The Chevelle was born in 1964 and was Chevrolet’s mid-size automobile through 1977. After that, the cars were downsized for better fuel economy, and the Chevelle name was dropped in favor of Malibu for the entire lineup. The seller has a 1979 edition of the Malibu Classic Landau with a 4-speed manual transmission, a rare factory option. Located in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, this car is a cosmetic project that’s been off the road for a few years. It’s available here on eBay without a reserve, with the current bid standing at just $795.
Chevrolet shrunk its full-size cars in 1977, so it was natural that the intermediates would come next the following year. The new, reinvented Malibu lost no less than 500 pounds and about a foot in length, making it not much larger than the Nova compact that was on its way out. You could buy a basic Malibu or a Malibu Classic (fancier). The Classic Landau, like the seller’s car, came with a two-tone paint job and a vinyl top. While a V6 was standard, 305 and 350 cubic inch V8s were optional. More than 25,000 copies of this body style/trim Chevy were built in ’79.
Estimates are that fewer than 2,000 Malibus were assembled in ’79 with a 4-speed, making the seller’s car rare today among likely survivors. Whatever V8 was under the hood originally has been replaced by a later 350 with Vortec heads and other performance goodies. The 4-speed is original but needs attention to function properly. This Chevy was updated for speed and runs and drives, but we’re told it’s been out of action for several years. But before then, the engine went in, and some suspension pieces were upgraded.
The seller says the body needs “final work” before being repainted, and there is almost no rust. You’d be better off towing it home because it needs to be gone over to ensure its roadworthiness. The Malibu nameplate would live on for many years before finally retiring in 2025 as Chevrolet shifted their focus away from sedans to SUVs and trucks.
Even when these were new, it was rare as hens teeth to see either a Malibu or an ElCamino with a 3 speed or 4 speed manual. It was always like a special treat for me to spot one. I was always looking inside cars as I walked by to see what transmission it had. ( I wasn’t a normal kid, and actually come to think of it, I dont think Im a normal adult either…….) I’m hoping this gets a new lease on life.
I agree with the always looking for a manual gearbox Malibu. I have seen 2 in the wild! I like the body style and lighter weight. By the way , the only thing normal is the setting on the dryer!
Not so odd Dave. I still look inside cars on a regular basis to see what transmissions are backing the engine, always hoping for a stick.
I had no idea these were offered with a 4-gear. The only manwell I recall being offered with these, were a bunch of sedans with a V6 & 3-speed, some taxi deal that went bad with a Middle-Eastern country…
A coupe with a small block and 4-speed would be great fun. I’d lose the alloy Camaro wheels, probably run with Rally rims, prop it up high enough to run backroads.
The so-called “Iraqi Taxi” or “Iraqibu”, manufactured by Chevrolet of Canada (since the US had a trade embargo on Iraq at the time) for shipment to the government of Iraq. Supposedly they were intended to be used as taxis but there were stories of them being awarded as a death benefit to widows of Iraqi soldiers killed in the Iran-Iraq war at the time.
The cars were equipped with the 229 (smallest available) V6, A/C, a 3 speed manual, a 200 km/h speedo, and an AM/FM/cassette radio. (That radio was a serious luxury feature at the time, in an otherwise bare-bones car.) Iraq took about half of them and somehow the deal fell apart after Iraq had taken delivery of about half the cars. The complaint was that the transmissions were hard to shift and indeed GM Canada did send some techs over there to do some work on the shift linkages. There were also rumors of nonpayment.
One way or another 12,500 of these things ended up on the Canadian market, at a fire-sale price.
They probably ended up being a lot of Canadians’ first air conditioned cars.
Saddam’s Iraq pulled this a few years later with VW of Brazil, leaving them with a bunch of B1 Passats (facelifted Dashers) to sell off, 4 doors at a time when the Brazilian home market overwhelmingly preferred 2, and in post-Soviet Russia with GAZ left to sell off heaterless(!) Volgas…
The manual transmissions were specified for the order because the technicians in the Middle East had trouble working on the automatic transmissions.
It’s indeed an interesting story Bill w the Canadian touch. Manuals are preferred in many hot 🔥 weather places on the globe. Well summarized by you.
This may have had a 267 in it. Another rare thing that GM put in vehicles. They made the 305 seem like race engine. I’ve only seen one in a Monte Carlo of the same era. This could be fun for burnouts. Getting traction is hard to do with these.
This would be a fun car to mess with and the price is right so far. Too bad it’s on the other side of the solar system.
I agree with Russ, I always thought that these small Malibu’s were a good version of the Chevy2/Novas of which I had several. A couple of times I looked for an El Camino of this era but never found anything in the price vs condition I wanted. Better off towing it away? LOL.Unless they got a local buyer, beautiful as it is, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho is 2 weeks from everywhere (scene from the movie “O Brother where art thou?”). :-) Terry J
Only 60 Miles Away !
I have always liked these. I had one that had a terrible paint job with 80’s grafics, I got it so cheap I didn’t care. Since, then I have always thought I would like to have one that was nice and wouldn’t look like a clown car.
Found in Idaho? Ordered like a northern state car. Landau, vinyl buckets and a 4-speed. All checks out. IDK if you’ll restore it but you could make a restomod and have a unique car.
It has also received the Gorilla-tape seat cover. I bet that fix lasts longer than the original.
My dad had a ‘79 Malibu station wagon with the V-6 and a three-at-the-knee. I took the (at the time) less-than-ten-year-old car to college and recall how tired that relatively “new” car was. Even with a stick, that V-6 was wheezy. To this day I have never come across another one.
I believe that GM planned to come out with these for MY 1977 as well. However the strike in 1970 that lasted 67 days moved the proposed MY 1972 launch of the Colonnade midsizers to MY 1973, hence the extra year for them. 1977 was weird for GM because their new full size models – which were actually loosely based on the 1973-1977 midsize models- actually had the same exterior dimensions has a midsize vehicles they were selling that year.
I own a 79 Landau with the factory 305/4 speed. The 350 was not available on these cars in 79. From my research, there were 1902 4 speed cars built. Mine also has the factory sunroof, which was only installed on 842 cars. It appears there were only 3 or 4 4 speeds with the sunroof and mine appears to be the only one painted two tone black over silver. Too bad this one for sale no longer has it’s original engine.
I was never impressed with these until a car guy decided to tuck the bumpers in , lower it , put a cowl hood and an injected engine with real power ! Only then did i start eyeing these
Um, no.
In 1979 I started working for Soundesign in Jersey City, New Jersey, the company famous for making all those cheap s**t stereo rack systems and clock radios that you could buy in places like K-Mart and WalMart. I was their second shift computer operator, operating their already antiquated, IBM 360/30 computer system, which broke down quite often. Soundesign had a maintenance contract with a computer repair company and their C.E’s (computer engineers) were issued Chevy Malibus that they drove to the various sites to make repairs. Well quite often Soundesign’s Computer System needed a ‘part’ that the C.E. simply didn’t have and so they would then have to take a ride to I.B.M.’s parts depot in Armonk, New York, very often in the middle of the night. Well with nothing else to do because the system I ran was down, I would take the ride to the parts depot with the various C.E.’s. Liking the way those Malibu’s rode and looked, I decided I would buy one when I finally made enough money to make a down payment on what was, the first ‘NEW CAR’ I even bought. So I, ordered a 1980 Malibu sedan with the 305 V-8 and a 4 speed. But I didn’t heed the warning that one of those C.E ‘s gave me, ”to never buy a Malibu with an automatic transmission”. Finally after waiting about six weeks for the delivery of my new car, I received a phone call from the dealership stating that my order had been cancelled because “GM had run out of 4 speed transmissions” which I’m sure, was total bulls**t. My wife and I had plans to take our new car on a vacation trip to New England, so I started looking for a replacement and I must have gone to a dozen different Chevrolet Dealer in northern New Jersey looking for a replacement. I basically knew I was not going to find a V-8, 4 speed car, but I was willing to settle for just a V-8. I finally found one that was equipped with the smaller, 267 V-8, 2 barrel and an automatic, but no A/C. That car, like all automatic Malibu’s, whether they were V-8’s or V-6’s, was equipped with a ‘Lock Up Torque converter’, and what that converter would do, was lock up and release, lock up and release at highway speeds between 55 and 70 mph. It was so bad that I would actually begin to feel seasick, as the converter would lock up and then disengage, causing the car to have a bucking or rocking sensation. And even with several trips back to the dealer to correct the problem, they never did. Finally after a year, I had had enough and I traded that Malibu in for a a brand new 1981 Camaro that was equipped with a 305 V-8, 4 barrel and a four speed (but again no A/C. And that Camaro turned out to be an even bigger piece of junk then the Malibu. Big splotches of paint began peeling off the car in less then a year and I had to replace the camshaft not long after that. And I remember at the time, arguing with my wife because she wanted to buy a Toyota. I also remember that when I went looking for a replacement Malibu when Chevrolet cancelled my order for that V-8, 4 speed car, that the 1981 Malibu’s were just starting to be delivered and that they were on average, about $200, to $250 dollars more than an equivalent, unsold, 1980 model and unsold 1980 models were all over all of those dealers lots.
Sold on 7/25/2026 for a high bid of $3,100, there were 47 bids from 10 bidders.
Steve R
Which sounds reasonable for a pile of parts and a carcass that isn’t too crusty