Oldsmobile Toronado Classic Cars for Sale

The 1960s were a golden age for luxury cars and produced many iconic designs when it comes to automobiles of this type - the Oldsmobile Toronado being one of them. Manufacture of the Oldsmobile Toronado lasted from 1966 to 1992, and the car picked up a vast number of fans all across the world during its considerable lifetime.

The story of the Oldsmobile Toronado

Thee Oldsmobile Toronado's history begins in the mid-sixties, when luxury cars such as Ford's Thunderbird were all the rage. Oldsmobile came across a painting by designer David North depicting a stylish car, and thought that this imaginary model was good enough to put into production. The sleek new vehicle was unveiled in 1966, and went on sale as a modest success.

A modest success, however, was not quite what Oldsmobile was hoping for. The manufacturer set about revising the Toronado and put a new make on sale in 1967. Similar tweaks and facelifts continued through the remainder of the decade, but a much larger change was in store for the car...

Further generations of the Oldsmobile Toronado

In 1971 the Oldsmobile Toronado received a complete overhaul. Now fitting into the conventions of luxury car design, the Toronado received a sizable sales boost. In addition to aesthetic considerations, the newer makes reflected changes in government regulation of automobiles, showcasing increased safety and lower emissions.

After a series of further modifications to the newly-popular car throughout the 1970s, it was time for a third generation of Oldsmobile Toronado. This arrived in 1979, when Oldsmobile decided to redesign the car to make it more compact. At the same time, the car was given increased speed - making it a model that combined swiftness with manoeuvrability. All in all, this make of Toronado epitomised the aesthetic direction of early-eighties automobiles.

The fourth and final generation of Oldsmobile Toronado made its debut in 1985. The car was now even more trim and compact, even though tastes at the time were leaning towards large size. Its interior also made use of contemporary digital technology - so it was in some ways an up-to-date model - but it struggled to recover from its sales dip. Although Oldsmobile tried to salvage the car with a few further tweaks and variations, the simple truth was that this compact vehicle was not what car enthusiasts were looking for at the time - and so, the Oldsmobile Toronado ceased production in 1992.

However, car fans of today still look back on the golden age of the Oldsmobile Toronado with fondness. Make no mistake, this is a vehicle that left its mark on the history of the luxury car.