The interest of Barn Finds readers is typically piqued when we see the word “original” followed by a long list of items. Mine sure was when I took the assignment on this very original 1966 Chevrolet Caprice. It’s located in Chapin, South Carolina, and can be found here on Barn Finds Classifieds for an asking price of $24,900.
If you liked the look of the Impala in 1966 but demanded a little more luxury, you would’ve been a qualified candidate for the Caprice. If you had a couple of hundred bucks to add to the Impala base price, you would’ve become a qualified Caprice buyer. Whether too few were qualified, or the majority simply didn’t feel the need for added luxury or didn’t care for the “formal” roofline, I don’t know, but the Impala outsold the Caprice more than 3 to 1 in 1966.
This Caprice is wearing its original Lemonwood Yellow paint and original black vinyl top. It was purchased new in southern California and lived it’s first 40 years there, reportedly covering only 51k miles since new. The more formal wire wheel covers are currently in place, but the seller is offering the factory “mag-style” wheel covers in the sale. A smudge on the hood is noted but is described as “not bad at all.”
Also original is the black interior. The front bench seat looks to be in very good condition and the rear seat follows suit. Carpet, dash, and door panels all appear to be in very good condition too. Metal-trimmed woodgrain accents abound but aren’t too overwhelming. Some interior options include tilt steering column, Soft Ray tinted glass, original “Bow Tie” accessory floor mats, and AM-FM radio. The trunk is dressed in it’s original gray and black spatter finish with, of course, the original spare tire in place.
Under the hood is the original 327 cubic-inch V8 engine, producing 275 horsepower. Power is sent to the rear wheels by a column-shifted Powerglide automatic transmission. Power steering should make for easy turning of that rather good looking, in my opinion, steering wheel.
The seller describes this Caprice as “a well-preserved time capsule from 1966” and continues, saying “it is indeed rare to find a vintage car like this in this condition.” I’ll add that the originality makes this opportunity even more unique. Are you up to the task of being as excellent of a caretaker as it’s had its first 54 years on the road?
Appears to be a sharp, low mileage car but with bench seat, no AC and few options, the $25k asking seems somewhat high.
Find another one this nice for less.
All depends on what someone is willing to pay which determines the market price.
AC in a Chevy would have been somewhat rare in 1966 , My dads full size Fords never had AC either
Nice car with a handful of desirable options. Definitely worth a premium over the run of the mill Caprice, how much, is between the seller and potential buyers. Someone would be hard pressed to buy and restore one for anywhere close to the asking price.
Steve R
Nice car!!
I almost agree. I already have one gas guzzler. Don’t need another.
Still has motor mount recall cables!
A new mount is as little as $1.75! – can i assume none of these modern non domestically made ones have the defect? …
http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/chevrolet,1966,caprice,5.3l+327cid+v8,1322008,engine,motor+mount,5552
Odd i don’t see an “ac delco” one. hmmh.
For originality, i guess it’s better to leave the cables/mounts alone, just don’t floor it unless u really have to.
Can i assume inconsistent bottom of the door/rocker panel gaps are to be factory expected?
I would have gotten power brakes instead of FM, considering AM had plenty of good music back then(today it’s mostly talk radio 20% not in english) & the 1 oldie AM radio station here is way too weak to stay listenable for even a few blocks!).
& don’t get me started with the end of some commercials where the disclosures are sped up with the guy talking so jibberishly fast, it’s VERY VERY irritating – sometimes for up to 20 seconds. lol (Never did that back in the 60’s on the radio.)
Still has the dreaded A.I.R. pump.
And no AC in South Carolina???
Chevrolet should be embarrassed about those motor mount recall cables. With all the $$$$$ they were making in that era, they should have “stepped up to the plate” and did a proper fix!
If you read the story it says a California Car which is why it has a smog pump. As for AC or lack of in 66 unless you lived in the desert not everyone had to have AC. And not all of California fits into this category.
We had a 66 Impala Station Wagon when I was a kid. I took my drivers test in it (including parallel parking!).
We never knew about the motor mount recall cables. I remember helping my dad replace the broken motor mounts on that car. That probably explains what happened – there was a recall we didn’t know about.
The recall was to install the brackets and cables, not replace the mounts. There were a couple of different models that got a new mount on one side and a cable on the other. I believe one was a big block Nova, but those were few and far between.
I was going to take my driver’s license test in our ’66 Impala station wagon, but my mother needed it that day, so I took it in the ’66 Olds 98 “Luxury Sedan”. After I breezed through the parallel parking test, the examiner told me that was all he needed to see. We replaced the motor mounts three times on the Impala during the 5 or 6 years we owned it.
I did’nt know air pumps were around in ’66 ?????
California only.
It now can be licensed as an antique, exempt in most states from emissions. Scrap it. They also make a repro pump which is just an idler pulley but looks like original.
If it was a 396 with a/c and buckets, probably worth it’s asking price, that power glide is not very desirable but real clean example, 17,000 in my opinion as she sits, probably gonna need paint real soon, cause the hood has a problem and the paint is 54 yrs old
Thank you Mr. Hall. Guess I missed the part about being a California car. Was focusing on South Carolina!
No A/C , Power Windows , Tilt Wheel , base motor . For that money it should have all above and a 396 . Nice car with a high price .
Base engine would have been a 283. Minor thing of course, but the air cleaner cover lacks the 327 labelling which they all had.
Too much money and if I were to seriously consider buying a car like this it would *have* to have four doors and a not-black interior.
If this one is worth this kind of money my 67 Caprice with 396 and 3 speed automatic must be way up there!! Mine has buckets consol and floor shifter!!! Nice looking car though!!
nice example but for that price definitely PB and AC then it in the $20k range needing cosmetics and $3K for decent paint.
My dad went to the Chevy dealer to order a new 1967 Caprice coupe and I went with him. The salesman mentioned that the owners 1966 demo was available and we took a look at it. It was Aztec Bronze with a black vinyl roof and black bucket seat interior.
It had the 396 and every option available. We took it for a ride and the exhaust had the mellow rumble that was music to my ears. It had the ultra rare multiplex stereo unit mounted in the console. The console gauges were icing on the cake.
I begged him to go for it but he ordered the 1967 with buckets and console and the ho-hum 283/power glide combo. I still lust for that 1966.
I had a ’66 Bel-Air with a 283 and Powerglide-It was good basic transportation. The only thing I hated was the oil filter cartridge change. It also had the engine mount cables.
An AC K157 would have fixed that. That’s a kit to convert an early block to a PF25 spin on filter. Don’t know if they still make them in this day and age.