By the 1970s, U.S.-built factory convertibles were becoming harder to find. The safety pundits had made enough noise to scare away a lot of buyers. So, General Motors decided that the 1975 model year would be the last for them (for a time, anyway) – except for the Cadillac Eldorado, which got a one-year reprieve. The seller has a low-mileage (1,900?) ’75 Caprice Classic, which looks as though it has been kept in a time capsule. Presumably needing nothing, this stellar drop-top can be found in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and is available here on eBay. Without an open reserve, the current bid is $30,100. An attaboy goes to Mitchell G. for the tip!
When word got out that the ‘75s were the swan song for the Caprice convertible, sales nearly doubled. Demand increased from 4,670 units in 1974 to 8,349 in 1975. Some of these may have been purchased as “future collectibles” (such as this one?), which would explain the low mileage. I thought I had seen this car before here on Barn Finds, but I was wrong, as all the colors are different (that one had just 400 miles at the time!).
We don’t know the history of this 50-year-old ragtop other than it’s only averaged 40 miles per year! It’s powered by a 400 cubic inch V8 (small-block?) with a 4-barrel carburetor and a TH-350 automatic transmission. It has posi-traction, but I’m betting it’s hard to spin a rear tire on a car this heavy and detuned as the ‘75s were.
The Medium Orange Metallic paint is likely original, as is the Dark Saddle leather interior. This Chevy has wire wheel covers, which nicely set off the large overall package. The Caprice has the usual wide assortment of options, like a power top, windows, factory A/C, and even an 8-track tape player (I still have a few tapes they can have). This seems like a museum-quality car – is that where you would park it?
Nice big convertible. Thanks Dixon. 👍
The ebay ad description only states 1900 miles shown, vs “1900 original miles”. So, we could be looking at a very nicely detailed 101,900 mile car that was always garaged. Look closely at the entry side of the driver seat and the steering wheel. Lots of human grime there for an ultra low mileage car. Seller with 0 ebay history. Just sayin…
I’d agree there are some views that don’t line up with 1900 miles. The steering wheel and seats as you pointed out, and the underside looks somewhat questionable or at a minimum could have presented far better with a pressure wash. On most of the GM cars of this era, it was easy to disconnect the speedometer/odometer at the cruise control on top of the fender well in about 30 seconds and keep the mileage down. Something to consider.
Funny you mention that. In the late 70s my girlfriend went to university about 200 miles away. On Saturday afternoon, I’d abscond with a Chevy from the rental company I worked at, disconnected the speedo and off I’d go for the weekend (Using a car was ok but was supposed to stay local not add 400 miles every weekend). Later on, with Chryslers, we rigged up a blown fuse with a switch for the cruise circuit so I could set the cruise control then kill the speedo. Learned that trick from the sales manager at a dealership.
I remember that year, in the Navy with a girlfriend who worked at GM. She was going around to all the suppliers for the GM plants collecting as many of the top assemblies that they had left in inventory, so GM could make as many 76 Cadillacs as they could. I don’t recall any of them being manual tops, I think they were all power.
Prove me wrong, I don’t think GM ever offered leather as an option then…….brown vinyl.
Definitely vinyl, I think until the mid-’80s the only Chevy with a leather option was the Corvette. Presumably one of those Sloan Ladder-preserving edicts from the 14th Floor.
Certainly not an option on their Chevys
In the mid 80’s I bought a ‘75 Delta 88 convertible that was fire engine red with a white top and interior. Basically the same car as this and it always turned heads. This one is a very nice example but a couple of things have me questioning the 1900 miles claim. I’m sure it will bring strong dollars nonetheless. Buyer beware.
Wow. It’s over $40,000 and everyone here is correct.
No way is that what they claim. Mankind can be baffling.
I am thinking it may well be original miles…. all it takes is a few trips down the beach in Ft Lauderdale and the underside is going to look like this. And the so called grime could be a shadow on the top of that steering wheel.
I have seen other low mile cars, and not even 50 year old low milers, that because of the care and storage they had, didn’t really look the part of an original garage queen.
I’m giving benefit to the doubts and say it could be either or, but regardless, there are a whole crew of bidders who feel it’s worth the 40,000 it sits at. And it still has a couple days left to go.
A very pretty car ~
This is a scam. The real seller was Competition cars out of Myrtle Beach South Carolina. It sold on B.A.T. back last summer. DO NOT BID OR PAY FOR THIS SCAM.
This is a scam. As stated above sold by Competition Cars on Bring a Trailer.
Definitely bidder beware. Image search reveals this thing has been all over the place – BAT, Mecum, etc – with the same photos.
Plus, a zero feedback seller – who in their right mind bids 40K without doing 5 minutes of research.
It’s interesting that so many people think a 1975 was detuned further than previous years. The 1975 model year was the first year for catalytic converters. This allowed manufacturers, particularly GM, to use advance curves and carb jetting that was a little more friendly to performance, if I remember my 1975 New Product class correctly. Having the converter gave the engineers a little more room to play with to improve driveability and overall operation.
Agree. For the MOST part (SD Pontiacs, L-82 350s and a few others notwithstanding), ‘73-‘74 were the two worst years for performance and drivability. Catalytic converters allowed for a slightly richer fuel curve and advance curves. HEI was also able to deal with leaner curves better.
Incidentally, removing said catalytic converter from a 1975 or later pre-computer car is generally enough of an improvement that most people won’t complain about “malaise” unless they obsess over dyno figures…
We removed the cat converter and muffler on my mother’s 6 month old ’77 Camaro, 305 V8 and added a “Hush -Thrush” muffler. Sounded better but made no discernable difference in performance.
Its clean and out of my budget for a toy personally I would inspect it in person and want to hear it on a cold start before dropping that kind of money on it.
Oh but those mid-70s fugly bumpers!! From Caprices to MG Midgets it defined that generation.
Nice. I’m building a 74 now.
Where to park it ? is a very good question Russ, At 223.5 inches in length.
These are huge cars. A friend of mine had a triple burgundy ’75 with gleaming chrome, a beautiful convertible. But he lost his parking area
(due to increase) $ and had a hard time finding space big enough for it. ( did not want to leave it in a barn).
So he sold it.
The scuff marks on the driver side doorsill indicate more than the stated milage.
this car was sold on B A T a couple of months ago for more than current bid by a dealer in s/Carolina. The pics are few of the same 1s used in that ad.miles look legit, but the price is on the high end and most likely going higher. these are nice cars but 40k can buy you a lot.
This car was sold months ago for $58,000 by Competition Cars in Myrtle Beach. A 1,000 mile red one was sold before that for $89,000. I drove these new as I worked at a Chevy dealer. Far more comfortable, less tech junk to break and certainly easy to repair. Worth what someone is willing to pay. My dealership’s owner had a red 75 convertible, vanity tag, LAST YR.
Thankfully the seller didn’t include a link to the YouTube video with ol’ Bill with his tight clothing and hair plugs 🤣
Unless you inspect a car in person I have trouble with people condemning a car for being true miles or not. I bought a delta 88 conv that had 1800 miles when it was ten years old. It was not perfect but did have service records. Drivers seat and carpet seemed worn more than it should. It was used as a parade car only explaining the miles. Drivers were in and out if the car but only short trips in parades. They were honest sellers. My problem with the car was the carburetor as it probably idled for hours during parade season.
1 gorgeous example of Chevy’s swan-song, full-size convertible. The perfect color combo.
I prefer the 454 ci models. Next door neighbor had one. Everytime his mother came to visit she would wreck it somehow. She did it like four different times. Owner looked all over the southwest for specific colors and options,finally found one in Las Vegas. It was baby blue with white top and interior. Big land yacht in my opinion.
I always laugh a little when I hear about the leather interior when describing a ’70’s car. All the 70’s cars I owned they had a vinyl interior
Haven’t you ever heard of rich, Corinthian, vinyl? :)
i really question this automobile because i have sent 3 messages to ask questions and cant even get a reply. lets face it in the automobile business communication is everything. true car people know how to talk. ron c
Ron, read the comments here to easily see that this is a scam. Please don’t waste your time and get screwed out of your money.
Seems like a nice Caprice here. All I have to say about ANY low mile car if the persons selling the car would just should the mile claim.
Yes Russ, The Chevy 400 was a small block engine. The bores were so big that there was no room for water jackets between the cylinders, they just had steam holes. The stroke was so big that there was no room for the crankshaft counterweights so it was externally balanced (front damper and rear flex plate. It was a good torquey motor often found in big cars and light trucks. I had one in a ’67 Camaro convertible and it ran great. :-) Terry J