Stumbled across a pic of this--Toronado Station Wagon!

[Art Anderson]

It was built back in the day, by Oldsmobile's Engineering Department at Lansing MI. Pretty neat car if you ask me!

[MsDano85gt]

i would want one!! big ol 455 rocket v8 under the hood front wheel driver v8 !! wagon!! waaayyy cool

put Jay lenno's power combo in it!

[Chillyb1]

That is a very cool car.

[pharoah]

What's the back part? Pontiac?

[ChrisBcritter]

Hmm.

Wonder why this was built? Seems a bit too finished to just be a drivetrain test mule (although the bodywork is a bit rough); and there were no full-sized Olds wagons by then, so it looks like they had to use a modified Pontiac or Chevy wagon body, probably with the front of the frame cut off and the Toro clip spliced in. Maybe the idea was to see how much more interior room they could get in a wagon with a front-drive setup?

Looking at images online I'm thinking it's a '66 Pontiac fullsize wagon body modified to straighten the lower side flare:

Edited November 24, 2014 by ChrisBcritter

[Harry P.]

Looks like a Toronado front end and a completely different "rest of it." The styling of the unique Toronado wheel arch/front fender totally doesn't match the rear. Pass. Looks like a bad Frankenstein hack job to me.

Toronado was a "personal luxury" car, not a kid hauler. Besides, they had the Vista Cruiser for that.

[chunkypeanutbutter]

Thought I'd drop in another interesting 'Nado... A dual-axle one.

We've got a book that's all stuff from old Life magazines called "The Best Of Life" and this is in it, back when the dude made it. I believe it said he did it to increase pulling power for towing a trailer, so I'm assuming that means it is powered in both axles

Edited November 24, 2014 by chunkypeanutbutter

[Toner283]

So I'm assuming that means it is powered in both axles

One problem there. Toronados are front wheel drive.

[Joe Handley]

Probably put a motor in the back and one pair if rear wheels are just there for extra weight support like a bus.

[Dragline]

Crikey!!!! Where's the sail?

[Crazy Ed]

One problem there. Toronados are front wheel drive.

Not the Fastest ones. Lookup Jay Leno's and the 2 Engine, 4WD Hurst Hairy Olds

[Jantrix]

Looks like a Toronado front end and a completely different "rest of it." The styling of the unique Toronado wheel arch/front fender totally doesn't match the rear. Pass. Looks like a bad Frankenstein hack job to me.

Agreed. It's supremely ugly.

[pharoah]

I was wondering if they just took the front sheet metal from a Toronado and put it on the wagon?

Or would that even fit without seriously mods to the radiator and other underhood parts?

and yes,it's ugly.

[Danno]

Maybe it didn't work, but at least they were stretching the boundaries.

[deuces wild]

Not sure what year, but the Toro had a 400 hp motor.. Between '67-'70...

[Mark]

If this wagon was actually an Olds project, I'd bet there is more to it than meets the eye...like, maybe, a load area with ultra-low lift height, something to exploit the possibilities offered by having the entire drivetrain ahead of the firewall.

[Snake45]

Back half looks like a '65 or '66 Pontiac wagon to me.

[Harry P.]

Back half looks like a '65 or '66 Pontiac wagon to me.

Whatever it is, what it doesn't look like is a Toronado! And there's the problem.

[unclescott58]

The back half was '66 Pontiac. At the time Oldsmobile built the the car, neither they or Buick were building or offering full-size station wagons in their lineups.

This car has appeared in several books on Toronados and Olds history in general, in the past.

Scott

[Art Anderson]

Whatever it is, what it doesn't look like is a Toronado! And there's the problem.

Well, would it not be reasonable to assume that those engineers built the car at the direction of upper management, to see what it might actually do on the street--in other words, test the concept? In that role, the car was a "test mule", not a styling exercise--had it been the latter, you'd have seen perhaps pics of a styling clay mockup.

As for the Toronado being a "personal luxury car", along the lines of say, Thunderbird (which car pretty much invented that concept in post WW-II America), it was more of a 6-passenger 2-door hardtop (remember, Thunderbird went from a 2-seater (55-57) to a 4-place car in 1958, and remained so untill 1968, when a Thunderbird FOUR door sedan was introduced--by that time T-Bird was sharning its basic body structure with Lincoln).

I though the idea was interesting, still do, and wonder how it might have been received had it actually been worked up into a real Toronado station wagon. But, we'll never know that, of course.

Art

[jbwelda]

what is with that six wheel monster? toronados were front wheel drive as noted (notwithstanding complete race cars which pretty obviously this is not). so the consensus is that he must have put a motor in the back seat? huh? looks to me more like an okie piece of junk and maybe that set up is for stability while out plowing the corn field? just doesn't make much sense unless it was converted to rwd or a different chassis was stuck under the toronado body?

jb

[jbwelda]

so you think GM would build a prototype and then kind of let it be driven all over the place and just park it in middle class driveways (with RAMBLERS in the background)? like maybe that's where the executive assigned to it might live? did the photo come from GM or some random photographer?

if that's true, things have changed a bit haven't they.

jb

[unclescott58]

Well, would it not be reasonable to assume that those engineers built the car at the direction of upper management, to see what it might actually do on the street--in other words, test the concept? In that role, the car was a "test mule", not a styling exercise--had it been the latter, you'd have seen perhaps pics of a styling clay mockup.

As for the Toronado being a "personal luxury car", along the lines of say, Thunderbird (which car pretty much invented that concept in post WW-II America), it was more of a 6-passenger 2-door hardtop (remember, Thunderbird went from a 2-seater (55-57) to a 4-place car in 1958, and remained so untill 1968, when a Thunderbird FOUR door sedan was introduced--by that time T-Bird was sharning its basic body structure with Lincoln).

I though the idea was interesting, still do, and wonder how it might have been received had it actually been worked up into a real Toronado station wagon. But, we'll never know that, of course.

Art

Thunderbird started offering a 4-door in 1967. '67 also the year Thunderbird abandoned unibody construction for body on frame. The '58 through '66 shared their basic unibody construction with the big Lincolns, which switch to body on frame in 1970. The '58 through '66 Lincolns and Thunderbirds shared the same cowl structure and were both built at the Lincoln Wixom, Michigan plant. The '67 Birds moved away from the big Lincolns, but started sharing their 4-door chassis with the new '69 ('68 1/2) Continental Mark III (2-door).

Scott

[Art Anderson]

so you think GM would build a prototype and then kind of let it be driven all over the place and just park it in middle class driveways (with RAMBLERS in the background)? like maybe that's where the executive assigned to it might live? did the photo come from GM or some random photographer?

if that's true, things have changed a bit haven't they.

jb

William,

Time was when you could see "engineering prototypes" being driven on the streets, around Detroit, and I would assume (considering that the Toronado Wagon was built in Lansing (the home of Oldsmobile), and quite probably in Flint, where Buick and Chevrolet were both hatched. In addition, Studebaker prototypes were often seen in on the streets of South Bend IN, Nash and AMC prototypes in and around Kenosha WI.

Art

[jbwelda]

I always thought that GM (in particular but also Ford & Chrysler) were very jealous about new designs or prototypes. maybe that was earlier on when they were really neck and neck in the styling department. but I would think with the Toronado, which was considered a landmark vehicle at the time, they would be keeping new designs under wraps.

that must have been some executive driving it home then?

when I first saw that photo I was going to comment that it did not look right. but I am not enough of an expert on US iron in general to be sure about it. something about it just kind of looked photoshopped or something. now that I know the history of the photo more, it does seem like it was probably an experimental vehicle. my question really would be whether it was an official GM prototype, or someones backyard project. are there other photos of the same car in different contexts like with GM personnel standing around it?

jb