Digital artist Rostislav Prokop has made hundreds of cool 3D cars that are floating around the internet, many of them lowered muscle cars with extreme widebody kits. And a few of them have been tied together using the “Black Mamba” look. Now you can add the 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado to that list thanks to its slammed suspension and race car parts.
There are lots of Black Mamba kits created by Rostislav. However, the most famous one is a Pontiac Firebird, followed by a second generation Mustang. The Oldsmobile Toronado normally wouldn’t fit in with that crowd, but the Czech pixel master has forced it to work as this Hoonigan-like speed machine, which it’s really not.
First, let me talk about the bits that stand out and then we’ll examine what the Oldsmobile represented. Rostislav redesigned the car to have a narrow band of LEDs in place of the pop-out headlights it used to have. He also integrated a large diffuser into the front chin.
The large luxury coupe has received massive fender flares, giving it the side profile of a tuned Japanese car in combination with the 5-spoke wheels. At this time, you begin to notice the roll cage integrated into the cabin, which suggests this chassis is now a whole lot stiffer, designed for cornering and not luxury travel. Finally, the rear end has a small spoiler over the trunk and a diffuser flanking triple exhaust tips.
The Toronado, one of the best luxury cars ever made
Toronado’s original design came from a painting that won a design contest. When Oldsmobile approved its fabrication, they moved the car from the original A-body platform to the bigger E-platform. This larger architecture was shared with the Buick Riviera and made sense from a luxury transportation perspective.
Beautiful as it may be, the 1966 Toronado is famous mostly because of its powertrain, which was way ahead of its time. Yes, this is a front-wheel-drive car, which meant the driveshaft didn’t have to go to the back and there was more space inside.
Oldsmobile engineers did this by combining a 425 Rocket V8 with a modified TH400 transmission and a planetary differential. The combo sent 385 horsepower and 475 lb-ft of torque. Because of all that power going to the front wheels, brand new tires had to be engineered specifically for this car because cars of that era simply didn’t work that way.
It’s easy to dismiss the Toronado because it’s not an enthusiast’s car, and the 1960s are known for V8 muscle cars. But this was one of the best luxury vehicles ever engineered. Even the standard car came with power steering and powered brakes, which was unusual back then. Options included 6-way powered seats, a powered antenna. The Toronado was the 1966 Motor Trend Car of the Year, which was a huge deal back then. Oh, and it’s one of Jay Leno‘s favorite things in the world.
