My Favorite Ride: A gold 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado just like Jay Leno's

SPENCER – When Steve Toth was a kid, his dad bought a brand-new 1966 Chevrolet Impala at a Zionsville car dealership from salesman Pat Patterson.

While the paperwork was being completed, Toth wandered around the corner to the Oldsmobile section and spied a car that, in his mind, put that Impala to shame. He ran back and told his dad he had bought the wrong car.

“It was just like this one,” Toth said one recent Thursday afternoon as he pulled a faded cloth tarp off the front end of the 1966 Olds Toronado he’s had stowed away at his place for 15, maybe 20, years.

When I arrived that day to see the cars in his current collection, I walked past the shrouded vehicle and wrote in my reporter's notebook “… 15 or so cars, a 300 SL Mercedes on a trailer, something of value under a faded tarp, nothing else covered up …”

I was leaving when he unveiled the golden Oldsmobile. While he told me the story I took some pictures of his prized automobile.

After seeing that 1966 Toronado as a kid, Toth vowed he would own one someday. Surely one would come along. Decades passed.

Then about 20 years ago, he was perusing cars for sale at the Kesler-Schaefer Auto Auction in Indianapolis. There it was: a gold 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado, telescopic steering wheel and all, with just 65,000 miles on the odometer.

Toth placed what’s called an “if” bid, which means he agrees to buy the car for that amount if the owner agrees. He recalls offering $1,900 or $2,000 for the classic.

“Another guy there buying cars told me not to get my hopes up because he’d offered more the week before and the owner said no,” Toth said. He didn't think much about it until later that day, when a woman overseeing sales handed Toth the paperwork, and an invoice, for the car.

He brought it home to Spencer, where it’s been under wraps up awaiting restoration for about two decades. Toth told me he’s waited long enough and been distracted by too many cars over the years.

The Toronado’s time finally has come. He's buying parts.

Convinced I had never seen a 1966 Toronado, much less written about one in more than 20 years of car stories, I did some research and learned the David North-designed car started out as a painting and was never intended for production.

But General Motors' Oldsmobile division, seeking an “attention-getting” car to rival GM's Buick Riviera and Pontiac Grand Prix, ended up producing and selling nearly 41,000 Tornadoes that first year.

I did mention a 1972 Toronado once:Sons pursue dad's dream of reaching new heights in old car

The commercial success of the car, the first U.S.-made front-wheel-drive auto since Cord stopped production in 1937, wasn’t great. But Jay Leno has one in his collection and called 1966 “the purest year” for the Toronado, with its signature “eyebrow” gap above pop-up headlights.

Leno and Toth’s cars both are painted the same original Oldsmobile Trumpet Gold.

Leno’s, parked in his millionaire’s garage, is a lot shinier. Toth’s, after years parked in a field under a tarp, has some hail damage on the hood. There’s work to be done. Toth promised to track me down when the car is back in shape. I’ll let you know.

And Jay Leno, if you’re reading, which is possible, Steve Toth and I would love a close-up look at your ’66 Toronado. Call me.

Have a story to tell about a car or truck? Contact My Favorite Ride reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.