It seems like most gearheads gravitate towards the second-generation Malibu which was a trim level for the Chevelle. By the time of this 1978 Chevrolet Malibu wagon, they were standing on their own and I really like the design of this generation of Malibus. This almost-perfect example can be found here on Craigslist with an asking price of $7,000. It’s located in Frisco, Texas and it most definitely can be driven home. Thanks to Pat L. for sending in this tip!
This era of Malibu was about being crisp and tailored, not being sexy or tough. 1978 was the first year for the fourth-generation cars. Our own Bill Owens showed us a somewhat similar car here on Barn Finds back on December 8, 2018, but that was was a previous-generation Chevelle Malibu. It was also $3,001 cheaper than this ’78 Malibu wagon is.
This car is in amazing condition as you can see. It has a mere 22,800 miles on it and it’s a one-owner car. The seller has all of the maintenance records going back to 1978 which is pretty wild considering that this car is a touch over four decades old now. One thing that the seller mentions is that this car could use new struts for the rear cargo window, but check out how nice it is inside that cargo area!
This Malibu is about as close to looking like new as any four-decade-old vehicle that I’ve seen. How does the underside look, you ask? It looks about as rock-solid as a 1978 Chevy Malibu wagon would have looked in 1979 or 1980. I’m assuming that a combination of being in north Texas and having fewer than 23,000 miles on it has helped to preserve this time capsule. The original R-12 AC system still works but the gas gauge doesn’t work. So, between the gas gauge and the rear window struts the next owner will have a couple of hours of work to do and that seems like about it.
The 305 cubic-inch V8 is super clean and it would have had around 145 hp. The seller says that “This is a Survivor car one owner with 22800 miles. I have all maintenance records from 1978 to current. This car runs and drives like new, under the hood is like new. Undercarriage is like new. I have all original key copies, window sticker and option sheet.” I wouldn’t really have any use for a 1978 Malibu wagon but if I did, this would be the one. Any thoughts on this survivor?
Do I dream about one of these? No. Kind of boring. But next to today’s “crossovers” it may as well be a Harley Earl-penned showcar. Bonus points to the flipper for at least taking it off the trailer. Nice summer driver with working A/C and light colors.
A nice $2,500 car.
$7000…. lol… $700 maybe and I’d consider it.
I don’t care how many miles it has or doesn’t have, it is still a 1978 Malibu.
I thought these were butt ugly when they were new. The design hasn’t grown on me. Nicely preserved example though.
It always bothered me the tail lights were so far down. That is not a good design for any car.
This may be in the top 5 of boringest cars of all time. If you have to work that hard to be boring, that is sad. I’m so glad that he has all of the service records. How many can you have with that woping amount of miles. It would be a nice winter beater, but you won’t do much beating for 7k. As Chebby stated nice 2000.00-2500.00 car, far cry from 7k, and crying is what he will do when he snaps back to reality.
Come on guys, boring? Ugly? You’re showing your lack of imagination. This is what could be called a blank canvas. It really doesn’t take that much imagination to see what this could be. The great thing about this platform is that it could be made awesome with a vast array of available factory and after market parts and pieces. I’ve always thought these were excellent looking cars but I realize lots of folks can’t see past the lack of eye candy. I also love Datsun 510 and Volvo 240 wagons so maybe I’ve got a certain aesthetic….
I’m actually a fan of old wagons also, and Volvo’s! The tail lights really let this one down. Plus I remember riding in my uncles as a kid. Something about the smell of the hot vinyl and plastic. I don’t remember 70’s vinyl interiors with metal dashboards smelling like that.
$2500?? Ha,ha,ha… you guys really crack me up. Put away your vintage Recyclers.))))
In case no one here has noticed, domestic station wagons are quite a hot commodity. About 4 years ago I decided to get a station wagon. I never owned one and always liked the amount of glass and versatility this body style offers. I thought about combining pleasure with more pleasure and get a re ‘76 domestic wagon with a 350+ CID engine. My attention turned to ‘70’s Ford wagons. I did like the aggressive design of the ‘73-‘75 Torino wagons and thought about budgeting $3500 for a nice one, with about the same in reserve to “soup” it up. Boy, did I get a surprise. There was nothing on the market remotely nice for that scratch and anything presentable was about double of what I had in mind to spend. In the end I did get a wagon, a 2000 BMW E39 Touring with about 70k miles, one owner car. It was a no brainer as the Beemer was far superior to the old domestic wagons in almost every single way. The lesson I learned is that if I was in the market for a domestic wagon, they were definitely not a bargain many seem to think that they are.
This example here with everything working is priced about right. Anyone looking specifically for a 40 year old G body in extra clean condition with everything intact and working will undoubtably be tempted…
@Bakyrdhero
I gotta disagree about the rear lights. Having them in the bumper harkins back to the late ’60s Chevys and it makes for a super clean rear end treatment. A resto modder could actually modify the rear bumper with 6 individual round lights like a ’68 Impala. Hmmmm, I’m startin’ to think things…somebody stop me!
What would Mahk say? “Only got 22k out of it? Did you forget to drive it o’ was that intentional? Wouldn’t start fo forty ye-as, eh? New battery? Hmm. Real caa guy.”
This is about as close to a “new” 1978 wagon as you’re going to get. While it may not have the appeal of an older wagon, it’s does have a lot going for it. Low miles, no rust, good paint and a really nice interior. While the color defines the word “bland” and a 305 is pretty anemic, there are a lot of aftermarket options available to improve performance and looks as PDXBryan commented. While I like the traditional huge land barge wagon’s, this wagon’s smaller size is a plus these days.
This 1978 Chevrolet Malibu wagon only needs improvements, not restoration; it’s a turn-key survivor. I do think $7k is kind of high, somewhere around $4k would get me interested. I like it, it would make for a great everyday driver.
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I think $7000 is a bit high. Maybe $4500, $5000 max. Dash, door panels & cargo area look good. I’d be concerned about the condition of the headliner. Would be a great daily driver for somebody but I already have one & my classic car is a 79 Buick Century Turbo Coupe. I bought the Century in 2007 from the original owner & it had 12,000 actual miles on. It’s a highly optioned car & it also came with the original purchase paper work among other things. I paid about 20% less for it then what they’re asking for the wagon.
well, somebody liked the looks of it, cuz it is gone ,rather plain ( which it is supposed to be) but it would work for me
Looks better than the white ’80 something one featured a couple of days ago.
Precisely how the masses got around in the period.
Not everything from the period of the 60s through the 70s was a muscle car.
I believe this is the line of cars where the innards of the rear axle would break loose internally and come off the car with wheel and axle attached at highway speeds! I believe it was 60 minutes that did an expose’ on this.
I drove up to Frisco and bought this wagon last Thursday. Beautiful car. A time capsule. Page upon page of maintenance documents. This truly was the mythical old ladies car. I bought it from the mechanic whose shop did nearly all the maintenance and repairs for the life of the wagon. Original purchase documents and all. A quick check of the fluids & topped off the tank and made the 300 mile trip home without not one bit of trouble.
Great job Richard. Love the steellies, completely changes the look! Yep, you were the person that should have bought this car and did. BTW, from your handle, am I to presume SFV Encino? If so, are you planning to take it to the next Supercar Sunday? Enjoy!
Richard is there a way to contact you?. I am sure I can make it worth your while…
Another picture