Oldsmobile’s 1966 Toronado wasn’t just a beautiful example of a luxury automobile — it also changed the game in terms of high-end car design.
When the Oldsmobile Toronado arrived in 1966, it had instant classic written all over it. Its daring low-slung design was inspired by a painting by Oldsmobile’s assistant chief designer at the time, David North, and it represented quite a departure from most personal luxury coupes of the time.
It also featured what was referred to as a unitized body construction at the time, which meant the body and chassis were combined. Today, we’d call this a unibody or monocoque construction, and it brought numerous handling and weight benefits that the Toronado took full advantage of. You could drive it spiritedly, even in bad weather, which wasn’t something you could easily do in a rival rear-wheel drive model.
Under its very long hood sat GM’s 425 cubic-inch Rocket V8, but unlike the vast majority of cars in the 1960s, it sent its power to the front wheels.
