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Had 3 first series Toros, the '66/67 years had fuel, amp, and temp gauges, but no oil pressure, and '68-70s just fuel, which seems dumb for what was a high-tech advanced and sporty car, to me it was a disappointment. '66/67 Rivieras had all 4 gauges, plus a rolling speedo like Toro Was a full gauge option ever offered on Toro or ToroGT? If not it should have been!!
Full functioning gauges were considered more fluff rather than essential back then... Their importance of inclusion was ramped up when performance was ramped down, malaise era and post malaise. Becoming a staple when the illusion of performance was at its peak, past the era when it made more sense to be a standard option... At the same time the less durable engines that came to be, benefited from the added ability of more accurate monitoring. My 87 442 is a great example, came standard with full functioning gauges and a tach. Meanwhile the 66 W30, 69 ZL1, 70 LS6, etc, came standard with warning lights. In other words 13 second cars had dummy lights, no tach and 17 second cars came with the works. (15 second 2nd generation Rivieras were just trying to come off as more sporty...)
My grandmother's '50 Dodge had full gauges (pic), even with a stone-ax reliable 217 cu in 97 hp engine it was just considered proper engine monitoring until the mid '50s, only Mopar persisted with mostly gauges into the '70s, well after GM's beancounters had their cost-cutting way., Nothing to do with making malaise cars look powerful, mid '60s performance and performance luxury cars had high compression and hp and most were bought by drivers who actually wanted to know what was going on with their engine before it was too late. The Toro W-34/GT was Olds' highest hp engine and deserved proper gauges, the '70 had only a fuel gauge and speedo, ridiculous in a $6k top-line automobile, so did my 3 '69s. At least they could have made them an option. All Buick
Rivs had full gauges up to '68, at least Olds could have made them optional, I see many that have had them added after-market under the dash.
HolidaysedanI understand you but there is a faction out there that believe real gauges, bucket seats, console, means performance. And the factories knew that and took advantage of it when performance got nuked. In turn giving many the impression that all serious cars had to come that way in the 1960s... they did not.
Leading to a gazillion instances such as this one below.
The malarky put doubt in the reality.
I'm not saying real gauges are nonsense, as they are obviously very useful. But the factory did not see their importance over warning lights pre malaise, as they do since.
Originally Posted by Olds64
That has a fuel economy (vacuum) gauge. Doesn't it?
Not sure, very difficult to get a clear straight on view of gauge cluster. Hopefully a member here has one and can chime in.
Because the Chevelle sold to a very different kind of buyer. I was a teen in the mid '60s, I was there! You miss my point, which is that the buyers of luxury-performance cars (and exclusive in terms of the kind of sophisticated owners who could afford to buy them) like Toros and Rivs were not some pimpy-faced 22 yr old adrenaline junkies (I knew a 19 yr old warehouse worker who bought a new GTO in 1967, when I myself was 17) they had higher expectations: a '67 Riv GS could do 0-60 in 7 seconds on the way to the bank, but they also tended to be R&T or C&D, not Hot Rod, readers, and those buyers likely would have appreciated the ability to monitor their engines, more so than perhaps than the average driver... I know that I would have. It was not that the gauges per se made for high performance themselves, or that gauges were just about the perception of performance.
It wasn't about show. Better gauges should have been an option for those awesomest US Grand Touring cars, their buyers knew was a Citroen SM or Facel Vega or Jag 420 was Idiot lights were mostly about cost saving, but Joe-6-pack didn't care... Toros buyer did.
Last edited by holidaysedan; Jul 20, 2025 at 03:58 PM.
She was given that car! lol
Being that she was the IT girl of the time (RIP Farrah!), it was just good advertising!
Nothing wrong with gauges in any car, they should ALL have them, even lo-po cars
like Grandma's '50 Dodge can overheat and lose oil pressure.
If I end up with another '68-70 Toro I'll add Steward-Warner gauges below the dash for sure.
My only original point is that a car of that class should have had full instrumentation standard.
The '67 Riv dash is pure class. At least the '66/67 Toros came close.
