Nov 15: A great prize or ?

Hard to believe that this car was introduced almost fifty years ago in 1966  -  the first North American front wheel drive car since the Cord. And so unusual for this configuration to be in such a big car. This Oldsmobile Toronado's styling was another thing that set it apart, simple and gorgeous. How could it be improved upon?

And so begins the topic of this blog........

Way back in 1967 Imperial Oil had a contest to celebrate Canada's 100 birthday. And for that contest they gave away four Toronado's, but not just any four. Imperial Oil had commissioned famed California customizer, George Barris (Mr. Unrestrainted Bad Taste of the custom car world), to redesign or improve upon Oldsmobile's sleek new Toro. In my opinion, a very tough thing to do, but ol' George stepped up big time with his 67X or 70-X (there seems to be some confusion about the name).

Take a look........

An improvement? After adding, what looks like several superfluous feet to a somewhat pure design, Barris unveiled a confused and ugly looking "improvement". Anyway, four people won these custom Oldsmobiles and they were quickly forgotten, until the early 2000's when one surfaced and was restored. Apparently there are two that survived.Back in 2009 this one failed to meet it's reserve on eBay  -  its high bid was $227k.

The inside might be the most restrained and tasteful part of this hideous mess. I know, I know, beauty is in the eye, etc, but somethings don't need to be argued over, and this is one of them. No discussion, it's ugly, end of story.

Need another look at the original to refresh your memory........

Wonder if the execs at Imperial felt they got their money's worth?

Until next time........