Having found a niche place in the muscle car world, the Monte Carlo is the classy American muscle car that has caught the heart of many. This very nice low mileage survivor is quite charming and very original. Having covered only 44,000 miles in its lifetime, this is most certainly an awesome find. Although there are some minor condition issues with the paint, this Monte will likely find a home with its Buy It Now price of $11,995. Check it out here on eBay out of Carlsbad, California.
Powered by a 350 V8, this engine seems to be stock other than an added set of aftermarket headers and exhaust. While this is a low mileage car, I would guess this was not always a garage queen based on the surface rust on the frame. Despite that concern, the rest of the engine compartment looks as if it would clean up fairly well.
Still, as plush and semi luxurious as ever, the interior of this Monte has aged quite well suffering a minor blemish on the front corner of the bench seat. Also, there are a few cracks in the dash, and maybe some fade on the steering wheel, but the interior presents fairly well for its age. The door jamb area appears clean which is good. There is no visible rust which is even better. From the passenger point of view, the interior presents as well as the driver’s side.
From the 20 foot mark, this Monte looks great. Although the closer you get, it is obvious there are some condition issues with the paint. A portion of the driver’s front fender has been masked off and sprayed black. The photos sort of hide this issue, and it is unclear what may have brought on that action. The paint seems to have oxidized and gained a bit of a matte/chalk-like finish. I almost think that a car cover was on it for a long time, and the wind caught the cover and “whipped” the paint leaving the odd appearance. It is difficult to make out. Also, there were a few stickers on this car in its past, and you can see the silhouette of a KISS sticker on the trunk lid. While the paint may not be an easy permanent fix, I think baby oil or some other product could make the paint shine well enough for an event. The good news is that there is no evidence of any significant rust on this Monte Carlo. Also, there are no apparent dents or dings. A paint job would really invigorate this machine, but this Monte could just as easily be a fair-weather cruiser left as is. Would you invest in this fine muscle opportunity?
One of my favorite Chevy’s. Gentleman’s cruiser. This one is pretty spartan, as you could gussie these up to the hilt. Nice car, gotta love them Calyfornians, everybody out of it except them. Clearly 144K, but still try and find one outside of Cal. today, and they know it.
Looks like it has A.C. and power windows, so not too Spartan.
Mine had A.C. but crank windows, and it was a great car. 350 in that won’t win any drag races, but that’s not what this car is for anyways.
Nice car, and agree on the 144k.
Had A/C. Compressor and who knows what else were removed.
Steve R
At some point in time, this car had stickers on it in more places than the trunk lid.
It looks as though a crude attempt was made to scrub off paint oxidation with a brush, maybe. (IMO) people who place stickers on painted surfaces aren’t really concerned w/ paint protection. Again, claims of low mileage require some type of verification in my book! :-)
Sorry but not rare as mentioned.
SS 454, buckets, console and 4 speed would be “rare”.
Not sure about the 44K. Some items say maybe, many others don’t. Love the KISS sticker that WAS on the trunk. I had a 72, burnt orange with the parchment vinyl top and interior.
Questions:
What is going on with the roof? Looks painted and not vinyl? Don’t think they came this way.
What is wrong with the paint? Totally oxidized OR is it buffable?
Engine – black valve covers, terrible looking intake and engine compartment, now has headers…..does not scream 44K.
Not a terrible price but maybe a bit too high. attributes: 70 Monte, good color if original, runs, solid (I guess? = like to see some undercarriage and trunk pics), power windows nice but usually problematic, probably not terribly uncommon to have PW in a Monte as it is/was a luxo ride. Again, a car that will take 10K to buy, 60K to restore and will be worth $35K when it is done. Tough Call. If it will buff out, that would make it worth while at $10K, maybe, provided NO rust and runs strong.
I have one of my customers 72 Monte’s in my shop now. Very original. Much nicer than this. Red, black top, black interior. Runs great. We just finished a sympathetic detail, under carriage clean up and undercoat, Engine compartment detail, Trunk compartment detail, some PDR, awesome sound system upgrade and tinted the windows. Now he wants to sell it.
I agree, not rare. The odometer has very likely rolled over. I have a ’70 Monte SS454 that I’ve restored, and a collection of build sheets. Power windows were not very common. Just an FYI, no Monte SS454s were factory built with a 4 speed. They were all TH400 automatics. You could get a 4 speed in ’70 and ’71, but not with the 454.
So like I said, if SS454 with a 4 speed manual WOULD be rare!! Like 1 of none made !! LOL. sorry, had to laugh!
The two tone painted roof with the same halo style trim as the vinyl top cars was a factory option. Factory, but rare.
Great info Dan, thanks for sharing. I love this site for from the aspect of learning. I believe you are correct BUT I can’t believe GM would not have put a Rock Crusher Manual in a 454 70-72 Monte Carlo? Just does not seem to make sense for the era and all the other cars in those years were you could get a BB 4 sp car. The 70 & 71 SS454 had to have some decent HP ratings (unlike 72-75) It is what it is. Weird fun fact on that painted roof & trim deal. Weird.
Tom, I had the exact same 72 Monte color combo back in the 90’s. Unfortunately was broadsided was a guy ran a red light.
Too many issues for the price. If they still have the a/c setup then not so bad. Also the painted roof, strange.
There were guys trying to get the 4 speed in the SS454, but Chevrolet refused. Their SS454 package consisted of the LS5, TH400, F41 suspension package, automatic load leveling, heavy duty battery, and a few other things. The small blocks and the LS3 (402 big block) were offered with a 4 speed. I’m a member of the First Generation Monte Carlo Club. Nobody has ever come forward with proof of an SS454 being built with a 4 speed, yet. We would love for it to happen, but even Chevrolet executives that were questioned about it years later say they didn’t offer them that way, and didn’t build them that way. Some were dealer modified.
May have been an emissions certifying issue even in ’70 – it cost big bucks to certify a motor/trans in EACH body style.
Imagine how hard it would be to get a 4 speed LS SIX in a monte or 4 speed LS SEVEN in a vette, even if you showed the dealer the magazine articles about those motors. lol
I agree price is way to high for this land taught maybe 7,000 is more acceptable
Gotta love the fan shroud tunnel. Someone could hide in there!
Our Monte Carlo was a nice car. When it came time to sell, I spent most of a cold winter day in the carport washing, waxing, and detailing it. Then my wife wanted to drive it, which I was not excited about. I told her to be very careful. She was, but, as she approached a red light, the person behind her wasn’t and rear ended her and pushed the Monte Carlo into the car in front of her, smashing both ends and totaling the car. The good news is that the insurance paid more than I was going to ask for the car! Just wish it had happened before I detailed it!
I’ve seen a few of these in old NASCAR photos and they look right at home on the circle tracks. Saw far more of the next gen Monte’s on the road when I was a kid and thought nothing of those. This would make for a nice cruiser.
When I see somebody has been in there and removed the A/C compressor, I walk away.
Whoever had this car either wanted to save weight or they didn’t have the money to repair the car correctly. Either way I don’t want to have anything to do with a car like this.
Bob how is your wife ?
who cares. wive are a replaceable resource, unlike a classic ride. sorry about your total loss of your whip, i hope you got something cool with the check man.
This first gen Monte Carlo is a good looking car with clean, uncluttered styling unlike the later models that looked like a pimp’s ride. This car looks like a fairly clean example but I don’t buy the mileage claim either. The paint might buff out, I’d certainly try that before a re-paint. Not sure if it’s fairly priced and it does need a few things sorted out but if you’re looking for a first gen Monte Carlo, this one looks pretty good.
& if buffing does little good, b4 painting, one might wana try applying a little transmission fluid! using a smooth sponge in a small area. The color may come back & scratches disappear – i’ve done this on my car – on plastic trim, steel, & fiberglass, tho the rain will wash it off.
What is that “can of vegetables” for under the hood? If that’s factory, i’ll be damned.
@ JoeNYFW64, is the can of vegetables you’re asking about that black can looking vacuum canister up near the firewall just above the plug wires ? Yeah thats factory for the HVAC system. Except for the black painted portion of the front driver side fender why couldnt the entire car be buffed out (detailed) and leave the transmission fluid for the trans. Its not really fair to call this car a muscle car , maybe if it were a 454, but it’d barely be one with a stock 350.
i like these first gen montes, i personally stripped about half of them in s.w. oregon as a gear headed young adult just for the engines and the rest went for scrap weight. IIRC the vast majority of the first and early second gen montes had the 400 ci small block and turbo 400 transmission( was gonna say tranny but most would think i was talking about a funny dressing man) as the motivational encouragement under their dresses. stock 400 will move you off the line quickly but is soggy on top, but swap in an l79 replacement cam an see that sogged up low compression mill wake the F#{K UP! if you want a first gen jump on this because there aint many left. and yeah its really rare to see one with a 350 in it
Documentation is a must if this car only has the said claimed mileage on it!! Nice looking but not likely to be a low mileage car!!!