I think I’d add to your list, sport or heavy duty suspension, power locks, am/fm with rear speaker ( the over priced stereo wasn’t that good, at least not in dad’s 73 Catalina), 6 way power seat.
All good items. I remember the stereo radios being well into the $300's, which did seem shocking. I might be remembering that with cassette player, but still.
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I think I have mentioned it before, when I was a teenager I went to an estate sale, and there was a Spirit of America Impala for sale, like that coupe. It was white with the white wheels, I think they wanted $1500 for it, and it was in very clean PNW condition. Just an oddball 20 year old used car behemoth then, but it stuck in my head.
That '90 Ford wagon--leather seating, interesting. The next-to-last full-size Ford wagons. No Chevy wagon ever offered leather seating.
While I love the buttery softness of domestic leather back then, it never seemed to hold up without a lot of maintenance. In Cadillac Calais models, they offered 'expanded vinyl' which for the most part, looked like smooth, soft leather, but held up way better than the leather they used in DeVilles.
That Concours in the tiktok video...I guess to put that custom console in, he had to replace the front seats with something other than factory. Still, nice looking car overall.
Everybody, including myself, always says the 's' at the end of 'Concours'. I can't remember where I saw it, or when, and can't remember if it were from Chevy or Cadillac (who used the name later), but I think the official pronounciation of it leaves the 's' sound off the end.
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@explorerx4 said:
No 3rd row in that wagon. Some good questions in the comment section.
Surprisingly missing the third row, because otherwise it’s very well equipped. In all honesty that wagon is about as good as it gets. No wood, LX trim, leather, dual exhaust and turbines. I didn’t dig into the pictures too deep to see if they posted the axle code but I’d wager it is a trailer tow car too.
andre, in response to your earlier question, the Impala Custom was 99% about only the formal roofline. Interiors were identical to all other Impalas. The Impala Custom did, however, come with standard wheel opening moldings, which to me is a must on any car mid-size or larger.
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Friend sent me an ad for a light green metallic '73 Catalina 2-door hardtop that he was goofing on the asking price for the car for the condition. I was reminded of a '73 Catalina 2-door where the owner was buried in it a few years back. I'd post a link here, but there are pics there. Best to Google it yourself but it's weirdly fascinating.
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Friend sent me an ad for a light green metallic '73 Catalina 2-door hardtop that he was goofing on the asking price for the car for the condition. I was reminded of a '73 Catalina 2-door where the owner was buried in it a few years back. I'd post a link here, but there are pics there. Best to Google it yourself but it's weirdly fascinating.
That's way too much money for that Catalina. It needs full paint and body work, the underside is crusty in parts, and the interior isn't very appealing although original. That's the kind of car you would pick up from the owner for a few thou, not 10K from a dealer.
That '74 Spirit of America is a really sweet car. I will say though, that there seems like there's something just a little bit "off" with the '74-75 Impala Sport roofline, compared to the '71-73 Impala Custom/Caprice. Not that it's bad, but the '71-73 just seems so much more eye-pleasing to me. Maybe it's the concave rear window. Or something about the roll-down quarter window, that seems to fit that area a bit more gracefully. Overall, it just seems a bit more sporty and less formal.
But, they did square these cars up a bit for '74, so it's possible that '71-73 Custom roof might not have worked quite as well, as it was a bit more rounded.
Still, in the overall scheme of things, it's a minor quibble with me. For instance, going just on looks, I'd rather have a '74 or '75 Impala Sport coupe, than a '73 Impala Custom. There's just something about that '73 front-end I don't care for.
I know we've talked about it before, but for some reason, I have an odd fascination with that hybrid "Colonade/true-hardtop" style that the B-O-P B-body hardtop coupes used. I know it's "wrong" on so many levels, and challenges good taste, yet I still find one of these appealing... I've always wondered though, if you're sitting in the back seat, isn't that C-pillar pretty much going to kill your view? Seems to me that the roll-down window is too far forward, while the fixed window is too far backward, to really give much of a view.
It probably gave the driver pretty good visibility, though.
Friend sent me an ad for a light green metallic '73 Catalina 2-door hardtop that he was goofing on the asking price for the car for the condition.
Ya mean someone finally dug out that '73 Catalina across the street from the funeral home that took care of my Grandmom? This Google street view shot is from October 2021, but I that car was in the same spot in May 2015, when we were planning Grandmom's funeral. And looking through older Google street views, they've had the car for ages. Here's a Google shot from July 2012... The Catalina is in a different spot, off to the right partially obscured by the telephone pole, and there's an early 70's Satellite Sebring in its current resting spot. In this 2012 shot, from what little I can tell, the Catalina doesn't look too bad. Of course, it's a low-resolution shot, and from a distance. If the car has sat around for that long, I'm sure that it had issues, even then.
To me, this seems like the kind of car you pay maybe $1500-2000 for it, and you have a fun old beater to drive around for awhile, until something catastrophic breaks on it. Or, you restore it, if it's a true labor of love, that you know you'll never get your money's worth out of it. But, I might be out of touch.
Anyway, last fall at the Carlisle PA swap meet, there were a couple of nice Catalinas for sale. Here's a really nice '73... I can't remember how much they wanted for it. I'm thinking high teens/low twenties. Even that seemed a bit pricey, but there's no way you're going to take that green Hemming's 73, for $9-10K, throw that again into it, and end up with something as nice as this.
Here's a '72... They were asking $17,500 for this one. The paint was not stock, as it had those big metallic flakes in it that made it a bit too sparkly, but it was still a nice looking car.
Now, these prices were also as of last October, so who knows? With inflation, the economy and such, maybe these prices would be jacked up more if these cars were for sale now? I would think that inflation, and this type of economy would sort of put the damper on the prices of cars like this, though, as these are essentially toys that nobody really needs.
Yes, andre, that's the car for sale. The one the guy was buried in was that bright green metallic for '73 that I rather like.
Most of it's the bumpers, but there are other things that make me not like '73-76 Pontiacs as well as '71 and '72's. Just small detail stuff.
andre, the '73 is probably my least-favorite '71-76 big Chevy as well. I don't like the front, I don't like the taillights, I don't care for the upper interior door panels (shared in '74), the wheelcovers don't do much for me, and I don't like the side moldings going over the front wheel openings, LOL (same with '74).
I like the Custom Coupe roofline up through '73. It's elegant. But I never liked the Sport Coupe roofline from '71 to '73. I don't mind it on the B-O-P cars, but it looks small to me on the Chevy body, I think because the Chevy has slab sides and square wheel openings. So, I preferred the squared-off '74 Sport Coupe quarter window to the '71-73 style.
My sister's in-laws, who lived in our town, had a base-model '74 LeSabre coupe in a russet metallic color. It was a cheapie with no wheel opening moldings. I don't mind that roofline when all the windows are down, but I don't like the three-window look on the side otherwise, like I don't like a partition in rear door glass then a quarter window behind it, on some Ford and Mopar products.
It does get some ventilation back there, unlike the Chevy Custom Coupe and the more-expensive B, O, P big cars.
I've ridden in the back of my buddy's old '73 Chevelle SS coupe and my view was the B-pillar, even with that big quarter window. I agree that it looks like the same thing would happen with the full-size pillared coupes, including the Chevy.
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My friend sends me ads for various cars he thinks I'll have an interest and/or comments on. He knows I grew up on Chevys, and was always a student of them in the late sixties and seventies although I wouldn't necessarily be compelled to buy one as a hobby car. He sent me a Hemmings ad just yesterday for a '68 Impala SS Custom Coupe, a real mongrel. He sent me an ad for a different '68 Custom Coupe with 396, a day or two before, asking price $43K!!!!! Insane to my pocketbook.
I still think that after the '64, the formal-top big '68 Chevys are the ugliest sixties big Chevys!
Anyway, he claims he didn't know, but the 'mongrel' is in the city I live in, LOL.
I do find the Impala SS for '68, and also '69, intriguing because the volume seemed to go waaaayyy down on those models after '67. I really like the '68 SS bucket seats in lighter colors as the seats have a two-tone treatment, light and dark color. The '68 SS has very nice door panels too IMHO.
This car for sale locally was originally Grecian Green, which was popular but I've always largely detested, although now it's a turquoise metallic similar to what was offered that year. It's black original interior, which doesn't look as nice as of course, black seats are monotone. But the car isn't for the faint of heart, LOL.
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I think what bugs me about the '71-73 Sport Coupe roof is the way the beltline kicks up under the quarter window, to join the C-pillar. There just seems to be an abruptness to it, like the designers decided to pick the shortest line to go from the back of the door to the C-pillar, and that was it. On the B-O-P cars, the beltline continues level, almost to the base of the C-pillar, and then wraps gracefully up into it.
Here's a '71 Impala and '72 LeSabre, to compare...
From some angles I think the '71-73 Sport Coupe looks nice, but then from others it looks a bit awkward. In the above pic, for instance, it almost looks to me like the designers of the front of the car and the back of the car weren't quite in sync, and when they got to the middle they tried to blend it the best they coulde. They had a similar issue, I thought, when the C-body coupes went to those fixed-windows. Or the '74+ Caprice coupe and Impala Custom, where those cars just seemed like they didn't line up right at the B-pillar.
Speaking of "Grecian Green", I know I've posted it before, but here's an old pic of my Granddad, posing beside their '68 Impala...
Looking at the date, April of 68, Granddad would have been 51, turning 52 in November of '68. And ouch, suddenly I feel old! I turn 52 in a couple weeks, and here I am, looking at a pic of Granddad, from when he was younger than I am! Where does the time go?!
It's also interesting how the memory can play tricks on you. This is probably the first car that I can remember. But, I remember it being a more vivid bluish-green color, like a turquoise or something. Basically, more blue than green on the color scale. I've thought that perhaps it could simply be the picture being faded over the years, plus that washed-out color film they used back then anyway, but in looking at modern pics online to where I can see what a Grecian Green Chevy looks like today and still nope, that's not how my mind remembers it!
My 4th grade teacher had a 68 Bel Air 4dr SeaFrost green, 307, a/c, full wheel covers like those on your granddad's, whitewalls. Your granddad's appears to be also SeaFrost green.
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I bet those back seats were seldom used, so nobody cared. Along the lines of the Spirit of America Chevy I recall, at roughly that same point in time, a little old lady antique dealer friend of my mom had an immaculate 76 Olds Delta 88 coupe in that style with the rear quarter window. Not sure what was under the hood, but the car was yellow on yellow on yellow (or maybe a gold interior, it's been around 30 years ago now). I recall she always had blackwalls on it, seldom drove it. I recall she was talking about getting rid of it around the time I started driving, and I probably could have got it for a grand at most. She had another car she drove more often, a similarly immaculate baby blue Hornet Sportabout, roughly the same year. Not sure what happened to either car, lost track when I moved away for school, last time I saw her I think she had a Camry or similar, she passed away probably close to 10 years ago now.
Big mid 70s Pontiacs always make me think of this:
That '74 Spirit of America is a really sweet car. I will say though, that there seems like there's something just a little bit "off" with the '74-75 Impala Sport roofline, compared to the '71-73 Impala Custom/Caprice. Not that it's bad, but the '71-73 just seems so much more eye-pleasing to me. Maybe it's the concave rear window. Or something about the roll-down quarter window, that seems to fit that area a bit more gracefully. Overall, it just seems a bit more sporty and less formal.
But, they did square these cars up a bit for '74, so it's possible that '71-73 Custom roof might not have worked quite as well, as it was a bit more rounded.
Still, in the overall scheme of things, it's a minor quibble with me. For instance, going just on looks, I'd rather have a '74 or '75 Impala Sport coupe, than a '73 Impala Custom. There's just something about that '73 front-end I don't care for.
I know we've talked about it before, but for some reason, I have an odd fascination with that hybrid "Colonade/true-hardtop" style that the B-O-P B-body hardtop coupes used. I know it's "wrong" on so many levels, and challenges good taste, yet I still find one of these appealing... I've always wondered though, if you're sitting in the back seat, isn't that C-pillar pretty much going to kill your view? Seems to me that the roll-down window is too far forward, while the fixed window is too far backward, to really give much of a view.
It probably gave the driver pretty good visibility, though.
RE.: '71 Sport Coupe roofline--I wouldn't doubt that the Buick's longer wheelbase (123" or 124" vs. 121.5") might account for some of that difference.
You know me, I usually don't like skirts, but I think they look OK on that Impala.
The first '71 big Chevy (Impala Custom Coupe) I saw at our hometown dealer's was that green. I believe the Chevy and Buick pictured are the same colors.
I like in '71 and later, how the Centurion ditched the fake portholes (sacrilege, I know) of the LeSabre and put the series nameplate down lower on the car.
Something I always liked about the '71 Impalas was they all had that wide rocker and sill trim. In fact, with that wide trim, I sort-of liked the plain side trim and even no wheel opening trim as I think those cars could get away with it.
Favorite '71 big car color: Sea Aqua is what Chevy called it. I remember seeing exactly one new car at our hometown dealer in that color--a Bel Air with black vinyl interior. They had it a loonnnnngg time.
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All that said, with fifty years' hindsight, I find all that black around the instrument cluster, and black wheel and column, very unappealing except on a car with black interior. The seat trim of Impalas is pretty nice, and the door panels OK, but that dash!
I like the full-size Buick's instrument panel best of the four divisions starting in '71. If we include Caddy, I like the '71 DeVille's brushed metal appliques on dash and door panels, which didn't last the whole way through the model year before being replaced with fake woodgrain.
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That Buick looks as long as the house is wide. And the Chevy would stick out both ends of the garage.
I think it's appropriate, somehow, that both of those cars were cut off at the edge of the picture; they were so big!
The most extreme example, I think, is the '71-72 Bonneville. It used that same roofline, but the wheelbase was 126". In comparison, the LeSabre was 124" and the Impala was only 121.5." As far as I know, all the extra length was ahead of the cowl, to give it a longer hood. GM used to stretch the Bonneville (and Star Chief/Executive) a few inches in the rear, pulling the rear axle back, but without making the passenger cabin any bigger. But for '71, they went the other way, stretching it in front, instead.The Catalina was on a 124" wheelbase, but I doubt that, with those lengths, most people noticed the 2" difference. It was probably a pain, as well, because I'd imagine they had to make the hood and fenders 2" longer as well, and perhaps some of the sub-structure under the hood. Plus, stretching the frame those extra inches, just for two models, the Bonneville and Grand Ville.
Buick and Olds did stretch the wheelbase 3" for the Electra/Ninety-Eight, versus the LeSabre/Delta 88, but in that case the stretch was in the back, and gave you a bigger back seat, at least.
For '74, Pontiac put them all on the 124" wheelbase (except wagons, which were on a 127")
Too bad Granddad didn't spring for that Tripoli Turquoise back in '68! That's a really sharp color. And, for whatever reason, when I think back on our '68, that's roughly the color that pops into my mind!
It's amazing, too, how many different shades of green/blue they offered back then. Of those 15 colors, 8 of them are variations of green or blue! In contrast, when I bought my 2000 Intrepid, I think they had 10 or 11 colors. But they were down to a light green that I always called "sage"...sort of a grayish-green. They had a dark green that was sort of a "sequoia" I guess. And the only blue at the time was sort of a steely gray-blue.
Someone asked me tonight I’d I had a pic of the house our family lived in from 1973 to 1983. I only have one and it took a while to find it. But when I did, I discovered I had also captured a view of our neighbor’s ‘76 Chevy Custom Coupe in Lime Green Metallic.
That lime green in '76 couldn't have looked worse on a car than on a big Chevy, LOL! I don't believe I've ever seen it on any other big '76 GM car so not sure it was offered. The worst was the Landau models of Impala and Caprice, with that lime green color on the wheel covers! Still, neat picture, thanks for sharing.
RE.: Tripoli Turquoise '68 Chevy--my friend a couple years ago sent me an ad for a car he actually drove a couple hours to look at. It looked decent in the ad but was crusty underneath. It was a Tripoli Turquoise '68 Impala SS sport coupe (fastback) with 307 and column-mounted three-speed manual. It had a console (part of the SS package), but where the shifter would be was a factory fill-in plate. So weird. It's absolutely the only one I've ever seen like that.
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I can't remember the last time I've seen that limefire metallic on any car, in person, but searching on Google, there's certainly plenty that pop up! Here's a '76 Electra...
I have to confess, I actually like it more than I'd normally expect myself to. I normally go more for frosty greens, greenish blues, forest greens, and such.
I just noticed though, I can't find any pics of a full-sized Pontiac or Oldsmobile in lime green. But I found a LeSabre. It was a low resolution pic so I didn't bother to post...it was a hardtop coupe with a white top, green rims, and dog-dish hubcaps. I wonder if it was one of those V6 "Special" models they offered that year? A Toronado in lime green popped up, but it was an illustration...
And, I just found where that illustration came from...
I have a love/hate relationship with Lime Green on the '76 Monte Carlo, but it'd have to have the white vinyl Special Custom interior that almost looks like leather to my eyes. For some reason after I posted earlier, I thought I had seen a low-level LeSabre of some sort, somewhere, in the color...maybe the one you are talking about online.
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Shifty used to tell me to keep the Studebaker talk on that forum, but I posted it there and am going to post it here too. "The Price Is Right" from Nov. 19, 1962, with a '63 Gran Turismo Hawk at about 6:10 going in. Interesting to me to see how the format was different then. I always thought Bill Cullen was a good game show host. Not a wise guy but seemed like a nice guy.
When I did production order research on '63's some thirty years ago in South Bend, I saw a few production orders (build sheets) that said "Tag for The Price Is Right" at the bottom. I also saw a black supercharged Lark tagged for "Diocese of Chicago Raffle Car".
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One thing that just dawned on me...in that big Oldsmobile compilation above, the only green they're showing appears to be that lime green. I looked up a color chart, and there were only two greens offered that year...the lime and a dark green that was sort of a forest/sequoia. Actually, the Chevy chart shows two limes, one metallic and one not. I'm guessing the non-metallic was a Chevette or Vega-only color?
I'm surprised in that Olds illustration though, that that none of the cars showed the dark green. It was a nice color in my opinion, and would probably be my first choice. Here's a '76 Cutlass in that shade...
That lime green in '76 couldn't have looked worse on a car than on a big Chevy, LOL! I don't believe I've ever seen it on any other big '76 GM car so not sure it was offered. The worst was the Landau models of Impala and Caprice, with that lime green color on the wheel covers! Still, neat picture, thanks for sharing.
RE.: Tripoli Turquoise '68 Chevy--my friend a couple years ago sent me an ad for a car he actually drove a couple hours to look at. It looked decent in the ad but was crusty underneath. It was a Tripoli Turquoise '68 Impala SS sport coupe (fastback) with 307 and column-mounted three-speed manual. It had a console (part of the SS package), but where the shifter would be was a factory fill-in plate. So weird. It's absolutely the only one I've ever seen like that.
I thought his Chevy looked good at the time, but hey, it was the '70s. When we arrived there in '73 he was driving a '68 Impala 4-door sedan in Butternut yellow and kept it for a long time. He had 5 daughters and I could never understand why he didn't drive a station wagon.
Tripoli Turquoise in '68 was known as Ocean Turquoise at Oldsmobile and was the original color of my Cutlass. But with the black interior I didn't think the two shades got along well, and the paint was old and dull when I bought it. When I had it repainted I thought the '68 red was a better choice, although as time went on I warmed up to the turquoise shade more. Freshly painted I'm sure it would have looked good.
It's interesting seeing that '71 Satellite and '72 Catalina side-by-side. Despite one being a midsize and the other being a full-size, I swear there doesn't look like much difference in the sizes.
andre, I recall that '76 GM dark green. I liked the '77 dark green a bit better....I can't think of how it was different; maybe just a hint of dark blue mixed in with the green, I don't know.
A lime green was available on the '76 Vega. I'd think it was metallic too but maybe a slightly different shade. Often, the Vega and Corvette had their own colors, and Nova/Chevelle/Full-Size had their own colors. Don't ask me about Camaro as I really didn't pay much attention.
That '76 dark green reminds me that on 'All Original Cars' on FB, a couple weeks ago was a dark green metallic '72 Vega hatchback with 10.9K miles. Utterly remarkable original condition, which I have to admire--I probably haven't seen one so original and nice in over 40 years. Sandalwood (light beige) Custom Interior option too, which makes the interior waaayyyy more palatable. Story was a woman bought it, drove it 'til she died in '77, and her family (son?) stored it in a barn 'til recently and then sold it to the current owner. Really remarkable condition for an early Vega.
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Yeah, the '77 dark green did lean a bit towards blue on the spectrum. In fact, on the Chevy paint chart, it shows as "Dark blue-green poly". The frosty green, which resembles the Jadestone of the early 80's, was called "Medium Green Poly". Pontiac called the dark one "Berkshire Green" and the frosty one "Bahia Green", respectively. I guess their marketing department was paid a bit more than Chevy's?
There was also a lime color still showing, simply "Light Lime" at Chevy and "Royal Lime" at Pontiac. It's a non-metallic color, and a different code from the '76 Non-metallic lime. And again, I can't imagine what kind of car would have used it, except something like a Vega, Chevette, or Astre, maybe? I googled "1977 Chevrolet Lime" and not a single 1977 Chevy in a lime color showed up. When I did the same for Pontiac, again, it was basically everything BUT. Well, except for this... And I have a feeling this ain't stock!
Yeah, the '77 dark green did lean a bit towards blue on the spectrum. In fact, on the Chevy paint chart, it shows as "Dark blue-green poly". The frosty green, which resembles the Jadestone of the early 80's, was called "Medium Green Poly". Pontiac called the dark one "Berkshire Green" and the frosty one "Bahia Green", respectively. I guess their marketing department was paid a bit more than Chevy's?
When I first got my '78 Delta 88 (dark red metallic/red interior) in '97 it needed some interior bits, so I began scouring local junkyards. That was still prime time for finding B/C-body cars of that generation in such places so I did well. I learned that many came with green or blue interiors, though that was no problem as I had some vinyl dye in my red shade mixed and ready to respray them if needed.
Both the green and blue interiors in those cars were a very light shade. I remember quite liking a green Olds Delta 88 Royale in a light green metallic exterior and a pale green interior. The inside, while clearly green, didn't jump out as such, but rather as just a nice calming, muted shade.
All of these big 70s GM coupes make me think of a spot from last winter, this Catalina - I think it was a lowish mileage car that had sat outside and got a little patina but the interior survived fine. I think the owner was debating whether to paint it or just preserve this look. I remember this was a cold morning, maybe 20F (something familiar in the background), owner rolled the windows down to show me the hardtop, IIRC this was a 400 car with climate control wheel. Those turbine wheelcovers can't be common:
andre, I didn't recall that '77 dark green actually having 'blue' in the name but it did. For some reason, I never thought of that color like the '81 Dark Jade as in '81 there was a jade interior color and that color on '77's always seemed to have just green interior.
Besides being all in to the new full-size GM's that year, something that kind-of turned me off in a minor way to Chevelles that year, was the door panels on the Malibu Classic previously had a big cloth insert that matched the seats, if the seats were cloth, and vinyl door panel inserts for all-vinyl interiors. The urge to cheapen/simplify must have been overwhelming for '77 as you got the vinyl door panel inserts no matter if you got cloth or all-vinyl interior!
I did like the spoked plastic wheelcovers from the full-size Chevys, which were seen (not often) on Chevelles and Monte Carlos that year.
As you and I have discussed, I so wish Chevy would've offered the Malibu Classic with the triangle window as a choice and a delete option on the hood ornament, LOL. In '74 I found out that Pontiac offered the Luxury LeMans interior on the base LeMans sedan, and maybe even the coupe with triangular window or the Sport Coupe, which is nice if you wanted that interior but didn't want fender skirts.
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That blue paint on the Catalina puzzles me. Pontiac only offered 2 blues in '76, Athena Blue, a light shade, and Polaris Blue, which looks much darker than this. This definitely isn't Athena, but a search for Polaris gives results all over the map, though nothing quite like this. I wonder if they offered a spring special color?
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All good items. I remember the stereo radios being well into the $300's, which did seem shocking. I might be remembering that with cassette player, but still.
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A non-woody wagon that late has to be rare.
Here is one that may be of interest.
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTdyEQVCr/
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While I love the buttery softness of domestic leather back then, it never seemed to hold up without a lot of maintenance. In Cadillac Calais models, they offered 'expanded vinyl' which for the most part, looked like smooth, soft leather, but held up way better than the leather they used in DeVilles.
That Concours in the tiktok video...I guess to put that custom console in, he had to replace the front seats with something other than factory. Still, nice looking car overall.
Everybody, including myself, always says the 's' at the end of 'Concours'. I can't remember where I saw it, or when, and can't remember if it were from Chevy or Cadillac (who used the name later), but I think the official pronounciation of it leaves the 's' sound off the end.
Surprisingly missing the third row, because otherwise it’s very well equipped. In all honesty that wagon is about as good as it gets. No wood, LX trim, leather, dual exhaust and turbines. I didn’t dig into the pictures too deep to see if they posted the axle code but I’d wager it is a trailer tow car too.
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But, they did square these cars up a bit for '74, so it's possible that '71-73 Custom roof might not have worked quite as well, as it was a bit more rounded.
Still, in the overall scheme of things, it's a minor quibble with me. For instance, going just on looks, I'd rather have a '74 or '75 Impala Sport coupe, than a '73 Impala Custom. There's just something about that '73 front-end I don't care for.
I know we've talked about it before, but for some reason, I have an odd fascination with that hybrid "Colonade/true-hardtop" style that the B-O-P B-body hardtop coupes used. I know it's "wrong" on so many levels, and challenges good taste, yet I still find one of these appealing...
I've always wondered though, if you're sitting in the back seat, isn't that C-pillar pretty much going to kill your view? Seems to me that the roll-down window is too far forward, while the fixed window is too far backward, to really give much of a view.
It probably gave the driver pretty good visibility, though.
https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/pontiac/catalina/2419679.html
To me, this seems like the kind of car you pay maybe $1500-2000 for it, and you have a fun old beater to drive around for awhile, until something catastrophic breaks on it. Or, you restore it, if it's a true labor of love, that you know you'll never get your money's worth out of it. But, I might be out of touch.
Anyway, last fall at the Carlisle PA swap meet, there were a couple of nice Catalinas for sale. Here's a really nice '73...
Here's a '72...
Now, these prices were also as of last October, so who knows? With inflation, the economy and such, maybe these prices would be jacked up more if these cars were for sale now? I would think that inflation, and this type of economy would sort of put the damper on the prices of cars like this, though, as these are essentially toys that nobody really needs.
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Most of it's the bumpers, but there are other things that make me not like '73-76 Pontiacs as well as '71 and '72's. Just small detail stuff.
andre, the '73 is probably my least-favorite '71-76 big Chevy as well. I don't like the front, I don't like the taillights, I don't care for the upper interior door panels (shared in '74), the wheelcovers don't do much for me, and I don't like the side moldings going over the front wheel openings, LOL (same with '74).
I like the Custom Coupe roofline up through '73. It's elegant. But I never liked the Sport Coupe roofline from '71 to '73. I don't mind it on the B-O-P cars, but it looks small to me on the Chevy body, I think because the Chevy has slab sides and square wheel openings. So, I preferred the squared-off '74 Sport Coupe quarter window to the '71-73 style.
My sister's in-laws, who lived in our town, had a base-model '74 LeSabre coupe in a russet metallic color. It was a cheapie with no wheel opening moldings. I don't mind that roofline when all the windows are down, but I don't like the three-window look on the side otherwise, like I don't like a partition in rear door glass then a quarter window behind it, on some Ford and Mopar products.
It does get some ventilation back there, unlike the Chevy Custom Coupe and the more-expensive B, O, P big cars.
I've ridden in the back of my buddy's old '73 Chevelle SS coupe and my view was the B-pillar, even with that big quarter window. I agree that it looks like the same thing would happen with the full-size pillared coupes, including the Chevy.
I still think that after the '64, the formal-top big '68 Chevys are the ugliest sixties big Chevys!
Anyway, he claims he didn't know, but the 'mongrel' is in the city I live in, LOL.
I do find the Impala SS for '68, and also '69, intriguing because the volume seemed to go waaaayyy down on those models after '67. I really like the '68 SS bucket seats in lighter colors as the seats have a two-tone treatment, light and dark color. The '68 SS has very nice door panels too IMHO.
This car for sale locally was originally Grecian Green, which was popular but I've always largely detested, although now it's a turquoise metallic similar to what was offered that year. It's black original interior, which doesn't look as nice as of course, black seats are monotone. But the car isn't for the faint of heart, LOL.
Here's a '71 Impala and '72 LeSabre, to compare...
From some angles I think the '71-73 Sport Coupe looks nice, but then from others it looks a bit awkward. In the above pic, for instance, it almost looks to me like the designers of the front of the car and the back of the car weren't quite in sync, and when they got to the middle they tried to blend it the best they coulde. They had a similar issue, I thought, when the C-body coupes went to those fixed-windows. Or the '74+ Caprice coupe and Impala Custom, where those cars just seemed like they didn't line up right at the B-pillar.
Looking at the date, April of 68, Granddad would have been 51, turning 52 in November of '68. And ouch, suddenly I feel old! I turn 52 in a couple weeks, and here I am, looking at a pic of Granddad, from when he was younger than I am! Where does the time go?!
It's also interesting how the memory can play tricks on you. This is probably the first car that I can remember. But, I remember it being a more vivid bluish-green color, like a turquoise or something. Basically, more blue than green on the color scale. I've thought that perhaps it could simply be the picture being faded over the years, plus that washed-out color film they used back then anyway, but in looking at modern pics online to where I can see what a Grecian Green Chevy looks like today and still nope, that's not how my mind remembers it!
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Big mid 70s Pontiacs always make me think of this:
You know me, I usually don't like skirts, but I think they look OK on that Impala.
The first '71 big Chevy (Impala Custom Coupe) I saw at our hometown dealer's was that green. I believe the Chevy and Buick pictured are the same colors.
I like in '71 and later, how the Centurion ditched the fake portholes (sacrilege, I know) of the LeSabre and put the series nameplate down lower on the car.
Something I always liked about the '71 Impalas was they all had that wide rocker and sill trim. In fact, with that wide trim, I sort-of liked the plain side trim and even no wheel opening trim as I think those cars could get away with it.
Favorite '71 big car color: Sea Aqua is what Chevy called it. I remember seeing exactly one new car at our hometown dealer in that color--a Bel Air with black vinyl interior. They had it a loonnnnngg time.
I like the full-size Buick's instrument panel best of the four divisions starting in '71. If we include Caddy, I like the '71 DeVille's brushed metal appliques on dash and door panels, which didn't last the whole way through the model year before being replaced with fake woodgrain.
Ahhh, choice of fifteen exterior colors. Plus add painted top or vinyl top if desired.
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The most extreme example, I think, is the '71-72 Bonneville. It used that same roofline, but the wheelbase was 126". In comparison, the LeSabre was 124" and the Impala was only 121.5." As far as I know, all the extra length was ahead of the cowl, to give it a longer hood. GM used to stretch the Bonneville (and Star Chief/Executive) a few inches in the rear, pulling the rear axle back, but without making the passenger cabin any bigger. But for '71, they went the other way, stretching it in front, instead.
Buick and Olds did stretch the wheelbase 3" for the Electra/Ninety-Eight, versus the LeSabre/Delta 88, but in that case the stretch was in the back, and gave you a bigger back seat, at least.
For '74, Pontiac put them all on the 124" wheelbase (except wagons, which were on a 127")
It's amazing, too, how many different shades of green/blue they offered back then. Of those 15 colors, 8 of them are variations of green or blue! In contrast, when I bought my 2000 Intrepid, I think they had 10 or 11 colors. But they were down to a light green that I always called "sage"...sort of a grayish-green. They had a dark green that was sort of a "sequoia" I guess. And the only blue at the time was sort of a steely gray-blue.
https://jalopnik.com/heres-the-story-behind-the-oldsmobile-crushed-by-300-lb-1848658789
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RE.: Tripoli Turquoise '68 Chevy--my friend a couple years ago sent me an ad for a car he actually drove a couple hours to look at. It looked decent in the ad but was crusty underneath. It was a Tripoli Turquoise '68 Impala SS sport coupe (fastback) with 307 and column-mounted three-speed manual. It had a console (part of the SS package), but where the shifter would be was a factory fill-in plate. So weird. It's absolutely the only one I've ever seen like that.
I have to confess, I actually like it more than I'd normally expect myself to. I normally go more for frosty greens, greenish blues, forest greens, and such.
I just noticed though, I can't find any pics of a full-sized Pontiac or Oldsmobile in lime green. But I found a LeSabre. It was a low resolution pic so I didn't bother to post...it was a hardtop coupe with a white top, green rims, and dog-dish hubcaps. I wonder if it was one of those V6 "Special" models they offered that year? A Toronado in lime green popped up, but it was an illustration...
And, I just found where that illustration came from...
I’ll have to dig up a picture but I’m pretty sure my Dad’s late 70s Grand Prix was that lime green color.
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Pretty clearly, no power steering!
When I did production order research on '63's some thirty years ago in South Bend, I saw a few production orders (build sheets) that said "Tag for The Price Is Right" at the bottom. I also saw a black supercharged Lark tagged for "Diocese of Chicago Raffle Car".
I'm surprised in that Olds illustration though, that that none of the cars showed the dark green. It was a nice color in my opinion, and would probably be my first choice. Here's a '76 Cutlass in that shade...
Tripoli Turquoise in '68 was known as Ocean Turquoise at Oldsmobile and was the original color of my Cutlass. But with the black interior I didn't think the two shades got along well, and the paint was old and dull when I bought it. When I had it repainted I thought the '68 red was a better choice, although as time went on I warmed up to the turquoise shade more. Freshly painted I'm sure it would have looked good.
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A lime green was available on the '76 Vega. I'd think it was metallic too but maybe a slightly different shade. Often, the Vega and Corvette had their own colors, and Nova/Chevelle/Full-Size had their own colors. Don't ask me about Camaro as I really didn't pay much attention.
That '76 dark green reminds me that on 'All Original Cars' on FB, a couple weeks ago was a dark green metallic '72 Vega hatchback with 10.9K miles. Utterly remarkable original condition, which I have to admire--I probably haven't seen one so original and nice in over 40 years. Sandalwood (light beige) Custom Interior option too, which makes the interior waaayyyy more palatable. Story was a woman bought it, drove it 'til she died in '77, and her family (son?) stored it in a barn 'til recently and then sold it to the current owner. Really remarkable condition for an early Vega.
There was also a lime color still showing, simply "Light Lime" at Chevy and "Royal Lime" at Pontiac. It's a non-metallic color, and a different code from the '76 Non-metallic lime. And again, I can't imagine what kind of car would have used it, except something like a Vega, Chevette, or Astre, maybe? I googled "1977 Chevrolet Lime" and not a single 1977 Chevy in a lime color showed up. When I did the same for Pontiac, again, it was basically everything BUT. Well, except for this...
And I have a feeling this ain't stock!
Both the green and blue interiors in those cars were a very light shade. I remember quite liking a green Olds Delta 88 Royale in a light green metallic exterior and a pale green interior. The inside, while clearly green, didn't jump out as such, but rather as just a nice calming, muted shade.
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Besides being all in to the new full-size GM's that year, something that kind-of turned me off in a minor way to Chevelles that year, was the door panels on the Malibu Classic previously had a big cloth insert that matched the seats, if the seats were cloth, and vinyl door panel inserts for all-vinyl interiors. The urge to cheapen/simplify must have been overwhelming for '77 as you got the vinyl door panel inserts no matter if you got cloth or all-vinyl interior!
I did like the spoked plastic wheelcovers from the full-size Chevys, which were seen (not often) on Chevelles and Monte Carlos that year.
As you and I have discussed, I so wish Chevy would've offered the Malibu Classic with the triangle window as a choice and a delete option on the hood ornament, LOL. In '74 I found out that Pontiac offered the Luxury LeMans interior on the base LeMans sedan, and maybe even the coupe with triangular window or the Sport Coupe, which is nice if you wanted that interior but didn't want fender skirts.
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