Oldsmobile Toronado: the greatest front-wheel drive car of the 20th century (19 photos + 1 video)

From the 1930s until the late 1960s, the Oldsmobile division was home to engineering innovations for General Motors, but until the fall of 1965, when debuted the Oldsmobile Toronado, no car has ever been front wheel drive.





Oldsmobile has left a significant mark on the automotive world. He can be mentioned as a pioneer of technologies that we use in this day, such as the first true automatic transmission (in 1939) and the first factory turbocharger (in 1962). He also made a small revolution in the mid-60s when he proposed front wheel drive model.



Today you won’t surprise anyone like that, but in the 60s, front-wheel drive, in America was extremely rare, especially on large and expensive coupes premium class, such as Toronado. Engineers believed that the drive on front axle brings better stability while driving and frees up more space in the cabin, and it will be many years before competitors will follow this step.





The Toronado debuted in 1966 as a response to a very the popular Ford Thunderbird. The aim was to provide a large coupe equipped with prestigious equipment on a par with Cadillac and Lincoln, at a much more affordable price.



Oldsmobile will produce it for four generations until 1992 years, and the greatest interest among collectors is the first generation, which was in showrooms from 1966 to 1970.



There were two engines in the Toronado line. The smaller one developed 385 hp. with a volume of 7 liters, and after 1968 it was possible to get even more 7.5 liter petrol engine with 400 hp Torque was an impressive 680 Nm, and the power was transmitted to the front wheels through a three-speed automatic transmission. Its dimensions 5.36x1.99x1.34 m. Factory information says that acceleration from 0 to 100 km / h took 7.4 seconds, the maximum speed was 218 km / h. For such pleasure had to allocate 4,750 US dollars or about 40,440 in today's monetary value.



Optionally for the model were available: power steering, disc brakes, air conditioning and more. Today it is perceived as due, but in the 60s you had to pay extra for it even in cars premium.



Over the hill, the cost of a Toronado in decent condition starts at $25,000.