Everything you ever wanted to know about the 1986 Oldsmobile Toronado.

Sal Collaziano said:
What year is your Toronado? Share some photos. :)
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It is a 1992. I owned a 1992 before the current car that was black. I owned a canyon yellow 1991 before that one. The one before that one was red and a 1991. It was junk. The current one is dark sapphire blue. My 1996 Ninety Eight is light blue.

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NINETY EIGHT REGENCY said:
It is a 1992. I owned a 1992 before the current car that was black. I owned a canyon yellow 1991 before that one. The one before that one was red and a 1991. It was junk. The current one is dark sapphire blue. My 1996 Ninety Eight is light blue.

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Very nice. I didn't appreciate them when they were new - but now I sure do... Yours appears to be in excellent condition...
 
Sal Collaziano said:
Very nice. I didn't appreciate them when they were new - but now I sure do... Yours appears to be in excellent condition...
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It is getting there. I have done some work to it. I have done a lot of the mechanical, things on the interior and exterior. I still have a few things to do. Thank you for the compliment.
 
NINETY EIGHT REGENCY said:
It is getting there. I have done some work to it. I have done a lot of the mechanical, things on the interior and exterior. I still have a few things to do. Thank you for the compliment.
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The Toronado, the Riviera, and the Eldorado. I believe that was it for the platform sharing on this particular type. Correct? They got a lot smaller on the outside, but they managed to stay pretty big on the inside.
 
Sal Collaziano said:
The Toronado, the Riviera, and the Eldorado. I believe that was it for the platform sharing on this particular type. Correct? They got a lot smaller on the outside, but they managed to stay pretty big on the inside.
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All three cars were on the E Car chassis from the 1960's. They shared parts with the B Bodies in the 1970's. In 1979 they were all front wheel drive on the E Car chassis. It was this way until 1992 when Eldorado and Seville switched platforms. Toronado was dropped after 1992 model year. Riviera moved to the G car chassis with the Aurora in 1995. The Seville eventually switch over to the G car chassis. The Eldorado was eventually dropped. They shared a lot of mechanical parts for years. The cosmetics were different and specific to each brand. I know in the early 1990's Riviera and Toronado share stereos and shifter plates( I did not realize this until recently). They shared climate controls too. The Eldorado Touring Coupe(before 1992) had seats similar to the Toronado. The chassis was shared with all three and the Seville. The Allante and Reatta were on the E car chassis. It was the cosmetic things that were different.

The got too small 1986-1991. They were close to the N cars in dimensions. That is why the portions looked awkward. How they got the same interior room or close to it was the small seats and smaller interior parts. The Toronado for example went from 204-206 inches long 1979-1985 to 187 inches long in 1986 to 1989. It went back to 200 inches in 1990. This is the generation I own that was upsized in 1990. It ran until 1992.
 
NINETY EIGHT REGENCY said:
All three cars were on the E Car chassis from the 1960's. They shared parts with the B Bodies in the 1970's. In 1979 they were all front wheel drive on the E Car chassis. It was this way until 1992 when Eldorado and Seville switched platforms. Toronado was dropped after 1992 model year. Riviera moved to the G car chassis with the Aurora in 1995. The Seville eventually switch over to the G car chassis. The Eldorado was eventually dropped. They shared a lot of mechanical parts for years. The cosmetics were different and specific to each brand. I know in the early 1990's Riviera and Toronado share stereos and shifter plates( I did not realize this until recently). They shared climate controls too. The Eldorado Touring Coupe(before 1992) had seats similar to the Toronado. The chassis was shared with all three and the Seville. The Allante and Reatta were on the E car chassis. It was the cosmetic things that were different.

The got too small 1986-1991. They were close to the N cars in dimensions. That is why the portions looked awkward. How they got the same interior room or close to it was the small seats and smaller interior parts. The Toronado for example went from 204-206 inches long 1979-1985 to 187 inches long in 1986 to 1989. It went back to 200 inches in 1990. This is the generation I own that was upsized in 1990. It ran until 1992.
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Thank you for the information. Yes, that up-sizing toward the end of the generation made a big difference. Then they got bigger again with the last generation of Riviera and Eldorado. I had the Eldorado but always wanted a Supercharged Riviera... I wonder what the Toronado would have looked like with another generation...
 
Sal Collaziano said:
Thank you for the information. Yes, that up-sizing toward the end of the generation made a big difference. Then they got bigger again with the last generation of Riviera and Eldorado. I had the Eldorado but always wanted a Supercharged Riviera... I wonder what the Toronado would have looked like with another generation...
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I wished Toronado would have got a second generation. It would have most likely looked like a two door Aurora with Toronado cues. You are correct about Eldorado. Eldorado went from 191 inches long in 1991 to 200-202 in 1992. The last generation Eldorado looked bigger because it was wider. It was 75 inches wide and just over 200 inches long. That is a significant change. It pretty much was almost on part with the 1979-1985 Eldorado. The Buick Riviera went from 204-206 inches long 1979-1985 down to 187 inches long 1986-1988. It then grew in 1989 back to 198.3 inches long. In the final generation it was big as the 1979-1985 Riviera again. It was 207 inches long. GM started upsizing in 1988( slight) on Cadillacs. They had the Fleetwood Sixty Special at 200-202 inches long and Seville Eldorado grew slightly with new front ends and fenders. The length was added at the rear doors on Fleetwood. Then in 1989, Buick Riviera grew and Cadillac Deville and Fleetwood grew. The wheel base went up on the sedans from 110.8 to 113 inches. The Deville and Fleetwood coupe still used the 110.8 inch wheelbase. The length went up to 207-209 inches long. In 1990 Toronado grew from 1987 inches to 200 inches and the width grew also. The 1990-1992 Toronado was as long as a 1981-1988 G Body Cutlass Supreme. In 1991, Oldsmobile Ninety Eight and Buick Park Avenue grew to 205-206 inches. In 1992, Seville and Eldorado grew to 204 and 200-202 inches on longer wheelbases. The H Bodies( Buick Le Sabre, Pontiac Bonneville, Oldsmobile Eighty Eight all grew over 200 inches. Le Sabre was 200 inches. It still looked big as the 1990-1991 Le Sabre( 196.5 inches). The Oldsmobile Eighty Eight grew to 201-202 inches long. The Pontiac Bonneville grew to 200-202 inches long. When they face lifted it in 1994, it shrunk down to 199.5 inches. It went back up to 201 inches in 1996.

When they were redesigned for 2000( the H Bodies). they grew again. The Park Avenue and Deville grew in the late 1990's and early 2000's.

As these models all phased out in the 2000's, the Buick Lucerne was 203 inches long. DTS was 207.6 inches long. The Bonneville was gone after 2005, and Le Sabre and Park Avenue were replaced by Lucerne. Lucerne was narrower and shorter. The DTS was replaced by XTS and CT6( both were over 200 inches long). Eventually Buick was calling La Crosse full sized which was big as as the downsized GM cars from the 1980's. It was 196.9 inches long. The Park Avenue lived to see another day in China. It was based off the Holden Caprice/Statesman:



In 2025, no more large cars or midsized cars at GM or Ford. Cadillac has the CT5.

I will allow these videos to make the change and share:

GM Line up 1983: ( before the great downsizing)

GM Lineup 1984: ( the early stages of the downsized era):

GM line up 1985( the great downsizing begins):

GM line up 1986( the downsized era in full effect):

GM lineup 1990: ( the upsizing begins):
1990 GM Model Line | Retro Review

GM lineup 1991( the upsizing continued):
MotorWeek | Retro Review: 1991 GM Line

GM lineup 1993( the upsizing is almost complete):
1993 GM Model Line | Retro Review

GM lineup 1995( refinement)
MotorWeek | Retro Review: 1995 General Motors Line

GM lineup 1996:
Motorweek 1996 - What is new for General Motors in 1996

GM line up 1997 (Oldsmobile Intrigue shows up here)
Motorweek What's new from General Motors for 1997

GM lineup 1998: ( Regency appears in this video)( Eighty Eight with Ninety Eight parts)
Motorweek shows what was new at General Motors for 1998
 
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