Nursing bar-fight bruises and a busted jaw, this 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu Sport Coupe in Monroe Township, New Jersey seeks a new owner here on eBay. Over 40 bids have lifted the market value of this modest Malibu beyond $2400. With heavy corrosion and rust-through visible in nearly every picture, someone must see something I don’t! Did I miss the part where is says that Bruce Springsteen lost his virtue in the back seat? The front suggests someone used the cosmetic part of the bumper to yank it out of a swamp, or from the salty brine of a ditch after super-storm Sandy.
Only the rattle-can primer suggests this car received any attention in the last three decades. The missing vinyl top no-doubt trapped water next to the metal before being ripped off.
The all-black theme continues inside. Gear-heads may wish for bucket seats and a console, but the bench seat makes this Chevy a six-seater, a feat only accomplished by boxy vans and three-row SUVs these days. The “307” badges remove any chip from your shoulder, so might as well keep the comfortable and date-friendly bench seat.
Ouch. The engine compartment suggests decades of open-air storage on a natural surface. Moisture trapped under the hood bred corrosion that attacked nearly every surface, and you know it’s inside the parts as well. Not surprisingly the (possibly original?) 307 is locked up. Power steering with manual brakes made a common choice in the ’60s. Properly maintained and adjusted, the manual (probably drum) brakes will stop this Chevy well with far better pedal feel than power brakes of the day.
Maybe there’s over $2000 of parts on this Chevelle, but I wonder. Still, I’d rather see this unlikely candidate put back on the road than a can’t-be-killed Corolla. Donate it for three years of Vo-Tech classes, because this baby needs everything. What would you give for this long-ignored Chevy?
I`d rather see a bunch of young kids learn from this car, opposed to see them sticking needles in their arms!
Ahh, it makes my morning to see a dizzy cap with a points window. Try to explain that one to the kids…
That’s how I learned about cars in Junior
High and Highschool. The auto shop class would take an old car apart so that
you could see how everything worked. And then after that, we took yet another
donated car and rebuilt it for resale to finance future shop activities. I think we
did an old Mustang in my sophomore year. It was great because you could take what you learned in class that day
and apply it to your own auto project if
you had one. How do you think I did my
Volvo PV544 project?!! You’ll never see
these kind of classes in schools today
though. Especially when today’s parents
will sue the school board because Junior
accidentally smashed his fingers or busted his knuckles while getting a real
hands on education.
Very sad, but very true Ken.
Springsteen in the back seat? That would shy me away from it even more. Probably still smells bad back there. Actually like him before he got political. No one cares about your political views. I’ll cut back on the caffeine now. More useless commentary from an old Grey hair. Sorry OT.
Cheers
GPC
After hearing Springsteen moan out ‘Santa Claus is coming, to te-ehhhhhhh’ I had enough. His politics were already a turnoff. I don’t care who they vote for or whatever, that’s their right and their business, don’t shove it at me though.
It may need a lot, but it’s a heck of a lot more complete than that tan nova shell the other day.
No matter what angle you view it from, it still looks like crap!
This is only a parts car.
Are there 2400 dollars worth of parts here ?
No
New Jersey says it all. Rust belt material. Yes it’s a parts car but Doesn’t seem have any straight sheetmetal.
What this car needs, is a tow truck and a one way ride.
Honestly, it’s a low-line Chevelle, not a Tucker or something.