If you’ve been shopping for a first-generation Oldsmobile Toronado but are dismayed by their steadily increasing asking prices, a reasonable compromise may be the 1968 model, whose front-end was heavily restyled and is generally not as popular as its 1966-67 predecessors. This one has been in the same family since it was purchased new by the seller’s uncle at Hinton Oldsmobile-GMC Truck in Mount Vernon, Washington, and it’s now for sale on Hagerty Marketplace in Tijeras, New Mexico.
About that front end. I think Car and Driver’s April 1968 road test said it best:
[Oldsmobile has] cooked up a bumper-grille combination that appears even more unyielding than your local draft board and at the same time discontinued those incredible fold-up headlights which ranked above the 95th percentile on the ugly scale.
Ouch! I disagree about the headlamps, but C&D continued:
Oldsmobile has found a way to make the entire grille vanish at the touch of a button. And do you know what’s behind the grille—other than the obvious four headlights? Would you believe another grille? No wonder Toronados cost a bundle.
Sales for the 1968 model actually improved to 26,454 units (up from 22,062 in 1967), but that wasn’t enough to stop Oldsmobile from broughamifying the Toronado for the next couple decades.
The Fisher Body tag unfortunately doesn’t tell us too much about this particular ’68 beyond the obvious.
- 01E: 5th week of January 1968 (that’s when the body was assembled)
- 68: 1968 model year
- 39487: Oldsmobile Toronado
- EUC023555: The body was built at the Euclid, Ohio, Fisher Body plant (and then trucked to Lansing for final assembly)
- 087: Parchment interior trim
- GG: Willow Gold exterior (upper and lower)
From the rear, the 1968 Toronado wasn’t changed too much. The taillights were now a part of the bumper, and thus the tail panel was now a painted piece, but it was the last year for those gorgeous unbroken quarter panels; for 1969, they were bisected in an attempt to make the Toro look more mainstream. For 1968, however, Oldsmobile marketing leaned heavily on the car’s uniqueness:
Toronado ’68 isn’t the car for every driver on the block. Never was. Never will be. But for those demanding individualists who favor boldness with a difference and action with some size, Toronado has an unimpeachable one-of-a-kindness.
The engine was also upgraded for 1968, from 425 to 455 cubic inches. Power was actually down from 1967, at least with the standard 455: 385 to 375. An optional 400-horsepower 455 was now available, and Car and Driver found that it could cover the quarter-mile in an impressive (for such a heavy car) 15.7 seconds. This car has the standard 455, and aside from a carburetor rebuild, this one seems to have been largely left alone for the past 58 years; in fact, the seller says that it hasn’t been driven much at all in the last three. There’s a leak at the exhaust manifold that will need fixing, and undoubtedly several more things will pop up as the new owner puts on some miles. The hood latch is also broken (that will be a “now” problem).
Toronado interior pieces aren’t readily available, so its condition is very important when shopping. This one looks pretty good aside from “split seams on [the] driver’s seat, and the power seat itself no longer works. This car does have power windows, but I didn’t see an air conditioning compressor under the hood, no surprise considering it was sold new in Washington State.
Given the general tenor of the ad, this is a fixer upper, and although it was repainted in the 1990s, there are plenty of blemishes and imperfections. Also, that bane of Toronado owners, the headlight doors, are not working. All that should keep the winning bid down to a reasonable amount, and if you squint hard enough, the 1968 model looks pretty close to a 1966-67 Toronado, doesn’t it?
Related Reading
Vintage Review: 1968 Oldsmobile Toronado – April 1968 Car and Driver Road Test (by GN)
Wow, today is the first time I had actually realized that 1968 was the one year where Oldsmobile added the baroque front end to the mostly untouched rest of a 66-67 Toronado! In my mind, the 68-70 had all been lumped together. I love finding out things I have been wrong about for decades!
I really expected these cars to be highly collectible long ago. The styling of the original, plus the fact that it was a well engineered car from the beginning should have made it much more desirable. This was the best all new GM car for quite a while. The drive axles held up well (unless you were doing burn-outs) and little to no torque steer. The Morse drive chain between the engine and transmission was also trouble free.
These are best example of what GM was capable of after the the less than stellar examples of their ’60 – ’63 small car program. And of course the Vega that followed.
That new grille is a definite down grade, but as mentioned the rest of the car has full-strength Toronado charm, including the steel wheels with center caps. I don’t care for the full hubcaps.
I wouldn’t mind this in my garage at all, if I had room for a budget classic. Problems are probably manageable with some support from a club or tight forum group.
Being in Texas, not having AC could be a deal breaker.
Where are the headlights??
The grill rotates and there are headlights (with a grille) behind the grill.
Truth be told l could actually take or leave the 66-67 Cord tribute front end, the rest of the body, the unique driveline and interior are my favorite assets of the early Toronados, so a 68 in principle does work for me…
but…
Where I’m more indifferent to the original front end, that least flows with the car, this chunky loop bumper looks straight out of the Harley Earl era, the incongruity with the rest of the body bothers me more than anything else, and I never quite understood how GM design at this time not only found this passable, but also made a similar front end redesign for the Riviara the same year. I could get past it if the price is right, but yeesh, there were better integrated 1973 5mph bumpers than this!
I’m also convinced whoever penned this grille/bumper must have penned the 70 Pontiac Lemans, pretend the headlights aren’t there and it’s uncanny.
I’m squinting really hard, but it’s just now working…
I know…sometimes mind over matter works, sometimes it doesn’t. I’m such a Toronado first-year purist that I’d only begrudgingly take a ’67 if the right one came along.
Had 3 ’69s, including an all original old lady car with 36k miles. Had this car whenI founded the OCA Blue & Gray chapter in ’84. IMO one of ther greatest cars GM ever built, made during their heyday, 10-12 mpg notwithstanding. Prefer the ’68 rear to the more formal rear end with extended quarter panels beginning in ’69. GM ruined the car in ’71 and lost all interest at that point.
Honestly, I’m fine with the ’68 front end. The ’66 is, of course, the holy grail of Toronados, but I like many of them, including the ’71. So, so much for my taste.
The newly federally mandated side marker lights are a cool touch on this ’68 with the red rockets on the rear flanks. Some of the tropes of the late ’60s are emerging here; loop bumper, tail lights in the rear bumper. I’ve never found the rear of the 1st gen Toro all that great, and this tail light arrangement resolves for me as well as the ’66-’67.
This is a nice, well equipped example. The deluxe interior and factory A/C (appears the compressor is missing) check important boxes for me. If I were to buy, I’d bring it to reliable driver condition and enjoy it for what it is.
Stand corrected. Non A/C car.
Having grown up in Burlington, Washington (on the other side of the Skagit River from Mount Vernon) in the 1970’s, I probably saw this Toronado not too far removed from new. I wonder if the covered license plates are the original green-on-white Washington ‘M’ license plates issued to vehicles registered in Skagit County?
Sadly-Hinton Olds no longer exists. Once located on Riverside Drive (just south of the ‘Old 99’ bridge crossing the Skagit River, connecting Burlington and Mt Vernon, Hinton’s closed many years ago.
The building (or what is left of it) is now a Harbor Freight.
Dad had a ’66 close to this same color, gold outside, white inside. Nice car until his girlfrend got drunk and totalled it.