were guilty of sending cars out the door like that too.
Magnificent car, I am so glad you covered this one. My brother owned one in the late 70'S, car was a rocket-ship, drove great and was gorgeous. Nothing in high-school could stay with it. And NO torque steer, unlike the crap they make today, if you put that kind of power into a modern drive-line IF it didn't simply explode, it would dive for the ditch.
@@scarbourgeoisie Please look up half shaft lengths, this is what effects torque steer, and it really matters not, the 66 was a far better car than the modern junk of today, regardless.
What a amazing car, I remember just before I went in The Marines In 1966. I saw a guy do a burn out with one and it was strange seeing smoke roll off the front tires, what a classic Car Thanks for the Video....
My mothers best friend ordered the 1966 Toronado and loved it.... I did too. She got the 1967 and hated it and sent it back. Anyway - I'll never forget seeing not only my first 1963 Black Buick Riviera but also that 1966 Toronado kinda up on a hill and the sun hitting it - as you say the light lines were art and beauty. Thank you for doing all of this work. Bobby
I have a 66 restoring it now .. almost ready to paint....I've got lots of corvettes, Camaros,trans ams..the Tornado is my favorite.. just have a love an appreciation for what they produced
I have loved these ever since my old Bronze Corgi model I got as a kid. Still have it, and still appreciate the big Toronados. The '66 is the only one for me...
The Toro is "right up there" with the Continental MK.II, the original and boattail Riviera, the '67 Eldorado, the '70 Camaro, and all the rest of those "wouldn't change a thing" cars. Just absolutely gorgeous right out of the box.
My next door neighbor in Bloomfield Hills Michigan bought one in new in 1966. He was an advertising executive guy. A neighbor about 5 houses away was George Walker who designed the Thunderbird. He retired from Ford in 1961.
Had a neighbour when I was a kid, a widow school teacher with no kids and lots of money who bought a new Toranado every couple of years. It made quite a statement on the the short street we lived on giving another neighbours T-Bird and the others LTD Country Squire and a Camaro RS some competition for the eye. In Canada Esso (Exxon in the States) gas stations gave away some customized Toranados that they named the “Esso X car” it was really something to see.
My dad came home with a new Third Generation Tornado with the 350 gas engine when i was a kid and it was a rocket for its day! The neighbourhood immediately came over that saturday morning to see the new V8 FWD car in al its glory. I loved that car, it was a pleasure to be in. Many many a new big block and regular V8 cars came and went from my dads constantly changing stable of cars but that Tornado and a particular Mercury Cougar big block are the ones I always think fondly about.
This car is a modern masterpiece. In 1966 my mom's best friend bought one of these and each time they came over to the house to visit I would ask if I could wash it.
Great review. And as someone in the design world (not cars) the 66 toronodo was a "catching lighting in a bottle" design, even if the masses didn't get it. When seminal designs come out there is a good initial rush by those who "get it", then once those people have one, sales inevitably drop. It is a design who's genius was understood more ovver time. It is a great example of a design vision directed by one person with one design concept and all parts of the design flowing out of that one person's vision. It is clearly not a design by committee car. The following years are what you get once the committee gets involved.
My dad purchased the first '66 Toronado sold by our small town's Oldsmobile dealership. He ordered and paid for it there at the dealership and then our family drove my mom's 1962 Olds Ninety-Eight Sport Sedan to the factory in Michigan to pick it up when it was ready. That was our family vacation that year. My dad loved the car at first but it GUZZLED gas and had to have two new transmission boots within the first two years. So, after only two years, he traded it in on a new 98 Olds. I was only 13 at the time but remember that plum colored Toronado getting lots of attention wherever we went in it.
First MT COTY winner by unanimous vote. Although I was 2 when the '66 was new, I remember noticing them around 4 years old. It's written that the front end was redesigned in '67 because owners complained of headlights not folding down at high speeds. Nonetheless the '66 is the most handsome followed by the '68-'69's. W34's featuring buckets with floor shift are so cool. Great video.
This was my favorite 60's car. My aunt had one, and I remember her pointing the speedometer out to me when I rode in the car with her and my cousin Danny. I thought that was so fascinating at the age of 9 that I told my dad about it! These were truly beautiful cars, especially the '69's with the revised front end. I don't remember it riding harsh at all, more like my parent's American land yachts. My best friend in high school's parents owned a '69, but parked it and let it rot for 15 years in their driveway because one of the CV joints at the front had failed and they didn't want to spend the money to fix it. Hello? They finally sold it in 1986 to some guy who wanted to restore it. Hopefully he did. Great video!
Michelin came out with a special size tire recommended for the Tornado, the 230 R15. I forget the actual load rating difference from the regular 225 or the 235 but i recall stocking and installing them. Nice cars to drive, but certainly harder to work on than their rear wheel drive counterparts. Beautiful lines as well.
My all-time favorite car. I owned a '67 from 1984-87 and loved to drive it. That looong hood with the two blade-like fenders out in front. It had more power than I knew what to do with and sat 6 people quite comfortably. It ran straight as an arrow and was not a victim to crosswinds. If I had the money and space to garage one, I'd have either a '66 or '67 today. Alas, I don't.
" It was so exclusive it had its own dedicated assembly line for quality control. The second generation Toronado with all of their elegance and the emphasis on personal luxury, attracted many new buyers."
The 65 Toronado is one of my all time favourite cars. In the studio image with the Riviera and Toronado, you can see designer Leo Pruneau. It would be great to see if you could get David North on the show sometime? I am lucky enough to own a gold Deluxe 66 Toronado. It was owned by an Olds dealer who fitted 4 wheel disc brakes off a Corvette. I don’t find the ride harsh at all (and I own Lincolns so know what a good ride is like). I also find the lateral handling with radials very good. It is almost a mix of Corvette and Luxury boat - which works really well. This is the high watermark for GM design in my opinion.
I always loved the '66. A friend's mom had a '69, he didn't believe me when I told him it had front-wheel drive. I had to open the hood and show him the half-shafts.
My father in law was a young engineer at sag steering gear. He has a whole photo album of them testing this in sub zero blizzards in the U.P. He later was one of five who came up with column lock. Went to counting beans after that.
To demonstrate the strength of the drive chain, GM suspended a 1966 Toronado high in the 3-story lobby of their Chicago office building by the chain only. The lobby stairs wound around 3 sides of the car, so it could be seen from every angle. It was love at first sight for me, bought a 1966 in 1968 and put 100,000 miles on it. What a car!
Big heavy cars that rode smooth had big powerful engines that made tremendous low speed torque that moved them effortlessly and easily without much strain
Great review and amazing automobile; kudos to GM for sticking their heads out and offering such a radical engineering change-up. Similar to many cars of its era, braking was less than stellar-see '66 Hemi Belvedere. Appreciate you efforts at running this fantastic channel.
One of the most beautiful cars ever built! I’ve always loved them! The ‘66. I could probably even say magnificent in my eyes 👀 I have a diecast model in blue but would certainly love to have the real ‘McCoy’ Great video with an equally great and very interesting narrative covering everything about the car 👍🏽👍🏽
I had a friend who was driving his father's 67 Toronado out of the H.S. parking lot. We were going down the road toward town. He was not paying attention and almost rear ended someone in front. My buddy slammed on the brakes and pulled the wheel to the right. We went right into a ditch. Or rear end was sticking up and off the ground. Which was right in front of Ferguson Ford. (Fenton Mi) While the dealership mechanics were driving out in their tow truck to get us out of the ditch my buddy simply slammed the car into reverse. The Toronado easily backed out of the ditch. The guys on the tow truck then cheered. It is a good memory.
I've always thought it strange just how much the toronado changed during the first gen, really looking radically different with each redesign after 67. You would almost think they would've been better off not changing anything (aside from the switch to the really nice 67 interior).
I was 9 when the Toronado was introduced. A man in the small town in which I lived bought a 1966. There sure was nothing else like it. He later bought a 1971 Toronado but said that his 1966 was twice the car that the 1971 was.
Thanks Adam. Nice review. A '67 was very close to being my first car, in '73. Wound up with a '69 GP instead. I'm sure the Tornado would've been a huge headache as well. Probably even worse!
They were beautiful and they could go. My Dad wound the barrel speedo all the way past 130 and back to 0 when we were cruising the Interstate. A punk in a GTO or Challenger never had a chance. Unfortunately, as our '66 approached 95,000 miles, little gremlins crept in: Only one headlight would agree to pop up when darkness came and my Mom freaked out about not being able to open the power windows when an electrical relay died at the outset of what would have been a long journey. As the little maintenance problems piled up, my Dad decided to get rid of the Toro. My endless pleading probably staved off its disappearance for a couple of months, but it was a very sad day when the '66 disappeared forever. Thanks for your report!
@@rightlanehog3151 Life is both happy and sad, so I guess so. 🙂 It was happy while we scooted around in the Toro. On the other hand, it was the first of our cars that drove home the crushing realization that "favorites" - both things and people - have to take their leaves sooner or later.
I remember Mr. McQuire down the street driving the 66 Toronado into his driveway, and we all ran down there to look at this space-age futuristic automobile. We always had nice cars, but this was on a different level. It was something out of Batman!
Great review. I first saw a Toronado when it pulled up in front of my school to pick up another student when I was in 6th grade. I thought it was the coolest car I had ever seen. Never got to ride in one. BTW, Jay Leno interviews David North (the Toronado's lead designer) in one of his videos, where they talk about how the car changed after 1966.
Our neighbors purchased a '66 brand new. None of us had seen one yet. He parked it on the street in front of their house just because it looked so amazing. I admired that car for a decade (my Dad had a '66 289 Mustang with the Rally Pack). I was sad when they sold it as every day on my way to school I would see it right across the street. For me, every change from '67 on just took away from the clean pure look of the Toronado. (I don't think you mentioned that due to front-wheel drive, there was no transmission hump or drive shaft hump the floorboards were flat all the way across)
My parents knew one couple who bought one of the first 66's. I rode in it once and was blown away. I DO remember the steering wheel transmitting a road impact fairly visually, but at that time I was focused on the luxury and power. I also remember the husband was upset how quickly the front tires got scrubbed of tread...roughly just 10,000 before they needed to be replaced.
I've got a 66 Toronado in my salvage yard in Northern Wisconsin. The unibody structure behind the rear axle is pretty rusty but the rest of the car isn't bad. Interior is pretty nice. Can be sold as a rebuilder or a parts car. Clean title.
Back when vehicles were sculped out of clay and General Motors Fisher Body group reigned supreme. I have a 77 Toro and currently four of the GMC motorhomes with the Toro drivetrain adapted for the groundbreaking RVs they made almost 13k units from 73 to 78. Still the unmatched standard in the RV Industry.
It is that rare combination of styling that looks great decades later and mechanical innovation that sets the Toronado apart in automotive history. That and ... most mechanical innovations this big have "it took a few years to work the bugs out" or worse in their description. They may have been the clear ancestor of later ubiquitous systems, but they were unreliable messes when first introduced. I have never heard anyone say that about the Toronado, GM decided to try front wheel drive, which nobody in America had done in 30 years and honestly wasn't all that common overseas (yet), and the just hit it out of the park. It just worked. About 25 years ago my boss got a new Monte Carlo and the dealer told him that there was a limit on the engine because you simply couldn't run more horsepower than that through a front-wheel-drive drivetrain without destroying it, and I was like ... 30 years ago they did front-wheel-drive with a 455. They used it in a MOTORHOME. This isn't a limit to front-wheel-drive, it's a limit to this particular implementation.
Only knew one family with a Toronado when they first appeared. An MD who generally had the best and finest of everything. A good friend’s dad had a second generation Toro, but didn’t keep it long due to less passenger room.
Adam, I have to say the "sub-optimal" and "rather plebeian" suspension of the Toronado coupled with front wheel drive, would steer (pun intended) me towards the Riviera. 😉 Call me conventional if you will but I expect a plush ride and the familiar reassurance of rear wheel drive from my land yachts. 😁 Having said that, I have distinct memories of seeing a mid-80s Toronado plowing/pulling impressively through a 3 foot snow pile at the end of our driveway.
My girlfriend back in the day had the 1981 version of one of these. It definitely plowed through snow like a tank - nothing could stop it. In fact the whole thing was built like a tank!
The first-gen Toronado was a little before my time; it debuted before I did! But as a kid I remember the first time I saw one. We were visiting some friends and I was out for a walk. Someone in their mobile home community had one; I don't remember what year the car was. I knew what Oldsmobiles were, but I'd never heard of this "Tornado" or whatever it was. But I knew it looked cool.
Thanks for the video about Toronado who i for sure remember back in the 60s. Never again have i seen a car like that on the roads. Maybe it was ahead of its own time. Who knows.
My uncle had an olds dealer for decades .every yr or 2 my aunt would get a new olds of choice she still has a 67 toronado thats pretty nice still. These toronados recieved a ton of new tech the electric grid defroster was one of the many things.
