1968 Chevelle Concours Sport Coupe...mystery Chevy

uplanderguy

Has anyone ever seen a '68 Chevelle Concours Sport Coupe? I vaguely remember seeing a medium green with black vinyl top specimen around our town, years back. They are not listed in the '68 Chevelle brochure, nor the '68 Chevrolet Showroom Album. A Sport Sedan edition is shown, however, with frilly-cloth Caprice-style interior, in those pieces of literature. The car I remember had a vinyl notchback front seat with center armrest. I'd love to see anything put out by Chevy that documents its existence.

Bill

andre1969

My old car book only lists the Concours name as being used on the '67-72 Chevell wagon, and then again in '76-77 as the top trim level for the Nova. However, I vaguely remember seeing Chevelle coupes and sedans with a Concours badge.

I googled it, and there were plenty of hits. In fact, here's one being restored, that even has a pic of that front seat you mention!

I'm guessing that it was an option package, rather than a separate trim level. I know that's a fine hair to split, but often with a separate trim level, they'll change the VIN #, but for an option package they won't, so it's harder to track down how many were made.

uplanderguy

None of the "Chevy expert" coffee table books I've ever looked at even mention a Chevelle Concours coupe.

I posted a similar query on the AACA forum a year or more ago, and a fellow from out west sent me a couple pics of his Mom's light yellow with black vinyl top '68 Concours Coupe owned since new (no radio...strange!). His pics weren't great though...one of the dash, one of the exterior of the car from the front, and one from the back.

The sole coupe I remember years back had wheel opening moldings (other Chevelles didn't have these), had a big "Concours" front fender nameplate, and notchback front seat. Didn't say "Malibu" anyplace.

The seat trim resembled that of an Olds Cutlass Supreme.

I recall reading in a newsstand mag a year or so ago, about a '68 Chevelle SS that had bucket seats that looked to be right out a same-year Buick GS, that supposedly the interior supplier for Malibu trim had a fire so depending on the assembly plant, Cutlass or GS upholstery was used in 'upper' Chevelles. Mostly these were western-assembled cars, supposedly, that had the non-Malibu interior.

Wonder if the Concours coupe model/package was a last-minute, unintended consequence of a trim supplier company's fire?

Again, I have never seen a single piece of factory, or book, documentation on this model.

Bill

ghulet

....but I definitely remember as a kid seeing a Concours four-door hardtop, which even then seemed strange, considering they used the moniker on the upper-level station wagon.

OK, I just consulted my go-to old car book (Standard Catalog of American Cars 1946-75) and it states, in the 1968 Malibu section ".....Interior trim varied by body style and there was also a very special Concours four-door hardtop. It came with all-vinyl seating; lockable glove box with light; extra-thick foam cushioned seats; color-keyed wall to wall carpeting; black-accented wheel openings; black trimmed lower-body accents; ribbed bright metal rear deck lid latch panel plate; Concours signature scripts; chrome wheel lip moldings; special oval steering wheel with horn tabs and wood-grained dash panel inlays. It was called the Concours sport sedan and had a lot of extra appeal."

They mention 'regular' Malibu interior choices, then add that Concours Sport Sedan's special Custom fabric choice in Gold, Blue, Black or Grey-Green (which I assume were similar to the metallic-like brocade-ish Caprice cloth interiors.

This same catalog makes no mention of a Concours two-door, though.

For 1969, the section adds, "Some collectors look for are the Malibu four-door hardtop (Sports Sedan) with the RPO Z16 Concours package". No mention is made of the option for 1970 or later.

ghulet

This is, allegedly, a '68 Concours coupe (maybe you could special order them through the dealer?):

http://www.noneckschevelle.com/images/html/WildBill1968ChevelleConcours.htm

Here's some sales info from '68:

http://www.chevelles.com/years/68/concours.html

ghulet

....I should have known RPO Z16 was wrong (that was the ultra-rare '65 SS396 Chevelle). It should read RPO ZJ6.

zlounge

I have a 1969 4 door concourse that sports the orginal 350 300hp auto with a 12 bolt rear. it has cloth interior with carpet on the bottom of the doors. I was told it was called a Concours SportZJ6 only 156 were made with 350 4 bbl @300hp.I have more info if any one is interested in this car.

uplanderguy

Is yours light blue with a white vinyl top? If so, I've seen pictures of it on the 'net but can't remember from where. I know it's a 350 from the front fender badging. Nice car!

I have seen Concours Sport Sedans, like yours, although they are rare...but the '68-only coupes are almost like a 'phantom'--I can't even find anything about them in the brochures of the day but have seen a few on the internet and the one in person years ago. Again, it seems like they came about as a result of a fire in an upholstery plant that did Malibu interiors; hence the Buick GS/Old Cutlass Supreme interiors (vinyl notchback front seats) used.

Bill

ghulet

strange you said that, I saw probably the same (69 sedan, LeMans blue, if I had a guess) for sale. Neat car, and it had power locks (though not windows), which weren't listed in the ad (first year those were available on Chevelles).

68chevelle

We have one! We bought it 2 years ago and are working on restoring it. We are having trouble finding any kind of documentation about it's existence too.

We also have a 1968 Chevelle Malib. The 1968 Chevelle Concours has a lot of pieces that are substantially different like the notchback front seat with a center armrest that you mentioned. The door panels are also different than a standard Chevelle.

tomcatt630

I remember seeing a few 68-69 Concours Chevelles back in the 70's in Chicago area. Were rare, but it was a "Chevelle Caprice". BTW: Some forget that Malibu was a trim level from '64-'77.

Can anyone guess what model in 1970 replaced the Concours?? Hint: MC

theroger

Hi there,

I own a 68 concours c2dr ht, which I got in original condition that had been in storage since 1981. The old guy who had it on his property told me that the concours trim was only available on the wagon and sedan bodies, but due to a short strike at either the interior anufacturer or the chev plant a couple thousand 2drhts were sent to the buick plant to be finished with the concours trim. Interior is identical to a 68 gs buick and includes bench seat with folding armrest, carpeted door panels, extra padding under the carpet and additional body insulation, rear armrests with ashtray, a 'concours' insignia on the steering wheel with fleur de lis, steel headliner trim, locking glove box, and deluxe headliner and package tray. The exterior has full side trim with shorter wheel well trim that stops at the level of the side trim, as well as a black stripe painted on the wheel and side trim. full tail panel trim, same as a canadian beaumont, that was a bit wider and is not available in repro. tail light bezels are also a little wider to match the tail pan trim, also not available. badges say concours on the fender sides where normally it says chevelle. I believe all came with a vinyl top originally as well.

omarman

In Andre's post #2 there's a link to a Chevelle Concours with the black Buick interior like the one you described. The RPO ZK7 Concours option was available early in '68 for Malibu sport coupes. There was another RPO code for the Concours sedan and wagon but I forget them. I know it's not something which makes these cars valuable at auction -- just interesting stuff and I do like them.

Does the trim tag on your car specify Kansas? Does the TR field on the trim tag have the code 765-168 listed? Does it have black interior? I've seen trim tag codes for that same model year Chevelle Concours with the Buick bench seat and arm rest in black. There were other color combinations possible with Chevy's own interior trim. But when Fisher Body assembled them with Buick-Olds-Pontiac interior trim, it's always in black. Wonder why? Just curious if your car's interior might be a different color. Anything is possible.

I've also heard the stories about strikes/layoffs/parts shortages pointed out to explain the use of the black B-O-P interior trim on the 1968 Chevelle line -- not just the Concours optioned cars. But I don't know any source which has nailed down the actual reason for it. Lots of theories though.

duffymp

Hi, I actually owned one. I have to dig through my records and I have the VIN. It was a two door and a beautiful red. I bought it from some older ladies that would come into a coffee shop that I worked at a very long time ago. They were the original owners of the cars. I was the second owner and I had no idea what I had at the time. It had an automatic with a 307 in it. I will post the VIN here in a bit. I would love to find that car again.

Thanks

Mike

wildbill16

This car on noneck link below belongs to me. I am the second owner, listed on title as 2dr.malibu, came with concours package. has the buick interior, heavy duty carpet pad, wood grain dash, rear ash trays and all the emblems.Came with 307 2speed power glide. From what i have read, long story short, there was a fire that destroyed a lot of the stock interior that normaly goes into the malibu coupes. They finished up the cars that were on the line with the concours interior package. Also there was a strike going on at the time of the fire, assembly was done by management.

1badassss427

http://chevellestuff.net/1968/index.htm

I found this website to be very valuable and very interesting.

http://img545.imageshack.us/img545/7648/img0062wzx.jpg and I am cloning it to a SS 427

1badassss427

obviously the car needs work, and just to show how dedicated I am to getting this car restored, here's what just arrived at my house yesterday.

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/2533/img0106ye.jpg 68 SS 396 rear clip, with rust free quarters, delivered from Arizona to Minnesota.

bubba61

I just saw a 68 Chevelle at a Des Moines dealer that looked just like a 69....at least he said it was a 68 Concours. His explanation said that late in 68 Chevy started to equip their 136 cars Concours with 69 badging, grille and tail lights.
VIN said it was a 68.

I'm confused here....any help please.

Here it is:

http://www.admcars.com/inventorymanager.php?action=view&Id=478683

uplanderguy

I'm not an expert on those cars, but I don't believe one syllable of that guy's story.

I never knew the Concours interior to be available on an SS.

Although that car looks great, I think it's a 'mutt'--a bunch of miscellaneous parts the owner/restorer liked and threw on one car.

texases

I agree, a mutt, a nice mutt, but a mutt. With all the resto mod changes, the wierd history doesn't matter, anyway.

omarman

This rare Raven Black 1968 Chevelle Concours Hardtop was ahead of its time and had several 69 options installed in 1968.

If buyer remorse and litigation set in after the sale, might the seller have to prove that statement above? Or would the overall description of the car having been rebuilt with "upgrades" provide a defense that the buyer had no reasonable expectation that the vehicle equipment/options were restored as new?

If I were a resto-mod buyer I'd want it appraised as-is and decide if I liked it enough to make an offer. And if I were shopping for a bone stock trailer queen with correct chalk marks and stickers, I'd just pass because it obviously isn't that.

uplanderguy

I don't know, but just when I think I've heard a seller 'say it all', someone raises the bar. I'd ask him what documentation he has to prove any of that. He won't have any.

omarman

I agree with that. Even when a seller has a nice car which should attract buyers on its own merit they sometimes cannot resist posting a "shovel ready" advert. Someone on another topic pointed out CL car ads for sale "by owner" which clearly showed dealer tags in the pics. D'oh! :surprise:

396guy

The dealer is full of cr@p. No late 68 Chevelles came with 69 body parts or badging - and no early 69 Chevelles came with 'left-over' 1968 parts. Someone could have simply put a 69 front end on a 68 Chevelle.

smc4perk

I actually owned a 68 Chevelle Concours 2-door, hardtop (no vinyl on the roof), sky blue. 307, 2 speed powerglide, vinyl interior, a/c, roll windows and manual locks. Wish I had her back.....My son says that he will buy me one again when he makes a lot of money - hope that happens - I really loved the car! I do think there were only a couple of thousand made. I have only seen one other in East Texas, and it was a wagon of the same year model. How can I find that particular car again? I remember the license plate from it that I had customized at one point. Could I reference it at the county tax office where I had it registered? That was way back in the late 70's-early 80's. Just wondering...

the63jojo

@uplanderguy said:
Has anyone ever seen a '68 Chevelle Concours Sport Coupe? I vaguely remember seeing a medium green with black vinyl top specimen around our town, years back. They are not listed in the '68 Chevelle brochure, nor the '68 Chevrolet Showroom Album. A Sport Sedan edition is shown, however, with frilly-cloth Caprice-style interior, in those pieces of literature. The car I remember had a vinyl notchback front seat with center armrest. I'd love to see anything put out by Chevy that documents its existence.

Bill
I owned a 1969 Concours in the early '80's. I didn't like the bench seat so put in low-back bucket seats and replaced the powerglide with a turbo 350. Did a little engine modification and she was screamin' fast...which was good because it was olive green with a black vinyl roof and was ugly as hell...lol

the63jojo

@smc4perk said:
I actually owned a 68 Chevelle Concours 2-door, hardtop (no vinyl on the roof), sky blue. 307, 2 speed powerglide, vinyl interior, a/c, roll windows and manual locks. Wish I had her back.....My son says that he will buy me one again when he makes a lot of money - hope that happens - I really loved the car! I do think there were only a couple of thousand made. I have only seen one other in East Texas, and it was a wagon of the same year model. How can I find that particular car again? I remember the license plate from it that I had customized at one point. Could I reference it at the county tax office where I had it registered? That was way back in the late 70's-early 80's. Just wondering...

I had an ugly olive green with black vinyl roof '69 back in the early 80's-sure wish I had mine back, too!

rhbk30

parents bought a new 1969 Concours sport sedan , Garnet red / black vinyl top and interior, 307 /PG with A/C AM/FM , rear defogger and 3.07 posi 10 bolt . We had a maroon 1968 2 door Concours in town back in the late 70's as well. People forget this option was started on the 1967 Chevelle wagon , it included faux wood grain trim and was the Estate Wagon. This option stayed through 1972.The 2 dr is rarest as was only made in 68 , the 4dr
was made in 68 and 69.In 1970-72 only wagons were available with this option. It did appear in later 70's 2dr and 4dr Novas. The interior used an French logo imbossed in the back seat that is the same as the NO Saints football team , not sure what you call it.
A rare car in its day that most people under 50 never knew exsisted

uplanderguy

The Concours Sport Sedan was unusual where I lived, but the coupe is almost like a phantom....there's not a shred of evidence in factory literature, that I've ever seen and I've looked, that even acknowledge its existence. Your parents' '69 sounds like a real nice car.

In '69, Chevy started naming their wagons a different name from the same-trim-level coupes and sedans. The Malibu wagons became the Concours and Concours Estate, and I do recall the '67 wood-grained Chevelle wagon being called the Concours. In '68, the Concours Estate was essentially the Malibu wagon with woodgrain trim. Of course, as you stated, the Concours name was resurrected for luxury Novas in '76 and '77.

I always thought it was odd for Chevy to use the Concours name on a run-of-the-mill station wagon, as it did from '69-72 (merely Malibu wagons), when in '68 and '69 it denoted a luxury trim level.

GamesterX

So many people here stated that GM quit using the Concours name on the coupes in 1969, yet no one said why. In 1970 they took the "Luxury" Chevelle a few steps further. The new model only shared the floor pan, glass,dashboard & trunk lid with the Chevelle (as well as being on Chevelle's platform so same frame and driveline options) and was given its own model name....... Monte Carlo.

sda

Any recent pictures of the '68 Concours? I am especially interested in what the interior looks like. Did it share the Buick dash as well?

eleventhour

I currently own a 68 concours 2 dr hardtop with black leather bench seats and roll Windows. Back windows roll backward and down.....very cool. Had it since I was 15 yrs old, am now 34. Looking to possibly sell to buy a home.

eleventhour

Mr_Shiftright

Old Cars Price Guide suggests a 5% premium for the Concours package. so I guess you'd price it pretty much like a Malibu 307 and then add a little.

uplanderguy

To answer an earlier question here, it had the regular Chevelle dash, but with a woodgrain strip over the glovebox, and a 'fleur de lis' emblem on the steering wheel. Some had the Olds Cutlass Supreme seat and door panels; other, the Buick Skylark Custom's.

The Concours Sport Sedan is rare but not ridiculous; the coupes are nearly ridiculous to find and as I've noted, there is not a shred of factory documentation on the coupes in the way of brochures I have ever seen--and I've actively looked. The Concours Sport Sedan is in all the Chevelle literature that year.

uplanderguy

Funny, the coupe has a completely--and I mean completely--different seat trim than the Sport Sedan. I have heard and read, although not sure how reliable, that an upholstery plant fire which made Malibu seat trim resulted in these Concours coupes being a stop-gap thing using Olds and Buick seat and door trim. It does seem odd, otherwise, that such an obvious, highly-visible borrowing from other divisions would've happened at Chevy. I'd love to see a dealer sales bulletin mentioning the availability of the Concours coupe...there has to have been one.

sda

That is Buick Skylark upholstery in this Concours, correct?

uplanderguy

Yes, same year Buick Skylark Custom.

borrow23

Found one on my local Craigslist for sale. 1968 Coupe of course.  Owner has some good information but not sure if it's accurate. Apparently 8,307 of them were made. He says in the ad that they came with Buick interior with a special front seat, special badging, mouldings and heavier floor insulation. Sadly the car looks like someone's unfinished project. Completely stripped interior except for the dash area which is still all intact. Hard to tell what's there and what's not, he claims he has all the interior. Floors and quarters were replaced. Car is completely primer grey, no badging so I'm guessing it was removed, not sure if he has it. Looks complete other than no engine, transmission, head and tail lights, bumpers and grill. $6500 is the asking price.

uplanderguy

Some had the Cutlass Supreme interior...the one I remember had that. Weird that I have not found one single piece of factory literature at all on the coupe.

uplanderguy

UPDATE: A friend who knows how curious I am about these cars, was talking to a guy with a '68 Chevelle SS396 at a show whose car had the Buick Skylark Custom interior and the guy provided my friend, who provided me, a copy of a letter "TO ALL DEALERS" dated March 25, 1968, talking about a labor dispute "for some period of time" that "is curtailing completely the trim supply for Chevelle and Chevy II lines". At this point, no cloth interior trims were available in the Chevelle lines at all, and only black vinyl in the Malibu. It appears to me that the Concours option (Skylark Custom or Cutlass Supreme interior trim, depending on assembly plant) of all-vinyl in black only, on the coupes, was done to provide some variation of the black vinyl regular-Malibu interior in what was probably Chevy's best-selling two-door hardtop after the Impala. I imagine there were probably some sore retail customers who ordered a Malibu in something else than black vinyl interiors though whose car didn't come in as ordered.

The Chevy II optional Custom interior (bench and buckets) was also only available in black vinyl at this point, and although the Corvair wasn't mentioned in the opening of the letter, below it is mentioned that "alternate trims for Corvair cannot be obtained and production of these models has ceased until trim can be obtained". Probably not a huge deal for Corvair assembly to be curtailed in '68!

The letter also states that "Satisfactory alternate trims cannot be obtained for the following models thus they will not be offered during this temporary period: Chevelle 300 Coupe, Nomad 2-seat wagon, 300 Deluxe Sport Coupe, and 300 Deluxe four-door sedan".

Lots of questions I've had were answered with that letter.

dreezmonster

I have a 1968 Chevelle Concours 4 Door Hard Top in pretty great shape. I've owned it for about 20 years. Still have the original documents and pamphlet that came with it. Interior is in great shape with original dash and steering wheel.

kyfdx

Pretty sweet!

Does the hood close?

dreezmonster

Yes the Hood closes just fine. I just started to do some research on these cars and are finding that they seem pretty rare so I just posted the photo I had on my phone. I can post more of the interior as well.

kyfdx

It's nice.. the wheels are vaguely Cutlass-looking. Not that I'm familiar with that model.

andre1969

It's a gorgeous color. As for those sport wheels, I think they were common on Novas. IIRC, the '73-74 Nova that Mama bought in an episode of "Mama's Family", even had those wheels. I think the original Pontiac Rally I wheel looked close to that, as well.

uplanderguy

Those wheels look to me like the cutouts have chrome edging, which would be the '78-79 Malibu and Monte Carlo Rally Wheels only. Similar, but with no chrome edging, would be the '71-79 Nova Rally Wheels. A Rally Wheel on a '68 Chevelle would be the five-slot Corvette-style Rally Wheel.

The '68 Concours Sport Sedan was a rare item, but at least it was in the brochure. The coupe? Not at all!

Do you have interior photos? Thanks!

Lance_weaver05

I have a 2 door sport coupe concours but it wont let me post a pic idk why

kyfdx

Lance_weaver05 said:

I have a 2 door sport coupe concours but it wont let me post a pic idk why

Try refreshing your screen a couple of times. Our picture posting has been a little wonky. Seems to work better with Chrome.

If you have the picture on an iPad, it seems to work well from there.