The Chevy Laguna S3 remains under the radar of most collectors, and it stands out not only for some its desirable features like swivel seats and upgraded suspensions, but also because they could be optioned with some decent motors in the higher zoot trims. Still, they come from an era when most enthusiasts wouldn’t give American cars a second look, and this pair of Laguna S3s here on craigslist in Ohio could definitely use a second look.
Despite looking more than a bit forlorn, the interior of the white car presents well, with the desirable Strato swiveling bucket seats and center console. The “aero” nose always gets me on these things, much like the gimmicky rear window on the Monte Carlo Aerocoupes. Not sure why, other than I love any car with a visual connection to a motorsports edition beyond some cheap sponsors sticker.
I wish my ability to identify engines from afar was better, but I’ll turn it over to our readers to name this one. The Laguna could be spec’d with a descent mill in the form of the venerable 454 engine, which was an option for the first half of the 1975 model year. Unfortunately, it only made 215 b.h.p., so it still wasn’t a rocketship – but it was better than a lot of the other options from the Big 3.
The second Laguna in the package is much closer to being a parts car, with plenty of rust evident and major disassembly already performed. Although both cars have titles, the white Laguna with its desirable interior and overall intact appearance is the car to focus on, using the black one as a parts bin when you need it. Although I love these S3 cars, I still feel the price here is a touch high – at least until the market catches up to these interesting A-bodies.
Needs a lot of work but between the 2 cars there should be enough to make one good car out of them. Price isn’t bad IMO for the pair.
Had a ’76.. Mom bought it new and horrified my father. ‘What do you need a sportscar for?’ he asked. She drove it for years, then handed it down to me with 50K on the clock. I drove it for another 8 years until it succumbed to the dreaded wheel well rot and 160K.
I have 2 1973s love driving them they are my choice for local dirt track racing.its a little known fact but the Laguna was banned from NASCAR in 75 and set records that have not been broken to this day,even in modern era with the cot chassis,sb2,and ro7 engines! Still record holder after 4 decades and did it on old tire technology with a standard taxi cab motor.by the way who says iron heads”are not good for performance”oh I nearly forgot in that era chassis were pretty much showroom stock
“I nearly forgot, in that era, chassis were pretty much showroom stock.”
Don’t tell Banjo Matthews that.
https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/04/sports/banjo-matthews-64-builder-of-race-cars.html
A friend of mine bought one of these new and stuck some fat ass tires with Crager rims and headers with dual exhaust. Not the fastest thing in the world, but it sure got a lot of looks.
Hsd 74 lagunia. Had 454 with cali package as my stepfather was mg at gm we ordered direct from factory. In my trunk i hot elrctronic ignition and 800 holly. To teplace 650
Dyno out at 310 hp with smog control air pump and teduced compression to 8:1
I remember them being reviled for very poor MPG.
Ha! The black one appears to have an engine in the rear?
heh.
A 454 Laguna S3 with a Factory 4 speed would be awesome. I’ve never seen one but I’m pretty sure you could have ordered one so equipped.
I had a ’74 with the 454 and a 4 speed. What a pig on gas! The clutch was bad and I put a new one in it. The parts store gave me the wrong size throw out bearing. I traded it for another car. Mine was pretty rusty, but I still wish I had it. Not too many of these seen at car shows.
The vast, vast majority had the 350 2-bbl or 4-bbl. Looks like these do also. 454s were rare, particularly by 1975.
FWIW, I think the “white” car is actually silver. Hard to tell though!
The apex is at the start of colonade-1973 chevelle SS . Manual transmission, who cars if a 350 or 454. Those round head and taillights together looked good.
Am I the only one who thinks those are some of
the ugliest American cars ever?
I was going to say that anyone with a site name “angliagt” calling another car ugly has to be the ultimate irony, but I’ll be kind and defer. I considered the ’74 S-3 as my first new car, but walked away and bought something smaller. Gas was like, 50 cents a gallon! I’ll admit the S-3 wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but like I’ve said before, consider what else was available to the new (American) car buyer.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/348/19963543939_4c8f0fd0e0_b.jpg
You’ve got to admit, the Dunlop wheels help a LOT!
Yes You Are !!!!!!!!!!
Love these cars. My 76 with 21,000 original miles. Lots of interest….Lots of LOVE…..
Sweet!
I had one just like it when I was in the Army that I bought in Birmingham, AL. I drove it to Cali and left it there for a Camaro as I couldn’t afford two cars on a soldier’s pay. One of my buddies drove it to Idaho and I regret to this day ever leaving the car behind.
73 was best year with all round lights 454 4speed posi ! Not a everyday car, id love to find one .
Drove a ‘73 in black it had a 350 4 barrel and automatic. Wouldn’t have known it was under power to me.it hauled ass on the freeway.
My first car was a ’75 Laguna. It was handed down to me when I turned 16 in 1986. By that time it had over 100k miles and lots of rot, but my dad and I fixed it up and I drove it for a few years. It was the nicest and fastest car in my high school. After high school I had to get something a bit more economical so it sat outside at my folks place for a number of years. I hated to see it rotting away so I stripped it down, rebuilt the powertrain (355sbc/turbo 350/4.56 posi) and drag races it for many years. I finally scrapped it in 2007 when the swiss cheese frame broke. Unfortunately it was no longer worth fixing. I miss the car and hope.to find another one some day.
I had a black 76 S3 back in the late 70’s early 80’s unfortunately it was a 305 th350 and i think a 2.73 rear gear great highway cruiser made some mods to exhaust & intake but there’s only so much you can do with 3900 lbs and a 305, it was still only a 17 second car don’t remember the mph but it was low 17’s 😃😃
Gotta love the swivel buckets
Rarely saw one of these even when they were being manufactured, continue to be rarely seen at car shows.
I had a ’75 Laguna S3 w/350 engine and auto trans and 273 gears. I slapped on an Offy Dual Port, 2.5″ dual exhaust and BFG’s all around and that car topped out at around 145mph. The speedo needle was above “Park” so top speed was a bit of an educated guess. I replaced the 350 with a long rod sbc 400 and found a Turbo 400 to handle higher HP. I also changed out the rear end for a posi with 308 gears. The rear fender wells were flared to cover 50 series BFG’s and a two tone paint job that accentuated the body lines had the car travelling at 100 mph even though it was standing still. I never had a bad comment about the car and it was great to drive anywhere. My only problem with the car was all the speeding tickets it racked up over the years. I’m sure I funded the first three years of university for my lawyer’s first born. Actually, I did have another problem; any time someone tried to swivel the right bucket seat, they would pull up on the seat lever instead of pushing down. The nob on the lever would eventually break and I had to replace it several times.
I’ve seen some awesome retro-mods and wish there were more to see, but the Laguna wasn’t made in high numbers. If my memory serves, only 2400(or so) were built in 1975.