This 1987 Chevy Monte Carlo SS Aerocoupe presents well but seemingly has a secret lurking under the hood that the seller spends very little time explaining. The Aerocoupes left the factory in exceedingly small numbers in 1986, bumped up slightly for 1987, but retained the 5.0L V8 for both those years, just like any other Monte Carlo SS. This one, however, comes with a 6.6L 400 CI engine taken from another model altogether, and the listing includes photos of a poster of sorts proclaiming that the engine further benefits from an upgraded chip, intake, carburetor, and camshaft. Find it here on craigslist in Maryland with an asking price of $10,900.
Now, I suspect the seller has taken some creative license with the branding on display here, calling the Aerocoupe a “Dale Special,” which my research indicates was never a factory-authorized model. Given the list of upgrades and signage describing the car’s features, it’s clear the owner of the Aerocoupe has poured many years’ worth of time and money into this limited production Monte Carlo. It retains the correct factory paint scheme, and of course, the iconic rear window glass is present and accounted for (good luck finding that if it gets smashed). But check out the additional badge on the trunk lid – unless this is a special edition I don’t know about, the seller applied it.
The interior remains in stock condition, with the exception of the NASCAR-themed floormats. The Aerocoupes got an upgraded factory gauge package and sport steering wheel, and of the limited options, a power driver’s seat was available. No word on what this one came with, but I wouldn’t get too worried about whether the driver’s seat has a button or a handle. The cabin looks well maintained, and as the listing indicates there are 63,526 miles on the car, I’m guessing those miles are on the body and not the drivetrain. Given many owners hold onto Aerocoupes for the long term, it wouldn’t surprise me if the seller is the original owner.
So let’s talk about this engine that is barely mentioned in the listing: the stock Aerocoupe engine is a 5.0L V8 paired to a four-speed automatic transmission. This one has a 6.6L V8 that the listing claims has been seriously upgraded with the mods mentioned in the top paragraph, along with a Dynomax exhaust system, ram air induction, and larger aluminum wheels from a later Camaro. The overall presentation is fairly restrained, with none of the mods beyond the wheels being readily apparent. The asking price seems fair for a looked-after Aerocoupe, but some more info on the engine and whereabouts of the original mill might be useful.
Details, details; this owner paid a lot of attention to little items such as the caps on the wheels, and the under hood emissions sticker. My only quibble is the low hanging exhaust pipes, a really “lo-buck” look on an otherwise nice presentation. I don’t know about the Dale tie-in, but this looks like a really nice Aerocoupe! GLWTA! :-)
The story I remember is that the original design generated rear end lift at places like Daytona and Talladega and since Dale Earnhardt Sr. was the premier driver the rear window redesign was attributed to him.
well the tie in could be that dale earnhardt had a chev dealership in in florida and tennessee and they were known for cranking out special edition cars and still do!
A 1980s Monte Carlo with Nascar bits added…. Ten-to-one, the owner has a mullet and a fu manchu mustache.
The trunk lid emblem is from Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet, I have the exact same one on my ’16 Chevy Colorado.
I’ll give the seller credit, nice looking…not stock but clean.
I assume that the “Dale Special” refers to the “Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet” dealer decal on the trunk lid. If it was truly purchased there, the seller may just be taking some artistic license. Just my two cents.
Oddly a non G80 car. She will leave a very very long single stripe with that open diff, unless owner changed out the chunk.
I remember when these came out. I worked at the Buick/Cadillac dealer at the time and we sold every Grand National and Regal T-Type we could get. Got two GNXs one day. But I liked the looks of the SS too. I knew these were gonna be rare when I saw the first one. Nice car here but the changed motor is a deal breaker. Low volume cars like this are easier to sell if kept as original as possible. Y’all should’ve seen the Grand Prix version of the Aero Coupe that was a daily driver in my town. Talk about ruining a rare vehicle.
Posting deleted by seller. Sold possibly?
Posting deleted by seller. Possibly sold?
What no factory installed 350 or 5.7? We could start a new argument with this one.
Rare does not always equal valuable
People have been saying the Aero coupes will appreciate for 30 yrs now
Decent cars, but like the Monte SS, they sound great but are show no go.
The bigger lump takes care of that issue and make it more desirable for a driver, any of these with 65k miles are not collectibles anyway.
“Posting deleted” Hmmmm, maybe it did sell. Wasn’t a bad price for the condition. This is one of those great ideas that G.M. totally screwed up. The G80 option (limited slip) should have been standard on the Monte & Pontiac with 2-3 gear ratios the option. Same with the engine, a “roadslug” 305 ?? This model was offered based on the stock car version, why shouldn’t they have some performance to go with their looks ?? This is one of those rare instances where the model is the most important thing. Not the original engine ? Who cares, good riddance. No pics of this engine compartment, so “400” what ? Chevrolet or Pontiac ? I’d prefer the 400 Chevy in this Monte, 400 Pontiac in Pontiacs model.
Could even be an olds 403 in here lol. Tho i’m not sure if that or a pontiac 400 could(& would you want to) hook (it) up to the stock weak turbo 200(?) automatic. More likely it has a turbo 350 or 400 trans that was still attached to whatever 400 it’s now got.
This hood could be 6 feet long like the ’69 grans prix’s – or even longer. Huge front overhangs.
Definitely a SBC 400
I’m a Pontiac guy but you would go through hell to get a Pontiac block into any of these GM’s, and it would always have problems with computer.
I hated when GM went corporate and the brands lost a lot of their individuality
But you could swap an Olds 350 into a pre 86′ Toronado or Eldorado
Got Dale’s dealership badge on passenger dash of my 84 vette. Actually only reason I bought the car, it is quite the turd,but Dale was my idol.
A great buy for someone, like me, who wants to drive my cars, to the grocery store (about the only place we can go, this week), to cars and coffee, and on a several day club tour. Gas mileage is probably dismal, but how many miles are you going to put on it? It will never, in my lifetime, be a Pebble Beach car, so enjoy it.
Lo and behold, I log into Barn Finds and see MY FORMER CAR !! What are the odds! All’s a moot point, though, since the Craigslist ad has been “deleted by author”. I bought the car new in June 1988 from Criswell Chevy in Gaithersburg MD (they didn’t sell fast), sold it to another Marylander in October 2014…totally stock, with 307,000+ miles on it ! That car was bullet-proof (oil changes every 3000 miles helped). I added the Dale Earnhardt emblem on the trunk, just because I thought it was cool, and he raced a similar car. I still have another stick-on emblem like that. Drove it around the DC Capital Beltway during a Dale tribute shortly after his death. Too bad can’t post a photo with this note :)
Hi Mike,
Did you perhaps do the engine swop and mods ?
A previous poster (Dickie F.) asked me (the original owner, til 2014) if I did “the end swap and mods”: the answer is “no”. My intention was ALWAYS to keep the car as stock as possible, even using OEM exhaust components when they needed to be replaced; it stayed that way ’til it left my driveway.
As for other comments: (1) the Dale Earnhardt emblem on the trunk lid — I added it; the car wasn’t bought there. The emblem says Newton NC. (2) The car did have a 3:73 posi-traction rear from the factory. Ten years into ownership, the trunk lid had to be replaced; the replacement was a used one, so if it had a parts sticker on it that didn’t say ‘G80’ for the rear, it didn’t apply to THIS car. (3) in a broad sense, you could say GM ‘created’ this car for Earnhardt since his (though not ONLY his) regular Monte Carlos were getting bested on the NASCAR circuit by the more aerodynamic cars. Generally accepted numbers say 200 1986 AeroCoupes were produced, with 6052 more for 1987 — roughly less than 3% of all Monte Carlo SS cars (83 – 88).
I’ve seen very few of these cars. It would have been nice if the seller had actually posted a picture of the back window! That way, I could see what every one is talking about.