I’ll compliment the dealer by saying that they supply a ton of well-taken photos – 160 total pics – in their listing. On the exterior, this Monte Carlo is finished in nice-looking red paint (I believe it’s called Firethorn Red), with color-matching side mirrors and a black Landau-style vinyl roof with a Landau medallion to the lower right of the fixed “opera” window. The chrome bumpers, shiny stuff, trim , badging, and glass all look very good and I’m not seeing any rust or accident damage. It was in year two of the vertically mounted rectangular headlamps and I’m seeing that fender splash guards have been added. I don’t believe those are original aluminum wheels but, overall, it looks like a very straight, solid Monte Carlo.
Color-coordination was popular in the 1970’s, so it’s not a big surprise to see a clean, near-pristine vinyl and cloth red interior in this Monte Carlo. Chevy’s sales brochure described the inside of a Monte Carlo as “quite, comfortable, and handsomely appointed with deep, cut-pile carpeting, molded full foam seating, rich rosewood vinyl accents, electric clock, and other details to indicate a car meant to be fully equipped.” The dealer says the AC works great and all options function as they should. It has electric locks and is even equipped with a Delco AM/FM Stereo Radio and eight-track stereo tape system (with a case of classic rock eight-track cartridges included). And, since it was the 70’s, ashtrays were standard equipment front and rear.
Under that long, long Firethron Red hood is a 305-cubic-inch V8 that was factory rated at 145 horsepower. Power is sent to the rear wheels through a three-speed Turbo Hydra-Matic automatic transmission and photos are showing 20,821 miles on the odometer. The dealer says this Monte Carlo “runs and drives awesome” and I bet it does (I’ve driven one of these before and it was a great driving car). We’ve featured several near pristine, low-mileage survivor ’77 Monte Carlos on Barn Finds. Even after nearly 50 years, they still look good and have a certain presence to them. Dinner jackets are optional, though.
Those are hubcaps, probably original to the car. Used through the 70s and 80s on Monte Carlos (until 78) then on Caprices and Impalas! Nice find!
Beautiful car. Had a ‘76 and it was a comfortable and stylish ride. Money seems fair for the mileage and condition. Lose the mudflaps and white letter tires. Find a set of the OEM turbine style wheels and install some narrow whitewalls to restore the factory appearance.
Same car listed back in 2024 on BaT . Didn’t sell for $14k .
Has a lot of options that Chevy buyers normally would not check the box on like tilt steering column and a clock .
Back when cars were still cars even with smogged engines .
Very little vehicles today being made makes me think that 30-50 yrs on will want to be restored – meaning every day cars like this . Because that’s what these were
The 305 would be a little bit overmatched in this, which is probably why it has not sold. But to be fair, it’s a lot better than the 260, 301, and 231 V6 that were standard in its GM colonnade contemporaries this year.
It depends. I know a lot folks that have driven these (myself as an owner of one included) that found the 305 to be a better performer, even stock, than the 145 HP rating accounts for. For what it’s worth, that is the same HP as the 2 bbl 350 version of this car from 73-76. Neither are going to smoke the tires stock, but a good driver I would argue the 305 still is in this car. Most ’77s (probably 2/3) had that engine.
Yes the 305 wasn’t enough. To my experience at 57 years young the 350 was the most common in these. They were more appropriate for the time period. I had a 76 Cutlass myself with a 350 for my first car. Alot of good times in that car.
Had a 76 Malibu Cassic with the 305 engine. The car was a dog on acceleration and lousy mpg and the Malibu was a smaller car than the 76,77 Monte Carlo.
This is a very well maintained survivor, but don’t fool yourself, it is underpowered with a 305. Sadly, it needs a 350 to really roar.
It always seems strange to me to order a 2 door car with power door locks instead of power windows.
clean as a pin. needs to have a set of the pinstripe w/w tires and lose the letters and the mudflaps. i had a bunch of these thru the 80s and the 90s when they could be had cheap. great riding and handling cars for sure
I had a 77 Cutlass new and had the dealer put mud flaps on it. When I saw the car I realized I had made a mistake.
This car has had a total respray in a non-original color, since Firethorn Red was a darker metallic red – look at the massive overspray on the rear wheel wells on the trunk pics. Definitely need to set eyes on it before writing a check!
@Ron Denny The wheel covers on this Monte Carlo are a factory option called “sport wheel covers”, and are not actual aluminum wheels. Also, this is code 72 Medium Red, Not code 36 Firethorn Red Metallic. Nice clean car, and I see no evidence of a repaint as earlier commenter suggested.
305 is stone cold reliable. Had a 76 MC with that engine and got 200,000 plus miles out of it with zero issues. I maintain my cars and go overboard. That is why they last. This one is nice, but underneath gonna need a weekend with wire brush on a grinder, then Fluid Film. Price too high. Market slowing.
Had a 76 Malibu Cassic with the 305 engine. The car was a dog on acceleration and lousy mpg and the Malibu was a smaller car than the 76,77 Monte Carlo.
This is a very well maintained survivor, but don’t fool yourself, it is underpowered with a 305. Sadly, it needs a 350 to really roar.
my friend’s mom had a 76 m/c bought new and by 1979 that 305 had a wiped cam lobe with maybe 20k miles on it. it was the luck of the draw as far as getting a good motor and still is with gm. i have a 6.2 that had a lifter eat the cam alive to the tune of 8k. 50yrs later they still don’t have it right.
This is a very nice car little pricey but will need to be appraised and checked out thoroughly, but looks correct if the mileage is true this has great potential for a future collectible. These are great cars with heavy doors good thing no power windows better off with manual windows, just curious as to why this car previously did not sell at 14 k??