Not the greatest in photography skills on display here, and he mistakenly states that '77 was the only year for the XS option, but we don't hold these against the car, which is beautiful. $8500 asking price is not unreasonable. If I didn't already have one of these, I would already be on a plane to Wisconsin. https://madison.craigslist.org/cto/d/madison-1977-toronado-xs/7545913969.html
Could be. That was fast. The ad was up only 7 hours when I first saw it. Might've sold, or maybe he's revising the ad. So far, though, no new ad. It is a nice car, so selling fast is possible. But there are several other '77/'78 Toros out there right now in about the same condition that have been for sale for a while. https://tampa.craigslist.org/hil/cto/d/ellenton-1978-olds-toronado/7545862896.html This one has been up for a while, and the price has been reduced from $5500 to $2500 over the last month or so. Not sure why it's not selling. The presentation isn't so great (get it out of the weeds, and THEN take the photos!), but still, it looks like a decent car. https://chico.craigslist.org/ctd/d/great-falls-77-olds-toronado/7538805901.html This one is an XS, but it's a bit of a mess. He's asking the same price as the one above, and that car is in much better shape. https://sanantonio.craigslist.org/cto/7536696895.html It's probably a good thing the red one I initially posted above is gone. Saves me from having to buy it!
Back windows are certainly not reproduced 45 years after these cars were new. A window does appear now and then on ebay, usually for $700 to $1000. If you need one, you can find one, but be prepared to pay. It would almost be worth just buying something like the third link I gave in posting above. For $2250, you can get an entire parts car, which would include the back window. Speaking of availability, this same "bent glass" technology was used on the '77 to '79 Chevy Caprice and Impala two-doors. I wonder if replacement glass is available for the back windows on those cars. They're Chevys, after all!
I'll need a windshield for a 10 years newer Reatta but they don't make that one either, even though the cars are still out there in decent numbers. Back windows probably get replaced one tenth as often as windshields and realistically, how many XS's could still be on the road now? A few dozen? How hard would it be to make one out of plexiglass?
As far as a windshield, it's not so much how long the car was produced, but how long the aftermarket was making parts for it at the time. But glass can be different. I went to the Safelite website just now, and they appear to have a new windshield for an '88 Reatta. If you need one, you might try them. Get it replaced while they're still available. My '77 Toro's windshield was intact but scratched with wiper blade scratches. Safelite had nothing for it. I took it to a local auto glass shop (not one of the chains), and they said they would see what they could find. I assumed I would be lucky if I ever heard back from them. What do you know, but later that day they called and said they had located a new, correct windshield for the car and could have it in the next day. I think the glass was original from when the car was new but just never used. They did a great job, and I love having a clear windshield. The moral of the story is, you never know. As far as how many XS's are still on the road, auto scrappage statistics say that about 1% of a car's original production is still on the road after 25 years. After that it tends to level out. This number is very average and doesn't recognize that certain makes, models, body styles, etc. are more popular than others. The Toro XS was made for two model years, 1977 and 1978. Each year, about 2500 were made (2713 in 1977 and 2453 in 1978). These numbers compare to 31,371 non-XS Toros in 1977 and 22,362 non-XS Toros in 1978. Total XS production was thus about 5100 over the two years. Applying the 1% rule, that would be about 50 still around today, right in line with your estimate. However, I would guess the number is larger. Ever since I got my first XS in 2017, I've as much as possible kept track of every '77 or '78 Toro, XS or not, that comes up for sale on ebay, Craigslist, Mecum or some other auction site, Autotrader, wherever. Over that time, I have found that the number of XS Toros offered for sale is a considerably higher fraction of all Toros for sale, even though production of the non-XS versions was about 10 times higher originally. I think this goes back to the desirability factor. The XS version, with the bent glass window, was unique and makes the cars somewhat more collectible, so they were saved in larger percentages. The XS option was not cheap. In '77, the option, which included the bent-glass window, power moonroof, and, of all things, pinstriping, was $2,250 on a car with a base price of $8,133. So buying the XS option added almost 30% to the car's price. For '78, prices increased considerably. The XS option was now $2,700, a 20% increase over 1977, on a car with a base price that had risen to $8,899 (9% increase over 1977). Like for '77, adding the XS option increased the car's base price by about 30%. I have to say that the bent-glass rear window, with no C-pillar, increases visibility out the back tremendously. Not to be sexist, but I sometimes wonder how many XS's were bought with the wife in mind. If she was driving it regularly to the grocery store, ferrying the kids around, and whatnot, the better visibility probably made for far fewer parking lot dings. My totally non-scientific sampling of the numbers of '77 and '78 Toros for sale since 2017. These are cars that were in running, driving condition and in good enough shape to not be parts cars. '77 XS: 24 '77 non-XS: 54 Total of 78, of which 30% were XS's. '78 XS: 37 '78 non-XS: 60 Total of 97, of which 38% were XS's.
Here's an XS back window for sale right now on ebay. This particular listing has been posted on and off for a while. At $1250, it's not cheap, but if you need a rear window, you need a rear window. My guess is that these are not needed all that often. Unless the window is deliberately broken by vandalism or something like that, if the car needs a new rear window, it's probably in bad enough shape overall that replacing the window is not worth it. In other words, I would guess that most any XS needing a rear windows is probably already a parts car. https://www.ebay.com/itm/325386930861?mkevt=1&mkpid=0&emsid=e11021.m43.l1120&mkcid=7&ch=osgood&euid=da846dc363c5462cbb8e04ddc533dde8&bu=43187981019&ut=RU&exe=102357&ext=240833&osub=-1~1&crd=20221018023951&segname=11021
