Tomica Time, Land of the Rising Sun-day, is here for another installment. Today we take a look at Tomica F54-1, the Oldsmobile Toronado XSR. This casting entered the range in July 1978, remaining until October 1980, and perfectly represents when it was made:
That being the malaise era. This era was the zenith of the personal luxury coupe, and the Toronado was a popular model. Not just that, this is an "XSR" model, which features the cool wraparound rear window, and unique electric T-tops that retracted inward - this was an ASC conversion that never made it beyond the prototype stage. The aptly named "XS" (excess) model didn't have these T-tops. To top it off, this generation Toronado featured the 455 being replaced by the 403, a 6.6 liter engine putting out under 200 hp, definitely a product of its time. The Tomica version contains the fine line casting detail we enjoy from vintage Tomica, and proportion appears accurate. This casting has the crisp glazing, springy suspension, and snappy door action we admire in old Tomica. Scale is claimed to be 1:78, likely accurate, as the real world vehicle is somewhat large, and this was made to fit in a box. From all angles, one can imagine this personal luxury beast cruising down a boulevard or 55 mph highway, ride smooth and silent, with mellow disco on the 8 track:
Doors open to reveal a detailed interior and accurate steering wheel:
Front and rear have quality detail matching the rest of the casting, the red rear lights being cast in red being a nice touch:
The base is metal, which adds heft and contains technical and identifying detail:
This model is lucky enough to live a nice original box:
I'm pleased to have this casting in my collection, as it is a nice model from a fun era. These is another Tomica that was sold as a Pocket Cars, and can be found without much hassle or expense today:
Image of a similar 1:1 from period promo material on ebay.com:
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