1966 Oldsmobile Toronado 7.0L V8 3AT (390 HP)

Vehicle Overview

In 1965 Oldsmobile introduced one of the most revolutionary cars in the American automotive industry, the front-wheel drive Toronado.

Even though it wasn’t the first FWD vehicle in the American automotive world, it was a big change. It came in the mid-60s, at the beginning of the muscle car era. Its styling was dynamic, its drivetrain was unique, and the interior featured unusual amenities. For short, it was a revolution.

The styling showed a clean design with flat, slightly curved surfaces but with enlarged wheel arches. At the front, the pop-up headlights were flanked by taller fenders that pointed up and forward like aerodynamic knives. Its grille was also spread from one side to another of the vehicle, lower than the headlights and above the chromed, integrated metallic bumper. From its profile, the sloped-down greenhouse and trunk line offered a dynamic look for the vehicle.

Inside, the automaker placed a pair of bucket seats at the front and a bench in the back. On the dashboard, the speedometer showed a “slot-machine” styling, where the numbers were marked with white letters on a barrel that rotated behind a thin line. But that was not the only peculiarity of the vehicle. The doors featured opening handles on their rearmost side, so the back-seat passengers could open them by themselves.

Under the hood was a longitudinally mounted V8 powerplant paired with a newly developed three-speed automatic transmission that sent the power to the front wheels.