1968 Oldsmobile Toronado

Coupe Coupe

8 - Cyl.

Automatic

394878M60622

Gasoline

Up for sale is a rare, every option, mint 1968 Oldsmobile ToronadoDocumented 1 ownerRepair and title recordExterior: Peruvian Silver Met Interior: Black with bucket seats, floor shifter, console, cruise, power windows, tilt/telescoping wheelVIN Number: 3948878M611867Mileage: 35,703 (Documented Mileage)Dealer invoice shows this car had the following options:Factory tinted glass6 way power bucket seatsRemote trunk openerTilt/Telescoping Wheel Floor ShifterConsoleCruise ControlCornering Lamps15 Inch chrome wheels Rear Window defogger4 Pistion front disc brakesDelco Radio (AM)Power antennaRear speakerDeluxe interiorPower windowsAir conditioningRed line tiresOldsmobile rubber floor matsFactory dual exhaust with bumper cutoutsDeluxe seat beltsLighting groupIt had a retail price or MSRP of $6926 This car has no dents, dings, scratches, or rust, and has never been in an accident. It has been garaged all 43 years of its life. Everything works on this car smoothly. It has enen been converted to HEI for increased drivability. Full dealership repair records through 2011 are available. The car was restored in October 2005 to as close to like new as possible by the owner. Quality paint was applied once stripped down to the metal. We even have pictures of the paint process through its various stages in a book the owner kept. 4 new redline tires were ordered and installed at that time. All stainless steel trim removed and polished. All new door, and window seals were done at the same time. New interior and carpet. Suspension work was performed that include re-arching of the rear leaf spring, new OEM shocks, and idler arm. The front disc brakes and lines were replaced, rear drums replaced and new shoes, power brake boster, master cylinder, water pump, alternator, vaccum lines, starter, ignition system, voltage regulator, temp sending unit, fuel sending unit, power steering pump and lines, and heater hoses/core replaced. This car sound by way of mechanicially, electricial, cosmetics, and drivetrain. Everything has been serviced or repaired over the past 43 years of its life. This vehicle is from a $685,000 private estate collection that we have been contracted to liquidate. I suggest you call me ASAP if interested in this fabulous car 719-499-7744. You will be surprised at how fairly priced this incredible car is! You could not restore a Toronado for the price you can buy this car for. You can also email us questions about this car to: sovereigncapitalinvestments@gmail.comSovereign Captial Investments Trust is an estate liquidation company. Founded in 2008. We specialize in liquidating high end estates, to include real estate, jewelry, boats, RV's, and vehicles for private parties verses auction. I am easy to reach. 9:00am until 9:00pm Mountain Standard Time. This car is a magnificently restored example, and I welcome your personal inspection. If you can’t come in person to inspect the car yourself, then hire anyone you wish to come on your behalf. The only requirement is I request is a 1 day notice. Call 719-499-7744 to set an appointment. Hours for appointment are Monday through Friday from 11:00am until 7:00pm. As the seller I have made a diligent effort to accurately describe this vehicle. It will be your responsibility to pick up this vehicle, or arrange to have the vehicle picked up by a bonded, licensed and insured carrier. You are also responsible to pay all sales taxes in your home state/city.This car is owned free and clear. We have the title in hand. I know this is a Platinum Investment Collectable car. This is a car that you can still drive and enjoy. It will only increase in value. If you so chose to, you could drive it every day. Please don't buy this car unless you have a garage to store it inside. This car has ever been left outside. This is a Platinum Investment documented vintage car. This was when Oldsmobile was a world leader in the automotive world thanks to the genius of Bill Mitchell. He was the chief designer of the OldsmobileToronado. It is General Motor’s 1st front wheel drive car. The Oldsmobile Toronado personal-luxury coupe marked the return of front-wheel drive in Detroit for the first time since the 1930’s and provided a long-range forecast of the design revolution that would sweep the U.S. auto industry. This is the story of how the engineering tour de force that now ranks the 1968 Toronado as one of the most collectible automobiles of the 1960’s. The automotive blockbuster of model year 1968 was the Oldsmobile Toronado. It not only made headlines in all the major enthusiast magazines, and most of the national news reports. It also stopped crowds at auto shows, and dealer showrooms from coast to coast. What stopped the crowds mainly was the featured flat passenger compartment floor. You see, the Toronado was the first American car with front-wheel drive since the 1930’s Cord 810/812 of three decades earlier. Not only that, it was the largest such car ever attempted. It was a big personal-luxury coupe riding on a full-size 119-inch wheelbase. It tipped the scales at more than two tons. Skeptics said front drive would never work on such a large scale, but Oldsmobile proved them wrong and did it beautifully. Today, the 1st generation Toronado is recognized not just as an engineering tour de force, but as the trend setter for GM's commitment to front drive in the 1980’s. When you add in the luxury, fine craftsmanship, exceptional drivability, distinctive styling, you have a modern milestone that stands as one of the most collectible automobiles in U.S. postwar history. The idea of driving a car by its front wheels instead of the rear ones was new even in the 1960’s. Though it's difficult to say who tried it first, the basic engineering principles were largely established by the early 1930’s. The concept generally regarded as workable, though far from practical. Aside from Harry Miller's successful Indianapolis racers, one of the first American cars to employ front drive was the Errett Loban Cord.The classically styled, low production L-29 of 1929-1931. Audi likes to claim that it pioneered the concept in Europe in 1931 with its first car named "Front" designed by August Horsch. Though front wheel drive's greater compactness and superior wet-weather traction were widely appreciated even in those days, its main attraction was the much lower ride height it conferred, a styling advantage with obvious sales implications. Unfortunately, front drive was and still is more costly to design and produce than conventional rear drive. Most of the early systems were not at all reliable. In the face of an ailing national economy and a faltering market, the decision by Ruxton and Gardner to adopt front drive only hastened their demise, and mechanical problems ultimately caught up with the Cord. But, front drive was far from dead in Detroit. Partly in response to the Depression, the Big Three companies had been looking into the possibility of offering much smaller models alongside their standard offerings, just in case the market should want them. A variety of experimental projects were initiated beginning in the mid 1930’s. Because of the more difficult packaging problems involved with a smaller car, these programs did not necessarily rule out radical engineering solutions, and front-wheel drive was one of those investigated. Long before work on the Oldsmobile Toronado began, a talented young engineer named John Beltz was on a fast track toward the division's top engineering post and, quite possibly, the general manager's job. Beltz was fascinated with the possibilities suggested by a front drive mechanical package and quickly rallied a group of colleagues to pursue them. It was a classic example of being in the right place at the right time. As GM's most innovative division, Oldsmobile was certainly the best place in the company to work on a new drivetrain that might be as significant as the division's breakthrough Hydra-Matic Drive of 1940 or (with Cadillac) the industry's first high-compression overhead-valve V-8 in 1949. The Oldsmobile Toronado Chassis is described as clever. Power was supplied by the most potent Rocket V-8 yet, a new 385-horsepower version of a 455 cubic-inch engine introduced in 1968. Equipped with dual exhausts, it was mounted conventionally (i.e., fore/aft) on a sub frame partially welded to the main perimeter chassis. The Toronado engine differed in having a reworked carburetor and intake manifold, necessary to clear the low-profile hood, as well as a reshaped exhaust manifold to make room for the front suspension. The suspension at both ends was out of the ordinary. At the front were longitudinal torsion bars and a heavy-duty anti-roll bar. A simple beam axle on single leaf springs was used at the rear, along with quad shock absorbers -- one pair mounted vertically, one horizontally to keep the back tires firmly planted on the road. Large drum brakes with standard power assist were used all-round, with cooling assisted by large slotted wheels evocative of those on the classic Cord 810/812. Steering was the customary power-assisted recirculating ball, geared at a relatively quick 17.8:1 ratio. Motor Trend magazine said: ''The Toronado's a truly outstanding car, and this first model is highly perfected. We think it's destined to become a classic in its own time." Considering the new mechanical layout, the 1968 met with a very warm reception. Of course, the Toronado had the unusual aspect was that driveline. The only available transmission was a special split version of the famed Hydra-Matic, with the torque converter directly behind the engine and the gearbox mounted remotely under the left-side cylinder bank. Connecting them was a two-inch multiple-link chain, and differential torque was split evenly between the half shafts. This arrangement produced surprisingly balanced weight distribution for a big front-driver 54/46 percent front/rear and contributed greatly to the car's over the road prowess. An early elevation drawing proposed a steeper windshield than was practical for the production model. A wrapped backlight, mild rear fender hop-up, winged fuel cap, and front fender vents. The timing couldn't have been better. By happy happenstance, GM was about to embark on a design program to produce a new compact car, slated for 1960 introduction. Over the next couple of years, division engineers and GM Engineering Staff continued working on a variety of fronts to perfect a marketable front-drive system. Oldsmobile badly wanted the Toronado to counter the highly acclaimed Riviera from intramural rival Buick, and challenge Ford's well-established four-seat Thunderbird. The Oldsmobile Toronado Styling development for the Oldsmobile Toronado, code-named XP-784, had been started about a year before formal program approval, and was completed in remarkably short order under the direction of design vice-president William L. Mitchell. Even early clay models displayed the major elements that would make the production Toronado so distinctive. The dominant theme was a long front with an uncommon amount of overhang and thrusting fender lines, both suggestive of front-wheel drive and undoubtedly chosen for that reason. The basic fastback shape was enhanced by muscularly flared wheel arches and a beltline that terminated ahead of the C-pillar, curving upward and forward to leave an unbroken line from the rear roof area to the lower body. Designers initially favored a sloped tail, but moved quickly to a cropped Kamm-style that further emphasized the front end. Hidden headlamps were coming into vogue, and there was no question the new Olds would have them. In all, it was a brilliant styling package appropriate for the revolutionary new chassis, which Mitchell said "opened entirely new possibilities for vehicle architecture and provided the opportunity for styling designers and engineers to come up with a completely fresh approach." Oldsmobile lacked sufficient body assembly space at its home plant in Lansing, Michigan, where the new car would be built, so it was decided to truck in bodies from the Fisher plant in Cleveland, hundreds of miles away. Meanwhile, production engineers began laying out a special single-model assembly line within the vast Lansing complex, intended to move at a slower-than-usual rate. The 1968 Toronado was one of the most exhaustively tested new cars in GM history. This was due to it’s unusual mechanical makeup, and GM’s well-known aversion to making mistakes. Both the Milford, Michigan and Arizona proving grounds were pressed into round-the-clock testing. Prototypes mules disguised as 98’s were evaluated on public roads. Even Bobby Unser took a pre-production aluminum-body Toronado up Pike's Peak in 1966, just for good measure. The 1968 Oldsmobile Toronado had production numbers near 26,500. The main styling work appeared at the front, a full-width bumper/grille with a short vertical divider. The headlamps were still hidden. But, instead of pivoting up out of the nose they were now fixed, mounted behind dummy grille sections that lifted up whenever the lamps were switched on. Once again, there were minor chassis tweaks to make the ride more plush. A blunted nose with split grille announced the 1968 model year. Though not intended as a performance car, the 1968 Toronado got swept up in the division's "Dr. Oldsmobile" campaign for 1968. The standard power plant was a 455-cubic-inch engine. It was rated at 385 horsepower with 510 foot pounds of torque in the Toronado. Car Life tested a Toronado the May 1968 issue, reporting a top speed of 123 mph. With best fuel consumption of 12 mpg. It is not an ordinary automobile. When fitted out like the test car it is expensive, but it has some strong attributes: high performance, dependable handling, strong masculine styling, the flair of front-wheel drive, and the availability of enough luxury options to furnish a pleasure dome for a khan. Taken together, they describe only the 1968 Toronado, as an unusual and enjoyable automobile." The 1st generation 1966-1970 Toronado was considered an instant collectible. And for the enthusiast who marches to the beat of a different automotive drummer, there was no better choice. Keep this in mind now that you know most of history of this incredible car. You are not just buying a means of transportation or an ordinary vintage car. You are buying a car that revolutionized the way most cars are built today through front wheel drive!