The 1970s were a tough time for the auto industry in the U.S., with an influx of new safety and emissions regulations, gas shortages and higher gas prices, and an influx of small, reliable imported vehicles. Most car companies were forced to adapt and this 1977 Chevrolet Impala is one of the models that did. The seller has this 1977 Chevrolet Impala posted here on craigslist in Webberville, Michigan and they’re asking $11,500. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Rocco B. for sending in this tip!
This Iridescent Green Impala looks fantastic in the limited photos that the seller shows us in the listing. They only include five photos of the car itself, and none of the engine – not too surprising, sadly. They say that it has 40,000 miles on it and it has had just one “senior owner” since new.
It looks great, but there are a few things that catch my attention, just like when I look in the mirror – other than the initial “looks great” part. The nose is a bit darker green and the rear doors appear to be poking out a bit, but maybe they just aren’t shut tight. GM downsized almost all of its full-sized cars for the 1977 model years and this sixth-generation Impala was one that shrunk in almost every dimension other than interior room.
Chevrolet sold almost 200,000 Impala sedans for the 1977 model year, the most of any of the sixth-gen years, which ran from the fall of 1976 for the 1977 model year until 1985. The seller says that this beauty has brand-new tires and a new stainless-steel exhaust. They don’t mention rust and it sure looks like this is a beautiful example from what we can see in those five photos.
This is it for interior photos, but it looks almost perfect inside. The engine is Chevrolet’s 305-cu.in. OHV V8, which would have been rated at 145 horsepower and 245 lb-ft of torque. It’s backed by a column-shifted Turbo-Hydramatic three-speed automatic sending power to the rear wheels. I have an AWD SUV with 500 hp that’s three times as quick and gets the same MPG as this downsized, “gas-saving” Impala does – just imagine what MPG the former Impala got! This car sure looks good to me, have any of you owned a sixth-generation Impala?
My grandparents had this car, in light blue. Same engine, sad because you could still get a 350. Bought a 1989 Caprice 9C1 in 1991, Throttle Body Injected 350, only a little over 200 HP which was good for 1991, handled great.
No body side moldings, no “Impala” C-pillar nameplates, no “Chevrolet” nameplate on trunklid. All this points to a repaint. Nice car but I can’t stand that nobody could be bothered to replace those things.
My dad ordered one in early ’77. I believe the color was called Firemist with the same color interior. It was beautiful. It wouldn’t win any stop light drag races, but would cruise the interstate at 80 without breaking a sweat. It also got 21 mpg (highway). It was base (3 speed auto, ps, and pb. Drove the car for 11 years and 240,000 miles with no major problems.
I had one of these in blue. Exact right down to the wheel covers. I let some guys making an independent movie destroy it. The car ran great had 59,000 miles on it but 17 or so years ago was worthless.
The ad is gone, so maybe someone bought it. I was gonna say that’s a lot of money for a 4 door with no rare options, even a low mileage car in nice shape. Someone pointed out that all the script is missing, so maybe it was repainted. I don’t like the tow hitch, those transmissions were weak, it’s probably the metric transmission, and not the reliable turbo 350.
Common Ghost car from back in the day 👻 🚨
This car has been roaming around town for a few weeks now. Saw it pass by me at the 4-corners on Sunday. Seemed to run smoothly.
This was a game changer back in 1976. The ad jingle sang “That’s more like it. The new Chevrolet”. Every auto journalist loved it. A worthy recipient of Motor Trend’s COTY. Average well equipped car for 1977 with air, radio, tint, pl, remote mirror and a vinyl bench. Extremely popular color that year. Good looking old Chevy.
Scotty-
Good write up on this nice, ol’ Chevy. Most of us have would fond memories of these durable old tanks, I think.
PS- What 500-hp AWD SUV do you drive?? Inquiring minds want to know!
~Lothar