What a difference just a few years can make. In 1970, you could order a Chevelle Super Sport with either a 396 or 454 cubic inch V8, the most powerful Chevrolet had to offer. They were at the top of their games and on par with the rest of the industry. Fast forward to 1973 and the SS was largely a trim package with a 350 V8 (2-barrel, 145 hp) being standard fare, hardly able to burn rubber. The big news in 1973 was the redesign that brought aboard “Colonnade” styling (no more true hardtops) and “cowcatcher” front bumpers. This ’73 SS is being offered by a dealer in Staunton, Illinois, and the current bid here on eBay is just $1,095 (below the seller’s reserve).
By 1973, General Motors expected stronger rollover requirements to come from the federal government. So. the redesign of the Chevy, Pontiac, Buick, etc. mid-size cars strengthened the roof and pillars and dropped the availability of hardtops and convertibles. The sedans that remained had frameless door glass, giving the illusion of they’re being hardtops. It didn’t affect Chevelle sales much either way, as 1973 production (excluding the El Camino and Monte Carlo) was within 2% of the A-body output in 1972. The Malibu continued to be the largest-selling Chevelle, though the number of SS units built is unknown.
The 1973 Malibu SS looked pretty much the same as the regular Malibu except for the blacked-out front grille and SS badge. Inside, bench seating and column-shifted transmissions were the order of the day, but swivel buckets were available, though we believe they mostly ended up in the new Laguna models. There’s nothing to suggest that the seller’s ’73 SS is any faster now than it would have been 51 years ago — unless you assume chrome valve covers and air cleaners add horsepower.
There doesn’t seem to be any rust here, and the bright yellow paint may be the original color, though it could have been resprayed. We’re told the interior is original at 92,000 miles and could use some detailing (and there may be a couple of places where the front upholstery wants to separate). The package under the hood is numbers matching, which works in the car’s favor. It’s said to be a good running machine, so you should be able to take it to Cars & Coffee in quick order.
I’m not a Chevy guy but I kinda like it. The color pops and I always thought this body style was cool.
I smell Bondo…
LOL, putty does have a unique smell.
Good write-up Dixon 👍
Not an SS, sigh. It’s a Malibu someone tacked SS emblems onto. Only the Malibu, not the SS, had wheel opening and rocker trim, and the “Malibu” front fender nameplates. That screaming yellow is not an original color either. Other than that, I like ’73 Chevelles, LOL.
does not have the SS gauge cluster not a SS. i have a 75 Laguna SS el camino with the SS sport gauge cluster round pods not rectangle
I don’t believe this is an actual SS but the model was an option on Malibu 2 door with 4bbl engine and 4 speed or automatic. Pretty straight and solid looking with a color that won’t get lost in parking or traffic.
The younger guys might like this Chevy but to me this is the year they changed body style and screwed em up they lost the boxey look 64 to 72!
I agree with Al camino! I have a 1971 Chevelle since 1988 and never really cared for the 1973 and newer body style.
When this style came out, we didn’t know to call it “Collonade”, we just called it ugly.
puke yellow. no thanks
I came close to buying a ’73 Chevelle SS454, light green with green interior and vinyl top back in the mid-1990’s. The seller would not negotiate on their asking price, $4k at the time, so I passed on the car and ended up buying another Olds. Not sure why (I’ve never owned a colonnade), but I have always seemingly had a soft spot for the ’73 colonnades. Especially the Buick GS, which I still to this day think is the prettiest of the GM divisions for the 1973 model year.
73 colonnade’s were all nice models, each with their own touch.
big blocks and 4 speeds could still be had, there was evan a station wagon version of the 73 ss chevelle, and a 4 door version of a pontiac.
In October of 1980 I bought a silver with a black vinyl top 73 SS. 454 400 turbo trans black swivel buckets and it had the monte dash with tach. It had a mechanical oil pressure gauge down below the radio. There was no spot in the dash that I found where the factory oil gauge should have been. The speedo and tach took up the two big holes and there were 4 smaller pods/holes for other gauges. Water temp, a clock and I can not remember what the other two were, its been 44 years since then but I do remember that neither one had anything to do with oil pressure. I do remember that I bought it out of a trailer park at the south end of the belt hiway in St Joe for 550 dollars and it was a blast to drive. I sold it in early 1981 to buy something with better gas mileage.
The other two were fuel and voltage. My ’73 Laguna had the same I/P cluster, engine and transmission.
I was looking at the dash on the monte on here and was thinking that very thing. I took the cover off the dash cluster and looked at it with a light and I didnt see anything to do with oil on mine. The oil line going thru the firewall was done very nicely with a grommet. Still not sure if it was a factory gauge. Miss mine now but it scared me too many times back then but I was doing way too many teenager things then also
I always liked this style of Colonnade coupe, with the triangular quarter windows and thin C-pillar the design was clearly meant to have, much more so than the opera-window ones.
This has none of the SS features like the lower paint scheme and stripes and rally wheels. And i’m pretty sure they didn’t just stick the SS emblem under the Malibu emblem, LOL!
That being said, the SS package that year was just an appearance option, though it required a 350 or 454 like the 1971-72 SS packages did.
Just one big yellow turd. If one could buy this on the cheap, it could be turned into a somewhat fun evening and weekend cruiser. Pull that boat anchor engine, freshen it up with with a cam, intake and exhaust upgrades. Maybe even give it a mid 70’s NASCAR look and sound, and just have some fun cruising.
So many of these ended up with roll cages and numbers on the side at the local speedway. This one looks like Ryerse’s number 19 from the local track. Good looking car but there’s a lot about this that is not quite correct.
As previously stated, definitely not an SS. I’ve always liked the colonade body style