A fall of 1985 GM press release said, “Monte Carlo, the sleek Chevrolet luxury coupe with a dual personality, slips into 1986 with fresh aerodynamic styling, retuned suspension and a new model in the lineup.” This 1986 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS can be found listed here on eBay in Darby, Pennsylvania, there is no reserve, and the current bid price is $14,900.
The new Monte Carlo that they referred to in the GM press release above wasn’t the SS, it was the luxury model, the LS. Although, they did have this to say about the SS, “Counterpoint to the LS is the Monte Carlo SS, the street machine that thinks it’s a NASCAR racer.” This era of Monte Carlo screams NASCAR to me even though this particular example isn’t an Aeroback model. The seller does mention that this car has an older respray so it isn’t original in that regard.
I personally prefer the “regular” Monte Carlo design like this car to the Aeroback model but I wouldn’t turn either of them down. Our friend, automotive writer, and general scholar par excellence, Adam Clarke, showed us a similar Monte Carlo last fall here on Barn Finds and I thought that a 39,000-mile example was a low-mile car, this SS only has 19,000 miles on it. I’m not a big fan of the dual exhaust sticking out the side like that but I guess that was the way they came on these cars.
The seller gives dozens of great photos on the eBay link so be sure to click on that and check out those photos. They show several underside photos and I can’t tell if it’s original or has been sprayed with some sort of undercoating or Line-X-type product? The entire interior looks perfect and I don’t have to mention how much I like a red interior.
The seller says that this 19,191-mile beauty is a one-owner car which makes me sad. It’s been someone’s dream car for decades and they barely used it, but I guess owning a car isn’t all about driving it to death. Most of you know that I don’t really have a life… but, sometimes I literally just sit in a chair and look at my vehicles – the cars, motorcycles, boat motors, lawnmowers, chainsaws, whatever. I just love owning them even though some of them I rarely if ever use. Some of them I have never used. The 5.0L V8 here would have had 180 horsepower and it runs great but this car was put into storage in 2009 so it will need to be checked over before regular use. Any thoughts on this Monte Carlo SS?
I raise an eyebrow on a few items; the poor fitment, painted lower air dam, and stripe execution on the front fascia. Hood alignment. The entire exhaust system. The painted undercarriage. The odd looking brake pedal (glare, Armor All dressing, or wear). The hood insulation (new). And the Goodyear *Wrangler* tires – correct white outlined, but Eagle GT, or Eagle GT + 4 would be factory or correct era replacement.
Maybe car was hit in front end, long termed stored with damage, then ‘resurrected’, as seen today…
Yeah, there’s something wonky about this car.
Agree, good eye. Also missing the cold air ducting between the air cleaner and fender. That in and of itself is not unusual on a higher mileage car but I would think it would sure still be intact on a 19K mile car. A time capsule this is not.
Great eye. I also noticed in Photo 23 that the engine and suspension components pictured awfully dirty and rusty for a car that only has 19,000 miles on it. So maybe this was stored on dirt or a porous surface? That’d explain the new exhaust system and paint.
A lot of red flags. Hopefully the buyer will try to answer them with a PPI before taking delivery!
No way the miles are accurate! I’d say add 100k to this. The respray is just terrible, looks like the bottoms of the doors had some serious rust at one time inside. The front seat color doesn’t match the back which tells me the front seat covers were replaced. The steering wheel has too much wear, the center console lid looks like it’s black, and it has the smashed/cracked/broke down look with age and mileage. This guy is trying to pull a fast one on uneducated buyers. Notice the history report shows “0” owners…. So many red flags.
That appears to be scale on that frame that’s been covered up by POR15 or another inhibitor. I’d want a really close look at the floor pans. Without lot of high-res photos to clear things up, this one wouldn’t get a bid from me if I had the money.
I wonder how many of these would have sold if a manual transmission was available?
Ike – take a look at this:
http://www.montecarloss.com/MexicanSS.html
Manual trans SS! I think it would have sold, but not as well as we think. The next gen Monte (the Lumina), offered a Z34 in a manual, as well as the Cutlass International Series and Grand Prix. They are rare. A co worker had a Z34 in 2000, and the transmission was so rare that no internal parts were available in the states (ZF or Getrag, I can’t remember). The car was later scrapped…
I have an 83 z 28 with 21000 true miles on it and based on what I see here in the photos I’d ask for more proof of the mileage. My car with 21000 on it looks almost new underneath where this does look “scaley”. I’m with the other commenter that it looks like por15 was applied to certain spots. That doesnt mean it’s a bad car, just that I’d like to see additional documentation of mileage before I’d hand over cash
This has stripes and decals for 87-88. 85-86 had different stripes and decals. Absolutely I think the nose firm DNR to the hood is terrible with crooked headlights and painted around the headlights and the bottom edge looks terrible
My first car upon graduating college. I couldn’t wait to have one. the styling was perfect for the time. But I quickly came to be disappointed in the quality. Every bump in the road sent shock waves through the loosely constructed Chevy and I had to find someone to take it off my hands.
yep 119,000 miles on this one . the interior ware on this show’s it’s been driven a lot.
Aerocoupe man. I hate when people that.
This has got to be one of the most mis-represented cars I’ve seen on Ebay. The entire underside of this car looks to have been troweled with roofing tar, poorly covering up lots of rust. The hemming seams (on the inside bottom of the doors) is completely covered in body filler. Don’t get me started on the panel fit. 19000 miles my a#*. These fraudulently described rust buckets ruin the hobby for those less mechanically educated. Don’t walk….run away!
This sale was a crime.
Here’s my tale, I saw this 1987 White Monte SS with tri-red sprites on the elevated platform outside the local Chevy dealership. I purchased the car that day,and arranged for delivery in a few days. They moved the car to the “sold” area of the dealership. The next day I got a call that my car had been vandalized at the dealership, and the culprits got away with the front bumper. So, my delivery was postponed at bit. I should have known that that event may have been a precursor to what was yet to come. In my first year of ownership, that car was stolen TWICE within 6 months of each event. And at 10K miles, it was blowing oil, and they had to do a valve seat job on that little 305 V8. Not the best car, but it was sharp looking. I have no idea how I even drove that rear wheel drive box in the snow, I only drive X-drive BMW s now LOL….
Look at the brake pedal pad. No way 19k miles
Huge Kudos to the guys and gals on here with so many toys all they can really do is look at them! Lol. Me? I get unlucky so fast right out of high school that I ended up having to sell my 1978 Suzuki GS 750 so we could buy a car seat for the little, very expensive, bundle of joy. And we didn’t even have a car yet. Until a month after me baby came along. I paid $500.00 Canadian bucks for a no floor 1974 All Makes Combined Matador. That was April of 1988. Yaaaaa!!!!!. After a bit my wife got a 10k inheritence and I sold the blue beast that leaked more gas than oil for 200.00. Sold it to a “pimp” so he could get back to Quebec with this only woman. True story. Then my wife went to a used dealer in St.Catharines Ontario and bought a 1986 Tempo 5 speed. All I’m saying is I like to like my dream of owning a 1971 plain jane LTD with a police package. Preferred. So please keep up with BARN FINDS! I absolutely love it and I invited most of my fb friends to join over the last little while. Last but certainly not least…. GOD BLESS!!
Auction update: this one sold for $18,000!
Thanks Scottie. That is an awful lot of money if the car doesn’t have the miles claimed, which many here suspected it does not.