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I spotted an (insert obscure car name here) classic car today! (Archived)
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My folks got fed up with me driving my mom's Corona and my dad's Chevy pickup until there was no gas in either, and my mom arranged for me to get a job at the local shoe store to help cover expenses.
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Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
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Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
Where I lived at the time, NW PA, most Chevelles and Monte Carlos came from Baltimore, but Oshawa seemed to be the overflow plant as the Montes, especially, did sell really well.
A small thing that showed an apparently minor savings for Chevy in the Monte versus at least the Cutlass Supreme, that I've seen--that back window had a visible seam down the middle in the Monte, but didn't in the Cutlass Supreme. Not sure now what years I was looking at, but I noticed that fairly early it seems.
I clearly recall a new, brown with full black vinyl top '74 Monte Carlo that didn't make it under a railroad overpass in our town--the carrier truck didn't make it under--and the roof was ripped back like a sardine can. I remember seeing it inside at our local dealer's. It had been an ordered unit too.
And I can't tell if this '77 Grand Prix has a seam, or if that's a reflection?
In looking at various pics of the formal roof coupes (Monte, GP, Cutlass Supreme, Regal), it seems inconsistent. Seems like some have the seam, some don't. But sometimes it might depend on the angle the picture was taken, light, reflection, and such
Also, did they ever alter the roofline of the Colonades at any point during the '73-77 timeframe? I mean, other than deleting certain window options? On the formal roof models, in some pics the rear window seems to have a more pronounced Vee-shape than in others, but again, that could just be from the camera angle.
I'd always presumed that the formal roof models all shared the same roof structure, just with different opera windows for the Monte and the GP. But I wonder if they made subtle changes to the overall shape of the roof, at some point?
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What I remember seeing is a Monte where the rear window almost looked like two pieces fused together in the center. When I looked at a Cutlass Supreme, it didn't look like that.
I think, maybe, where the glass bends on a Cutlass looks like a seam in pics, but I don't know.
I have to wonder if what I saw might have been an aftermarket window, or if there were differences in the various assembly plants.
Now I'm dying to look up close at every GM Colonnade formal midsize coupe I see from now on!
IIRC.
I wouldn't have ordered it but I can understand the combo in that era.
That cream gold seems to have many different personalities in various
pictures because of lighting.
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Just be glad it doesn't have gold shag carpet inside.
When I look at that side profile shot I can imagine how much cleaner and better that design would have looked without those protruding battering-ram bumpers, and with nicely tucked conventional chrome jobs instead.
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And if not then, there should be a good showing of them at the GM show, which is late June! Although, I'm sure by the time that rolls around, we will have moved on to other topics here, and it will be out of my head.
With that '77 Grand Prix above, in the side profile, the front bumper doesn't bother me, but the rear bumper really looks like it juts out further than it should. I think it's partly because from that angle, and the lighting, it really shows off that soft panel that's designed to deform if the bumper gets compressed. Plus, the way that thick piece of trim ends, just short of that, draws more attention to it.
And, maybe it's the color scheme, but that thin, tall rear side marker light looks like it was thrown on as an afterthought, and just looks like it doesn't line up with anything. I think though, it could be because the red is close enough to that burgundy strip and the burgundy top, and contrasting against that creme, it just "pops". If that's Firethorn, I'm guessing that top color is the same as what's on my '76, but against that creme, and under the lights, it looks a lot brighter to me.
Another detail I noticed that's interesting, is how the opera window trim is chrome. On my LeMans, it's Firethorn and matches the vinyl on the roof. I wonder, if mine is incorrect? I looked at a few pics online, as well as some brochures, and they all seem to be sporting chrome surrounds...both LeMans and Grand Prix.
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Agree with the side marker light comment. One thing I liked about the Colonnade Montes was that the side marker lights looked like running lights, placed down low inside the sill moldings. I liked when they did that on the '81 Monte as well.
Another thing that made me think the roof was redone, was the quality of the vinyl. It has sort of a thick, soft, somewhat leathery texture to it, similar to what my grandmother's '85 LeSabre had on it. I guess it's possible that they used that type of vinyl back in the 70's, but I just tend to think of that other stuff that when it would start to go bad, it would flake off in little ~1 inch chunks, like on my grandparents' '72 Impala. I think of this particular texture as more of an 80's type of thing, but that could just be because of my own personal experiences in the past.
I like that color. I think it's a one-year color. At the time I thought it looked washed out, but like it now.
It's an '86 Sport Coupe. Andre, this is what your Mom had, right?
I'm of the belief that when the LS models started rolling out mid-year, the Sport Coupe was retired. I liked the smooth front end and no hood ornament of the LS better after about six model years of that original front end.
This car looks to me like it could use front springs. The pic reminds me too of the big overhang up front--maybe I'm used to looking at Studes with almost no space in front of the front wheels. The '81-85 had the 'Monte Carlo' script there. I keep looking for it on an '86, LOL. If you got the 4.3 FI V6, you got a big nameplate to that effect there. That engine was probably not a bad choice in these cars.
But... I still like the cars. End of a styling era at Chevy, for sure.
At the time, I preferred the base front end to the LS, as I thought the composite headlights up front seemed a bit odd, and the front-end seemed a bit generic compared to what came before. But, as time has passed, I've come to embrace it!
I don't know if the base sport coupe got phased out or not. Mom bought her '86 late in the model year, in September of '86, but it's possible it could have been sitting around on the lot for awhile. I think I still have some paperwork for it, somewhere. Mom kept a bunch of files from it, and gave them to me when she gave me the car, and I tend to hang onto stuff. Only problem is, I'm one of those types who "puts stuff in a safe place", but then sometimes forget where I put it! I guess if I could find its VIN, the sequence number might be some indication, if it's a later number than some of the LS models.
It's a shame I never thought to take a picture of the stickers in the doorjamb, which would at least show the month is was built. Or, jot it down, since digital cameras hadn't been invented yet, and people usually didn't waste film on that type of stuff back then!
Edit: Also, Mom's just had the base cloth interior, which I called "rat fur", and not the nicer CL interior.
I do remember the Monte Carlo though. When my wife's '78 Chevette was pretty worn out, I said "Let's buy the Monte Carlo from your aunt" ('Grandpa' had stopped driving at some point not terribly long after he bought the car). She didn't want to be driving her grandparents' car, so it got sold.
I loved the 'checkerboard' aluminum wheels in '81-'88, but I probably didn't see ten cars with them in person.
Like everybody, I am tired of wire wheel covers, but IMHO the GM ones on RWD cars of the period looked about as rich as any ever made--long spokes, lots of them, small center.
I think the '84 just had the 229 V6. Basically, it was her car, as he had an '80 Chevy 3/4 ton pickup. So, she was probably perfectly fine with the V6.
I think she had that car until 2001, although I'm not sure. All I know is that she got into an accident, and it got totaled. In 2001, she bought a new base Intrepid. I can't remember though, if the Monte got totaled and then she bought another car, and then traded it on the Intrepid, or if the Monte made it all the way until 2001. My grandparents used to hang around with them all the time, but my great-uncle died in 1989, and Granddad died in 1990. My grandmother and great-aunt never really got along all that well, so after the men died, they tended to only see each other at family get togethers.
I know she didn't keep that Intrepid long, though. She had one of those Betty White/Ellen Harper Jackson "Helmet Hair"-dos, and she said the sloping roof of the Intrepid messed with her hair!
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Personally, I think "Dark Chestnut " sounds a bit more exotic than just "light brown", "dark brown" etc, but perhaps by that time they put the bean counters in charge of naming the colors?
Here's an '87 Caprice in light brown metallic...
I know I have mentioned it before, an old friend of mine loves 80s Monte Carlos. When I met him in the 90s, he had his first car, an 83 CL he bought from a family friend, original owner, Grey on grey, 305, power everything, wire wheel covers - as was the style of the time, in the summer he ran what must have been roughly 13" wheels with low profile tires. He later switched out the wire cap look for wheels from maybe an 80-81 Z28, which required spacers. The TH250 (I think) puked around Y2K, and he put another unit in it. The car eventually got miled up and tired, and he parked it in his dad's barn. Eventually he was pressured to move it on, and sold it to someone who made it into a real lowrider - better fate than a junkyard for sure.
Around 2000, he bought a 85 Monte SS, maybe 50K miles on it, and he got a very fair deal on it, I want to say 5-6K. In 2002, it got hit by a stop sign runner, so he had it repainted and re-decaled. He still has the car, probably close to 100K on it now, collecting dust in his garage, never driven, as family life took priority.
I could find an '86 Monte Carlo brochure, but apparently only second-edition ones, that don't even show the Sport Coupe. I plainly remember the brochure at introduction time showing the Sport Coupe and noting that the LS was available mid-year. That the later brochure doesn't show the Sport Coupe tells me they were discontinued when the LS was in production.
I never could stand how the optional body side molding was so close to the standard sill molding. I'd have ordered one without the optional molding.
The color does nothing for me.
I liked these in dark blue/light blue under the sill molding, or dark maroon/light maroon under the sill molding.
https://classics.autotrader.com/classic-cars/1986/chevrolet/monte_carlo/101615378
I never would have thought the color in the original picture would have been a maroon, but again, it could just be the way the light and reflection hits it that makes it look more brownish to me. But then, if I look at this one picture, and focus enough on the roof, I can see more of a similarity...
I don't like when people put white-lettered tires on these cars or the other divisions' cars like them. Not even available as an option when new, at least on the Chevy (well, not sure about the SS).
By this time, Chevy called the colors just the basic names; the more poetic names were reserved for the 'prestige' divisions.
Old-skool here, but I remember when they used to try to make wheel covers look like wheels. At some point in the late '80's or '90's, manufacturers started to make wheels look like cheap plastic hub caps, LOL.
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When I was a student, someone in the building where I lived had a black composite light LS with checkerboard wheels and T-tops. This was maybe 1997, so it wasn't insanely old, but was still unusual. I also remember an 80s MC in yellow with a brown top in the area - we had some funny infantile jokes for that color combo.
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As is typical for GM ads and brochure photos in the '70's, note there are no optional body side moldings on the car in the ad. GM admits that cars look better without it, LOL!
I have no idea how he could've afforded one, but a young guy who worked detailing at the Chev-Cadillac dealer in Clarion, PA, where I went to college, ordered one in the spring of '77 and it didn't arrive until the '78's were in production. It was dark blue with the white Landau top and every single option I could see, including a power sunroof and I seem to remember the factory CB radio. The sticker was $9,600 which was nosebleed territory to me in those days.
Funny, I never looked at Camaros during that period. I looked at midsizes mostly until the '77's came out; then I was sold on the downsized cars.
I think it's a shame, because the basic shape of that LeSabre/Catalina/Bonneville coupe roof seems so light, and airy.
$9600 seems like an awful lot of money for a '77 Caprice. But, in those days I imagine the sunroof alone was probably about $1,000. My auto encyclopedia doesn't list the base price of the landau, for whatever reason, but has a base Caprice V8 coupe at $5307. For '78 though, it does list the prices, and the Landau was $304 more than the regular Caprice. On the Impala, for some reason, the Landau was $390 more.
A '77 Coupe DeVille, for comparison, started at $9810. I wonder how much a factory CB radio cost in those days? I imagine that wasn't cheap.
I didn’t word it very clearly, but the car was a ‘78 model.
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I remember when the wagon was called "Fiesta" and the four-door pillared sedan was called "Celebrity".
Which brings me to, I thought it was unusual/funny/whatever, that starting in '65 there weren't full-size Buick or Olds wagons. Buick brought theirs out in '70 again, and Olds in '71. Of course, the Vista-Cruiser and Sportwagon were cool, and I'm pretty sure were on a slightly-longer wheelbase than Chevy or Pontiac mid-size wagons of the same years.
Re the full-size Olds and Buick wagons: when they made them in the early '60s, the wagon bodies were not made by GM but rather by Ionia. When Buick brought a wagon back in '70 I believe that was a Fisher body, but do not know for sure.
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My grandparents bought a new '63 Bel Air wagon. Even as a kid I didn't like the way the rear door glass was styled--complete rectangle, 90-degrees straight up, front and rear of the glass. Looked dorky especially when open, LOL. Of course all the Ionia-built wagon bodies across the four divisions were like that.