The Chevy Caprice, along with the rest of General Motors’ full-size cars, were downsized in 1977. The goal was to reduce weight so they could run on smaller engines and be more fuel-efficient. The resulting product was even roomier for passengers than the land yachts they had replaced. This 1979 edition of the Caprice Classic could be one of the nicest left and has just 44,000 miles to its credit after 45 years. This award winner can be found in Omaha, Nebraska, and is available here on craigslist for $22,000. Another nifty tip brought our way by T.J.!
These more sensibly-sized Chevies held their popularity and this generation, which ran from 1977 to 1990, managed to deliver nearly 2.9 million units sold for Chevrolet’s accountants. Of those, only about 10% were sport coupes (aka Astro Coupes) like the seller’s car as sedans and wagons were much more in demand. This body style had a semi-fastback look thanks to the rear window having sharp corners that created three sides. The coupe was discontinued after 1987.
This is a three-owner automobile that last changed hands in 1979 when it was almost new. Maintenance records have been kept since then so the buyer will know exactly what has been done to this nice survivor and when. In recent years, it has mainly been used for car shows and has collected a few trophies that the buyer gets to keep. Under the hood lies a 305 cubic inch V8 paired with what should be a TH-350 automatic transmission.
Thanks to it being largely garage-kept, the body, paint, and interior on this ’79 Chevy all appear to be flawless. Everything seems to be in order, including the factory air conditioning which blows cold as it should. A theft-prevention unit has been installed as well as a CD player though the original AM/FM radio has been archived. There’s no denying that this is a beautiful car, but is it worth the asking price? Just think of what you would pay for a similar three-year-old vehicle with similar mileage and judge for yourself.
Beauty in simplicity.
The squared off lines looked great from any angle. New shape arrived for 91′.
Common knowledge that the 305 had the THM200 transmission.
Not in my ‘77. Not so sure about ‘79 either. I think those came later.
Nope. 200/4R which came out in 81 was used behind higher power applications on a regular basis. Most 79 back full sized V8s head a 350. I owned several and worked at GM dealerships at the time.
These make great sleepers. There’s a ton of room under that hood to get creative. This is too nice to molest and would be a great cruiser left as is with a nice set of 8” rally rims and dual exhaust. Just needs to be de-grandpa’d a bit! Keep the factory wheels and hubcaps.
Can con firm. I have a two-door ’79 Olds Delta 88 with a 550 horsepower blown smallblock and no one sees it coming.
No such thing as too nice to molest when molesting consists of improving performance/drivability. The sheer cost and near impossibility of getting one this nice makes the equation more palatable daily. Now, were it a high end collectible the debate would be tougher. But this one? LS it in the blink of an eye.
Hey, it’s got a Chapman lock – I can see the lock cylinder in the lower left of the posted interior pic. The salesman talked me into one of those when buying my ’81 Camaro. It locked the hood so that it couldn’t be opened from the outside.
I must have thought that someone would want to mess with its rip-roaring 229 V6.
I love it now as much as I did when it was featured here on November 13! It’s still available though so price may be a little ambitious. Fun to see the two different write-ups on the car. It’s beautiful!
You’re about $12,000 too high in your asking price
Nice car $22k is a big ask good luck to the seller
Time suggests he’s asking too much. This car was featured in this site November 13th, with the same $22,000 asking price. If someone likes full size Chevy’s from this era this is the body style to get, however, how strong is demand, how many of those that want it will pay that much, especially for a car lacking in options.
Steve R
Nice buy but optimistic price. There are hundreds of cars like this for sale. You just have to look. That TH 200 is a pile of junk.
I tend to agree on the fun tickets request but it’s a well kept example.
Did you guys see any under photos anywhere? I didn’t.
Anyway I drove one of these as a demo when I worked for a GM dealer back then.
I liked the car. Still do but I’m still kinda gasping for air when I look back at the seller want list. Santa has not been to my house yet.
Good luck!
nice car, cool body style but not 22k nice. good luck
I agree, very nice car with low mileage. IMO, price is a little high. I prefer the back window of the 1977 coupe and the Firethorn mist color.
I had a 78 and 79 Caprice Classic. Both had the 305 and THM200. The 350 was an option when you had the 305 engine.
I noticed this is a Bare Bones Caprice. No tilt, no cruise control & no delay wipers
I’m not certain but for what I can tell. The carpet and dash looks sprayed with a dye or paint. Its just my opinion and sorry if I’m wrong.
I always loved the look of the bent back window on these Caprice coupes. A Chevy salesman friend of mine had a blue on blue Caprice coupe for a demonstrator in 77. The big difference between this one and his was that his had the molded plastic wire wheel looking wheel covers.
Cool but not $22k cool
Nice, but not $22K nice. And with a 4.11 rear end, that 305 will zip past its powerband before even getting to 35 mph.
Yeah DW, that’s what I read also. I honestly don’t know what to think about that. Honestly, I think that someone has mistaken a code or got a part of the code mixed up in the transfer.
Anyway I can’t imagine a rear axle ratio in this model car with that ratio.
I had a 85 GMC SIERRA K2500 4X4 years back. It had a 5:10 ratio rear axle. I could cruise 56 mph at 3100 rpm. Felt like I was backing up when I was in heavy traffic but could it climb. I put a piece of 3/8″ sheet metal covering the floor of the whole bed. Bolted it down on top of a few pieces of heavy mining rock conveyor belting. It added about 500 pounds to my rear axle weight but lost very little of my space of the bed. Works well on all my trucks. In fact if somebody out there thinks that your truck rides a little too sharp in the ass end this procedure will help 90%. It also adds in stability on slick roads.
Go to a public scale and “axle out” your truck. I’d bet that what ever your truck 4-500 pounds on the rear axle will make it equal to what is on the front axle.
This will make your trucks profile look better too. Oh, if 3/8″ is too much then go down and 5/16″ or 1/4″. Just use the formula for plate steel weights. Make sure you adjust your headlights and make sure that your tire pressures are all the same.
Have fun.
Liked these a lot when they came out. Haven’t changed my mind in 45 yrs. When they redesigned them in 80 I didn’t like them nearly as much and still don’t.
I first saw a two door Caprice at the Georgia welcome center on I-95 way back in the nineties and fell in love with them. Later I was lucky enough to find a nice white one with low mileage for $3000. Put dual exhaust and a set of rally wheels on it and it drew attention everywhere we drove it. They are nice cars.
$22,000? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
That’s about $10K too much, maybe even more.
Rob,
Could not agree more! Nice but not all that!
Was selling Chevy’s then and factory ordered a black over camel one like this for my best buddy. Forgot to check the box for “color keyed seat belts” so it arrived with black belts in the camel interior, he said it looked dumb (agreed) and wouldn’t accept delivery so I had to reorder it. Sales manager wasn’t happy but eventually we sold the one with the black belts.
Ordering the F41 sport suspension was popular as you got bigger 70 series tires that looked a lot better, different hubcaps and sway bars. Nice driving cars especially with the 350.
Good luck on that 10-12 thousand car sale.