In 1965, Chevrolet gave its Corvair a fresh new style with a completely new body. Car styling is mostly personal taste, but to me, the styling was much improved over the 1960 to 1964 styling. Sales were also up from over 152,000 in 1964 to over 235,000 in 1965. Can you imagine how many more that could have been if the Ford Mustang never existed? Here is a 1965 Chevrolet Corvair Monza Sport Coupe (2 door) for sale here on eBay. The car is located in Kentucky. (more…)
After three years, Ford decided its full-size Ford was done with the vertically stacked headlights of 1965 to 1967. By doing so, it gave its top line LTD standard concealed headlights, while the lower Galaxie 500 and Custom/500 models got a plainer grille with horizontally placed headlights. There were actually two Galaxie 500 2 door hardtop models offered in 1968. A sportier fastback roofline was shared with the XL, while this more formal hardtop roofline was shared with the LTD. Here is a 1968 Ford Galaxie 500 2 door hardtop for sale here on eBay in La Plata, Maryland.
Here’s one that will probably stir up the old “two doors too many” debate, but sometimes there are cars that you just can’t overlook. While this one may not be special to some, it was Chevrolet’s top of the line Caprice. Here is a 1968 Chevrolet Caprice Sedan. Yes, that is what Chevrolet called it in its brochure for 1968. It is actually what we car lovers refer to as a 4 door hardtop. Oddly enough, in the same brochure, the Impala version of the 4 door hardtop is referred to as a Sport Sedan, while the post sedan is not even included. It is for sale here on eBay in Pueblo, Colorado.
When somebody says “1970 Chevelle”, most people immediately think of a SS 396 or SS 454. That’s the car that gets the attention, but there were far more of the regular Malibus built in 1970. I could not find the figures for the Super Sport model, but there were 354,700 Malibus built in 1970 (plus another 23,900 base Chevelles), and 7,511 of those were convertibles. Here is a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu convertible for sale here on eBay in West Creek, New Jersey.
General Motors was the only manufacturer offering full-size station wagons by 1993, and they were down to only two models, the Chevrolet Caprice Classic and the Buick Roadmaster Estate. Both could be had with or without the simulated woodgrain siding. But a few more years run of this model, and General Motors station wagons would surrender to more production of SUVs and minivans. Here is a 1993 Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon for sale here on eBay in Joppa, Maryland.
In 1970, the Vista-Cruiser along with the Cutlass wagon was pulling duty for Oldsmobile as the only station wagons available. The full-size wagon would return in 1971. While the Cutlass wagon had a 116-inch wheelbase, the Vista-Cruiser used an extended 121-inch wheelbase and added the vista roofline. Here is a 1970 Oldsmobile Vista-Cruiser station wagon for sale here on eBay in Rockmart, Georgia.
The year 1972 was supposed to be the year that General Motors came out with their new intermediate size cars, but they were delayed until 1973. For this reason, 1972 was a minor refresh year for GM intermediates, meaning new grilles and in some instances, minor trim changes around the taillights. In 1970, Oldsmobile did not get an entirely separate model as Pontiac did with the Grand Prix and Chevrolet with the Monte Carlo. Instead, they had a more formal roofline attached to the regular intermediate line. This is a 1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Hardtop Coupe (2 door) for sale here on craigslist in Traverse City, Michigan. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Dan from Traverse City for finding this car and bringing to our attention.
In 1974, Ford made some updates to the two-year-old Gran Torino line to give it some further appeal with a new grille and a more durable rear bumper with the taillights removed and placed above the bumper in a panel area. This is a 1974 Ford Gran Torino Brougham for sale here on eBay in Chandler, Arizona for a Buy it Now Price of $6,500.
All Mustangs were not created equally. Some were blessed with V-8s while others were content to be powered by only 6 cylinders. This is one of the later. In 1967, Mustang had its first real competition. While the Plymouth Barracuda was previously a minor contender, it was restyled in 1967 with three models plus the Chevrolet Camaro, Pontiac Firebird, and Mercury Cougar had arrived. Even with the competition, Mustang still sold over 472,000 cars in 1967. This is a 1967 Ford Mustang 2 door hardtop for sale here on Craigslist in Jarrell, Texas.
After an initial three year run of its original body style, Pontiac Firebird, as well as Chevrolet Camaro, came out with a totally new body style midway through the 1970 model year. These cars benefitted from a fastback roof, and gone were the convertibles. Firebird was offered in four models; a base model, luxury-oriented Esprit, totally performance Trans Am, and this mild performance Formula 400. Only 7,708 of the Formula 400 were made in 1970. This is a 1970 Pontiac Firebird Formula 400 for sale here on eBay in Pitt Meadows, British Columbia, Canada.
In 1970, Chevrolet and other General Motors makes were wrapping up their full-size models in preparation for a new body style for 1971. Still, there were significant changes from the 1969 model to the front and rear of the car. In 1970 Chevrolet abandoned the full loop bumper they had only used for a year and changed the previously horizontal rectangular triple unit taillights for vertical triple unit taillights. Here is a 1970 Chevrolet Impala Sport Coupe (2 door) for sale here on eBay in McKinney, Texas.
Rule number one when selling a car; know what you’ve got. The seller of this Caprice Convertible is advertising it as a 1974 model, but it is actually a 1973. Checking the VIN number confirms this because sometimes cars can be reconstructed with parts from different years. Here is a 1973 Chevrolet Caprice convertible for sale here on eBay in York Haven, Pennsylvania.
Currently, with the very competitive full-size truck market, most manufacturers are redesigning often to keep up with the latest trends. Chevrolet used the same body style for 15 years from 1973 to 1987. During this time, Ford took over as the top-selling truck and has remained so. It’s possible that with Ford making more frequent updates and Chevrolet sticking with an older design, it helped pull Ford into the lead. Yet, this generation of Chevrolet trucks is getting a lot of attention these days because the prices of the previous generation have gone through the roof. Here is a 1984 Chevrolet C10 Silverado short bed pickup for sale here on eBay in Elkin, North Carolina.
As a new vehicle, a hearse is usually used for its intended purpose, to transport the coffin during the funeral process. As they get older and are sold again, it may or may not be used for that purpose. It may be that a family would not want to use a funeral home that is still using vehicles over 30 years old. So as used vehicles, I’m sure quite a few hearses are used for other purposes. Here is a 1988 Buick Lesabre S & S Victoria Hearse for sale by Retail Remarketing here on eBay in Highland, California.
When Ford introduced the luxury compact Granada (and Mercury Monarch) in 1975 it was the right car at the right time. Even though its roots went back to the Falcons of the sixties, it was a fresh look for a compact Ford vehicle. You could see ads in the seventies comparing the Granada with the Cadillac Seville and Mercedes-Benz. In 1978, Ford introduced the Granada ESS to hopefully directly take on the Mercedes. Well, maybe they looked similar (see a comparison ad here). While the Mercedes was selling for around $20,000, you could get this ESS new for around $5,000. Probably few potential Mercedes buyers considered the ESS, but it was something a little different looking for the compact buyers. This is a 1978 Ford Granada ESS 2 door sedan for sale here on eBay in Clearwater, Florida.
In 1970, Motor Trend magazine selected the Ford Torino as its “Car of the Year”. For 1971, Ford didn’t waste a lot of time or money changing the car. There were minor changes to the grille and that was mostly it. Here is a 1971 Ford Torino GT SportsRoof for sale here on eBay in Grovetown, Georgia.
