Oldsmobile Tidbits

[Bucky]

First things first...if this is in the wrong are of the forum, please have an admin to move it. Thank you!

Now...I was nosing around in the stash, and got into the Oldsmobile section, particularly Toronados.

I pulled these two kits down and had a look inside, again:

The price guide I have calls the bottom kit a 1971, and the top kit a 1972.

The body in the C-111 kit has a vent molded into the trunk lid, and no molded in vinyl top.

The body in the C-208 kit has the vinyl top molded in, and no vent on the trunk lid. According to what I saw

on the 'net, a '72 Toronado indeed does not have a vent on the trunk lid.

Maybe useless information, but I thought it might come in handy for somebody, someday! LOL

 

Also....I took a peak inside an AMT 1970 Toronado kit, and found these Hurst wheels:

Out of curiosity, I checked the Jo-Han kit, and found this set of similar wheels:

The AMT kit actually has the Hurst emblem molded into the center cap, where the Jo-Han kit has a rounded

dome type center cap.

I never thought I'd find Hurst wheels in the Toronado kits!!

 

 

[Mark]

The "other" wheels are Foremost Ventures "Indy 500" wheels.  Jo-Han first put those in one of their 1964 annual kits, the Plymouth Fury if I remember right.  They used them in some other kits too.  The 1:1 wheel was marketed under a couple other names also.

AMT modeled the same wheel in one or both of their '64 Corvette kits, and early issues of the '59 El Camino.  Of course, their version looks a little different, as usually happened back then when two companies handled the same subject matter.  The Jo-Han version looks more accurate to my eyes, though the outer rim should be a bit deeper.

[disabled modeler]

Cool...!  My very first real car was a 72 Toronado...it had a vinyl top and a vent in the trunk lid.   id love to find a 72 like it in a model or promo sometime to add to my family owned replica collection of scale vehicles.    Been working on the replica collection for years now.   Johan made some really cool kits and promos even though they had their issues.  Nice kit.

[Bucky]

Looking in the AMT '68 Toronado kit, I noticed it has the exact same chrome tree as the Jo-Han '70 kit. The instructions call the custom wheels 'Hurst' wheels. I have a couple '67 Toronado kits to check out, to see if they have them, too.

[Mark]

All of the AMT Toronado kits ('67, '68, '70) were produced by Jo-Han.  The two companies sold a number of kits via this arrangement between late 1966 and 1975.

MPC produced 1967 and 1968 Toronado kits also.  Though similar in design to the Jo-Han kits, these were produced by MPC from different tooling than Jo-Han's.

[von Zipper]

10 hours ago, Bucky said:

 

I pulled these two kits down and had a look iAlso....I took a peak inside an AMT 1970 Toronado kit, and found these Hurst wheels:

Out of curiosity, I checked the Jo-Han kit, and found this set of similar wheels:

The AMT kit actually has the Hurst emblem molded into the center cap, where the Jo-Han kit has a rounded

dome type center cap.

I never thought I'd find Hurst wheels in the Toronado kits!!

 

 

Those are Hurst Dazzler wheels

[Motor City]

Keith and Mark Orr,

GM used the vented trunk lids on the '71 models as part of their ventilation system.  People complained about water and leaves getting in the trunk, though I don't recall much of a problem on my '71 Eldorado.  This was used on all of the large cars, the Riviera, Toronado, and Eldorado, and '71 and '72 Vega.  It was discontinued after 1971 except for the Vega.

 

[Bucky]

2 hours ago, Motor City said:

Keith and Mark Orr,

GM used the vented trunk lids on the '71 models as part of their ventilation system.  People complained about water and leaves getting in the trunk, though I don't recall much of a problem on my '71 Eldorado.  This was used on all of the large cars, the Riviera, Toronado, and Eldorado, and '71 and '72 Vega.  It was discontinued after 1971 except for the Vega.

 

That's interesting. Thanks for the info. I never thought about the leaves being a problem.