Don’t judge a book by its cover, right? This 1967 Chevelle Malibu doesn’t look like much on the outside or on the inside for that matter, but the seller has some interesting things going on – it’s worth a closer look. This Malibu is located in Fulton, California and is available, here on eBay for a current bid of $13,000 with 35 bids tendered so far.

It’s always good to see a project-based Chevelle Malibu as opposed to reviewing yet, another, high-priced SS396 – as with so many muscle cars unless there is something unique about it, it’s hard to cover any new territory. A ’67 Malibu could be optioned with muscle car-like power, but generally, they were the mildly powered everyday drivers and the volume sellers of the time.

The seller has gone to the trouble of performing a frame-off separation and the frame has been refinished to look like new. He states that it is a factory boxed frame which seems unusual for a non-convertible Malibu. The body, unfortunately, is not as sound. The seller reveals that while the floors, rocker panels, and windshield frame are solid, the quarters are “salvageable” and there is rot around the rear window and affecting the dutchman panel (the part between the trunk lid and rear window) – a typical problem for this generation of GM A-body. All-in-all, the body is pretty straight and looks sound for finishing. It seems surprising that the body issues were not tackled when the frame was separated as that would be customary, but that was not the case in this instance. The seller suggests, “This car is not a factory SS but would make a good clone” to which I say, “please, please, don’t do that”!

Power is provided by a ’68 vintage 327 CI, V8 engine which is attached to a Turbo-Hydramatic 400 automatic transmission. The seller claims, “The car runs and drives and stops…” and further adds “Starts and runs well and shifts through all of its gears But needs more tuning. I would not hesitate to drive this car a few hundred miles but that being said it is a project so you should expect a project“. Unfortunately, there is only one image of the engine and it’s not very good, more like a “you don’t need to see all of it”. Part of the reason may be that the seller wanted to show off the “Mountain Green” shade of paint that he had chosen for refinishing; you can note it on top of the fender in the engine image. It seems immaterial though as the new owner will want to go in their own direction.

The interior is rough. But, you can completely rebuild the entire environment of a ’67 Chevelle via a catalog – and this interior is going to need most of the catalog items. The seller’s intention has been to keep this car bench seat equipped, with a column gear selector, but like the rest of the interior, that all can be swapped out for bucket seats and a center console if that’s the next owner’s desire. It is a blank canvas so at least it can be finished out as preferred. Note the center of the instrument panel, there is a radio block-off plate in place.

The seller suggests, “This car is a solid start to a really great project The majority of what this car needs is bodywork, Someone who wanted to finish this car could have a really nice car relatively fast you just need to put the work in time into it“. I would agree, I’d even finish it off in Mountain Green!