The 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado remains an iconic vehicle, not just for its striking design but also for its groundbreaking engineering as the first American front-wheel-drive car in decades. Dick Ruzzin, a junior creative designer at Oldsmobile during its development, offers a personal and insightful account of the Toronado’s journey from initial sketches to a production marvel. This story, filled with creative energy and collaborative spirit, reveals the fascinating process behind the birth of an automotive legend.
The Origin of the Toronado Name
Interestingly, the name “Toronado” didn’t originate at Oldsmobile. It was conceived at Chevrolet by designer Ira Gilford of Studio #1. During a conversation with his father and uncle, the name emerged, blending “Toro” (Spanish for bull) and “Nado” (evoking “tornado”). Chevrolet initially used it for a show car. Recognizing its powerful and evocative nature, Oldsmobile requested the name, and Chevrolet readily granted it. The name “Toronado” perfectly encapsulated the bold and innovative spirit Oldsmobile envisioned for their new car.
The E-Car Program: A Platform for Innovation
The Toronado was part of General Motors’ ambitious “E-car” program, which also included the Buick Riviera and Cadillac Eldorado. This initiative aimed to create a trio of distinct personal luxury cars sharing a common platform, yet each with its own unique identity. The engineering marvel of the E-car platform was its adaptability. It was designed to accommodate both front-wheel drive, chosen for the Toronado and Eldorado, and rear-wheel drive, which powered the Riviera. This clever engineering allowed for shared components, promoting efficiency, while still enabling significant differentiation in design and driving dynamics.
Components like the windshield, A-pillar, and door side glass were standardized across all three models. The Toronado and Riviera further shared the roof panel and backlight. Even internal door structures and various underbody panels were common across the E-body lineup. Despite these shared elements, each car boasted unique sheet metal, resulting in distinct and recognizable styling. The most visible shared element remained the windshield pillar, a subtle nod to the underlying platform collaboration.
Ferrari’s Influence: Setting the Vision
To establish a clear vision for the then-unnamed E-car, John Beltz, Oldsmobile’s Chief Engineer, acquired a dark red Ferrari 330 GT 2+2. This sleek, four-passenger coupe became a crucial benchmark for the Oldsmobile design studio. The Ferrari’s size and close-coupled design were seen as ideal for the personal luxury car Oldsmobile was aiming to create with the Toronado. Initially, this Ferrari-inspired size suggested a smaller platform. However, accommodating the size requirements of all three E-cars ultimately led to a larger platform, demonstrating the compromises inherent in platform sharing.
Advanced Design #3: The Starting Point
Due to workload constraints in the Oldsmobile studio, the initial phase of the E-car program was entrusted to Advanced Design #3 studio. Chuck Jordan, a prominent figure in GM Design, initiated this move to accelerate the project and establish a design direction, especially in relation to the Buick Riviera and Cadillac Eldorado projects, which were at earlier stages of development. Jordan aimed to ensure a cohesive design strategy across all three models.
The Advanced Design #3 studio began by creating a clay model inspired by the Ferrari 330 GT 2+2, possibly using the platform of the then-current Chevrolet Camaro/Pontiac Firebird as a base for initial size and proportion studies. However, when the project returned to the Oldsmobile studio as an incomplete full-size clay model, significant modifications were necessary to align it with the final E-car platform specifications. This marked the serious commencement of the Toronado’s design completion for production, signaling a phase of intense design refinement and development.
The Evolution of a Groundbreaking Design
Don Logerquist is rightfully credited as the originator of the design theme that ultimately shaped the Toronado. His initial sketch served as the foundation for the car’s aesthetic development. This sketch emerged during explorations for an alternative design for the 1965 Oldsmobile B-body cars, which were already under development. Chuck Jordan was captivated by the design emerging on the alternate side of the B-body clay model. He brought in Irv Rybicki, former Oldsmobile Chief Designer, who recognized its potential for a future “special car” at Oldsmobile. This positive reception spurred the creation of a red rendering, collaboratively developed by Dave North, Don Logerquist, and Stan Wilen as advisor. Dave North primarily handled the layout and rendering, while Don Logerquist contributed significantly to shaping the surface aesthetics.
This approach of proactively seeking design solutions for future programs was later adopted by Irv Rybicki when he became Chief of Chevrolet #2 studio, demonstrating the impact of this forward-thinking design philosophy.
Dave North is acknowledged for the rendering, supported by Don Logerquist. Stan Wilen played a crucial role in shaping the front end, drawing inspiration from the thin, horizontal slot grille of the Firebird 3 concept car. Dick Ruzzin himself contributed to the rear design, taking cues from the Ferrari “Bread Van” race car and its Kamm-inspired tail, including the distinctive tailpipes. Stan Wilen also guided the taillamp design, advocating for a low, wide placement above the bumper, mirroring the front grille’s horizontal theme. This created a harmonious design language, sharply contrasting with the rear designs of the Riviera and Eldorado, ensuring the Toronado’s visual distinction.
Comparing the initial red rendering to the final production Toronado reveals significant design evolution. Notably, the pronounced wheel flares, a defining characteristic of the production model, are absent in the rendering. These emerged later when Bill Mitchell, a highly influential figure in GM design, eliminated the upper body line on the rear quarter panel. He connected the rear corner of the Kamm-inspired tail to the outboard roof crease, which was dictated by the shared roof panel with the Riviera. This design modification naturally led to a larger rear wheel lip flare to meet the quarter panel surface, significantly more pronounced than the front flare. This necessitated adjustments to the entire body side section. Upon closer inspection, the different angles of the front and rear flares become apparent, a deliberate design choice to create visual balance and symmetry.
The lower bodyside design aimed to evoke a “frame” look, a styling trend championed by Bill Mitchell, evident in the 1964 Pontiac Tempest/GTO. This design element effectively lowered the visual center of gravity, enhancing the car’s stance and creating a visual link between the front and rear wheel shapes. Stan Wilen continuously oversaw and refined these design elements, ensuring a cohesive and balanced final product.
Bill Mitchell’s intervention in modifying the design from the initial rendering after the clay model returned from Advanced Design #3 was pivotal. By connecting the roofline to the rear of the car, he established a continuous side plane that visually integrated the prominent wheel flares. This was a transformative design decision that elevated the Toronado’s uniqueness and visual impact. While it presented challenges in integrating the quarter panel line with the shared Riviera roof panel, it ultimately contributed to the Toronado’s distinctive and memorable silhouette.
Advanced Design #3’s Contribution
The initial transfer of sketches, scale models, and board drawings to Advanced Design #3 studio was crucial in initiating the Toronado program. This was driven by the Oldsmobile studio’s commitments to ongoing facelift work on existing models. Chuck Jordan’s strategic decision to involve Advanced Design #3 served to propel the Toronado project forward and solidify its design direction relative to the concurrent Riviera and Eldorado developments.
Upon the return of an incomplete full-size clay model from Advanced Design #3, the Oldsmobile studio focused intently on finalizing the design for production. A substantial amount of work remained, particularly in harmonizing the front and rear designs with the established side view theme. The initial red rendering, with its fender peak extending from the rear into the sail panel, guided the early stages. However, Bill Mitchell’s subsequent design revisions paved the way for finalizing the rear design, culminating in the production-ready form of the Toronado.
Addendum: Bill Porter’s Insight and the Wheel-Oriented Design Ethos
Bill Porter’s recollection of an early 1960s project in the Advanced area, featuring a scale model by Les Johnson, adds another layer to the Toronado’s design history. Johnson’s model incorporated a low body line that gracefully arched over the skirted rear wheel, a design element that resonated with Bill Mitchell. Mitchell’s positive response to this concept suggests a recurring theme and evolving design language within GM.
This reinforces the idea that the Toronado’s design wasn’t created in isolation. Stan Wilen’s emphasis on a low line accentuating the wheels as a central design theme for Oldsmobile became a foundational principle. While the initial Toronado rendering lacked the pronounced flares, they emerged organically during the three-dimensional surface development process, showcasing the iterative nature of automotive design. Don Logerquist’s gray and yellow pastel sketch, predating the red rendering, did incorporate these flares, indicating an early exploration of this design element.
The Toronado’s design era was characterized by Bill Mitchell’s strong advocacy for wheel-oriented design solutions. This enthusiasm permeated GM Design, fostering a creative environment focused on highlighting wheel forms. Simultaneously, the global racing scene showcased numerous wheel-centric design themes, contributing to the prevailing design zeitgeist. The 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado emerged as a unique synthesis of these influences, with its individual design elements and overall solution originating and coalescing within the Oldsmobile Studio under Stan Wilen’s direction.
The enthusiastic reception of the Toronado’s design stemmed from its fresh and unique combination of elements. While echoes of prior design explorations might exist within GM’s vast design history, Dick Ruzzin and his colleagues in the Oldsmobile Studio – Frank Munoz, Dave North, and Stan Wilen – focused solely on the project at hand, without direct references to external or internal precedents.
Dick Ruzzin recalls a simplified monocoque theme model with wheel protrusions in Chuck Jordan’s office, but it differed significantly from the Toronado’s evolved design. GM Design operated as a prolific idea-generating entity, where every design exploration, in some way, influenced the broader creative landscape.
Conclusion: A Lasting Legacy of Innovation
The 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado stands as a testament to innovative design and engineering. Dick Ruzzin’s firsthand account provides invaluable insights into the collaborative process, key personalities, and design evolution that shaped this automotive icon. From its evocative name and Ferrari-inspired vision to Bill Mitchell’s transformative design direction and the pioneering front-wheel-drive system, the Toronado was a bold step forward. It not only redefined personal luxury cars but also left an indelible mark on automotive design history, inspiring generations of vehicles to come. The Toronado remains a celebrated example of American automotive ingenuity and design excellence.
