So, a little bit of history: there are areas in the Catskill regions of New York State where you can still find the remnants of once-grand resorts where wealthy New York City residents would retreat on the weekends. Some of them preferred private homes to hotels, but the point is this: it was a bit of a playground at one time for folks to escape the congested streets of Manhattan. This clean 1977 Chevy Impala wagon here on eBay has been a summer car all of its life in that region of the state, and wears only 30,454 miles.
The interior certainly looks like one that belongs to a car that saw only limited use, and supposedly was never driven in winter. The Impala resided primarily in the Catskill region with its first two owners, both of whom used the wagon in the same fashion. The third and current owner has maintained it as a hobby vehicle and as a survivor, choosing not to mess with a good thing. Interestingly, this Impala is a factory radio-delete, non-A/C car, the latter of which makes sense if the car was used primarily in the cool mountain regions.
That’s not to say it wasn’t outfitted with some good options. It features power steering, brakes and a tailgate lock. The roof rack also an add-on, along with the color-keyed floormats that still appear to be in great condition. The body looks fantastic and I can’t see any obvious areas of rust, which doesn’t surprise me considering the seller mentions it was never used in the winter – just a summer-use-only family truckster. The seller claims he bought a variety of new parts to prepare it for driving tours, but has never had cause to install them.
Still, I wouldn’t hesitate to swap in new hoses and the fuel pump, just to be on the safe side. The engine bay does look freakishly clean for a vehicle this old. Even if it was only used in one or two seasons a year, the Impala still has enough mileage on it that a negligent owner could make his or her presence known through cosmetic neglect. But given the impressive condition of the car and the seller’s enthusiasm for this survivor-grade Impala, I’d say it’s been in good hands most of its life and should clear the reserve price soon. Bidding is currently over $6K and unmet – what do you think it will do?
This car was not nicely outfitted with some good options. From the looks of it, it has zero options. Maybe wheelcovers, but even those might have been standard by then.
It has the bumper rub strips and luggage rack – there’s a couple of options!
AC is a must, even in the catskills….
Apparently they got Clark Griswold’s car. The Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with CB and optional rally fun pack.
new cost
The car sold for $6049.43 on 6-3-77
today $$
$24,317.81
Neat survivor. The original owner was very frugal…no air (in the cool mountains)…radio delete (no reception in the mountains…pre satellite radio). They probably could have bought a Checker Marathon wagon for le$$. I would buy the orange Olds wagon instead.
The Checkers were pricier, and there was no longer a wagon in ’77.
Another nicely maintained wagon. I would prefer the Olds to this one. This will make a great car for someone.
I wonder if there are any steel body panels that don’t interchange with the Olds Custom Cruiser from earlier today. Certainly nothing from the cowl back differs, but even the hoods look very similar.
Does the old baby seat come with it?⚽
After spending 5 months last year in the Catskills, I can say, it is still that way, homes that nobody uses. And nice ones too, not dilapidated shacks like in Wisconsin. The guy I stayed with, had a home fix-it business, and many of his “customers” were people from the city, that rarely visit the homes, but need attention, cost no object, of course, and some of the folks, in the 5 months, I never saw. While the Olds was essentially the same car, it had a bit more zing. This is what people traded in to get the Olds. Nice car, but I’d go with the Olds too.
Oh course as an Olds nut, I would take the Olds wagon over this Chevy wagon, however, this Chevy is pretty darn nice. Both this Chevy and that Olds wagon are pretty basic. AM radio in the Olds and no radio in the Chevy? I wonder if they came from the same cheapskate family..
After owning a completely option loaded car for the last decade, I’m ready for a car with few options. Even though I repair everything myself, keeping up with all those options, as well as the standard maintenance, can be a job. As the summer drive time approaches, I’m planning a right rear power window motor replacement and a complete A/C system evacuation/recharge including compressor oil change.
On this one, I’d miss the A/C but otherwise I wouldn’t mind owning it.
Known in the business as “money losin’ blue”!
Good phrase. I don’t like blue myself, but not sure it’s worse than the greens from that era.
Good eye on the shared body panels. GM used Chevrolet bodies for all the full sized wagons from 77 to the refresh in 1980. The Olds has unique sheet metal from the cowl forward that does not interchange with the sedans. Bucks had a small plastic panel from the upper door edge to the mirror to hide the different body lines. If anyone has a lead on an Olds wagon header panel from 77 to 79, I am in need of one.
Had an 81 wagon, same color and interior, but we had air and radio. Best damn car I have ever owned. Had it for about 15 years and it got passed down through the kids. Wish I had kept it, it was clean and rust free, but needed a head gasket..
Old memories with this car, My mom and dad bought a used one like this same color but they had a/c and AM/FM radio. They put it on the road as a taxi and the wagon ran great for about 6 years over 600,00 km.
Before they scraped it they took many parts for their “new used’ second Impala wagon and my “Bel-air” wagon (no a/c for me) mine was a golden color.
I too put mine on as a taxi.
I think I had it for about 5 years poor thing died a horrible slow death.
My aunt and uncle had one the exact same color though if I recall it was slightly newer. Possibly an 80. It was a tough old wagon considering my uncle was notorious for rarely changing the oil or doing any other maintanance. It was a total hooptie that smoked like a threshing machine when it finally gave up. They pushed it into there garage which I might add it dI’d not totally fit in and left it there until my uncle’s death in 2002. By that time there driveway was full of nonrunners.
My mother’s first brand new car was a brown 1977 Impala wagon with a tan interior. She was so happy when we went to the dealer to pick it up. So were my siblings and I as we had always owned used vehicles. My guess is we weren’t as excited as my mom as later that evening we were concerned about all the moaning and groaning coming from my parent’s bedroom. hehehe
I live in the Catskills and still use the same AC I had in the60s two windows down 60 mph
Back then, AC was a $1500 option, increasing the cost of the car by 25%. We had a ’78 Impala… However, these were designed to have AC, and the vents without it were nearly useless for interior air flow.
First year of downsizing, big improvement over the previous year.