The GQ thread about Torino reminded me of the Oldsmobile Toronado. I saw a black one a week or so ago while taking my walk. The interior needed work, but the exterior was fairly nicely restored.
I read about the Toronado in a 1966 issue of Road & Track (thanks, Tuckerfan!) and the thing that surprised me was that it had front-wheel drive. I know that there were other cars, notably the Austin Mini, that had front-wheel drive; but until readong about the Toronado last year I didn’t realise that any full-sized American cars used it. IIRC my mom’s '72 Celica was rear-wheel drive. As I approached driving age in the mid-to-late '70s I started to hear about front-wheel drive. Remember that there was an oil crisis in '79, and front-wheel drive was said to be more efficient. (I’d have to dig out the magazine, but I think the '66 Toronado only got like 16 mpg.)
Were there any other full-sized front-wheel drive American cars in the '60s? Any earlier ones?
Although not American, the DKW manufactured by Germany’s Auto Union AG is considered the first mass-produced front-wheel-drive car – the earliest relevant examples date to 1931.
The 1967 Cadillac Eldorado was front wheel drive, it was based on the Toronado platform. The Cord, built in the late 20’s then revived in 1936 for a two year run could be considered the first full size front wheel drive car. After the Cadillac it wouldn’t be till 1978 when Chrysler sold the Dodge/Plymouth Omni that another American car company would sell a front wheel drive car.
I’m not sure but I think production on the Eldorado ended in 2001. Following the Eldorado, Cadilliac converted their Seville to front wheel drive in 1980. Buick had done the same with their Riviera a year earlier.
Ford didn’t enter the front wheel drive sedan market until 1986, with the Taurus.
Interesting stuff. As everyone knows, my first car was a hand-me-down '66 MGB that I drove from 1980 to about 1986. I also drove a couple of '77 MGBs and a 77½ Porsche 924 during that period. I pretty much missed out on the front-wheel drive thing in the '80s, until I got a second-hand Chevy Sprint. For some reason I find the idea of a large American car with front-wheel drive existing in the 1960s fascinating.
I learned to drive a stickshift in a Dodge Omni 024. It was a sports model, same as a Plymouth Turismo. But it was not a big car at all. The Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon was a little compact econobox. All of these were FWD.
I’ve never gotten a close look at an early Toronado, but I’d really like to see how they coupled a V8 engine with a transaxle for FWD. I can’t seem to find any pictures of the engine compartment.
On a side note, the Toyota Corolla was Rear Wheel Drive until some point in the 70s. But even after they went to front wheel drive, the engine was still lined up front to back like a RWD car would be. I think it had a very short drive shaft that went to a differential with CV shafts that drove the front wheels.
My first car was a 1967 Olds Toronado. The car was 10 years old, but in perfect condition (up from California). I was 16 years old, and in perfect condition. It was a match made in heaven. I miss that car sniff!
Growing up in Alaska in the 70’s, my parents had a 1975 and then a 1976 Toronado. Man was that car sweet in the snow! Front wheel drive coupled with a 455 under the hood gave some serious traction. Throw on some snow tires with studs and you could run that thing through 2 feet of snow. And I did…except this one time when I didn’t see a ditch there…that’s a different story though.
What about the '66 Buick Riviera.
These Olds units were available with the 455 c.i. powerplant and who could forget the “beer can” with numbers they used for a speedo?!!??!
Full size front wheel drive car and you guys are talking the Sixties? Try the Twenties. Both Cord and Ruxton had it. Some of the really early cars which were little more than motorized buggys had FWD as well, but those can’t be considered full size.
Nup, the Fiesta was a product of the 70s and a front wheel drive model.
I’m surprised at how long it took, relatively speaking, many Japanese firms to mass produce FWD cars. I have some copies of my Dad’s old car magazines with little diagrams beside the cars they tested of the drive layout. All French cars in the mid-sized range were FWD, British and Japanese cars stuck with RWD. I suppose the trick for Japanese cars at the time was to be cheap, well equipped and reliable compared to their European counterparts.
When the Toronado was introduced, I had a classmate who got all excited, figuring his dad was going to get some serious recognition. His dad, an engineer at Ford, had taken the basic Fairlane and designed a front wheel drive for it around 1957 - 1959. My classmate figured that once the Toronado took off, Ford would be back looking to update the earlier design.
Ford never bought into the FWD concept, though, so my classmate was pretty disappointed. (I talked to his dad from time to time, but never about that topic, so I don’t know how he felt.)
The engine was mounted longitudinally, like you said. The transmission was beside the engine, on the right, mounted back-to-front. (That is, the input was aft, the output forward.) Torque converter I think was at the back of the engine; a big roller chain at the back of the engine connected the torque converter and the transmission input. A differential was bolted to the front (output) end of the transmission, with CV shafts/joints to each front wheel. The shaft to the left front wheel ran below the engine oil pan.
Automatic transmission only.
This is in contrast to the Cord and Citroen Traction Avant designs, in which the transmission was bolted to the front of the engine. The Toronado design made for a more compact design and also kept the engine mass right above the front wheels, making for a smoother ride.
JoHan made a very nice model kit of the Toronado, which got a couple yearly updates. Monogram made a kit of the Hurst Hairy Olds drag car, which was an Olds 442 with one blown Toronado powerplant in the front and another in the rear–apparently when the front slicks started spinning, you could kiss directional control goodbye.
sniff!
