Oldsmobile Toronado.
The Oldsmobile Toronado is mostly remembered from its very first generation, starting production in 1965. A masterpiece of design and technology that only became worse and worse with each generation.
And no, GM is probably not working on a new one. For many good reasons. Mostly because the whole Oldsmobile brand doesn’t even exist anymore. And also, luxury 2-door coupes are just not a thing anymore.
And yet, we all thought the Hummner was dead. Until a few years ago, when, for some reason, GM decided to bring the brand back and sell it through GMC dealers. So who really knows if Oldsmobile is dead for good or not? Reviving an old brand with their most iconic model wouldn’t be such a horrible idea, would it…
The fantastic 1st generation of the Toronado came out in 1965, but that amazing design only lasted until the 1968 model year came out with an all-new redesigned front end that made it look much more conventional. It kept getting more facelifts until 1970.
By the 1971 model year, the second generation just looked like any other angular, huge American 2-door coupes. They all pretty much looked the same by then. A big 2-door sedan that had none of the style of the very first design. That went on until 1978.
The 3rd generation became a Cadillac Eldorado clone. With a slightly softer design than the Cadillac. Otherwise, looking very similar. Just like the Eldorado of that generation, the downsized Toronado was much smaller and lighter than before. By about 1000 pounds!
By the 4th and last generation, the Oldsmobile Toronado had become a shadow of itself. A sad fate it shared with the same year redesign of the Cadillac Eldorado and Buick Riviera. All 3 had become small 2 door coupes with design cues from big American cars from the 1970s, crammed into that small size. And all 3 looked pretty horrible. GM tried to change course as quickly as it could, and by 1990, all 3 cars were mostly redesigned. (except for the Cadillac that only saw the addition of some fins). The refresh also added about a foot to the length of the cars. And both the Oldsmobile and Buick versions did look much better than before.
However, it was just too late for the Toronado, which ended production in 1992.
Since everything GM does seems to be based on the Ultium EV platform, why not a cool new retro luxury Toronado? Not something for everyone. But something uniquely American and truly special.
