In the mid 1980s, if you wanted a V8 Chevy with a little NASCAR attitude, the Monte Carlo SS was the car to have, and clean ones are getting harder to find. This 1987 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS is finished in black over a tan interior and shows just 48,000 miles. The ad is posted in New Orleans, Louisiana, but the seller says the car is stored indoors at a private car club facility in Palm Desert, California. The asking price is $26,000, and the seller makes it very clear that the price is firm. It was posted just yesterday, and you can find it here on Craigslist. There are a few red flags about this listing, including the professional studio shots, asking the buyer to send their phone number instead of calling, and the car is not located where the seller posted it, so be careful. We appreciate Tony Primo sending us this listing.
The SS came with only one engine, the L69 305 cubic inch V8 with a four-barrel carburetor and dual exhaust, rated at 180 horsepower. It was backed by a four-speed automatic, and no manual transmission was offered. Regular Monte Carlo buyers could choose a 4.3-liter V6 or a lower-output 305 V8. The SS was offered in colors such as white, black, and burgundy metallic with contrasting SS stripes, and buyers could pick from cloth interiors in colors such as maroon and gray.
This SS is finished in black with red SS stripes and rides on the factory-style aluminum wheels. The seller says the paint was just professionally polished, and the photos show it looking deep and glossy. The tan interior also looks clean. The 305 V8 and automatic are said to run and drive excellently; the air conditioning blows cold, and the car has a $4,000 custom sound system. The seller says it has always been kept indoors, and it has a clean title.
Chevrolet brought back the Monte Carlo SS for 1983 to give its NASCAR teams a more aerodynamic shape to race. The SS featured a sloped front fascia, a rear spoiler, and a high-output 305 V8. The car did well on the track, and Dale Earnhardt won the 1987 Winston Cup championship in a Monte Carlo. To compete with the slippery Ford Thunderbird, Chevrolet added the Aerocoupe with a sloped rear window and shorter decklid, building just 200 for 1986 and 6,052 for 1987. Chevrolet built 33,199 standard SS coupes in 1987, excluding Aerocoupes. The rear wheel drive Monte Carlo ended after the 1988 model year.
Looks like a nice clean car. I remember these when they were new, I worked on a few of them at the dealer. Back then, as a young man, I thought they were quick, not scary fast, but quick. By today’s standards, this thing would be slow as erosion. I’m sure a 383 SB would be a perfect fit.