One of my late uncles who was born in 1919 owned several great cars throughout his 100 years of life. His absolute favorite was a gold ‘88 Toronado. He liked the size, the features, and loved the 3800 V-6. He owned it for 20 years and over 200k miles.
a friend of mine just bought a 1989 Olds Trofeo...with ONLY 1,300 miles on it...yes one thousand three hundred miles....showroom car condition...so awesome
My dad had a 86 Toronado and i had a 90 Trofeo. I loved that car. It finally gave up at 247000 miles. Engine was still good but everything else was worn out.
I remember as a young kid sitting in a Trofeo at my local auto show around 1987-1988 and being absolutely fascinated with the VIC, as well as the GCC in the Buick Riveria of the same period. Funny because even the most basic economy car now has a touchscreen.
I bought my wife a near mint 92 Trofeo for $3500 aug 2011. It was black which to me was the best color for that car. The previous owner hit a curb hard and bent the engine cradle slightly and destroyed the one rim. i found an engine cradle for 150$ at a junkyard and a used rim to match for 50$. THe car sat in a garage for a couple years after he damaged it and it only had 79k miles. It drove perfect even with the bent cradle but would wear out the left front tire prematurely. I had to replace the brake lines when one blew on the drive home from buying it. I went ahead and did all the brakes anyway the day after we bought it. i swapped the cradle 6 months later and she drove that car for almost 4 years. It drove so smooth and had a mint leather interior. The 3800 V6 was a great engine that had plenty of pep and never gave us any trouble besides minor stuff like a coil and a water fitting under the intake which i fixed easily. She LOVED that car more than any other car she had prior. We sold it when i had a hard time finding parts like a motor mount. I had to make a motor mount out of a carriage bolt and some fabbed steel. She still misses that car. We sold it to a toronado collector who had every generation. i almost bought her another one about 5 years ago but again parts are hard to come by. It had a mono leaf rear suspension and stainless exhaust which was original. The car had no rust and was well built. Best 3500$ car ever. They were over 30k new in 92.
I had the TEVES brake system on my 88 Mk VII Lincoln. One day, on my way to work (at a Ford dealer), the yellow ABS light *and* the red BRAKES light came on. When I went to slow down for the turn onto the street where I parked, I found that even STANDING on the brake pedal as hard as I could barely did anything, and I cruised right past my street. Luckily, I downshifted and used the E-Brake to slow down, and made it to work. Even with an employee discount, a new unit was over $900 (without labor), and this was in 1999. Instead, I used my discount to buy a new 99 ZX2 Escort. And, as it turned out, I drove that Escort until I bought a new Mustang in 2015.
A lot of people can't find the TEVES brakes/abs modules, especially for Thunderbird SC's. That's the one thing that scares me away from tracking one of those.
I prefer the later version. The '79 -'85 was an old guy's car. It seemed like GM marketed the lengthened Trofeo to Latin audiences. I remember the TV commercial back then with the latin music and the chikas. Great commercial, but the car really looked like nothing at all. The last cars with the 3800 were BULLETPROOF. They are rare now, simply because they didn't build many. But if you can find one you can bet it will run and run and run... Great video!
Had a 79, it came with a 350 4 barrel that year only, dark grey metallic, no vinyl wire wheels dark red leather,did more semi cross country trips in that car than any other car that i have owned, great cruiser,miss that one
My mom had an 86 in the burgundy two tone with the burgundy velour seats with a sunroof. It was a beautiful car with wire wheels . I had a mustang lx in the same 86 year as her car and I drove her car more than mine! So futuristic and the radio was out of this world. Such fine memories!!!
One of my first cars was a 1981 Cutlass supreme, and when these new Toronado's came out, even though they looked more modern I felt like mine had much more luxury, obviously bigger and had velour tufted seats, a V8 engine and rear wheel drive, and felt the right size for a personal luxury car, big, but light on its feet on the road. I did like the Toro's space age dash but I would not have wanted to drive cross-country several times in a tornado like I did my cutlass, it was effortless to drive and certainly seemed more upscale, many people inside of it thought it was an El Dorado. And no one confused it with a Cutlass ciera or Somerset regal like so many of these really expensive resembled . I think the last truly great tornado that was worth the money they charged was the mid-70s one with the wraparound rear glass, now that was truly an impressive imposing and roomy automobile.
A guy I used to work with sometimes (RIP, John) had one of these for a work car back around 2012. We traded rides when we were working at the same place. Really cool car in my opinion, looked just like these cars, in black on black, not sure what year. It rode great, drove reasonably well and got good fuel mileage. He found it somewhere needing a couple minor things with like NO miles, and old man who stopped driving had it before. Everything worked, and it was like a retro spaceship, haha! He was a GM dealership mechanic around when these were around, and it was impeccably maintained and repaired. I wanted to buy it when he sold it, but I was intimidated by the lack of OBD-II and didn't. I wish now that I had.
My neighborhood,who was an Olds dealer rep, had one of these. I remember it well. An unusual detail you didn’t highlight is that the Trofeo was the first American car with power operated headrest, and not just up down but forward and aft if I remember right. I thought that was very cool at the time.
Fun fact, if I recall correctly the 1989 Oldsmobile Toronado was the car that introduced single lamp bright lights to the market. Previously when you turned on the high beams, all four of the headlights would be on. The 1989 Toronado gave us 1 pair of lamps for low beams (the usual outside pair in a 4 lamp aeruo) and then 1 pair of lamps for high beams (the inside pair).
Thank you Adam. The is appreciated the video on the Toronado. I was not a total fan of the 1986-1989 downsized one. That is fine we have different opinions on the Toronados. I own and drive the final year 1992 and final years 1990-1992. It is larger by a long shot. It is 200.3 inches long. It is long as a 1981-1988 G Body Cutlass Supreme. It is 72.8 inches wide on a 108 inch wheel base. It grew to be as large as a G Body Cutlass Supreme. The downsized Toronado was 187.5 inches long and 70.8 inches wide. The 1990-1992 model was not only longer, but wider. The 1979-1985 model was 206 inches long, 114 inch wheel base and 71.4 inches wide. The 1990-1992 was only shorter than the 1979-1985 model. Not by much either. My generation Toronado has a bigger trunk also. I have the "funky interior" you mentioned in the video. It was redesigned for 1990. I prefer the interior door handles of the 1986-1989 model. I have digital gauges and a Visual Information center that does quite a lot. I like it as you can go into diagnostic mode and find out what is wrong with the car. I have the bucket seats you shared in my Toronado also. They are quite supportive. I do not own a Trofeo trim level. It is loaded like one with a cloth interior. I like the design proposal you shared. He was on the right path. You can see how the downsized one took cues from the design proposal. If they had used his design proposal with a longer and wider body( my card dimensions) they would had a winner. The thing that hurt the downsized Toronado is it looked too much like the cheaper 1985-1991 Calais. The same thing happened at Buick with Riviera and the Skylark/Somerset Regal. The downsized era hurt GM. I will tell you the digital gauge cluster from 1986 is the same one in my 1992. The hood also from the 1986-1989 models. Thank you for the commercials and design studio image.
I was born in 69, so I had to suffer through the 80's and the domestic fails. I think there were a lot of great designs and ideas that never did get a fair shake due to the economy. I wished we had a do over on the 80's vehicles with more quality going into similar designs.
My brother had one. It had a stunning interior with suede seats and gizmos aplenty. One of the many buttons was a system check that provided a light show that would not have been out of place in the Millenium Falcon. Mesmerizing! Great car until it rained, when it became balky and unpredictable. He loved it anyway, but we were in a drought, so that might have had something to do with it. Thanks for the memories, Adam!
This channel is a respite for me, I love the work you do bringing us what's really an inside look at automotive history , I love every minute of it. I was a fan of the larger generation Toronado's though the final generation was very nice it seemed too great a departure from what once was and I think this was a difficulty going forward for the Oldsmobile and Pontiac badges respectively. It seemed over the long haul they couldn't decide what these nameplates should represent leaving those long term customers scratching their heads.
The fourth gen Toronado had a European contemporary style exterior that was early for its time and wasn't what a traditional Oldsmobile buyer would have bought during that period. I rarely saw these cars on the roads and highways when I was a kid. The mid to late 80s was a time when Oldsmobile was sinking and never recovered as time went on through the 90s.
I was driving a GMC Jimmy during these years that I must say was excellent and provided flawless performance. My next car was no car and I found national and international travel to be convenient and preferable an owned vehicle.
Like all the 86 plus fullsized front drivers the Toronado was actually not a bad car. They drive nice, were quite quiet and reliable by the standards of the day. Problem was they just looked so compact. These toronados looked like an 80’s Grand Am but were double the price. The 91 extended version looked silly with its excessive overhangs. Interesting how the Bonneville SSEi successfully filled the gap that the 86 plus Trofeo failed to.
I had an 89 Beretta GT with a digital dash, very cool, very Knight Riderish. The "This is not your father's Oldsmobile" ad campaign alienated alot of Olds older customers who felt they were betrayed by them going after a younger demographic (which they were) However, younger buyers felt it was an old person's car, so even though they had great vehicles, the strategy backfired.
As the owner of an 85 Caliente, I truly understand the culture shock the consumer had. I like you, don’t hate the 86 Toronado, but I wish it had been the 88 Cutlass Supreme. I think if it had been the Supreme the Cutlass wouldn’t have faded so drastically over 10 years. As a Toronado had gone I think it ultimately unfortunately been basically a stretched 98 two door I feel like that would have been better received. They were expensive 2 door cars bought by ultimately older buyers. Excellent video. These commercials remind me of the time when action movies were king!
Adam, First time youtube comment. Absolutely love your channel and all your insight. Fantastic work! The white trofeo with the perfect burgundy interior in my personal car with just 18K miles on it. I've had 4 trofeo's ... including a super rare Trofeo convertible. all have been very good , interesting cars. I've owned the entire E body collection. and drive them daily 1988 trofeo Convertible 1990 Buick Reatta Convertible 1989 Trofeo Coupe 1989 Buick Riviera Tournament series edition 1989 Cadillac STS (Cars & Concepts) Far nicer than my Jaguar Wagon 1990 Eldorado Touring Coupe
Great video, Adam! It brought back some great memories. I loved both my '79 and '87 Toronados! They were both great cars, although quite different designs. Both were very reliable, and I had not a bit of trouble with either one.
Love the ads, love these cars, and seriously adore than concept sketch. Talk about a gorgeous design. Almost see some 8 series bmw in that design, with the hardtop glass and the popup lights
They were pretty decent cars, but touchscreens will be the bane of this era of cars. There are no replacements available, you can't retrofit them with anything more mechanical. Ditto the combination ABS/master cylinder, when they break, the car is just scrap metal or ballast. Give me Bowden cables or vacuum controlled HVAC, analog gauges, and switchgear for the wipers, fan speed, cuise control,windows, and doorlocks. Better yet, give me a Jeep TJ or XJ with a manual gearbox. I can drive it, maintain it, and repair it for the long haul, and it will always be desirable to somebody. My motto is: Nobody ever crushes a Jeep, they just cut and weld the straight parts onto another Jeep 😁 Happy motoring, Adam, and thanks for another excellent video
I worked for an independant in the mid 90s thru 03. A lady brought 1 in where the VIC would go black when it was 40* or colder. The hvac and radio etc still worked, just no display. We called Olds to price a replacement, and they wanted $1,900.00 for a new 1, plus there were special calibration procedures you had to do for vent and climate control. She said no thx and traded it in for a new Accord.
I was the opposite for the years. I much preferred the 90-92 body style probably because I was a manager at an Oldsmobile dealer at that time and drove all 3 years as demo's. I will say that they were way overpriced which I believe led to poor sales more than the body styles themselves. I fondly remember a silver Trofeo loaded with every available option including the cellular telephone in the console and the MSRP on that car was well over 30K. I also had the Touring Sedans as demos and much preferred those to the Toro's. The ABS systems were crap when new, had numerous problems and good luck trying to find parts for them today. Those Lear-Sigler seats were some of the most comfortable seats I ever had in a car. They had so much adjustment in them, the bolstering was top notch.
I remember when these came out. It was a sad time for American autos, especially for someone my age. I remember saying to myself "Great, an Olds Cavalier...." 😐
This was when Olds really lost their way, market share and future. The Trofeo, the Ciera, the Aurora duds that tried to appeal to buyers that were not interested.
I agree! Oldsmobile kept trying to chase a market share that was not interested. Those younger people didn't care that it was "not your father's Oldsmobile" or not. They didn't want it. Unfortunately Olds lost a lot of the more traditional people that were interested. While it's true that the bean counters have done a lot of damage, so have some of the corporate leadership with their stupid decisions.
The Trofeo interior seems "sporty/high-tech", not "personal luxury". Cool as it may be -- though I'm no particular fan of "cool" -- somebody at Olds got their signals crossed and committed "mission creep". Innovation is great, but "fitness for purpose" is better. The seats are very "personal luxury". The dashboard -- mmm, I think not. Great video, Adam!
I remember when this generation of Toronado/Trofeo came out and thinking how similar the styling was to the Olds Calais of the time except a little larger. The Riviera also looked like a larger version of the Skylark/Somerset of that era. Maybe that had something to do with the drop in sales.
OMGSH, Adam!!! You brought back all my happiest car memories!!!!!! Those gray Toronado pix got my heart racing!! I had one EXACTLY like it and it was THE best car I've ever owned. I would KILL for a spectacular copy of one today!!!!!!!! My story is EXACTLY the same, come time to trade in. I wanted a Trofeo since they came out and got a Navy Blue one and was in my glory... for a short period of time. The thing broke down EVERY TIME I TRIED TO GO ANYWHERE! I sued GM under the Lemon Law and Gage finally gave me a new 1990 Oldsmobile Regency sedan and it was FLAWLESS!!! This was THE MOST heart racing episode ever. Your video's are SO COOL! Thanks for your personal insight. You're very much appreciated.
My Old Man bought first year 1986 in Garnett Red I believe with Black Cherry lower valance. My Mother, Sister and I gathered at the end of our driveway when he brought it home from Anchor Pontiac Buuck Oldsmobile. 😂
I actually prefer the 86 to 89 toronado, eldorado, and riviera compared to the older ones. Born in 69, so i was 17 when the 86s came out and to me all 3 cars were much more modern and trim.than the 85 versions, which seemed to big and flabby for my taste. I really like the tan sort of two tone model you showed in the video. 2nd place was the eldo touring coupe in red.
An auto parts store owner always had Oldsmobiles, and in 1990 she git the newest model. I had to take it to oil changes. It was like a fighter cockpit where you could not rest your hand down without touching a button or control. Tons of extra features including air speed indicator? WHY? Still, cool. It was a fancy Beretta essentially. It holds up for styling today.
I like that Trofeo interior, and really LOVE the 1990 exterior! They addressed everything - the length, a more fastback rear window, and they totally reversed the glass-to body-ratio by raising the beltline... Does anyone know what is in front of the shifter? Kinda' looks like it might be a DVD-based nav system?
We loved our '89 Olds Cutlass Supreme International. However, I did spend disprportionally on the suspension and brakes. @250,000 miles the interior and the HVAC controls were getting finicky and worn. great fun while it lasted. the 2.8 got phenominal mileage on the highway, and the leather seats with power expandible headrests were very comfortableon long road trips. The kids did complain of the poor view out the back (Fixed) windows.
bottom line was it didn't look expensive. I loved the previous generation. The 89 looked like an economy car. A Buick Regal or something. The sales numbers always tell the true story.
Great stuff Alex. I always had a visual issue with GM's low glass beltline of this era. Also thought the E Bodys size was reduced a bit too much, and should have had a stronger 'C pillars. With that said, Trofeo had better fit and finish to which I looked at purchasing for a while, but couldn't find one that wouldn't keep me from chasing parts. Designers like Adam are my heroes, much like athletes are to so many. Condolences to his family.👍🏽✔️🏁
Its seems like this gen was a swing and a miss at trying to return to its roots as innovative and stylistically avant-garde like the 66. But it fell pray to the same half-assery and design-by-comittee crap that eventually swallowed GM, deslite being a really awesome car for the time all in all. When I was a kid in the late 80s/early 90s my cello teacher's husband worked for GM in some capacity and they always had loaded up Buicks and Olds things. I remember riding in her 88 Riviera with the touch screen and thought that was just the coolest thing! Even though I'm more of a Ford guy now (by ownership history at any rate), I absolutely love many things made by Oldsmobile and I'd trade my 88 T-bird LX for a nice one of these with the 3800 and all the gizmos in a heartbeat! (Hope the T-bird didn't hear that 😬)
Sometimes, I come here to take a break from the insanity of this world, nowadays.
Amen
Same here 👏
Most definitely. 👍
I was just about to type the same thing.
I don’t watch news anymore - just read it. A lot less nonsense and I still keep up on what I need to
One of my late uncles who was born in 1919 owned several great cars throughout his 100 years of life. His absolute favorite was a gold ‘88 Toronado. He liked the size, the features, and loved the 3800 V-6. He owned it for 20 years and over 200k miles.
a friend of mine just bought a 1989 Olds Trofeo...with ONLY 1,300 miles on it...yes one thousand three hundred miles....showroom car condition...so awesome
That " was" my father's Oldsmobile. 😉
This has to be one of the earliest cars to have a touch screen. For the 1980s, it's way ahead of its time.
The VIC was ahead of its time. Standard equipment on many cars 30 years later.
I love those late 80s early 90s electronic dashboards
I thought I was the only one who liked this car…I am not alone…
I had a 1988 Olds. Toronado Trofeo. Loved it.
Love the "horseshoe" shifter!
More of a staple shape than horseshoe
@@MarinCipollina you're right! That's just the name they gave them in the 1960s when they first appeared.
How 'bout "bucket handle"?
had a 91 trofeo, these cars were so ahead of their time, now everyone thinks screens are in, we had it way back then...
"Not your father's Oldsmoble" in the ad actually reenforces that it is an old persons car.
Olds had a faux pas with that marketing campaign
My dad had a 86 Toronado and i had a 90 Trofeo. I loved that car. It finally gave up at 247000 miles. Engine was still good but everything else was worn out.
Dad and I had one of these as a rental on a trip up highway1 and liked it so much Dad bought one. The dash was amazing!
Those concept drawings are really cool!
Drove one as a rental. That dash was a gadget lover's dream!
Owned both an '88 and '92 Trofeos. Great cars for the time and lots of fun to drive.
It's great that they brought hidden headlamps back for the final years of the Toro. Always a cool look that's sadly missing today.
Yeah, I like the final version of the Toro better. Sleeker and smoother design
Olds always had the coolest transmission shifters. They looked like Throttle levers in an aircraft
I remember as a young kid sitting in a Trofeo at my local auto show around 1987-1988 and being absolutely fascinated with the VIC, as well as the GCC in the Buick Riveria of the same period. Funny because even the most basic economy car now has a touchscreen.
I bought my wife a near mint 92 Trofeo for $3500 aug 2011. It was black which to me was the best color for that car. The previous owner hit a curb hard and bent the engine cradle slightly and destroyed the one rim. i found an engine cradle for 150$ at a junkyard and a used rim to match for 50$. THe car sat in a garage for a couple years after he damaged it and it only had 79k miles. It drove perfect even with the bent cradle but would wear out the left front tire prematurely. I had to replace the brake lines when one blew on the drive home from buying it. I went ahead and did all the brakes anyway the day after we bought it. i swapped the cradle 6 months later and she drove that car for almost 4 years. It drove so smooth and had a mint leather interior. The 3800 V6 was a great engine that had plenty of pep and never gave us any trouble besides minor stuff like a coil and a water fitting under the intake which i fixed easily. She LOVED that car more than any other car she had prior. We sold it when i had a hard time finding parts like a motor mount. I had to make a motor mount out of a carriage bolt and some fabbed steel. She still misses that car. We sold it to a toronado collector who had every generation. i almost bought her another one about 5 years ago but again parts are hard to come by. It had a mono leaf rear suspension and stainless exhaust which was original. The car had no rust and was well built. Best 3500$ car ever. They were over 30k new in 92.
Several members of my NorCal Olds club have these Toronados. They are indeed,a beautiful machine.
It’s big money saving bonus able to fix your own vehicles. Olds from 90s had its own character styling. Simple mechanics and smooth ride.
I liked it's looks then and I like it now.
This is the best screen set up of any 80’s car!
66 olds toronado was awesome
That illustration at the end was gorgeously done!
I had the TEVES brake system on my 88 Mk VII Lincoln. One day, on my way to work (at a Ford dealer), the yellow ABS light *and* the red BRAKES light came on. When I went to slow down for the turn onto the street where I parked, I found that even STANDING on the brake pedal as hard as I could barely did anything, and I cruised right past my street. Luckily, I downshifted and used the E-Brake to slow down, and made it to work. Even with an employee discount, a new unit was over $900 (without labor), and this was in 1999. Instead, I used my discount to buy a new 99 ZX2 Escort. And, as it turned out, I drove that Escort until I bought a new Mustang in 2015.
A lot of people can't find the TEVES brakes/abs modules, especially for Thunderbird SC's. That's the one thing that scares me away from tracking one of those.
I prefer the later version. The '79 -'85 was an old guy's car.
It seemed like GM marketed the lengthened Trofeo to Latin audiences. I remember the TV commercial back then with the latin music and the chikas. Great commercial, but the car really looked like nothing at all.
The last cars with the 3800 were BULLETPROOF. They are rare now, simply because they didn't build many. But if you can find one you can bet it will run and run and run...
Great video!
Had a 79, it came with a 350 4 barrel that year only, dark grey metallic, no vinyl wire wheels dark red leather,did more semi cross country trips in that car than any other car that i have owned, great cruiser,miss that one
I was around 10 around 86 and this was an amazing car to a youngster
Adam, yours is the only podcast that I automatically hit the like button at the beginning of the show because I KNOW it’s going to be great!
My mom had an 86 in the burgundy two tone with the burgundy velour seats with a sunroof. It was a beautiful car with wire wheels . I had a mustang lx in the same 86 year as her car and I drove her car more than mine! So futuristic and the radio was out of this world. Such fine memories!!!
The Pontiac 6000 dash board was just as impressive. I loved the speedo and tach.
Yay a Trofeo!
One of my first cars was a 1981 Cutlass supreme, and when these new Toronado's came out, even though they looked more modern I felt like mine had much more luxury, obviously bigger and had velour tufted seats, a V8 engine and rear wheel drive, and felt the right size for a personal luxury car, big, but light on its feet on the road.
I did like the Toro's space age dash but I would not have wanted to drive cross-country several times in a tornado like I did my cutlass, it was effortless to drive and certainly seemed more upscale, many people inside of it thought it was an El Dorado.
And no one confused it with a Cutlass ciera or Somerset regal like so many of these really expensive resembled .
I think the last truly great tornado that was worth the money they charged was the mid-70s one with the wraparound rear glass, now that was truly an impressive imposing and roomy automobile.
I’d still like to have a trofeo. Maybe with a supercharged 3.8 swap. These were and are still great looking cars.
The 1990+ lengthened version is the one to have! What a looker!
A guy I used to work with sometimes (RIP, John) had one of these for a work car back around 2012. We traded rides when we were working at the same place. Really cool car in my opinion, looked just like these cars, in black on black, not sure what year. It rode great, drove reasonably well and got good fuel mileage. He found it somewhere needing a couple minor things with like NO miles, and old man who stopped driving had it before. Everything worked, and it was like a retro spaceship, haha! He was a GM dealership mechanic around when these were around, and it was impeccably maintained and repaired. I wanted to buy it when he sold it, but I was intimidated by the lack of OBD-II and didn't. I wish now that I had.
My neighborhood,who was an Olds dealer rep, had one of these. I remember it well. An unusual detail you didn’t highlight is that the Trofeo was the first American car with power operated headrest, and not just up down but forward and aft if I remember right. I thought that was very cool at the time.
The Pontiac Bonneville S (SOMETHING) IS STILL MY FAVORITE 80’s sports sedan!
RIP Andy! I really dig that sketch!!!!
Fun fact, if I recall correctly the 1989 Oldsmobile Toronado was the car that introduced single lamp bright lights to the market. Previously when you turned on the high beams, all four of the headlights would be on. The 1989 Toronado gave us 1 pair of lamps for low beams (the usual outside pair in a 4 lamp aeruo) and then 1 pair of lamps for high beams (the inside pair).
Wonderful shifter! Endlessly cool to look and grab...
Thank you Adam. The is appreciated the video on the Toronado. I was not a total fan of the 1986-1989 downsized one. That is fine we have different opinions on the Toronados. I own and drive the final year 1992 and final years 1990-1992. It is larger by a long shot. It is 200.3 inches long. It is long as a 1981-1988 G Body Cutlass Supreme. It is 72.8 inches wide on a 108 inch wheel base. It grew to be as large as a G Body Cutlass Supreme. The downsized Toronado was 187.5 inches long and 70.8 inches wide. The 1990-1992 model was not only longer, but wider. The 1979-1985 model was 206 inches long, 114 inch wheel base and 71.4 inches wide. The 1990-1992 was only shorter than the 1979-1985 model. Not by much either. My generation Toronado has a bigger trunk also. I have the "funky interior" you mentioned in the video. It was redesigned for 1990. I prefer the interior door handles of the 1986-1989 model. I have digital gauges and a Visual Information center that does quite a lot. I like it as you can go into diagnostic mode and find out what is wrong with the car. I have the bucket seats you shared in my Toronado also. They are quite supportive. I do not own a Trofeo trim level. It is loaded like one with a cloth interior. I like the design proposal you shared. He was on the right path. You can see how the downsized one took cues from the design proposal. If they had used his design proposal with a longer and wider body( my card dimensions) they would had a winner. The thing that hurt the downsized Toronado is it looked too much like the cheaper 1985-1991 Calais. The same thing happened at Buick with Riviera and the Skylark/Somerset Regal. The downsized era hurt GM. I will tell you the digital gauge cluster from 1986 is the same one in my 1992. The hood also from the 1986-1989 models. Thank you for the commercials and design studio image.
Damn that difference in year design is astounding. Would like to see a separate video on vehicles like that.
I was born in 69, so I had to suffer through the 80's and the domestic fails. I think there were a lot of great designs and ideas that never did get a fair shake due to the economy. I wished we had a do over on the 80's vehicles with more quality going into similar designs.
Agreed! 80s cars were of horrific quality and downright ugly.
My brother had one. It had a stunning interior with suede seats and gizmos aplenty. One of the many buttons was a system check that provided a light show that would not have been out of place in the Millenium Falcon. Mesmerizing! Great car until it rained, when it became balky and unpredictable. He loved it anyway, but we were in a drought, so that might have had something to do with it. Thanks for the memories, Adam!
IMHO Pontiac's scientific-calculator-in-a-steering-wheel has the '89 Trofeo beat button-wise LOL ;-).
Thats a good looking car!
86 and up.
This channel is a respite for me, I love the work you do bringing us what's really an inside look at automotive history , I love every minute of it.
I was a fan of the larger generation Toronado's though the final generation was very nice it seemed too great a departure from what once was and I think this was a difficulty going forward for the Oldsmobile and Pontiac badges respectively. It seemed over the long haul they couldn't decide what these nameplates should represent leaving those long term customers scratching their heads.
Car's always look fantastic while they fly through the air, they seldom do so when they land..
The fourth gen Toronado had a European contemporary style exterior that was early for its time and wasn't what a traditional Oldsmobile buyer would have bought during that period. I rarely saw these cars on the roads and highways when I was a kid. The mid to late 80s was a time when Oldsmobile was sinking and never recovered as time went on through the 90s.
I was driving a GMC Jimmy during these years that I must say was excellent and provided flawless performance. My next car was no car and I found national and international travel to be convenient and preferable an owned vehicle.
Like all the 86 plus fullsized front drivers the Toronado was actually not a bad car. They drive nice, were quite quiet and reliable by the standards of the day. Problem was they just looked so compact. These toronados looked like an 80’s Grand Am but were double the price.
The 91 extended version looked silly with its excessive overhangs.
Interesting how the Bonneville SSEi successfully filled the gap that the 86 plus Trofeo failed to.
I agree with you - the 1986-89 Toronado was a very handsome car, too bad it was a sales disaster.
I prefer the 1979-1985 models.
That 1989 VIC screen looks as good as my 2018 Silverado's screen. GM hasn't gotten very far.
I had an 89 Beretta GT with a digital dash, very cool, very Knight Riderish. The "This is not your father's Oldsmobile" ad campaign alienated alot of Olds older customers who felt they were betrayed by them going after a younger demographic (which they were) However, younger buyers felt it was an old person's car, so even though they had great vehicles, the strategy backfired.
As the owner of an 85 Caliente, I truly understand the culture shock the consumer had. I like you, don’t hate the 86 Toronado, but I wish it had been the 88 Cutlass Supreme. I think if it had been the Supreme the Cutlass wouldn’t have faded so drastically over 10 years. As a Toronado had gone I think it ultimately unfortunately been basically a stretched 98 two door I feel like that would have been better received. They were expensive 2 door cars bought by ultimately older buyers. Excellent video. These commercials remind me of the time when action movies were king!
Adam, First time youtube comment. Absolutely love your channel and all your insight. Fantastic work!
The white trofeo with the perfect burgundy interior in my personal car with just 18K miles on it. I've had 4 trofeo's ... including a super rare Trofeo convertible. all have been very good , interesting cars. I've owned the entire E body collection. and drive them daily
1988 trofeo Convertible
1990 Buick Reatta Convertible
1989 Trofeo Coupe
1989 Buick Riviera Tournament series edition
1989 Cadillac STS (Cars & Concepts) Far nicer than my Jaguar Wagon
1990 Eldorado Touring Coupe
Great video, Adam! It brought back some great memories. I loved both my '79 and '87 Toronados! They were both great cars, although quite different designs. Both were very reliable, and I had not a bit of trouble with either one.
Love the ads, love these cars, and seriously adore than concept sketch. Talk about a gorgeous design. Almost see some 8 series bmw in that design, with the hardtop glass and the popup lights
back when commercials were good
I seem to remember a commercial for the Trofeo that showed how the car's phone would call you if the car was being stolen!
They were pretty decent cars, but touchscreens will be the bane of this era of cars. There are no replacements available, you can't retrofit them with anything more mechanical. Ditto the combination ABS/master cylinder, when they break, the car is just scrap metal or ballast. Give me Bowden cables or vacuum controlled HVAC, analog gauges, and switchgear for the wipers, fan speed, cuise control,windows, and doorlocks. Better yet, give me a Jeep TJ or XJ with a manual gearbox. I can drive it, maintain it, and repair it for the long haul, and it will always be desirable to somebody. My motto is: Nobody ever crushes a Jeep, they just cut and weld the straight parts onto another Jeep 😁 Happy motoring, Adam, and thanks for another excellent video
I worked for an independant in the mid 90s thru 03. A lady brought 1 in where the VIC would go black when it was 40* or colder. The hvac and radio etc still worked, just no display. We called Olds to price a replacement, and they wanted $1,900.00 for a new 1, plus there were special calibration procedures you had to do for vent and climate control. She said no thx and traded it in for a new Accord.
There a guy in colorado that can rebuild the VIC units
I was the opposite for the years. I much preferred the 90-92 body style probably because I was a manager at an Oldsmobile dealer at that time and drove all 3 years as demo's. I will say that they were way overpriced which I believe led to poor sales more than the body styles themselves. I fondly remember a silver Trofeo loaded with every available option including the cellular telephone in the console and the MSRP on that car was well over 30K. I also had the Touring Sedans as demos and much preferred those to the Toro's. The ABS systems were crap when new, had numerous problems and good luck trying to find parts for them today. Those Lear-Sigler seats were some of the most comfortable seats I ever had in a car. They had so much adjustment in them, the bolstering was top notch.
I remember when these came out. It was a sad time for American autos, especially for someone my age. I remember saying to myself "Great, an Olds Cavalier...." 😐
That illustration looks like a C4 Corvette and a Riviera had a baby.
my first car was the 1988. I thought it was ahead of its time.
I loved the somewhat more aggressive look of the Trofeo; but the variation of a them styling across the GM board still shouts '86 Olds Cutlass Calais.
Thanks for the warning on the ABS. I was going to look at one that the seller but the seller was a bit "foggy" on that issue.
More 80s Videos Adam!
I miss Oldsmobile.
Our Custom cruiser was a status symbol in the 80’s. (Mom traded it for a ‘90 Escort wagon. Blek!)
Sounds smooth as silk. I’d love to hear it from inside the car.
What an amusing and absurd old tv commercial lol.
This was when Olds really lost their way, market share and future. The Trofeo, the Ciera, the Aurora duds that tried to appeal to buyers that were not interested.
I agree! Oldsmobile kept trying to chase a market share that was not interested. Those younger people didn't care that it was "not your father's Oldsmobile" or not. They didn't want it. Unfortunately Olds lost a lot of the more traditional people that were interested. While it's true that the bean counters have done a lot of damage, so have some of the corporate leadership with their stupid decisions.
They were too futuristic for the time too.
The Trofeo interior seems "sporty/high-tech", not "personal luxury". Cool as it may be -- though I'm no particular fan of "cool" -- somebody at Olds got their signals crossed and committed "mission creep". Innovation is great, but "fitness for purpose" is better. The seats are very "personal luxury". The dashboard -- mmm, I think not. Great video, Adam!
Interesting UA-cam profile name you have there.
I wouldn’t mind one of these.
I remember when this generation of Toronado/Trofeo came out and thinking how similar the styling was to the Olds Calais of the time except a little larger. The Riviera also looked like a larger version of the Skylark/Somerset of that era. Maybe that had something to do with the drop in sales.
I think Adam mentioned the Riviera/Somerset similarity in a previous video. IMO that was probably also a big factor with the Toronado's sales.
OMGSH, Adam!!! You brought back all my happiest car memories!!!!!! Those gray Toronado pix got my heart racing!! I had one EXACTLY like it and it was THE best car I've ever owned. I would KILL for a spectacular copy of one today!!!!!!!! My story is EXACTLY the same, come time to trade in. I wanted a Trofeo since they came out and got a Navy Blue one and was in my glory... for a short period of time. The thing broke down EVERY TIME I TRIED TO GO ANYWHERE! I sued GM under the Lemon Law and Gage finally gave me a new 1990 Oldsmobile Regency sedan and it was FLAWLESS!!! This was THE MOST heart racing episode ever. Your video's are SO COOL! Thanks for your personal insight. You're very much appreciated.
i like the commercial with roger Moores daughter. i like 1979-1985 toronados 1986 toronado so so.
When new, this was considered a rich man's car.
In my neighborhood, my Dad who worked at a Ford Dealership said bad things about the gas milage.
the 92 we had got about 25mpg avg.
@@tabbott429 : The old Toronado, the one before this little one.
The 92' model year sounds O.K.
You should do the 1990 92 Oldsmobile Toronado Trofeo I think those were super nice
My Old Man bought first year 1986 in Garnett Red I believe with Black Cherry lower valance. My Mother, Sister and I gathered at the end of our driveway when he brought it home from Anchor Pontiac Buuck Oldsmobile. 😂
I actually prefer the 86 to 89 toronado, eldorado, and riviera compared to the older ones. Born in 69, so i was 17 when the 86s came out and to me all 3 cars were much more modern and trim.than the 85 versions, which seemed to big and flabby for my taste. I really like the tan sort of two tone model you showed in the video. 2nd place was the eldo touring coupe in red.
An auto parts store owner always had Oldsmobiles, and in 1990 she git the newest model. I had to take it to oil changes. It was like a fighter cockpit where you could not rest your hand down without touching a button or control. Tons of extra features including air speed indicator? WHY? Still, cool. It was a fancy Beretta essentially. It holds up for styling today.
I like that Trofeo interior, and really LOVE the 1990 exterior! They addressed everything - the length, a more fastback rear window, and they totally reversed the glass-to body-ratio by raising the beltline...
Does anyone know what is in front of the shifter? Kinda' looks like it might be a DVD-based nav system?
We loved our '89 Olds Cutlass Supreme International. However, I did spend disprportionally on the suspension and brakes. @250,000 miles the interior and the HVAC controls were getting finicky and worn. great fun while it lasted. the 2.8 got phenominal mileage on the highway, and the leather seats with power expandible headrests were very comfortableon long road trips. The kids did complain of the poor view out the back (Fixed) windows.
bottom line was it didn't look expensive. I loved the previous generation. The 89 looked like an economy car. A Buick Regal or something. The sales numbers always tell the true story.
3:10
We called them Oldsmobile Grand Ams...
Adam, once again another great video. However, I am surprised how you neglected to mention the VIC used a CRT screen.
Great stuff Alex. I always had a visual issue with GM's low glass beltline of this era. Also thought the E Bodys size was reduced a bit too much, and should have had a stronger 'C pillars. With that said, Trofeo had better fit and finish to which I looked at purchasing for a while, but couldn't find one that wouldn't keep me from chasing parts. Designers like Adam are my heroes, much like athletes are to so many. Condolences to his family.👍🏽✔️🏁
80s!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I always loved the 79-84 Toro, Riv and Eldo and I will say that the Toronado is the Eldorado with a better engine.
The front end of the rendering looks like the Corvette
Gleaming the cube movie Christian Slater.
Its seems like this gen was a swing and a miss at trying to return to its roots as innovative and stylistically avant-garde like the 66. But it fell pray to the same half-assery and design-by-comittee crap that eventually swallowed GM, deslite being a really awesome car for the time all in all. When I was a kid in the late 80s/early 90s my cello teacher's husband worked for GM in some capacity and they always had loaded up Buicks and Olds things. I remember riding in her 88 Riviera with the touch screen and thought that was just the coolest thing! Even though I'm more of a Ford guy now (by ownership history at any rate), I absolutely love many things made by Oldsmobile and I'd trade my 88 T-bird LX for a nice one of these with the 3800 and all the gizmos in a heartbeat! (Hope the T-bird didn't hear that 😬)
I would choose the 85 Toronado over anything offered today.
Was an interesting car but I was always frustrated that the overall styling was too similar to the Cutlass Calais.
AT THAT TIME THE RIVIERA WAS THE ONE I'D CHOOSE.
Those Vic units were cool and the CRT was by Sony that surprised me. Didn’t the Century get a version of this system ?