Convertible Project: 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle

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At one time, the American convertible was an automobile in demand, and its owner envied by others. But by the beginning of the 1970s, the drop-top was an afterthought and would be gone altogether at General Motors after 1976 (at least for a while). Case-in-point: of all the models and body styles of the Chevelle that Chevy built in 1970, just 1.5% of them were convertibles. Like this example, which will be a challenging project to bring back to life, should that be the goal. Located in Manahawkin, New Jersey, this ’70 Malibu is available here on eBay where the bidding has reached $10,200, yet the reserve is unmet.

One definition of the word project is “a sequence of tasks that must be completed to attain a certain outcome.” According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), the term project refers to ” to any temporary endeavor with a definite beginning and end.” Depending on its complexity, it can be managed by a single person or hundreds. This definition perfectly fits the process of restoring a car that has been dormant for 40 years.

By 1970, the intermediate Chevelle was in the middle of its second-generation after a successful launch in 1964. Chevrolet would sell a half-million of the cars that year alone (including the El Camino, which was classified as a body style of the Chevelle). But just 7,522 Malibu convertibles were built so the number that might survive today in some form may only number in the hundreds. From the looks of things, this droptop has been sitting outside for quite some time and Mother Nature has not been kind.

The seller is optimistic when it comes to the subject of rust. We’re told the frame looks good and he doesn’t see anything major there, but the entire undercarriage is quite crusty and there appear to be some soft spots in the floorboards. It will need new rear quarter panels and trunk work, but the condition of the cowl area is the most disturbing. The cowl tag is perched there, but there is little metal for it to hold on to. The color is green, but that may not be the original choice. Traces of black can be seen, which is the same color as the interior. The convertible top material has given up the ghost, and we don’t know about the condition of the hardware.

It’s a non-running car and the seller is uncertain about the motor, but a safe bet would be the 307 cubic inch small-block V8 which would need rebuilding along with the automatic transmission. The mileage of the car is unknown, but that shouldn’t affect the purchase decision here. Were you to undertake a thorough restoration, NADA says that the top dollar for a ’70 Chevelle non-SS convertible would be $45,000. The current bidding would leave less than $35,000 to complete a project that may be “managed by a single person or hundreds.”

Auctions Ending Soon

Comments

  1. Bluetec320 Bluetec320

    Just looked at the bidding history, and 18 of the 37 bids are shills. SMH!

    Like 8
    • Steve Clinton

      Hopefully, one of the shill bidders will end up winning his own car. How stupid do these crooks think people are?

      Like 10
    • RC

      how do you tell a shill bid?

      Like 2
      • Steve R

        I think every car that has been bid higher than they would be willing to pay is because of shills.

        Steve R

        Like 2
      • Joe Bru

        RC: hard to tell every one but a low rating number is one way, another is bidders bid history, If 100% bidding on the same seller is a tell. Also when car gets relisted immediately when the winning bidder has a rating on the higher side is also a tell. Also I think E-bay employees bid on many cars that they think are underpriced, this way the company gets a higher sales revenue. I complained but they blamed jokester college students. I find it hard to believe thousands of college students are doing this for fun. Also I used to catch dealers doing it all the time, back when they posted the full bidders Id’s. I turned these dealers in but the same dealers continued to do it & shortly after all my complaints they changed policy to partially hide some of the bidders ID letters!

        Like 0
    • Steve R

      How do you know that? Every auction that draws a lot of interest, no matter what it’s for looks like this. They all have considerably more bids than bidders. Does that mean every auction has shill bidders?

      Steve R

      Like 2
  2. bobhess bobhessMember

    At least they rolled the car outside so you could look at it. After looking at it they need to roll it back inside.

    Like 12
    • Sam Shive

      It need ro be rolled over by a DOZER ….

      Like 2
  3. 8banger 8bangerMember

    I LOVE the black Nova lurking behind. It looks it was one hell of a street brawler.

    Like 1
  4. Steve Clinton

    “Convertible Project”? More like a convertible reject.

    Like 10
  5. stillrunners

    Talk about ruff Mopars – but you don’t see many of these.

    Like 1
  6. Gary Rhodes

    Ho Lee Chit, pay me 10k to haul it to the wrecking yard. 2k tops and 20k in bodywork to start. Pass

    Like 1
  7. Ike Onick

    “Convertible” into small appliances at this point.

    Like 5
  8. Calipag

    I think we all need to be sure we are up to date on our tetanus shots after just looking at that rust bucket!

    Like 5
  9. CraigR

    LOL. 10 grand, someone’s going to take a beating here, probably not the seller.

    Like 3
  10. Lee

    Give it back to the squirrels. They miss their home!

    Like 6
  11. Little_Cars Little_Cars

    For those of us of a certain age, we remember the demise of the four passenger convertible came about because of safety concerns aka rollover protection. I remember mag articles that touted purchasing the last Eldorados and VW Bug converts because they would be huge collectors items. Many got hidden away. And we see these wildly overpriced malaise-era ragtops appear more and more 45 years later.

    Like 2
  12. Karl

    I am always up to a desirable and REALISTIC restoration project and this bucket is none of the above!

    Like 0
  13. glen kay

    it would cost aprox 25 to 30 thousand fully restored not worth it

    Like 0
  14. Little_Cars Little_Cars

    What’s holding that body tag on? It seems to be floating in the center of what was once a puddle of rainwater which in turn settled onto what was once, factory steel!

    Like 0
  15. glen kay

    to much meony to repair will not have any income

    Like 0
  16. Daniel Bell

    You can tell shill bids because no matter what is bid on the car some one bids higher right away that drives the price up. If you wanted a auction at the lowest price why would you bid early? You wait until there is a minute or what you feel comfortable with and bid you highest bid. Shills win the auctions all the time they are in cahoots with the seller and just get there money back and the seller says they reneged on the auction and relist it in a week!

    Like 1

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