I recently bought a 36,000 miles 1983 Olds Toronado from an Olds fan near Boston. He had listed it on EBay, but it didn't sell, so I contacted him directly and we agreed on a price.
I bought a 1-way ticket to Boston from Palm Springs, California, and Mike picked me up at Boston's Logan airport. We drove to his house in an Alero, and closed the deal on the Toronado. The car was exactly as described, and was in excellent original condition.
The next day I began the 3,200 mile test drive back to California in a car that I had just bought. I made stops at Niagara Falls, saw friends in Ohio, and visited relatives in Missouri on the way home. The 5.0 never missed a beat and got 22-23 MPG on the open road. The only problem was the cruise didn't work due to the fact that someone had connected the vacuum lines wrong. It used no oil and no leaks whatsoever.
Some people thought I took a huge risk driving cross-country in a car that I had no real idea of the mechanical condition. I always replied that in an Olds of that era the risk is minimal. The car did have the original belts, hoses, radiator, water pump, and fuel pump. None failed, but I replaced all of them, and more, when I arrived back home in Indio, California.
This is my 5th Toronado over the years. Previous versions were a '72, 73', '79, and an '81 diesel. The bumper inserts will be installed as soon as I paint them later this week.
1983 Toronado
- Otto Skorzeny
- Posts: 1720
- Joined: Fri Feb 28, 2014 12:41 pm
- TOA Membership Number: 0
- Years Owned: 1966 Toronado
Re: 1983 Toronado
That's pretty cool. I'd have done the same thing.
-
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Tue Dec 28, 2021 2:02 pm
- TOA Membership Number: 0
- Years Owned: 1984 Toronado
Re: 1983 Toronado
I had an 83 and 77 both silver, my favorite cars. Have an 84 now and just did the bumper fillers, 600.00 to paint and install.
- Attachments
-
- bummpers.jpg (125.48 KiB) Viewed 10039 times
-
- 251089994_4662484980485224_4304878549903259344_n.jpg (258.91 KiB) Viewed 10039 times
- Otto Skorzeny
- Posts: 1720
- Joined: Fri Feb 28, 2014 12:41 pm
- TOA Membership Number: 0
- Years Owned: 1966 Toronado
Re: 1983 Toronado
Well done!
-
- Posts: 305
- Joined: Thu Nov 15, 2012 12:25 pm
- TOA Membership Number: 378
- Years Owned: 79 Toronado or Eldorado
Re: 1983 Toronado
rmftoro wrote:The car did have the original belts, hoses, radiator, water pump, and fuel pump. None failed, but I replaced all of them, and more, when I arrived back home in Indio, California.
That is good maintenance. Hope you have no emissions test issues in CA,
with a 49 state car. Bruce Roe
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 10 guests