Ford rolled out the LTD (a luxurious Galaxie 500) in 1965 hyping that the car rode quieter than a Rolls-Royce. Of course, Chevrolet would respond in kind with the Caprice, a gussied-up Impala. The Caprice would go on to be a successful addition, quickly being promoted to series status in 1966. This ’66 Caprice comes with the format roofline not then available to the Impala and has the potent 396 cubic inch V8 under the hood. Located in Weimar, California, this well-kept Chevy is available here on craigslist for $18,500. Our Barn Finder Pat L. stays busy locating tips like this for us!
The Caprice found itself in Chevy’s sales literature from 1965 to 1996. The car contributed to the company selling more than one million full-size automobiles for the first time in 1965. After a 15-year hiatus, Chevy brought the nameplate back in 2011-17 as an Australian-built imported rear-wheel-drive performance car for use by police departments across the U.S. Unlike the rest of the full-size Chevy offerings in the mid-1960s, all Caprices came with V8 engines, including a 396 like in the seller’s car. Typical horsepower for these motors was 325, but you could opt for RPO L72 which was good for nearly one horse per cubic inch. We assume the 325 is in the seller’s car.
A seller of few words is offering this Caprice – precisely two: 2-door hardtop. That’s it. He/she leaves the photos to do all the talking. Fortunately, there are plenty of them to show a well-oiled machine. But they ask more questions than provide answers to them. For example, how much of the car is original versus a restoration? Which wheels come with the car as the photos show both Rally and aftermarket rims? What’s the actual mileage on the car because the placeholder of 513239 which is probably 51,323.9? How many people have had the good fortune of owning this beauty?
The white vinyl top over burgundy paint is very sharp and there is no evidence of rust, past or present. Inside the passenger compartment are comfortable all-vinyl surroundings. But the bench seat has headrests suggesting a more modern arrangement and the steering wheel is not stock. Shifting of the gears is provided by an automatic transmission, Powerglide, or Turbo-Hydramatic. This is a dandy-looking car, but don’t expect 100% originality. As a side note, the 1965-70 GM B-body arrangement is the fourth best-selling automobile platform in history after the Volkswagen Beetle, Ford Model T, and the Lada Riva.
As nice looking as the green 427 Caprice, yet with a ton of unanswered questions to be asked.
Gone in 60 seconds
The front seat is a rare one with the fold down arm rest, my dad had one in the late ’70s with one too, the head rests are rare too for a ’66.
Im wondering because I’ve found a 66 caprice silver with a black roof the seller states its a 396 but car was stolen theives took the motor car was recovered now has a 350 in it but has 427 fender call outs its a two speed bucket consol car with extra parts has not been driven in 10 yrs
The first picture shows the car with the factory Rally wheels, which are very popular. People love putting those wheels on cars made before and after they were available as a factory option. The oldest car I’ve seen them on is a ’56 Chevy Two-Ten.
That said, someone please correct me if I’m wrong, but it’s my understanding that those Rally rims were not available from the factory until the 1967 model year, making them non-original for this car.