A look back at the 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado: ‘The Art of the the Automobile’

By Dick Ruzzin with preface by John Manoogian ll

Throughout the 100 plus year history of the automobile, there have been a select number of examples that have been recognized by designers the world over as true breakthrough designs. The 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado has attained the status of a timeless example of automotive art. Designed by General Motors Styling Staff the Toronado is one of the few select automobiles that clearly is an example of the automobile as an art form.

The purpose of the following document, written by Dick Ruzzin who was one of the designers, is to establish the aesthetic origins of that seminal design. Since the car’s inception, there have been several false narratives and misstatements concerning the Toronado’s authorship and development. The design and creation of an automobile is a complex coordinated endeavor that requires the input of creative designers, sculptors and engineers. No one individual can, nor should they, lay claim to the creation of a mass produced automobile. In the case of the 1966 Toronado, Stan Wilen, then Chief Designer of the Oldsmobile Design Studio, was the conductor of the inspired orchestra that created the design that would prove to be a piece of art and one of the historical high points for automotive design.

John Manoogian ll,
General Motors Design, retired
Center For Creative Studies, retired

When the Torornado went into production the GM Press Office released a statement by William L. Mitchell, Vice President of GM Styling, who credited Dave North with the design of the Toronado while working in an Advanced Design Studio. That statement as it was made was confusing and incorrect. The fact is that the complete design was accomplished in the Oldsmobile Studio while under Stan Wilen's direction while Dave North was working for him and with the help of the rest of the studio staff. The clay model did leave for seven weeks while we finished designing the Delta 88 and 98 but nothing was done there at that time that lasted. This account clarifies the events that led to the Toronado design.

Dave North should have never let people believe that he was the only one involved in the design of the Toronado. This article is about correcting that negligence.

The Oldsmobile Toronado was the 1966 Car of the Year and received many engineering and design awards including one from the Industrial Design Society of America. It has the following important historic significance:

1. It’s unique appearance.

2. Front Wheel Drive and technological content.

3. The time that it appeared.

Stan Wilen was appointed by vice president of General Motors William Mitchell to the position of Chief Designer for Oldsmobile Division in 1962. Wilen was responsible for all Oldsmobile Styling and he directed and approved every styling theme and detail of all Oldsmobile cars during the period of time when the 1966.

I was a designer in the Oldsmobile Studio when the Toronado was created. At that time, Stan Wilen was responsible for the design of the 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado. It was created under his direction and he also participated in its design as a member of the Oldsmobile Studio design staff.

 - DICK RUZZIN , GM Design, Retired.

The design of the Toronado was accomplished by the work and input of all designers in Oldsmobile Studio under Stan Wilen's direction. They were assisted by a number of studio engineers and sculptors who worked there throughout the entire design program. It would be untrue and self serving for anyone to claim total individual design credit of the final Toronado design. 

The Toronado design was realized as a result of the styling contributions by all members of the styling, engineering and sculpting staff who were assigned to work in the Oldsmobile Studio, including Stan Wilen. Stan was responsible for all Oldsmobile Styling. He contributed to all of the work being done as a designer himself and he directed the complete program. Stan participated in the design process and he also was completely responsible for it. No single person other than Stan Wilen was responsible for the 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado design. It was a studio group effort under the responsibility and direction of Stan Wilen. 

Don Logerquist, a Senior Designer in Oldsmobile Studio was the creator of the Toronado body design theme under the direction of Wilen. Stan chose to test the design on the passenger side of the 1965 Delta 88 clay model. The Red Rendering, a large flame red side view "sketch", follow that test on the clay model but Don's large wheel flares were not included on the Red Rendering. The Red Rendering was created by Dave North and Don Logerquist with help from studio engineers George Gadda and Orville Selders. Later, Bill Mitchell, the vice president of styling, would return the large wheel flares to the body side as they were seen on Don's original sketch. The Tornado design with the large flares was released for production.

Stan Wilen’s overall strategy was to create design themes and cues on the Toronado that he could execute on future Oldsmobiles. His strategy was that all future Oldsmobiles would include some design features from the Toronado as it was to become the Oldsmobile brand's image car. Stan also successfully convinced Styling management that the body side theme belonged to Oldsmobile and should not be repeated elsewhere on any other GM car.

In the mid 1960s it was the policy of GM Styling to create an early production design proposal that was then shown to the GM Board of Directors. Following their approval, the production version of the design would be developed and released for production. That first Toronado was created over a proposed platform from Oldsmobile Engineering that was a variation of the F-Car, the platform used on the Camaro and Firebird. Consequently, it was a smaller, tighter four-passenger car, which is what Oldsmobile wanted. The entire design had been developed at that point in time and was then, after approval by the Board Of Directors, reproduced on the larger E-Car platform. The complete design from the first Toronado fiberglass model was scaled up and reproduced on the new platform that was to be shared by Buick Riviera and Cadillac Eldorado.

No one person created the Toronado, design, it was done by a team of people under the direction of Stan Wilen in the Oldsmobile Studio.

Stan was responsible for the design also as an executive for General Motors styling staff.

For a more in-depth look at the 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado's design aspects please see the videos below 

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u35b3qp8w0k[/embed][embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hS6K4cqr_4[/embed]

GENERAL MOTORS, HARLEY EARL and the Design of the TORONADO", to be published in February of 2025. It will be launched and distributed worldwide by Veloce Publishing, UK. The book will contain a much larger and very detailed account of the Toronado design and advanced designs that have never been discussed. It will include a significant number of images and design sketches to support the complete and comprehensive Toronado design story.

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