I’m starting to think build sheets are more valuable than the cars they came with! This rusty and dilapidated 1971 Chevrolet Chevelle SS does still have its original build sheet and some other tasty features, and therefore the price here on eBay has already risen to over $6,000! The car is located in Remsen, New York.
The passenger side of the car does look better than the driver’s side — a little bit. There’s an interesting story behind the car; the seller has known it from new and even knew the original owner. The seller is the third owner but now faces a move and must pass the car on unrestored as a result.
While the rust issues are obvious, the car has been stored inside for the last 25 years — which means most of the rust occurred in the first 24 years of the car’s life. One of the good things about a car like this, however, is that reproduction sheet metal is available from a number of sources and all the necessary repairs can be made.
I’m really not sure (and neither is the seller) what’s going on with the shifter. And the interior — well, it’s seen better days. Of course, whomever ends up with this one will undoubtedly replace everything in this picture with new parts anyway. So the fact that almost everything is intact is a good thing.
We’re told this is the original, numbers-matching engine although the cylinder heads are not original. The intake and carburetor the car came with are in the trunk, and I hope they will find their way back onto the car. According to this post on Hemmings.com, there were somewhere around 80,000 Chevelle Super Sports built in 1971 — that’s a huge number to me! But I’ll bet there aren’t anywhere near that number left, and it’s true that this car could be completely restored. Is there a Barn Finds reader that’s willing to take this car on?
Demolition derby ready! I see it has the “collision safety crunch zones”…rust.
The shifter? I can tell you what’s going on there…. It’s the wrong one for this car. What a hack job! This car has been in some very destructive hands in it’s life time.
This is not the ” Holly Grail ” of Chevy muscle. Looks to me more like a parts car vs a restoration.
“Numbers matching” Ya, You betcha! Front and rear license plates.
With reproduction parts available, this car is a good candidate for a pro-touring build if a standard restoration is out of the question.
People building Pro Touring cars normally don’t care about matching numbers, especially if a car has a big block. They typically like LS conversions. Those guys are smart enough to start with the cleanest body they can find since it saves them money in the long run. This car will likely be bought by someone who will swap the VIN numbers or a beginner enticed by what they think is a relatively low price point.
Steve R
Or perhaps by someone with enough cash to afford using the services of a professional shop that has trained fabricators?
I had a 71 Chevrolet Chevelle coupe from 1978 to 1981.
Wish I had kept it all these years. I would have had the time and money to have a first rate SS 454 clone if I did.
I can almost… kinda sorta… see a 70 Big Block almost bringing this kind of money, but to me, this is just another small block Chevelle. Cool that it was a 4 speed, but I just see an expensive parts car
Junk
Well the seller is honest ; he does say “you just don’t find them like this” !
Well no, because most people turn around, run, and blank the entire incident out of their memory when they run into something like this.
I bet I know what happened to the rear glass – When the seller towed the car from wherever it sat , he forgot to roll up the door glass and the force of the wind blowing through the car against the old dried up window gasket popped the glass right out and into a million pieces on the road – ask me how I know ! LOL
P. T. Barnum
Can you imagine bringing this home, and your Wife seeing it? “Honey I scored this beauty for only $6600” I guess if you take the seats out, there might be enough room to sleep in it…
Why no mention of the mileage? Always seems to be important to folks here.