Chasing Tornados In An Oldsmobile Toronado May Not Be Safe, But It Is On Brand

Tornadoes are serious business, powerful enough to flip over semis or launch corn cobs through tractor windshields. So, naturally, when Dalton Storm at Pole Barn Garage learned that there was a tornado threat to his area coming in two days, he enlisted the aid of Buff's Garage to do the only reasonable thing: turn his rusted-out 1968 Oldsmobile Toronado into the ultimate storm chasing machine. After all, the name Toronado sounds a lot like tornado, so it had to be the right car for the job.

Did I say car? I meant truck. The first thing they did was cut out the trunk and back seat areas (the rear window was already blown out) to transform the Toronado into a tidy little truck. All the best storm chasing vehicles are trucks, and the Toronado's angular body lent itself to the conversion much better than the VW Jetta ute that I built. Other top-priority items included a roll bar, extra lights, a siren, and a GMRS radio, since that's what all the cool kids use these days. (I'd also recommend they monitor ham radio repeaters for local Skywarn communications.)

The car had several mechanical issues before the modifications began, like a missing windshield and a massive coolant leak, which set them back a bit in the modification process. The replacement windshield was broken, but with no time to lose, they installed it anyway. And rather than sort out what may be a massive head gasket leak in the enormous V8, they poured two large bottles of stop-leak into the radiator, a decision that certainly wouldn't come back to haunt them later. By the time they were done, the engine no longer leaked coolant and fired on most of its cylinders most of the time, which was good enough.

The next day, the official PBG Storm Watch team joined up with Storm Chaser Noah Miller, so there was at least one person who knew what they were doing. After driving to a clearing with a great view of the surrounding clouds, the Toronado spewed steam out of the radiator's pressure release valve. Surely pouring a ton of stop-leak into the cooling system couldn't possibly have compromised the car's truck's cooling capacity, could it? Maybe they should've tried eggs instead.

Storm chasing is a tricky unpredictable business. After driving far away from home, a tornado watch was issued for Pole Barn Garage's home base. Clearly, the Toronado has magical qualities that protect the area it is in from tornadoes, which is why the watch was issued only after they had left. They had no choice but to turn around and return home to ensure it is protected. 

The team headed back out after dark, which presented its own unique challenges. Earlier in the video, Buff said, "Never drive through flooded roads, unless you're overheating, and then it's okay." You definitely shouldn't drive through flooded roads, even if you are overheating, but poor nighttime visibility (despite all the additional lights) prevented them from seeing a fast-moving water crossing before they hit it. Eventually, the Toronado's front-wheel drive was able to pull them to safety, but the delay cost them the chance of catching the storm they were chasing.

Pole Barn Garage originally bought this rust bucket of a Toronado just to get the 455 cubic inch V8 out of it. But after a successful day of storm chasing (if success is measured at a bare minimum by remaining alive), they've decided to park the Toronado until the next time it gets stormy. This may not be the end of their storm chasing shenanigans.