Forget about late ’60s muscle, this ’73 Chevelle SS is where it’s at! Don’t let its boxy design, massive front bumpers or its emissions strangled V8 fool you, this is an all out performance machine! And with massive custom wheels like these, you just know it has to be a trackday warrior. Oh and don’t worry about the curb weight, this car has already been put on a strict diet and has easily lost 50 pounds! The best part is, it is probably losing even more weight as you read this. Find this SS454 here on eBay in Riverdale, Georgia with an opening bid of just 99 cents.
Alright, so maybe this car wasn’t ever a hot machine, but for the times it was decent. The 454 was rated at just 245 horsepower by ’73, so it wasn’t the tire burning monster it had once been. A couple year old small block could probably beat it all day long, but it was one of the more powerful engines you could get in a brand new ’73. The seller claims to have the engine running and apparently it runs quite well. Power is routed through a 4 speed, so that should make it a bit more enjoyable!
For the size of car, this generation of Chevelle actually handled quite well, so perhaps it could be a trackday warrior after all! John Delorean was Chevrolet during the redesign of the Chevelle. With the help of Alex Mair, they made sure these cars handled as well as they could. All ’73 Chevelles received front disc brakes and coil springs all around, so maybe you could take this car for a day at the track. Well maybe not in its current condition, but it could have the potential for it!
There is definitely some serious weight saving going on with this car! Yes, it’s the same kind of weight savings as cutting your own foot off is. You might trim a few pounds off right now, but it isn’t worth it in the long run. I wouldn’t even know where to begin to fix all this rust. I’m pretty sure there are a couple holes big enough I could fit my head through. The seller does have some repair panels, so I guess that is a start!
Well at least you know it has a good set of wheels on it! Oh wait, those don’t come with it. Sorry guys, you’ll just have to make do with some crummy old original wheels. All humor and criticisms aside, this is actually a pretty rare car and could be made to go fast. The problem is all that rust and what it’s going to take to fix it. At 99 cents, I’d be willing to take on the challenge and I wouldn’t even care about not getting the custom wheels, but I have a feeling they are going to want a lot more than that. So do you see any potential here or is this now a parts car?
Wow…does this bring back a flood of memories. My first car was a ’73 Chevelle SS 350. I thought it was a fabulous car but I’m sure most kids thought that of their first car. Mine had swivel bucket seats instead of the bench seat seen here. I don’t think this should have “Malibu” badges on it but maybe I’m wrong about that. Mine was burgundy with the silver stripes and Chevelle Rally wheels and a TH400. Cool cars….
I had the exact same model for my 1st car and i loved it. Now that i am much older i am trying to locate my old car. Hopefully one day i will track it down.
…my dad took me to the Chevrolet dealership on my 16th birthday and said I could get this exact same car if I make the payments…I convinced him the ’70 LS5 Chevelle SS would be a much more frugal purchase….
Atta boy!
Ok, if it were found to be structurally sound, a 454 is a 454 after all. No matter what it was new, the engine could be warmed up enough to forget the Malaise era. It’s not a bad looking car from the times. I think this is a very interesting find with quite a bit of potential if the frame is solid. I really like thiniking about what that car COULD be.
Up to over $1,500 now and hasn’t met reserve (!)
Great Car, restored with Ansen Sprints this would be a fun fun fun car
I’d tackle it if it was closer, just because it’s a big-block/4 gear
Ryan Gosling should buy it and Drive it!
A good friend,and my boss at the time, bought a new73′ Laguna. Had the swivel seats, 4speed and a 454. Burgundy with a white top. It would smoke the tires until they blew out. Remember that the Nya went from bhp to nhp around this time.
I had a 73 Laguna S3 for a short time in high school. 350, auto, swivel buckets. Was a fun car until the passenger seat started punching through the floor.
I like the 73 Laguna S3 much better than this car! It had a very cool nose!
Based on the build sheet, this car looks to have spent it’s life in GA. With that amount of rot, I would have expected it to have been from here in the Northeast.
This one puts a new meaning on “southern car”.
There’s A LOT of rain/moisture here in the Southeast. I’m in Jamestown, North Carolina. I sure miss the super solid cars of the SouthWEST (I lived in Phoenix for 32 years)!
I’m interested in the 454 and 4 speed for my 70 Chevelle but not sure it’s worth the current bid of $2,552 with the reserve not yet met! I think it’s far too rusty to restore unless you have a rust free donor shell/frame sitting around. It may be rare but the 73 isn’t very desirable!
I never cared for this later body style, but It would sure get a lot of attention these days.
Abd while I prefer a well built small block over a big block, this would be a very nice powertrain. Dont let the factory settings scare you at all,. First thing we all did back in the day is rip all that emissions crap off, Slap on a Edelbrock intake, Holley, and even with a mild cam upgrade along with some headers, reset the timing and you can easily put out 1hp per cu in with out breaking any sweat.
Little known fact: 1973 was the only year that Chevy ever offered the SS in station wagon form. That’s the one I have always wanted! http://hooniverse.com/2014/02/21/hooniverse-obscure-muscle-car-garage-the-1973-chevy-chevelle-ss-wagon/
While I suppose some may debate the value of restoring or rebuilding this car, I would point out that I would be SERIOUSLY tempted by this car at the current price. I dont like to see old cars parted out, but as a parts car this has got some nice bones and pieces.
I strongly prefer a well built small block SBC and you pay a penalty for the weight of a big block but IF you do go big block, 454 IS the way to go. Freshen this motor up, and as I said, an intake, carb, headers and cam would wake this beast right up. My wifes 69 Chevelle would be a good candidate. A complete Muncie 4 speed, bell housing, flywheel, clutch shifter, linkages, pedals and all the bolts and hardware alone would command $800-$1200 by itself. A Muncie by itself sells for $400-600 all day long.
For someone with a bare shell of an earlier car, Chevelle, Nova Camaro or whatever this car is one sweet donor car. You can part out what you dont need. People overlook donor cars and fail to consider all the little hardware and bits and pieces really add up. It will be interesting what this car sells for, but this sort of thing is exactly what i would look for in a donor car to buy for other projects.
HINT HINT……… While you can buy a nice disc brake setup from CPP and other vendors, This car has the disc setup ready to go with the brake lines, Master cylinder, booster and everything. I already ordered a kit for my wifes 69, but a car like this has the parts sitting right here. Bet it had the large drums on the back end, and for economy these tended to have highway gears in the rear end. So, who needs 4:11s? The rear end would swap into a lot of cars and with the 454 up front should be relatively strong.
I agree with Doug, unless this gets over 7k it’s worth the money.
I have never seen one of these with a factory 4-speed, so this is quite an education for me. As others have stated, great parts car.
It would be an epic shame to make this a parts car. The 454/4speed combo in the S3 just doesn’t show up often. You see lots of the 70-72 cars with it. Of course, you will spend 50k doing it and end up with a 25k car so you need to be stupid. Hopefully somebody is.
Wow, shame it’s been Allowed to ROT-like that, Better have a MIG-welder and allot Of Patience To take this one on. This Car Should be restored as there’s Just NOT allot of these Around. You’d definitely have the only one On Cruise night.
Wow, I havnt seen one since 1983 when I sold my black one,with the 454 ss option,4spd.,swivel buckets,radio delete..Texas car…Sold it in Houston when I was a broke dick dog. I sold that pig for $600,only paid $850 for it. Bought it from a guy who had about 4 speeding tickets in it and his wife said you or the car. I swear he was in tears when I drove off with it. God I wish I had that car back..That would be a great ride to restore if its saveable..Good luck
This sold for 10k. Wow.
I have a 1973 Chevelle Malibu 2 door rust free numbers matching 350 engine and trans and rearend. The last two car shows I entered I received a trophy and a best in show for the midsize Chevrolet class with over 1,000 total cars participating along beside other chevelles and nova. Judges say you don’t see these cars at car shows.
Not a true ss car Back tail lights should be blacked out
I’m not sure about that. I had a ’73 SS in 1980 and it did not have blacked out tail lights. I’m pretty sure it was a real SS…door cards, steering wheel, dash and outside badges were all SS. If it wasn’t real, someone went to great lengths to make it that way…