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1989 Oldsmobile Toronado Trofeo, has 1300 actual miles, that is not a misprint, it has 1300 actual miles, i am the 2nd owner, it is dark red metallic exterior with a garnet red interior, mint condition, $25,000. contact mike at 517-927-four seven seven 2
Last edited by Rocketguy; February 13th, 2024 at 06:23 AM.
Ain’t no way he gets $25k for that. As nice as it is, condition is only one of the three legs of the value stool. Condition, rarity, and DESIRABILITY are what determine value. Just because the car is practically brand new and there might be only two of them in existence doesn’t mean that it will suddenly command more attention and be more sought after than it would otherwise be. What is the intrinsic demand for these cars? He would be lucky to get in the high teens for it, and if he gets half his asking price, he should take it. Otherwise, he could be sitting on it for years. Even someone who just loves these cars and can’t get enough of them is going to hesitate a bit at that price.
I don't disagree with you but the seller will eventually figure that out. And to be honest, I am continually amazed at cars that sell for 2x or 3x what I think they should. Of course, I'm just cheap.
That is a very nice car but I look at the size of it and think this can't be a Toronado.
You are not alone!
The fourth and last generation of the Toronado was the ‘86 through ‘92 models. The 1986 restyling was generally seen as a disaster exactly because of what you’ve observed. The car didn’t look like what a Toronado should look like, it was often compared to the Cutlass Calais coupe, and it was often seen as a low-end Eldorado.
For 1990 and after, the Toronado was again redesigned, so it’s almost like there was a fifth generation, but those final three years of the Toro are not seen that way today. But the car changed significantly for 1990, being made a full foot longer, even though the wheelbase was the same, and all the body panels except for the hood were new.
Here's the '89 with a '90 Toro below it. The differences are not immediately obvious, at least to me, but if you look closely, it appears that most of the increase in length took place behind the rear wheels. The roofline is completely different as well with a thicker C-pillar and sharper corners at the rear side window opening, especially the upper right . And, of course, the fuel filler door went from a circle to a rectangle!
Did the redesign help sales? Sort of.
For '86 through '88, sales were in the 15,000 annually range. But for '89, sales dropped by about one-third to about 10,000. For 1990, sales recovered only to what they were before 1989, right at 15,000. So all the redesign did was get back what had been lost. It didn't improve anything.
Then the bottom really fell out with only about 8,000 sold for 1991 and an even fewer 6,400 for 1992, the final year. It's rare to see a '92 today (or even a '91, for that matter), even at Oldsmobile car shows. Heck, the production figure of just over 7,000 for just the convertible version of the '73 Delta 88 I own exceeded the entire production of 1992 Toronados. It's not surprising that the car disappeared after that year. The original novelty of the Toronado, front wheel drive, had long since become commonplace on cars of the day.
For 1990 and after, the Toronado was again redesigned, so it’s almost like there was a fifth generation, but those final three years of the Toro are not seen that way today. But the car changed significantly for 1990, being made a full foot longer, even though the wheelbase was the same, and all the body panels except for the hood were new.
But still the same platform and same generation. This is no different than the 1963 Y-body cars, which were longer and had all new sheet metal (at least below the beltline) as compared to the 61-62 cars. Still the same wheelbase, suspension, floorpan, etc.
Nice and low miles but $25k for the car is a far stretch. Might get $15k with the right buyer but these cars are NOT sought after. Nobody really cared about them when new and there is no market for them.
Plus the low miles is a double edged sword as gaskets, seals, fuel, fluids, all deteriorate over time. Entire engine might need new gaskets (oil pan, intake, valve covers, etc).
For sure, but, still, the '90 to '92 Toros were different. I got that information above about the 1990 Toro specs from a 1998 article in Collectible Automobile where they named the 10 most significant Oldsmobiles in the history of the marque. Included on the list was the 1990 Toronado. Agree or disagree, they at least thought enough of the 1990 Toro to call it out.
Here's Collectible Automobile's full list of the 10 most significant Oldsmobiles. In chronological order.
1. 1903 Curved Dash. Duh. But why did they pick 1903 instead of 1901, when the car debuted? They say it's because 1903 was the last year of "the first Olds era" as Ransom Olds left the company after 1903.
2. 1910 Limited. Imposing presence. 42-inch wheels, 130-inch wheelbase. The higher end of the two models offered that year. It cost a king's ransom, too. About $4,600, which is equivalent to about $140,000 today. Only 325 were produced.
3. 1940 Hydramatic. Not a car, so I wonder why it's on the list, but it's there. It was the first fully automatic transmission and was offered only by Oldsmobile.
4. 1949 88 and 98 with the Rocket V-8. Again, more a feature than a specific car. We know the story here. CA says that this was the most significant innovation in the entire history of Oldsmobile.
5. 1953 Ninety-Eight Fiesta. Along with the Buick Skylark and Cadillac Eldorado, they formed GM's "super-convertible trio." The Fiesta was 57.5 inches tall, making it three inches shorter than other Olds convertibles. But it weighed more than 300 lbs more, and it cost a whopping $5,715 dollars. Those are 1953 dollars. Equivalent to about $66,000 today.
6. 1966 Toronado. We know the story here.
7. 1978 Cutlass Supreme. What? It was the year that the A-bodies underwent the downsizing that the B and C-bodies had undergone the year before. It was a significant restyling over the 1973-1977 models at a time when Olds was selling around 1 million cars a year, half of them Cutlasses, which was the most popular car in America at the time. There were eight Cutlass models, including three versions of the Supreme, which was the most popular version with almost a quarter-million built that year.
8. 1990 Toronado Trofeo. Discussed above.
9. 1995 Aurora. According to CA, "years of Oldsmobile product dullness, the onus of an aging customer base, and seeming intransigence of management were obliterated by the arrival of the 1995 Aurora, a sophisticated, fast, and perfectly gorgeous four-door sedan." Oldsmoble came out with its new logo this year as well, "an angled, heavily stylized rocket escaping from the ovoid that surrounded it." The Aurora was supposed to come out right after the Toro ended, but the Toro ended sooner than expected, so the Aurora was positioned as a new model in its own right designed to compete in the "near luxury" sedan class. CA says that Olds selected the Lexus LS 400 as their benchmark. Interestingly, and I did not know this, not every Oldsmobile dealer was allowed to sell the Aurora. Olds General Manager at the time John Rock "insisted that dealers wishing to sell the Aurora meet tough standards." In the end, only about two-thirds of Olds dealers were allowed to sell the car. CA had a lot more to say about the Aurora.
10. 1998 Intrigue. At this time, it was not known that the end of Oldsmobile would be announced just two years later, and CA said that the Intrigue was slotted to become Oldsmobiles next bread-and-butter family sedan, replacing the long-serving 88 lines. Also, it was no accident that the Intrigue resembled the Aurora. I have to say that I often mistake the two when I see an Intrigue at car show, which isn't that often.
Last edited by jaunty75; February 14th, 2024 at 08:21 AM.
For sure, but, still, the '90 to '92 Toros were different. I got that information above about the 1990 Toro specs from a 1998 article in Collectible Automobile where they named the 10 most significant Oldsmobiles in the history of the marque. Included on the list was the 1990 Toronado. Agree or disagree, they at least thought enough of the 1990 Toro to call it out.
Here's Collectible Automobile's full list of the 10 most significant Oldsmobiles. In chronological order.
I'm thinking they should have stopped after number six.
Arguably the Y-body cars might have been included - first unibody, first aluminum V8, first turbo. Also the 71 Toro with the True-Track braking and the 74 cars with airbags. And no one remembers the 1916 cars with Oldsmobile's FIRST V8.
These cars are electrical nightmares with less and less support for parts every year. Eventually they will break and the owners will be stuck with the cars weight in junk.
These cars are electrical nightmares with less and less support for parts every year. Eventually they will break and the owners will be stuck with the cars weight in junk.
The 3.8L engine was probably the best thing on this car.
Is it the electrical dash that is the problem? I know they had a 100% digital dash which wasn't the best.
The GM VATs key is a problem for these cars, as well as the 440-T4 transaxle. My 96 98 with a later model 4T60-E transaxle recently bit the dust and I sold it for scrap. Fixing the transaxle and VATs key malfunction was more money and time than the car was worth (even if I had done the work myself).
I've got to take Joe's note at stopping at #6 and go just one step further and stop it at #7. This of course is my completely biased opinion be it I currently have 3 1979's, so I disqualify myself from any objectivity.
Realistically speaking though, I love the design of these 78-80 G bodies. But the lack of any power is their sheer curse. Even the 79 H/O and the 80 442's with their smog choked 350's really don't make the grade. At least the mid to late 60's and very early 70's Cutlasses can keep up with today's traffic. Not so my 79's all that much. I get on the Interstate and I can only think of one thing. OB-SO-LETE. So much so I tend to now avoid the Interstate with these cars. Unless they are on my trailer.
I'm thinking they should have stopped after number six.
Originally Posted by BlueCalais79
I've got to take Joe's note at stopping at #6 and go just one step further and stop it at #7.
Remember, this is a list of the ten most significant Oldsmobiles, not the ten most significant cars. The '78 Cutlass may have been a piece of crap in the grand scheme of things, but it was Oldsmobile crap, and they sold a lot of them. These cars can be significant for reasons other than their engines.
I think the significance of the '78 Cutlass, and what Collectible Automobile is talking about, is more because Oldsmobile took a risk in redesigning and making smaller what had been a tremendously successful run of Cutlasses through 1977. It was a gamble that paid off because, whatever issues there are with the engine, Oldsmobile continued to sell lots of Cutlasses and a million or more cars overall each year through the middle of the next decade.
I bought my 69 Toronado from the original owner when he bought his 89 Toronado. He hated that car. He wanted my 69 back so badly. All I see in that car is the cheap junk days of General Motors. No offense to you fans that love them.
Here's another last generation Toronado that was for sale some time ago. I don't know if it ever sold.
That was a nice car. Did he try to sell it anywhere else besides this site? As many people as frequent CO, it's a very tiny drop in the bucket compared to the number of people who would see it if it were on craigslist, ebay, things like that.
I think the price of the one I linked is more realistic.
Yeah, I talked to the dude about 3 years ago in August, which is the date of the postings related to this car. If you could get a word in edgewise with George, you're having a good day! LOL
I don't know if the car is still up on the block or not. Haven't noticed any postings from this guy since then.
That compartment ahead of the shifter must be the cassette player. Not a big fan of this car or the Riv. or Eldo. Don't like that swept-up back end and that crazy touch screen was lots of troubles. Had an '88 for sale here in Mpls. last year at a former Olds dealer, now a Buick-GMC. 57k on it. That mentioned screen sent me away.
Saw one of these in the bone yard back in the late 80s. Somebody who had more determination or stupidity (I'm voting for stupidity) than us hack sawed the sport steering wheel to get the dash out instead of loosening the column & dropping the lower valance. Must've gone through a few blades on that caper. Jesus.
Now the last 3 years was a different story. Lot nicer.
February 13th, 2024, 06:17 AM
