Last of her breed?

This is probably wayyy overpriced, but I don't think you can deny it's a rare car nowadays.

mmmm 5.7 diesel..

Watch those rods fly out of the hood.

Wow... I cannot imagine a car I'd want to own less than that thing. And I live in East Germany!

J

I like these early '80s GM "personal luxury" coupes, but to me, the Toro was the plainest one. I'd go for a Riviera with it's available convertible body or a turbo V6. And if it was just a case of styling? The Eldorado coupe or convertible. Of the 3, there isn't much compelling about a Toro.

If I'm not mistaken, most of those motors were yanked and replaced with gas versions. They had a horrible reputation. I want to say my uncle's company got a bunch for fleet use, and all of them ended up being retrofitted with a gas motor. GM was not exactly at their peak during those years either.

Now as to rare, some cars are better off viewed from afar...

those were pretty cars.. that is for certain

The engine was basically an Olds Rocket 350, with only 10 head bolts on a gasser, but the diesel had 3x the compression. No wonder that engine was one of the most-replaced in its time (along with the Caddy 4-6-8). Swaps were very common.

It was a good looking car, for it's time, though.

For a short while, there were diesel to gas conversion kits available. Basically it was a carb, intake, heads, dizzy, pistons etc and you could do an in frame conversion from diesel to gas. I knew one guy who bought a couple of diesel Eldorados and did that, made good $$ off of 'em.

My dad had a diesel Eldo for a while. It blew a head gasket which then blew the top tank off the radiator. The Caddy dealer fixed it, he said "will it happen again?' they said 'oh no, there's a fix for that'. The fix? A notch in the head gasket so that when it blew, it blew to the outside and thus would not blow the radiator apart. Two days after he picked it up, the balancer came apart on the highway. It was still under warranty, he got it fixed and took a bath on it to get rid of it.

mad_machine wrote: those were pretty cars.. that is for certain

Kramer wrote: It was a good looking car, for it's time, though.

Are we talking about the same car here? Enamel white, chrome grille, rubber bumper trim, four square sealed beams, trunk longer & lower than hood, awkward from every angle, Landau top, 4500 lb 80 HP FWD? Seriously?

Just checking.

While there were many cars in the early '80s that can be considered pretty, I'd say this is as far from one as you can get.

J

Jay wrote: Wow... I cannot imagine a car I'd want to own less than that thing. And I live in East Germany! J

I can: The 1975 to 1977 Toronados.

Growing up in Lansing, the heart of Oldsmobile country, there were a lot of them around. I always thought were fat, bloated, and unattractive. It seemed like they had the same mass as a Suburban, were as big as full size pick-up truck, and had less interior space than a Cutlass of the same vintage. I never understood the appeal.

let them die in peace..

Haha. i had an eldorado, replaced the shocks,then the tranny died (something like 5000lbs, V8's and fwd doesnt make for long lasting transmissions it seems)

bought a Toronado (loved the car really, it looks like the batmobile) put the eldo shocks on it. aperently they were stiffer then usual. because of features and trim the toro is quite light compared to the eldo.

result? the flattest turning car i had for a while. haha! it was great. it was actually pretty neutral in, say, highway on ramps. i loved it.

...then that transmission blew up too.

Portland huh.....glad I didn't stop on my drive from GR to Detroit......

that thing is hideous.