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personally i dont like imports except sports cars
I had a friend in college who drove her parents' old '75 Caprice hardtop sedan. It was white with a burgundy top and burgundy vinyl interior. And yeah, while it was still vinyl, it was a big step up from the Impala's vinyl interior!
Actually, now that I think about it, most '71-76 Impalas that I've seen have that brocade cloth stuff on the seats, rather than vinyl. It's just on the seating surfaces though...the side bolsters, seatback, and door panels were still vinyl. And, the convertibles always seemed to just use that vinyl with the little perforations in it. With Caprices, it seemed like the earlier 70's ones were more likely to have cloth, but as the 70's wore on vinyl seemed more common.
As for the B-O-P convertibles, I always thought the Grand Ville was a bit of a letdown. It was supposed to be the top line Pontiac, and considering it was sort of a blend of B- and C-body, in theory I'd think it should be more prestigious than a straight-up B-body like the Caprice/Impala, Delta 88, and LeSabre/Centurion. But, the interiors of them just didn't seem all that ritzy IMO. I thought the LeSabres had the nicest interiors of the bunch, especially by 1975.
So, Jordan, what does such a car cost you? Take that '09 for example. The purchase price, parts, paint, and man hours... what is your cost all-told?
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
When I look at the interior of a Buick Centurion convertible now, I think it looks plain although I love the exterior. The '71 and '72 Grand Villes were a tad plain, but in hindsight I might call that 'clean', as in '73 the seat trim got plusher but also pimpier IMHO, with a bunch of buttons, and the fake wood trim took on the look of a western "Ricochet"-style air rifle stalk. Only MHO of course.
Those 67-72 Chevy trucks bring crazy money especially the later ones that are equipped like that one. Still, I think he's dreaming.
The Benz is a rust bucket and not worth the costs of restoration at least in my book.
The Chevy looks like a roach and the guy selling it seems out of it.
Guess that means my dad's '70 C-10 will be worth something when/if he decides to sell it!
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I remember a lot of Impalas, including our '74, had a herringbone pattern cloth. Didn't particularly care for that.
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Our '74 Impala Sport Coupe (all four windows rolled down; true hardtop) had a swirly pattern cloth interior trim that looked nice, but I much preferred the maroon one our dealer had at the same time, with the black-and-white herringbone seat trim--looked like a sport coat which I liked. Although, in my experience, once the herringbone interiors started to wear, the colors bled into each other--not a good look.
Depends on if i get OE parts or cheap parts. But i think it might be in the range of 10-20 k in repairs.
I just pulled up the '74 Impala brochure online, and yep, looks like they changed the pattern for '74. I guess that brocade stuff was getting old-fashioned by then.
I think it's kinda interesting how they started charging more for the NON-hardtop coupe, with the stationary windows. Give you less, but charge you more. But, I guess that was becoming the in-thing by then. And with air conditioning becoming more and more common, nobody really cared whether the rear windows rolled down or now.
Chrysler did a similar thing with their '74-78 big cars. However, Chrysler really did it quick and cheap. On cars with power windows, such as the New Yorker, if you got the opera window model, the lift mechanism and motor was still in there, but simply disconnected! There's a guy with a New Yorker of that generation who shows up pretty regularly at the Carlisle PA Mopar show, and he got in there, re-wired it, and got them working again. It still has all the opera window padding and trim, both inside and out, but the window rolls up and down inside the trim. However, I can't remember if he got a 4-window switch for his door, or put rear window switches in, or both, to get those windows working again.
I wonder if Chrysler did the same thing on the C-body Fury/Gran Fury and Monaco/Royal Monaco coupes? I wouldn't be surprised.
I'm going straight from memory now, which can be dangerous (!), but I always remember the Impala Custom Coupe (pillared from '74 on) gave you the wheel opening moldings for sure, and I think the 'deluxe' bodyside molding (with vinyl insert, as opposed to just the metal side molding standard on the Sport Coupe), standard equipment. That would account for some of the price difference, but certainly not much. Our Sport Coupe was a pale diarrhea-like non-metallic green with white painted top. There was a light metallic green which looked nicer, and there's one like that in the brochure, I remember.
im looking at selling a restored chevelle. what would be a good price
No way to tell you without lots and lots of detailed information on year, body style, deviations from stock, documentation, engine and transmission types and optional equipment. , as well as a detailed run-down on condition of engine bay, chassis underneath and interior.
It is a 71 Chevy Chevelle SS 454 Convertible. All stock. The engine is correct and in excellent shape. the transmission is the stock 4 speed. every thing is clean no rust. the interior is all original condition. kept in a garage allways
this is the car
Although I liked the four headlights on the '70, when the '71 came out, I remember really liking the chrome around the wheel openings on Malibus, the two taillights on each side, and the looks of the full wheelcovers (non-SS of course). The grille they slapped on the '72 isn't nearly as nice as the '71 I think.
i like the 70's malibu is a great car
what documents to you have? Any build sheet? Protecto-plate? What's the suffix code on the engine block?
i dont have any documents but the title. the build sheets are at my shop. i dont know what the suffix code is on the engine block. actually i think the engine is custom built. and i dont have the Protecto plate
$28,500
Well if it were well restored with a crate engine, all fresh, might run up to $45,000. Lack of original engine is a huge hit on value, and anything less than perfect on the car warrants a deduct from the $45K.. So in other words, if the undercarriage isn't new and spotless then you deduct for what it would take to do that.
When you say the engine is custom built do you mean it is the original engine but modified, or do you mean it is a custom (crate) engine?
2009 BMW 335i, 2003 Corvette cnv. (RIP 2001 Jaguar XK8 cnv and 1985 MB 380SE [the best of the lot])
Only project I can see here would be to remove the pinstripes. Nice car
I think that we have a troll here
Color me a little skeptical, too.
Me too, with the desire to buy andre's old truck and having a '71 Chevelle SS to sell.
I thought the same from the beginning. Not the first time for this.
I seem to recall back around 71 that you could buy a "Heavy Chevy" model Chevelle (at least in the Chicago) market that had stripes on it like that SS and some other sporty touches. However, it was a relatively inexpensive option package and I think a "6" and three on the tree might have actually been standard.
Speaking of Andre's old truck...let's just say that today was kind of a "Sunshine Day"...the sucker actually started! And here's a pic to prove that it actually moved...
I pulled the battery out of the New Yorker, and with enough starting fluid, and playing around with the choke on the carb, the sucker finally fired up. Ran kinda crappy until it fully warmed up, but then it behaved pretty well. I drove it around for about 8 miles, parked it, and disconnected the battery, just in case there's something in it that's draining it. The battery that was in it, that had died, was only about a year old. It's on a trickle charger now.
I was also impressed that my New Yorker was able to fire up, without too much trouble. I ran it for a bit, before pulling its battery out. Just let it idle in the yard though...I'm not planning on letting it hit the pavement until the last of the salt is off the road. I'll be SOOO glad when Spring gets here and I can start running the old cars again! But right now, it's looking kinda like this out there...
The "Heavy Chevy" and also the "Rally Nova" packages came out in mid-'71. They were primarily stripes, Rally Wheels without the trim rings, and hood pins on the Heavy Chevy. The Heavy Chevy option was on the base Chevelle, so you got rubber on the floor and cheapie cloth or woven vinyl interior. I'm about 98% sure that you had to get a V8 in at least the Heavy Chevy--even the 307 would do. Can't remember for sure about the Rally Nova.
We had a rather large salesman at the Chevy dealer in our town, who had a big personality. The dealer ran local ads in the paper referring to him as "Your Heavy Chevy Man"!
That Silverado looks like it would have been a pretty nice truck when new.
That style Chevy truck I always thought was pretty appealing, but I think they were more rust-prone than the '67-72 style which preceeded it.
Here's an old pic of the truck when it was new, back in the Summer of 1985, with Granddad posed by it.
He tried putting that truck camper in the back to see how it would fit, and drove it around the block. He said he didn't like the way it handled, so he never did it again. At the time, they also had a 1976 GMC 3/4 ton crew cab, so they used that to put the camper on. But, I think we went camping like once in 1985, once in 1986, and then that was it. Granddad sold the '76 soon after. He passed away in 1990, and I think Grandmom gave the camper to some relatives around 1995.
Looking at that little camper, it's hard to believe that when I was 12, I went on an 8 week camping trip with Grandmom and Granddad in it, cross-country. It's probably a miracle we didn't kill ourselves, being in such tight quarters for so long.
Wacky price, but if it was 50% off, I would be tempted
Even 50% is kinda high. I'd hit it at $7500 tops if it was pristine.
The "Grand Edition" holds some appeal to anyone who would actually want a big barge like that, final run W140 with special trim. If it was 7500 with absolutely no needs, I'd buy it now and keep it for when my lease is up.
At $19K, that car is epoxied to the showroom floor I think. I guess the dealer thinks the low miles are worth an additional $12,000? Probably he knows better, just trolling for suckerfish right now.
Reminds of that scene from the 1980 movie Used Cars with Kirk Russell.
The part when the guy takes a shotgun to that row of cars yelling that the price is TOO
XXXXX HIGH!
Someone should do that to that Mercedes!
Heck, for $7500 I'd be tempted! But, is that car one of those pretty poisons that, if it has needs, could put you in the poor house before you knew it?
Oh yeah, I agree 19K is insane, like I said, maybe by half. It'll never sell for near that, not even to the most rabid fan. There was a Grand Edition for sale locally last year (they are rare, production 600 units) for something like 8500, and I think it had 100K on it. The listing didn't last long, so I like to think it went to a good home.
could put you in the poor house before you knew it?
Big time. My buddy blew a serpentine belt on his 1999 E320 and it apparently did a lot of damage to the tune of 4500.00!! I'll bet the V-8's are even worse!
Nah, final run W140s are actually known to be pretty solid. Earlier ones have issues with wiring harness and AC evaporators, the ~97-99 models do well. Maintenance isn't cheap, but they don't have catastrophic faults. Heck, my indy mechanic drives a V12 early W140 with corrected faults, if it was that bad, I am sure he wouldn't want to deal with it.
Your friend got screwed by a greedy dealer. The AMG cars on that platform were actually really solid apart from typical small faults - I've seen some really miled up 99-02 models.
Ouch. Suddenly, the ~$1100-1200 my 2000 Park Ave cost me when the supercharger tensioner self-destructed and threw shrapnel all about doesn't sound so evil.
320.00 to have a xenon headlight bulb replaced. A month later the other one went out.
Then, the main control unit for the xenon lights failed! They told him that for around 2500.00 they could replace it of for the same money he could simply have the lights converted to non xenon lights and that he would have less trouble and cheap bulbs.
He took the second option. I think he needs to find a good Indy Shop and I've told him that!
Does he still have the thing? If he's local, there are several decent indy shops in this area.
I've never heard of a xenon failure on a W210 - makes me think the car had a bad history, one the owner didn't know about. Like being dunked in a lake or something.
That car will put you in the poor house faster than two Estonian hookers with access to your credit cards while you're doped up on roofies in the back seat of a cab sitting next to a tacky modern art painting!
The new corvette crate engine as in custom built
The Chevelle is clean, restored then customized, it was built as a show car, and i also need money to restore a 82 jaguar xj6.
The jaguar xj6 has the original i6 engine. Then its gas tanks are rusted up and full of holes, and it has some rust on the under body. I need the money to restore it to prime condition. This car will be fully restored and rarely driven except to car shows
If i do buy the truck the only thing i would do to it is restore it. And i would post pictures of the truck.
Nah, that would be an early W220 like I think your BIL has/had. I like to think I know enough to avoid the really bad problem children. W140s are as simple as a fintail compared to the new cars.
Regarding restoring an 80s XJ6, I hope it is a labor of love, as they still have little value even if mint.