The Chevelle was born in 1964 as an intermediate step between the compact Chevy II/Nova and the full-size Biscayne/Bel Air/Impala. When the cars were redesigned and downsized in 1978, the Chevelle nameplate was retired in favor of the Malibu covering the entire series. This 1979 Malibu is a basic Sport Coupe, but simplicity can sometimes be beautiful and this one is said to have only 1,900 miles (how is that possible?). Located in West Chester, Pennsylvania, this survivor is available here on eBay for a healthy $35,000 Buy It Now price, although offers will be accepted.
This ’79 Malibu has been in the seller’s classic car collection for the past decade. It’s been kept indoors in a climate-controlled space and hasn’t seen inclement weather during this time. He/she bought it from the original owner who had ordered it with several deletes, including air conditioning, power steering, and even a radio. We’re told said owner had plans to hot rod it, but that never happened. The closest it ever got was to have Rally wheels and BF Goodrich T/As installed, but the seller retained the original wheels with the basic dog dish hub caps.
Under the hood is the original 201 cubic inch V6, paired with a 3-speed manual transmission which would not have been a common choice. This car isn’t likely s powerhouse, but maybe it won’t be too hard on gasoline, either. The Chevy wears its original, sparking Carmine Metallic paint with a matching interior, both of which present quite well. The only thing that is not original inside is the headliner which the seller replaced, likely because the original got a case of the droops. Open the trunk and you’ll find the GM carboard floormats that came from the factory.
This Chevy is one of 41,848 examples of the T27 Sport Coupe that was built in 1979. It could very well be the lowest-mileage example of one of these cars still around and looks to be in mint condition. The seller has provided a video to help the car sell itself. It’s a super nice automobile, but it’s priced in the same territory that could get you into an earlier muscle car. What would you offer for this Malibu?
What 35K for a V6 G body wow and it’s a plain Jane. Doesn’t even have A/C. Nice clean Malibu and I suppose it should be with that amount of usage, but 35K. Someone with more money than sense may step up and it won’t stay stock long.
35K for this box? Ok, did somebody put something in my drink?
No, someone put something in the seller’s drink…
After looking at the Ebay ad, I have to admit that this car may really truly be that low in milage. Look under the hood. I can’t see anyone spending that kind of time and effort restoring a V6 Malibu to that level. To me it looks original under the hood. Also look at the pristine headliner and carpet. That red carpet used to fade rather quickly.
It may be replaced, but something tells me it’s all original.
I remember as a kid, in the 70s and 80s, finding one of these with a stick was as rare as hens teeth.
I’m not saying it’s worth the asking price, but if the mileage is the real deal, where else are you going to find one as nice and original as this?
Stick 81 Malibu’s were not rare in Canada…10000+ that were supposed to go to Iraq in a deal that fell through were liquidated into the Canadian market. By the late 80’s we were buying them up for $100 each just for the manual bits and trim as i recall they were all 4 doors…still have a few sets.
Air conditioning was an option on this car in 1979. The original buyer did not order it, therefore it was never deleted.
Pick a nit that doesn’t exist.
BarnFinds readers look up to the authors as well informed. They research the vehicles before they write the stories. If they keep printing incorrect facts like a/c delete, when in fact it was an option, people may start believing that. If you came up to my car at Cars and Coffee and commented that it has a/c delete, you may feel foolish when I correct you and say no, it was never ordered with the car.
I had a new 79 Malibu Sport coupe with AC, power steering, and radio with the dog 201 six … from the minute I drove it off the lot it pinged,dieseled, and couldn’t get out of its own way. By 1983 it was an oil-burning piece of junk. Have not owned a GM product since.
Can’t help but wonder why you didn’t test drive this model before you committed to buy a new one? And why didn’t you return the car to the dealer to fix the poor engine performance?
How do you know I didn’t? Just like you can’t fix stupid you can’t fix poor quality and engineering once it’s made.
My brother bought a new ‘82 Monte Carlo with the 229 V-6. To this day if you mention that car he can’t emphasize how much he hated that engine. Says it was the worst car he’s ever owned, and he’s owned quite a few…
Gave up my last GM product in `83 too. And I never looked back.
If you took one out for a test drive you would probably notice what a dog that 6 cylinder was.
Is this one of the fleet of cars ordered for Saudi Arabia and then the order was cancelled. An old co-worker of mine had one.
that’s what I was thinking it might be ….
Me three.
Iraqi Taxi. It was Iraq.
I had an EC with a factory 4 speed V8. Body mounts rusted off, loved that truck though, it was fun.
It’s a neat body, and would make a great sleeper with an engine and transmission swap.
As-is, it’s kind of worthless though. I didn’t want one equipped like this back then either. But with a 454 and a 4-speed…
Worthless to who? If your only goal is to drag race and burn rubber then sure. For that find a shell somewhere and build it. But I know that at any car show, this car would attract tons of attention, and use no gas to travel to the destination.
Given how notoriously weak the 201 V6 was, just getting to your destination might be the toughest part!
Well… worthless to me.
I don’t see any enjoyment in driving a 3-speed manual transmission behind a wimpy six-banger in a shoe-box with no a.c. or power steering. That’s just doing unpleasant work to get from point A to point B.
The whole point of buying a car like this is making it fun to drive. I can’t imagine paying $35,000 to impress myself and others with good gas mileage. If that was my goal, I’d drive a cheap tiny-piece-of-crap car. But with a.c. and an automatic.
A 454, a 4-speed, a 12-bolt Posi, and lots of suspension upgrades…and you’ll have yourself a car.
The paper floor mats could probably fetch $1000.00
35K? Seriously? Thirty five thousand dollars.LMAO! Apparently the current owner is smoking crack. And if someone does pony up that amount, I dare say that person may be on drugs as well.
I’ve always liked the look of this generation Malibu – and this one looks to be in outstanding shape. I would love to know the story of how the barest bones Malibu stayed in pristine condition for well over 40 years – maybe the lack of a radio and the powertrain combo caused people to drive ANY other vehicle in the fleet.
Agreed.
This design is underappreciated. Like the Monza Towne Coupe/Sunbird.
It’s clean and balanced.
The sort of car I would have bought. And have done. 6 cylinder and manual transmission how perfect.
One can’t do it these days. But I’d delete gigantic consoles, touch screens, stop/start and a bunch of other tech bloat if I could order one that way.
AC necessary, but that’s about it.
Not every car needs to be a muscle car. And they weren’t unless ordered that way.
This is a unique car. But not $35,000 unique. Only a tiny market that this car would have appeal [myself included], but far from the majority.
This car model with the 3 speed manual transmission has to be one of the last model years for such an option
All the seller has to do is list this on Bring-A-Trailer and it would probably sell for even more than the insane asking price.
I had one of these with the little V6, right from the new car lot the engine pinged and was powerless, Chevrolet told me that’s the way it was suppose to run after a few months of ownership I sold it.
I helped build some of the 25,000 1981 Iraqi-taxis that Saddam Hussein ordered for the widows of his fallen soldiers. Only half the order was delivered as the cars were basic Malibu 4drs, V6 motors with 3spd manual trans. They had heavy duty air cond and an AM-FM Cassette sterios with not much else. Saddam thought he was getting a ‘full-load’ car and, after half the cars were recieved, cancelled the order and beheaded the Irai advisor who had worked the deal with GM. The remaining cars were sold for $6,800. to Canadian GM employees. They were good cars BUT most had sat on east coast docks for months and had rust issues.
The reason for the manual transmissions was because the Iraqi technicians were very bad at repairing automatic transmissions. A bunch of these cars that the GM employees didn’t scoop up ended up on Toronto car lots.
I found that the 200-6 was more than adequate even at 9-11k above sea level, drove it to Florida and back from Colorado and it delivered just over 30mpg at 75mph. Wish I never sold it.
These malibus make great stock cars!
Rescued a ‘79 Malibu from a friend’s backyard back around 1994.
Tiny V8 with the standard equipment self flattening cam and two speed automatic.
No A/C.
It was a dog and got lousy MPG.
But hey, it was transportation.
The self detaching headliner that started flapping all over the interior at highway speeds with the windows down.
I yanked the cloth portion down but the black foam backing started to dislodge itself in little black foam balls that would blow all over the interior.
So…. On a 100 degree day I swilled a half pint of Jack Daniels, donned my old motorcycle goggles, grabbed a wire brush and went at that foam like a buzzed demon.
Being sweaty allowed me to attract most of those little black balls of foam…
I scared a neighbor kid when I crawled out.
I sold it to the town drunk about a year later and that was my last GM vehicle.
Hmmm. I think G body cars get a bad rap. I had an 86 Monte Carlo SS that I bought new, drove 250,000 miles and when I sold it it didn’t leak or smoke.
When my daughter was in high school I bought her a 78 Malibu, V8, automatic, a/c and it was a great driver until some one in a K car hit her head on. Their insurance ponied up the money to replace it with 79 V8, automatic and a/c. I predicted then, and still believe these will become great hot rods for the younger generation. 35K for this one is a real stretch.
I don’t know what these guys think their doing bashing GM cars, I had a
79 G-20 van that lasted for 288K miles and ran great no oil leaks or burning 6 cyl. with 3 on the tree. Out ran a vette off the line at red light and was 1/4 mile ahead before she caught and passed me. I own a ’15 Malibu with a 4 banger, I can run 75 MPH and get 26MPG all day long. I have had several Chevy’s over the years. Best one I ever owned was a 55 rag top. My Mom sold it while I was working for Uncle Sam. Regret I ever parted with that one. Had 265 V-8 with 283 Power Pak heads 327 manifold and ignition, that one was a real sleeper, had to be careful and not stomp on the go petal.
For everyone that thinks odometer numerals were tampered with when they appear misaligned, please refer to the pic. These tumblers were crude mechanical devices and appeared crooked more often than not.
To me these 2 door coupes were the new 55-57 Chevys! Light, pliable to many configurations, big block, small block lowered, raised etc… just like the old shoeboxes. I had a 56 Chevy coupe in 1961 and a1979 Coupe Chevy Malibu in 2001, both modified.
This is a great start for a protouring car
You can skip paint and interior and get a new engine , transmission, suspension , brakes , differential and tuck these bumpers in !
If you have a bottomless bank account and like loosing money cause these cars are not worth that much and at at 35k build start , one would be under water quickly !
Had a long roof Classic wagon, 305 4v. Good runner till the plastic timing gears made starting hard. Fixed it and drove it over 120k mi. more till Ohio salt started eating the tin. Gave it to a buddy who put that motor in a dirt tracker, still running today.
He put the body on a K5 frame, now that was winter fun.
I like the idea of another, maybe @ $10k, not this!
I would certainly drive a wagon version of this car. I currently drive a VW GTI daily but continue to drive my mom’s old Plymouth Voyager as a parts/grocery/lawn care hauler between my two properties, and have long thought I would rather have a wagon of some sort instead of the poopty [faded maroon ie:purple hoopty]
Had 3 chrysler minivans too, all three sisters ran 250k each, even in the salt laden areas that ate them, wouldn’t mind another of them also!
Thats what happens around here!
Still like these as the last of the full frames.
I had a lightly used ’81 Olds Cutlass sedan (around 53 or 54 thousand & change) w/ the Buick 231 V-6 and it pretty well about getting out of it’s own way……….it delivered around 22 or so in town & usually about 30 or so out on the interstate. It was the oh so common light blue paint w/dark blue cloth upholstery! Decent car though. Would be fun to get the wagon version 😀
35k is steep but this car is stunning.