OK, guys, I'm going to see this one in person tomorrow (March 28). I've had extensive phone conversations with the seller, who is selling it for his elderly parents, and he's sent me over 100 photos. If everything is at it seems, the car could very well be mine by the end of the weekend. But no promises until I've seen it person. It does have a few issues, as any 44-year-old car might, but overall it looks pretty good. https://owensboro.craigslist.org/cto/d/owensboro-1977-oldsmobile-toronado-xs/7296613949.html
Good luck Jaunty, hope it lives up to its photos. These cars had great interiors IMO. If we had the room I would want one of these cars just for the awesome back window.
It’s a shame he didn’t come to the pic and pull in Albuquerque. There was a black one of the xs’s in their yard with a complete set of the standard wheelcovers. And believe it or not for a triple black car in the desert the fillers were in pretty good shape
The car is bought! I've got a shipping contract in place and am now waiting for the shipper to set a date for pickup, which I hope will be in the next day or two. The car does have some issues (power door lock doesn't work on one side---that sort of thing), but it runs, and I drove it around. The seller is a young man in his early 30s who bought the car about a year ago out of Minnesota simply because he was intrigued by it and the unique rear window. But he admitted that he's not terribly mechanical and didn't want to spend as much time and money working on the car's mechanicals as it was going to require. (I told him that's the whole point of the hobby!) He has a local mechanic who had been taking care of the car for him. His family owns the #1 rated (on Trip Advisor) restaurant in Owensboro, Kentucky, a place called "Colby's Fine Food and Spirits," and they treated me to dinner as the guy who bought the car. The parents live in a house with a "National Register of Historic Places" plaque next to the front door. Very nice family.
I tried to contact those people several times. Phone calls went unanswered, left voicemail, and not returned, and the same for email. Yes, I tried. But I was not going to drive three hours each way without finding out a little bit more about the car. After all, sitting at a pick-n-pull, who knows how many parts were missing and how much damage was done by people being careless when removing parts.
I hate to say it, but they probably said something to the effect of "Hey Louie, dis guy wans'a know about dat Olls Toronada dat guy brung in" after you left the message. To many of these U-pulls, a car is a car, just a number waiting for it's turn in the aisle. Heck, most of these places, the ladies that work the counter seem more occupied with their cleavage than actually marketing the parts(I guess I spent too much time at the yard) and couldn't tell you a Toronado from a Toyota. One things for certain, if they ever get in '65,67 or 69 Mercs like I have - I'm strippin' them down....you never know if you'd need body parts down the road.
Congrats Jaunty. You have been diligent about trying to find “the right Toro”. Looks like a great one!
Yeah, Leadslead and I have been scrounging up parts for his Comanche, Bear and Barge (including breaking his '76 LTD sedan down for the Bear), as well as for Mrs. Leadslead's Annie. I also have a very small collection of interior parts and a door for Babe. Gotta get 'em while you can find 'em.