Chevy launched its intermediate car, the Chevelle, in 1964 and the Malibu would be the top trim level. With the redesign and downsizing of the 1978 models, the Chevelle name was retired, and the car became just Malibu through 1983 when rear-wheel-drive went away. This ’79 edition has been off the road for a while but is said to be a running car that needs some clean-up. Located in Santee, California, this 4th-generation Malibu is available here on craigslist for $6,500. Thanks, Pat L., for another Bow-Tie lead!
After the Colonnade era of intermediate cars at General Motors (1973-77), the company downsized its second round of autos in the wake of the OPEC oil embargo earlier in the decade. The first “rightsizing” occurred with the Impala/Caprice in 1977. The cars were shorter and leaner than before, but with similar capacity for passengers as before. The 2-door Sport Coupe would be popular, accounting for nearly 128,000 cars rolling off the assembly lines for 1979.
Lighter cars used smaller engines, so the 305 cubic inch V8 would be a common choice and that’s the motor in the seller’s car with 98,000 miles on the odometer. It has a 4-barrel carburetor, which sounds like an aftermarket change. The Chevy has an automatic transmission, and the seller says it goes into drive and reverse but doesn’t state whether it comes out or if it moves. Because it’s been sitting for an unmentioned amount of time, both the gas tank and fuel pump have been replaced along with the tires. The 305 isn’t a terrible engine, but with 140 horsepower, it isn’t exactly powerful. A crate 350 would drop right into this engine bay and could give this Malibu a big boost in performance. What do you think, would you keep the 305 or swap it for something more interesting?
The bronze paint is pretty worn and faded but the body itself looks decent. Perhaps a paint job is all that it needs on the outside except for fixing the ding in the right front fender. On the inside, the passenger cabin is very, very dirty, so a thorough detailing will be needed along with a new dash or pad before spending much time in there. The Malibu has factory air conditioning, but we don’t know if it works. We’re told the automobile is 90% complete, so we’d like to know what the other 10% is comprised of. At what price point would you be in on this 43-year-old Chevy?
$6.5k for a forgettable car that belongs being daubed in brown.
ONLY upside is that it is a coupe which I liked at that time. Oh, and maybe the kidney beans.
$2.5k, but it’s still brown and needs sanitizing…
I like it, but that sun roasted interior is a turn off. I’d get the mechanicals sorted, and then, if possible, I’d try to source a dashpad/console/bucket seats/steering column interior from the upscale Malibu Classic for the interior, and then the exterior cosmetics. (IMO)As it sits, $6.5k is a bit of a stretch. GLWTS!! :-)
I’d swap the car and keep the motor.
The Malibu died in 1977 and it was unwell for 5 years by that time.
Is this even a 305? By 1977 all Chevrolet v8s were blue. Not the right air cleaner either, see the breather element up front?
If this is a base Malibu and not a classic, It should be the 267.
The iraq 🇮🇶 taxi series
Stan, I was thinking the exact same thing, but it looks like most of those were 4 doors and manual.
For those who have never heard about it, it is an interesting story: https://www.thedrive.com/news/35121/we-got-him-that-time-gm-sold-12500-terrible-chevy-malibus-to-saddam-hussein
Thanks PRA4, that WAS interesting!
I didn’t load rhe link pra….but if i remember they would have been mostly 4dr and the manual trans was because the desert heat was hard on the slushboxes.
It was a $1500 car 30 years ago, and it’s still a $1500 car.
Really you people hating on Malibu,I just sold a 78 Malibu classic landau need alot more than this for 3k to first looker, just search this they are the modern day 55 Chevy, street,drag, straight axles,etc, price is going up and up.
Melton Mooney I gave 200 dollars for mine 25 years ago,sold for 3k,send me the info on these 1500 dollar cars I’ll buy them all.
Judging by the contrast between the almost pinkish tan of the interior plastics and the grayness of the cloth and carpet, I’d suspect a solid amount of that 10% is 40 years of ground-in cigarette ash. If dealing with that’s not a problem for you, what’s left is a relatively solid specimen of a car that, imo, looked classier than both the overwrought Monte Carlo and any of the Oldsmobuicks of the ’78-80 generation.
I’ve made it clear I’m not a 2-door chauvinist but I really like these coupes with the razor edge styling (especially in this sans-vinyl-toupee form) and it’s not like you’d have gotten four roll-down windows with four doors anyway!
As i have written previously, the aftermarket supply of parts for these cars is huge
You can get a full suspension , brakes, sway bars , engine , trans, diff
But can you do anything with this godawful cheap gm dash ?!!
We bought a 1979 Malibu Classic 4-door. It was the nicest car we had purchased up to that time and our first one with factory air conditioning. We had two young children at the time, and it was time to move on from the Plymouth Duster days.
Our Malibu had a 273 V8. Power was adequate, but not excessive. I would have appreciated a little more engine when we drove it through the Rocky Mountains.
We liked the styling and handling of the car. The biggest problem we had was that, as the car got older, it started to eat pinion bearings in the rear end. As an engineer, I was convinced that the drivetrain had been misaligned from the factory, but I couldn’t convince GM. A slight misalignment up front can really hose the lighter back end. The car was never in an accident except for a broken taillight.
We traded it in December of 1984 for a Pontiac station wagon (we’d had another kid).
Is this beautiful car still.up for grabs??
Oh Anita , you are late for the party …