This 1988 Chevrolet Caprice is one of those cars that just makes perfect sense to pick up as a hobby vehicle or weekend cruiser. It looks to be in the sort of condition that just screams “grandma owned” and would be so incredibly easy to live with over the long haul. While the Caprice sedan is hardly an exotic, you see shockingly few on the road anymore from this era of GM’s big-bruiser sedan class. Perhaps too many of them were put out to pasture after years of hard lives in police work or some other form of municipal duty, but this one bucks that trend. Find this super clean Caprice here on craigslist for $10,500.
Obviously, the bodywork speaks for itself in terms of being in amazing condition for its age, and while miles are low-ish at 65,000, that’s certainly plenty of time to rack up some cosmetic flaws. The body appears to be laser-straight down the sides and the chrome bumpers, glass, and lenses all appear to be in excellent shape. The seller has upgraded the wheels to the deep-dish-style “Rally” wheels that are a popular upgrade on all sorts of GM vehicles, and they fit the Caprice perfectly. I’d say they even give the car some added aggression which was sorely lacking in the original design. The seller notes he picked this Caprice up with plans to use it but space and other commitments got in the way.
The fake woodgrain trim is in excellent condition and the dash itself doesn’t reveal any major flaws. The interior is classic 1980s GM with nothing luxurious about it and features acres of gray / blue plastics and cloth. Despite being a solid middle-of-the-pack car that wasn’t marketed as a “cheap” model, you still got crank windows in the Caprice at this point in time, which may be preferred at this point in its life knowing you won’t be messing with faulty window regulators. The seller notes the air conditioning, interior lighting, radio, cruise control, and door locks all work as they should.
The engine bay is extremely clean and reinforces the condition we see elsewhere on the car as being that of a well-loved vehicle. There’s a religious medallion on the dash which is one of the tell-tale sign of belonging to a sweet old grandmother, so I have little doubt this Caprice led a very sheltered, gentle life. The seller notes that there’s visual evidence of numerous parts and fluids being replaced over the years, and although he has no records with the vehicle (what a shame as you know an older adult likely kept every last detail of their service history), he notes that the brake calipers and rotors, sway bar links, hoses, and shocks all appear to have been replaced. What a honey of a car! Thanks to Barn Finds reader T.J. for the find.
So interesting to note that just a few years before (’86?), the Impala was quietly replaced as the ‘base’ full sized Chevrolet with only the Caprice name. Not Caprice Classic – that name was the reserved for the next trim step. They added LS and and Brougham on top of it, too. It seemed this model Caprice pictured here, but with the 9C1 Police package – were everywhere – in this color, or that medium brown – just waiting for *whatever* the day would bring!
It was ’86. At long last the B-body trim levels were united under one model nameplate, no more pretending it was “The Chevrolet” and everything else “by Chevrolet”.
But, uniquely at the trim levels stacked like Discworld dwarven patronymics (“after a few generations you get Glod Glodssonssonssonsson”) so;
Caprice Classic Brougham LS
Caprice Classic Brougham
Caprice Classic
Caprice
Wagons came as a Caprice Classic or a Caprice Classic Estate – the “Estate” indicated fake wood paneling.
That’s a super clean ’88 Caprice and always loved the 4 door styling. I’m not familiar with that motor so can’t speak to performance. My parents owned an ’87 Caprice Classic 2 door with the smallest V8 available (267 maybe?) and it would not get out of its own way. Interior door strap pulls pulled off due to the weight of the humongous doors which even with low miles on the car started to sag.
Look at the size of that fan shroud. Now look at the front fender badges. Yup, it’s equipped with the 4.3 V-6. That’s 2/3rds of a small block Chevy.
3/4
My thought exactly, about the fan shroud. The throttle body 4.3 did provide fairly decent power for the time.
I learned to drive in my Dad’s 87 Caprice Classic and I recall it being a pretty decent car until it just wasn’t. One day it just started billowing blue and white smoke, it was replaced with a cursed Buick Century that instantly had issues and had a taste for deer blood. After that he went with Honda’s.
I helped build tons and tons of these ‘B’ body Chevies in Oshawa ON, Plant #1 Canada. Our plant regularly beat Corvette and Cadillac to become the best quality plant in all of North America.Sadly, it meant nothing and production was given to US plants (even Mexico) to save money. However, by then, most of us old-timers had retired. Still hurts, however.
Felt the same when Canada took our Camaros
It is amazing we don’t see more of these. Repeatedly a Car and Driver top 10 car. Would love to find one with the F41 suspension, especially a 2 door.
I guess most rusted out, were used up, or were victims of cash-for-clunkers?
Many of these Caprices were bought up and exported to Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries in the 90’s and early 2000’s. Mid market buyers in those countries loved the big American cars, and of course, gas mileage was not an issue, with cheap gas available. My father in law was regularly approached in the grocery store parking lots in Oklahoma City by buyers with top of the market cash offers.
Car looks in great condition for its age and the necessary repairs have been performed. I love boxy cars. Light blue is my favorite color; have that on my crossover SUV. Car is big but not a boat. Price is OK considering newer used cars are twice as much. The 4.3 engine isn’t my favorite with the 5.0 still available. A great barn find!
Nice but needs an LS swap. That 6 won’t cut it these days. Just a 5.3 and it would move…
Bought a five year old caprice classic with 27000 miles and had a 305. Auto overdrive got decent highway mileage. It had been special ordered by an older man who also ordered police package. It handled very well for a full sized car. Cherry dealer gave us a 1000 mile warranty on it and took it back for a leaky freeze plug and then one defective plug wire. Very nice and safe car. One of the other posters is correct about middle eastern buyers. Got a postcard in the mail about every six months with exporters wanting to buy it.
I’m not sure if some of these wound up in Cuba, but i don’t think any ’60s american iron did – i would think they would go nuts seeing the latter on the streets there, especially the muscle cars – cudas, chevelles, chargers, etc.
Odd that the Caprice & its sister cars from the other divisions were not exported to the middle east in the 1st place when brand new – would have been great profits for GM.
Lovely looking Caprice. Although I was still too young at the time to drive a car, I remember when the Chevy Caprice looked like this. My grandmother had one. It was her last car before she retired from driving.
I had an 86 Caprice, with 305 and not in the much of options. I bought it at state surplus sale with nearly 90k on the clock. I put over 200k on it until somebody wanted to see what it looked like up close. Totaled it. Just did routine maintenance. Bought an 89 9C1, state surplus with 120K and a bad tranny. Rebuilt the tranny, put over 240k on it and sold it. Both of them were excellent cars.
Want another ’86 with less than 90k on the clock?