This Oldsmobile Toronado has serious wow factor

By Martin Buckley

| 20 Nov 2025

Classic & Sports Car – Esso 67-X: George Barris’ customised Oldsmobile Toronado

There is a long history of petroleum manufacturers and promotional offers, particularly in the days prior to when service stations became convenience stores.

At a certain point in fairly recent history, the sale of fuel seemingly became incidental to flogging the driving public ready meals, toiletries and almost anything else you can think of.

That business model kicked off in the 1980s as the motoring masses became ever more disassociated from the inner workings of their increasingly bland – but also increasingly reliable – family saloons and hatchbacks.

The Oldsmobile Toronado-based Esso 67-X is decorated with George Barris’ signature flair

Today, that transition of the automobile into pure ‘white goods’ status is complete; contrast this situation, though, with the late ’60s and early ’70s, when drivers lifted the bonnets of their vehicles at least once a week (maybe even before the oil warning light came on), and when even my non-driving, fully paid-up pedestrian grandad could tell the difference between the exhaust note of one neighbour’s Ford Anglia and another’s Volkswagen Beetle.

My memory goes back to the days of two-, three-, four- and even full-fat five-star petrol: nobody had even heard of unleaded.

A time when the self-service pumps we have today had become all but universal, yet the smelly DERV pump was still banished to a lonely, dirty corner of the forecourt. That’s if it was to be seen at all.

Before the mid-1980s, almost nobody – other than black-cab drivers – drove an oil-burner, at least not outside the world of heavy-goods vehicles.

The Esso 67-X’s extravagant fins extend into flamboyant chrome tips at the rear

A fuel station was neither a retail experience nor an opportunity.

All that was offered in the forecourt ‘shop’ was a Twix, a Mars Bar and a Kit Kat (all slightly more substantial than their modern equivalents), possibly a road atlas, a few cans of polish and interior ‘smellies’.

Occasionally, there was the chance to use one of the newfangled automatic car washes that pulled off your windscreen wipers and wing mirrors, but most 1970s people still washed the family Ford Cortina or Austin 1100 by hand on a Sunday morning, before settling down with a copy of the News of the World or watching Brian Walden interview an MP on Weekend World.

The over-assisted steering lacks feel, but it rides better than the Oldsmobile Toronado it is based on

Nowadays you’ll likely struggle to even locate the tiny selection of overpriced engine oil, fuel cans and antifreeze, but the 1970s petrol station sometimes sold quite expensive consumables such as fanbelts, batteries and even tyres for popular models.

The ‘offers’, meanwhile, at least in Britain, usually amounted to Green Shield Stamps and a set of tumblers.

Unsurprisingly, the Americans thought bigger – as did the Canadians, particularly in the nation’s 100th-anniversary year of 1967.

With the modern road network fully opening up, more and more Canadians wanted to see the country in their cars, particularly in the year that Canada was hosting the World’s Fair – Expo 67, which opened in Montreal in April of that year.

The dummy bonnet vents on the George Barris-penned Esso 67-X

The various oil companies – Fina, Supertest, Texaco and all the rest – sniffed a good promotional opportunity: more driving meant increased gas sales, and all concerned wanted a bigger share of that meatier pie.

Thus, they were not exactly slow at coming up with exciting competitions.

From these, the winning entrants could end up with a new Ford Mustang or Mercury Cougar on their driveways, maybe a colour television in the lounge (a big deal in 1967, because colour programmes were only just starting to appear), or just a straightforward cash prize.

This Esso 67-X was the second of four to be given away as part of the oil giant’s 1967 competition

Imperial Oil, which had started using the Esso name, wanted to go one better.

The plan was to sponsor the creation of a set of four bespoke dream cars that could be given away in a publicity-creating prize draw as part of the Esso Road Show, which was itself heavily tied in with the firm’s sponsorship of the hockey league.

The PR team wanted the winning entrants to use the cars for at least a year on the road before they might sell them on, the idea being they would serve as mobile billboards for Esso.

The firm promised free fuel, insurance and servicing for 12 months on cars that were to be fully compliant with Canadian traffic laws (and retain the original manufacturer’s warranty) and, most importantly, ‘family orientated’ for what would be billed as ‘the most imaginative travel award ever conceived’.

The original Oldsmobile 7-litre V8 engine has been replaced by a 7.4-litre motor

The cars were to feature extensively in television advertising and would even have a special pseudo-folk jingle written in their honour.

There were ‘instant’ prizes of cameras and TV sets, but to win one of the cars entrants had to have collected five road-safety-tip tickets from the 2400 Canadian Esso fuel stations to get a chance to enter the draw.

The winners would then be announced on the radio and in press advertisements in May, June, July and August of 1967, with the prize cars to be displayed at the World’s Fair, various shopping malls and Esso forecourts to whip up interest.

Obviously, the promotional car would have to be based on an existing vehicle – but what?

The Esso 67-X’s Dominion tyres were designed for the front-drive Oldsmobile Toronado

That decision was left to a certain George Barris, Hollywood’s ‘King of kustomizers’.

As well as dreaming up bespoke glamour machinery for the likes of Elvis, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, Barris, already a legend, had recently come to further prominence by creating TV’s Munster Koach and, most famously, the Batmobile.

He soon came down in favour of Oldsmobile’s then still relatively new Toronado.

It looked futuristic out of the box, but, importantly, being front-drive, it didn’t have a propshaft, leaving Barris free to change the wheelbase at will without affecting the drivetrain.

The Esso 67-X’s front passenger seat rotates to create a lounge area

Four brand-new, $6373 7-litre Toronados were sent from Lansing, Michigan, to the Barris Kustom Industries workshops in Hollywood where, at around the same time, George must have been working on the Toronado-based roadster for the Mannix television series.

While the Mannix Toronado had its roof chopped off, the Esso-sponsored cars, costing an alleged $52,000 each to build, were cut in half and had their wheelbases extended from 119 to 134in, to give an imposing overall length of more than 20ft.

The standard five-/six-seater Toronado was not notably lacking in interior space, but the 67-X had a truly gigantic cabin with room for a wraparound, sofa-like rear seat.

The Esso 67-X’s bold badge and George Barris crest

As well as full air conditioning, tinted glass and all the usual Toronado refinements, Barris fitted his Esso 67-Xs with twin FM/AM radios front and back (rear passengers got headphones), plus two stereo tape decks in the ‘hand-rubbed’ Brazilian walnut centre console.

Two cars were painted gold, with one each finished in burgundy red and avocado green.

Apart from the front ’screen and basic door casings, everything outwardly was visually altered: the bonnet grew two massive bulges, each with four portholes, while the sleek front end gave way to an eggcrate grille with four circular fixed headlights (since replaced by twin ovoid units on this car).

The bulging front and rear wings were worked up in glassfibre, and various embellishments – wheel covers, doorhandles and bumpers – were bespoke, giving no clue to their Oldsmobile origins.

The Esso 67-X’s proud plaque; the giveaway was inspired by the World’s Fair – Expo 67

A Mr WC Hackett of Edmonton was the first Esso 67-X winner in May.

After flying the 52-year-old Hackett to Hollywood for promotional filming, Esso presented him with one of the gold cars.

He kept it for a year and 24,000 miles before accepting an offer he couldn’t refuse from a Toronto dealer.

Car number two, the example pictured here, was awarded to 53-year-old Walter Scales from British Columbia; he, too, parted with it when the free fuel, insurance and servicing ended, and went back to driving his Volkswagen Beetle.

The Esso 67-X’s column shift and busy dashboard

The third example went to a French Canadian called Michel Bussière.

He sold it on in 1969 for $10,000, which was enough to buy him a new Chrysler and a campervan.

This latter car has since disappeared, along with a fifth 67-X George Barris built for himself as a tow car (it was also used in a photoshoot promoting crooner Dean Martin’s Golddiggers, his all-girl Las Vegas song-and-dance troupe).

The fourth example, the burgundy car, has been in long-term family ownership since the 1980s.

It was presented new in August 1967 to 26-year-old Paul Sparrow, a Vauxhall Viva-driving lab technician from Fort William, Ontario, who sold it after six months to help fund a first home for his young family.

The Esso 67-X features neat detailing, right down to the carpet clips

Quite apart from the sheer size of the thing, all the winners found that the amount of attention the 67-X got when out in public was not always welcome.

They would often return to crowds of awestruck pedestrians five deep, or else be continually pulled over by the police, usually just to enquire about the car.

Of the three known 67-X survivors, car number two possibly has the most colourful history.

The second owner, from 1970, was a rancher who soon passed it on to flamboyant, trumpet-playing Vancouver restaurateur Frank Baker, who used it to promote his business.

One of the Esso 67-X’s two radios

Baker also owned one of the Goldfinger Aston Martin DB5s, but he had to sell both cars when his restaurant folded in the ’80s.

From there the 67-X emigrated to the United States and turned up on eBay in 2011, which is where Palm Springs-based collector Trevor Weflen first saw it advertised, initially spotting it in the background of an ad for another car.

Hailing from Saskatchewan, Trevor remembered the 67-X from the original competition.

George Barris added a full 15in to the Oldsmobile Toronado’s wheelbase alone. He kept a fifth example for himself

The massive coupe had supposedly been subjected to a recent $99,000 restoration, so Trevor bought it sight unseen, only to find that it had a lot of detail electrical problems – “only the speedo was working” – and a slightly tired engine, but the body and paint were good.

The engine problems were sorted by fitting a freshly rebuilt lump from a later, 7.4-litre car.

Having trained in the Royal Canadian Air Force as a metal technician, and run a successful custom upholstery business, Trevor was and is pretty handy on the tools.

He was able to rebuild the front suspension himself and retrim the interior in his preferred shade of copper vinyl, rather than the original grey.

The Esso 67-X’s proud owner, Trevor Weflen, who retrimmed the cabin with copper vinyl

As standard (on the original Toronado), the massive, frameless doors are still almost certainly the longest items ever fitted to a production car.

The Esso 67-X’s Barris-modified extended wheelbase is illustrated most obviously in the longer rear side windows, although over-the-shoulder rear vision is poor because the C-pillar is so massive.

The dash is stock Toronado, but the front seats are separate buckets: the driver’s is power-adjustable, while the passenger can swivel to face the rear seats, where there is legroom to rival a limo, plus built-in litter bins, reading lights and even a toy-storage cupboard.

The coolbox for picnics was part of the original specification, but, as far as I can tell, the tiny black-and-white television on the centre console is a later addition, albeit one very much in keeping with the spirit of a car conceived as a long-distance travelling lounge room.

This Esso 67-X’s TV was likely a later addition, but it doesn’t look out of place

Under the bonnet – large enough to land a jump-jet on – it looks pretty much like any other Toronado, complete with side-mounted GM400 gearbox driven by a robust and silent chain, and power going to the front wheels.

If anything, the 67-X rides better than the standard car on its longer wheelbase, possibly helped by the fact that Trevor, who does about 200 miles a year in it attending local shows, managed to find a rare set of TFD (Toronado Front Drive) tyres designed specifically for the standard car.

The powerfully assisted steering and brakes are devoid of feel, but the 67-X goes cheerfully where it is bidden with a surprising lack of drama.

It is far from slow, has immense low- and mid-range torque, and is whisper-quiet.

The Esso 67-X’s huge rear cabin features a fold-up table and wraparound corner sofa

You are barely conscious of the gearbox and only a rustle of remote reciprocation as it romps away. It is everything you expect a big, fast American coupe of the ’60s to be.

The 67-X could well be the most generous prize ever given away in a service-station competition, and it is certainly the most imaginative.

It’s not necessarily a visual improvement on the standard Oldsmobile Toronado, but it beats filling up 1500 books of Green Shield Stamps just to get a Mk1 Ford Escort.

Images: Pawel Litwinski

Thanks to: Trevor Weflen, Donald Osborne, Jeff Stork and Scott King

Factfile

Esso 67-X

Sold/number built 1967/five
Construction steel perimeter frame, steel body
Engine all-iron, ohv 6967cc V8, four-barrel Rochester carburettor
Max power 386bhp @ 4800rpm
Max torque 475lb ft @ 3200rpm
Transmission four-speed HydraMatic auto, FWD
Suspension: front independent, by wishbones, torsion bars, anti-roll bar rear beam axle, single-leaf springs; telescopic dampers f/r
Steering power-assisted recirculating ball
Brakes drums
Length 20ft 1in (6121mm)
Width 6ft 6½in (1994mm)
Height 4ft 5in (1346mm)
Wheelbase 9ft 11in (3023mm)
Weight 4570lb (2073kg)
0-60mph 8.7 secs
Top speed 126mph
Mpg 11.8
Price new $52,000
Price now $250,000*