The year 1977 brought huge changes to GM’s stalwart B-body, full-size cars. Chevrolet’s Caprice/Impala twins dropped 600 lbs., lost eleven inches in length and four inches in width – the ’77 looked nothing like the ’76. Straight-up boxy lines were the order of the day and the consuming public, fortunately, dug it – the new B-bodies sold very well! And for your review today, we have a ’77 Impala four-door sedan that claims only 12K original miles. It’s located in Irwin, Pennsylvania and is available, here on Facebook Marketplace for $10,400. Dennis H. gets credit for this find!
“Car of the Year“! That was Motor Trend’s proclamation, though they actually bestowed it on the ’77 Caprice, and not the Impala but we’re talking trim level differences, they were essentially the same car. Body styles were reduced to three, two and four-door sedans and a station wagon. As for sales, 311K Impalas found new owners in ’77, with sedans like our subject car paving the way with just under 200K copies. By comparison, the barge-sized ’76 Impala managed a 217 K total output – all body styles.
Let’s get subjective and talk styling. Stunning? Hardly. Functional? You bet! Finished in white, this sedan comes off looking a bit appliance-like – no one would ever confuse it, or even compare it to what Chevrolet had going on ten years prior. But, this new Impala was like a breath of fresh air too – ditch the wretched excess and go for what matters. The back story on this car is that it was a one-owner, garage stored, and likely, little used sedan. The seller mentions minor surface rust but doesn’t detail where. The images, in typical FB Marketplace style, aren’t really revealing. But what’s displayed looks great!
No more big-block engines in ’77. Actually, nothing larger than 350 cubic inches was employed and this example motivates along with a 145 net HP, 305 CI V8 engine and an automatic transmission. I know from experience with a ’77 Caprice that this combination is a bit more than adequate but I wouldn’t refer to it as a “brisk” setup. The seller claims that it “still runs amazing“. Gotta say that’s a rather dirty engine compartment for only 12K miles of use – just an observation. The year 1977 also marked the switch to blue from orange engine paint, Chevrolet having sprayed orange as far back as ’55. One minor side note, Chevy swapped the tried and true Turbo-Hydramatic 350 automatic transmission for the lightweight Turbo 200 in these downsized cars, and frequently trouble abounded if the fluid wasn’t changed regularly and/or the transmission was taxed. The 200 was really a four or six-cylinder approved transmission. It was a sneaky switcheroo where the gearbox would give it up right after the powertrain warranty expired and it ended up being one of many, of those “GM things” that caused a generation to lose faith in the General’s products. I’m not suggesting that there is a problem here, it’s just something to be cognitive of.
Inside is a typical GM red, spongy fabric interior – all the rage from the late ’70s into the ’90s. It’s in great condition and presents how you’d expect a low mileage example that has been stored inside. This one’s a bit of a stripper as it has an AM-only radio and no A/C. The interior is real no frills, basic, and to the point – not really a bad thing actually.
I have no idea what the collectability for this generation B-body would be. I imagine a two-door Caprice or Impala with a 350 V8 would be a bigger draw but this Impala four-door sedan was a total winner for Chevrolet. If you’re of a certain age, you’ll remember the thousands and thousands of this generation Impala that wore the Police 9C1 package – they were tough runners! No doubt in my mind, this one will find a new home quickly, wouldn’t you agree?
I love this. Mainly for memories. My grandparents bought a new white Caprice Classic in 1977. Red interior. Icee cold air. (I grew up on a farm, and none of vehicles, nor our house, had AC. To ride in their new smelling Caprice was luxury!)
They drove back to their suburban home from our farm, and bam. T-boned. That was the end of the new white Caprice with red interior. They replaced it with a Delta 88.
Man. Cars being back some memories.
I had a 79 Caprice. When I bought it–it seemed like I had to fix everything on it. After it was all fixed. It went every where. It had a posi and would go really good on slick roads. I ,d like to have this,but its a little steep for me. Good looking car.
We had a Caprice with the metric transmission. With my teenage sister driving it died a quick death.
An elderly friend of our family bought a new 77 2 door Caprice. It was red, he kept it waxed up. I thought it was more modern looking then the Star Ship Enterprise, loved it. I recall it rode as smooth as being on a cushion of air, of course, I drove a 63 Valiant at the time, so my ability to compare and contrast was slightly kilted.
My grampa bought a new car every three years. His last one was a Caprice Classic? , Two tone maroon and burgundy, every option that was available. A beautiful car that rode like a dream. It was the last year of this body style, then they got ugly.
Awesome looking car. I love original survivor cars, cars that haven’t been molested in any way. My grandmother drove a car like this, a 1977 Chevy Impala. I don’t know how many miles it had by the time she retired the car and retired from driving. I remember it had an AM/FM radio.
These things made great police cars! Not very fast but fun to drive.
Transmissions in these cars total junk. The engine will have camshaft issues unless you use high zinc oil, which you could because this car would not yet have O2 sensors, which zinc destroys. But I would take $9,000 cash to this guy, he would take it and I would have a comfortable American made car to drive. End of story.
We had a fleet of these when I was in high school for our driver’s ed cars. I can still feel the interior fabric. We also had a later wagon version of this car when I was working for the state. They were somewhat comfortable and handled quite well for their size. My former boss had one for 25 years, as far as I know he still has it in his backyard.
I did not like the looks of these downsized Chevys when they first came out. The Impalas and Chevelles looks so plain and ugly to me.
Now, getting into something like this would make your ride unique enough to draw attention around town and at shows.
Why is it that nobody ordered a fully loaded IMPALA in those days?