Automotive History the Oldsmobile Toronado
Alas poor Oldsmobile, gone but not forgotten! Begun in 1897, byRansom E. Olds, the Olds Motor Vehicle Company became the Olds Motor Works when purchased by Samuel Smith in 1899. Ransom left the company he started in 1904, and went on to form REO Motor Company. The Olds Motor Works was acquired by General Motors in 1908, and built automobiles until 2004, when it became victim to a loss in sales due to the spate of “badgeengineering”. Badge engineering was pursued by GM under the auspices of the likes ofZarrellaand John Smale, who tried to sell cars like Smale sold toothpaste at Proctor & Gamble. The public was not fooled by a Chevrolet Cavalier rebadged to be a Cadillac or an Oldsmobile. Slick advertising did not move these cars, hence the birth of the “rebate”.
In 1963, theBuick Rivierahit the market as a personal luxury car. The Riviera had a unique body style and was very well received. In the days of $0.29 per gallon gasoline, the thirsty, large Buick V-8s were reasonably good performers and moved the heavy car smartly down the road. During this period of time, the Chevrolet was considered the working man’s car, the Buick was the doctor’s car, the Oldsmobile was the upscale ride that was not quite a Cadillac, and the Caddy, of course, was the rich man’s car.
The staff at Oldsmobile lobbied the GM corporate staff for something to compete in the Riviera, Ford Thunderbird arena. When GM gave Oldsmobile permission to move ahead, the engineering staff immediately went to work incorporating the front wheel drive system that had been on the drawing board and under test for years prior. This system was quite powerful with a 425 cu.in. V-8 attached to a tough automatic transmission and front drive package. In the 1970s, this package was adapted to the GM Motorhome as well.
The year 1966 was the introductory year for the Toronado. A very large automobile built, using the same body shell as the Riviera, which had been redesigned for 1966. This very heavy luxury car handled similarly to other cars of this era in spite of the front wheel drive system. Oldsmobile engineers had experimented with various layouts for the engine-transmission-drive system. They settled on the engine being located in the same manner as conventional rear wheel drive systems, the engine being longitudinally instead of transversely as is done with today’s front wheel drive cars. The advantage was the package had equal length half-shafts, the drive shafts that exit the differential and are connected to each front wheel. It is the unequal length half-shafts that cause the “torque-steer” phenomenon experienced in cars today. In a large car with so much torque, 475 ft.lb., torque-steer would be quite a hazard. This same package, albeit with a Cadillac V-8, was adapted to the 1967 Eldorado.
The Olds Toronado soldiered on through the years with periodic facelifts and body redesigns. In the early 1970s, it suffered, as did all American made automobiles with the introduction of low compression in order to use early versions of unleaded fuel. During the same period, the rating system for engine horsepower was revised so, while the engines actually did produce less power due to low compression, the rating system further reduced the advertised number. Engines rated at 425HP previously were now rated at 250HP and the public stayed away in droves.
During the 1970s, GM corporate seemed unable to make the right decision. Expecting gasoline prices to continue to soar they directed the division’s engineers to press forward with badge engineering and plan on smaller cars with front wheel drive to be the across the board solution. They installed the 350 cu.in. diesel engine in the Toronado, as well as others. Released too soon to a public that was unfamiliar with the nature of the beast the diesel developed a very bad reputation which spilled over on the car itself. While still a heavy luxury car, the engine selection, besides the diesel, was downsizing and the cars lost performance.
The final edition of the Toronado in the early 1990s was down to a Chevrolet Cavalier size. Now a small luxury car it was in competition with the SUV. Again, fuel prices did not rise to the level predicted by GM’s management and people were buying SUVs instead of sedans and luxury cars. In fairness to GM management it should be stated that the design goals for any car are established about four years prior to its introduction. Therefore GM was looking at $1.00 plus gasoline prices in 1982 and predicting $3.00 gasoline in 1987. They were wrong but so were many others.
The Toronado had a good run as car models and names go. Today the early models bring a good price depending upon condition. The roar of a 425HP American V-8 still brings a smile to a baby-boomers face.
