This 1985 Chevrolet Caprice is a bit of a mystery wrapped in an enigma, as they say (who says that?!). Is it loaded or not loaded? And I don’t mean loaded like Otis loaded, I mean like options loaded. The black steel rims and dog dish caps don’t say loaded to me, but it has other options that say loaded to me. The seller has it listed here on craigslist in Castalian Springs, Tennessee, northeast of Nashville and they’re asking $6,000. Thanks to Pat L. for submitting this tip!
It looks like a stripped-out base model car to me with those wheels, but it’s a Caprice which is a step above the Impala. The third-generation Caprice was made for the 1977 to 1990 model years and Chevy sold a __-ton of them. A firm that I worked for out of college had one that we would use for site visits and it was a great car, at least compared to my 1991 Dodge Spirit. Actually, my Spirit was one of the best cars that I have ever owned and I put 300,000+ miles on it, but it was no dark-red-velour-lined third-gen Caprice.
The seller says that this car has a mere 27,000 miles on it and it looks nice, other than showing some discoloration between the passenger side doors and having some rust. The seller shows us a couple of areas of rust and I think that when they’re being honest enough to show the bad parts of a vehicle that they have for sale, that’s a good sign. They say that a couple of years ago it had all new brake lines and new rear drums installed.
Ahhhh, that 1980s interior, I love it. It seems as if all Caprices of this era have this classic velour seating material. That fabric held you onto those seats like velcro, despite having 0.01% of any seat bolstering what so ever. In fact, leather wasn’t even an option on this Caprice so they all had velour seating materials. The Saddle-colored seats look fantastic both front and rear, but the headliner needs help. Although in tough times, it may be able to be used as a hammock. This car has optional AC and an unusual oxymoronic fancy/not-fancy combo is that this car doesn’t have a radio, it’s radio-delete according to the seller. But, this car has power windows, an actual luxury feature on a car with black steelies, dog dish caps, and no radio! That’s an unusual combo, like a blue suit with brown shoes. Although, that’s currently trendy for some crazy reason. Bad example.
The 305 cubic-inch V8 would have had 165 hp and the seller says that it’s had some recent maintenance. Along with the other visible rust, there is some surface rust under the hood so I wouldn’t expect this car to be a jewel box despite the ultra-low miles. And, then there’s that asking price. How much would you pay for this Caprice?
If it has no radio, why is there an antenna on the RF fender??
If it has no radio, why is there a radio in the dash? I know the window sticker says radio delete, but what else could that be in picture 12 under the ac/heater controls. the volume and tuning controls both on the left, with the pushbuttons next to them?
like this one:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1985-1994-Chevy-Cavalier-Wagon-OEM-radio-cassette-player-86-87-88-89-90-91-92-93/264803564268?fits=Year%3A1985%7CMake%3AChevrolet&hash=item3da785baec:g:5HwAAOSwQo1fFyy2
This vehicle was ordered out of East Detroit, MI, just north of 8 mile road. The Chevrolet dealer is right off Gratiot road. This is one of the city’s “spoke” roads. You can be downtown in less than a half hour (see picture).
Anyway, you can see the zip code on the window sticker, as well as the AM radio in the list of standard equipment. When you deleted the radio, you still got the antenna. The radio in the car is from a later model, an ’85 would be silver faced. First year of the dash refresh, ’84 still had the “shaft” style radio and woodgrain. My guess is this was ordered by the dealer for the lot – not a lot of extras, and “we can add the radio right here at the dealership”. No delay wipers, rear defrost, rh remote mirror, power seat, etc. Just a V8 Caprice (4 speed auto OD was forced option with V8) with power windows and locks to advertise in the paper. Probably bought, like so many of these in the Metro area, by a GM employee. They still sell many GM employees today, plus retired GM folks, too.
Full wheel covers for me, please.
Then what is meant by “Sport Wheel Covers” for $65?
Douglas Threlfall-
Here is the Sport wheel cover. Less $$$ then the other option, the locking wire wheel cover.
The seller just quoting the window sticker in the ad, as the Caprice now has hubcaps and a radio.
Okay, I’m gonna guess and say that it may
have been either a rental or an unmarked
police car at some point in its life. The
Polk County Sheriff’s Department bought
them in droves when they became available. Not all the detective’s cars got
the 9C1 option back then and that’s what this car reminds me of. But with all the issues this car has, it can’t be a 27K mile
car as our seller claims. More like 127K
miles to me. And even if it is a high mile
car, it still looks pretty good for what it is,
just a great old car waiting for some sharp eyed buyer to buy and enjoy it.
I’m not so sure this car is the stripper that the writer thinks it is. A quick look at the widow sticker that was included in the ad, shows that this Caprice was originally equipped with RPO PB2 Sport Wheel Covers, not the dog dish caps that are on it now. The Sport Wheel Covers were very attractive plastic wheel covers that were molded to look like wire wheels.
From looking at the pictures, it’s obvious that the car radio in it. My guess is that the car was ordered without a radio, with the intention of installing a better aftermarket radio, after it was delivered. Knowing the quality of OEM radios, there were buyers who ordered cars without factory radios. My brother ordered a new 78 Z28 with the radio prep package (antenna, harness, etc), but without a radio, since he planned on installing his own aftermarket unit after taking delkivery.
GB2Vette is likely correct. There was an option to get everything from the radio harness to the antenna but no radio in those days. I ordered a 1977 Chevy 4×4 truck with no radio but the antenna and wire to install one. It took more time at my friend’s auto parts store to buy it than it did to install it. It was half the GM price and way better sound. A lot of people did it.
It didn’t take a ton of power to rattle your teeth in a single cab truck in those days.
I have mixed signs of use, but then I look at other signs and they do not look used at all. Wonder if it has a repaint? Glass and chrome look great. The hood insulation looks great also. But then the air cleaner looks rusted and rust in the usual places but not terrible bad.
I believe that it is an old traveling salesman’s car and it has went over the century mark and stayed south for most of its life. No kids have been in that car. Heavy optioned, Tilt wheel, power windows, cruse control the power options, comfortable seating, and look under the dash, I would wager that there are wires deadheaded all over from tape deck, cassette or telephone.
Headliners from 80’s GM cars and trucks were to be kind, terrible. No clue given there. The one option that should come on every car undercoating.
I still have an ‘80s Caprice in the family since new, that radio in there should have silver trim not wood, it’s probably a stereo from a later model with a wood-trimmed dash. Replacements pop up from time to time on Fleabay. I like the dog dish caps but I think those were strictly Impala/ cop-car trim, I think most civilian Caprices (Caprici?) has full coverage wheel covers. Nice car tho. The replacement factory headliner ran me about $350 installed.
My grandparents bought an 84 in this exact exterior color, but the dark brown velour interior and a V-6. I grew up riding in it and inherited it in college in the 90’s. Slow as molasses with the V-6, but that bench seat was very comfortable for long drives. And the trunk ended up being a great swimming pool after the trunk seal failed. Wish I had kept it for sentimentality, but had no place to put it.
Where’s anybody seeing the window sticker? I went through all the pics twice and saw no such thing.
Caprices came standard with at least full wheel covers. The Sport covers looked nice IMHO but are not with this car.
I hate the ’85-only instrument panel, with the silver trim everyplace, and the cool gloss-black panel above the glovebox, used since ’77, gone.
picture 15 is the window sticker
That front view could almost be mistaken for an ’80s Cadillac!
http://images.craigslist.org/00w0w_4GvZwhHjwdp_0CI0t2_1200x900.jpg
Full wheel covers are listed as standard for all full-sized Chevrolets in 1985.
Love the interior, so comfy. Wish the velour didn’t go away…
I had two of these for work, an 82 and an 86 station wagon.Thoroughly retched cars. What I remember best was the unlocking torque converter that GM used to try and wring some additional fuel mileage. It would unlock at precisely 55 mph after which stepping on the gas was like stepping in a bucket. At high altitudes the cars had a max speed of about 48miles an hour while constantly hunting and pecking and kicking passing gear in and out. Real Dogs.
Appears to have a later model double-din style radio in it. Don’t know how he got it in there though.
My grandfather had one like this, same year & same color (except his was 2 toned with a slightly darker gold color). His was also a 1985 model year.
Gramps wanted an economy car with a luxury look, so he got the 4.3 liter V-6. Bad choice lol! My 307 equipped 1983 Delta & my 307 1987 Caprice month got better gas mileage. The 307, which was a pig of an engine, didn’t have to work as hard to move the big steel torso.
Gramps had the previously mentioned 2 tone paint, the locking wire caps, cornering lights, all possible options that show on the exterior possible (except the vinyl top). The interior was basic in that it had the fixed column, AM radio (I couldn’t find a silver faced AM/FM in a salvage yard to save my soul lol), crank windows, no cruise control. It had air conditioning, but that was it. It had the same buckskin colored interior as this, and boy was that upholstery indestructible!
Gramps had a minor fender bender with it. It happened literally a block away from my house. I brought the car home, gave him a ride home & when I went to drive the car to Grampas house (about a mile away) it started on fire. I bought Grampa a new Chevy Lumina & sold his Caprice to a buddy of mine for $250.
i’m the person who bought this car off the seller recently. and i gotta say, i’ve been enjoying it very much since buying it. got headliner replaced for $321 (tax included) and found a set of the original wire wheel hubcaps off ebay for cheap to give it that original look… will do in the mean-time until i get some daytons or something else to throw on there. but all in all, loving the car. pretty much my daily driver now. :)