The Toronado was, for most of its life, a big V8 powered coupe. A traditional American boulevard cruiser with soft jello-like suspension and a tacky velour interior. You’d never think a car like this could be radical, but you’d be mistaken.
At the end of the 50s, car engineers had a problem. For 10 years, they had been making cars lower and lower, to provide a rakish, low slung look. But as the cars sunk lower, the driveshaft intruded more and more into the passenger compartment, making life uncomfortable for the middle passengers. One solution to this was front wheel drive, with the drive wheels under the engine, there was no need for a shaft, and the roof could be as low as desired. Oldsmobile had been working on a front wheel drive car since 1958 and was considering putting it in the compact F-85, but the idea was scrapped due to concerns about cost.
But it did not go to waste. It was decided to use the layout on a new luxury coupe Olds was developing. The car was to share the body shell with the rear drive Buick Riviera.
The powertrain was known as the “Unitized Power Package”. It allowed the engine and transmission to be stuffed into a normal sized engine bay. The engine was mounted longitudinally, instead of transversely. This reduced torque steer, but it took up more space, although since this was a giant coupe, it didn't really matter. The other notable feature was the unitized subframe, which usually was a separate piece. This improved rigidity.
The Toronado went on sale in Fall 1965 for the 1966 model year, billed as a somewhat sporty GT car. I said before that the lack of a driveshaft was a big advantage for the front drive layout, so of course Oldsmobile used it in a car where most buyers selected bucket seats. Besides the oddball layout, which did offer better snow traction, the Toronado was not much different from any other big 1960s American car. It was massive, six and a half feet wide and seventeen and a half feet long and it weighed 4500 lbs. To move all that girth, the engine was a 7 liter Rocket V8 (uprated to 7.5 liters in 1968) mounted to a 3 speed automatic, perfect for lazy highway cruising. It is clear this car was designed before terms like “energy crisis” were in common use. The car’s styling was distinctive, with the hidden headlights above the full width chrome grille with horizontal slits, clearly meant to evoke the last American front drive car, the 1930s Cord.
For 1967, Cadillac decided to adapt the Toronado’s front drive layout for its new personal luxury coupe, the Eldorado, the two cars would share the E body platform until the end. Cadillac very strongly considered putting a V12 in the Eldo, but they cancelled it, the reasons are a hilarious case of corporate incompetence. They had wanted to make it transverse engined, and the V12 would never have fit widthwise between the wheels, so the idea was scrapped, but then they chose to make it longitudinally engined, and a V12 would’ve fit easily, but there was no time to get the engine production ready.
The first generation Toronado suffered greatly at the hands of GM’s vicious bean counters. The front drive layout meant the Toronado was carrying 60% of its weight at the front wheels, this puts a lot of strain on the front tires and front brakes. The rational thing would’ve been radial ply tires and standard front disc brakes, but those things, it was decided, cost too much, so the Olds came out with bias plys and drums on all 4 wheels, they didn’t even bother with a height sensitive brake proportioning valve, leading to premature rear lockup. Discs only became optional in 1967. Many European automakers, familiar with the problems of front wheel drive had been using those things for years. By 1970, bean counters had even decided that hidden headlights were too expensive, ruining the front end. The first Toronado was a real disappointment in many ways, sales only managed about 26,000 annually during those first 5 years. America was getting off on the wrong foot with front wheel drive.
The 1971 Toronado was much less distinctive, and clearly looked like the Eldorado’s cheaper sister, and the car had given up whatever sporty aspirations it had to join the 1970s personal luxury coupe craze, gaining 5 inches in length over 1970. It was now barely smaller than a full sized Olds 88. Front disc brakes finally became standard and rear anti lock brakes became optional. People liked this new Toronado a lot, sales hit 40,000 and peaked at 55,000 in 1973. But after that, the Toronado became a victim of the energy crisis, with sales falling to just 25,000 in 1978.
In 1979, GM applied its downsizing magic, which had been performed successfully one the full sized and intermediate models, on its E-body coupes. The Buick Riviera was switched to front drive. The weight loss was staggering, the new Toronado was 1000 pounds lighter and 20 inches shorter. Just like a person who loses a lot of weight and finds their clothes are all too big, the Toronado found that all of its engines were too large, the 6.6 liter and 7.5 liter V8s were thrown out and replaced by Olds’ 5.7 Liter V8. Later engines included a 5 liter V8, a 4.1 liter Buick V6, and even a diesel version of the 5.7. There was also a new independent rear suspension which, combined with the weight loss, made the Toronado a better handling car. Despite the loss in size, there was actually more interior room. Buyers liked the new smaller Toronado a lot, with sales doubling to 50,000 in 1979 and averaging 43,000 until production ended in 1985.
For 1986, GM screwed up, big time. The E bodies went through another round of downsizing, losing 16 inches in length and 6 inches in wheelbase as well as switching to unibody construction. The engines shrunk again too, with only a 3.8 liter Buick V6 being offered. This Toronado did not wear its size well, especially around back. It wound up looking like an Olds Cutlass Calais, which cost half as much. Sales slumped in response. In 1987, they tried introducing a sporty Trofeo model, but that did little to help.
So just why did GM suddenly shrink these cars? It’s because their analysts were saying gas prices were going to skyrocket and there was going to be a demand for smaller luxury cars. They were absolutely wrong. In early 1986, oil prices crashed, and demand for traditional American luxury cars perked up. Some of this was also unavoidable, sales of big coupes everywhere were plunging in the 1980s. And the Toronado’s novelty of front wheel drive had long worn off, by this point, the vast majority of cars sold in America powered their front wheels.
In 1990, in a desperate attempt to win back sales, Olds gave the Toronado a massive buttlift. The car gained 12 inches at the rear, which brought length back up to around what it was in 1985. Sales rose by 50%… to just 15,000. They then plunged to less than 10,000. In 1992, the Oldsmobile Toronado was discontinued.
It’s pretty ridiculous that GM chose to make its first front wheel drive car a ginormous luxury coupe. It’s also sad they bungled it like they did. But the Toronado will remain a distinctive classic and was still a milestone in automotive engineering.