Introduced in 1968, the Custom Coupe was an Impala using the Caprice’s more formal roofline. It looked more expensive than the Sport Coupe, but they were equipped mostly the same. The seller has a like-new 1970 Custom Coupe that we’re told is all original, yet the car has 114,000 miles. Located in Yadkinville, North Carolina, this beauty is available here on craigslist for $34,900 (several times its original sticker price).
The fourth generation of the Chevy Impala ran from 1965 to 1970. I’m probably in the minority on this, but I like the looks of the ’70 better than the ’65. Maybe that’s because I took driver’s education in 1970 and we had several of those to pilot around the school. This Chevy has fairly standard gear with a 350 cubic inch V8 (2-barrel? 250 hp?) and an automatic transmission (TH-350?).
Donnie (the seller) tells us this is a family-owned automobile, but we don’t know how long it’s been in that family or the number of times it may have turned before them. We’re told it’s been well-maintained, which would be necessary for it to be such a solid cruiser with the claimed mileage. 114k is no big deal now, but it was 50-60 years ago. The car has the usual goodies, like power steering and brakes, and factory air conditioning.
This garage-kept vehicle is said to be in showroom condition, and the limited photos lean that direction. There is no rust, and the paint, vinyl top, and interior all look ship-shape. The Chevy has new tires, which may add up to a cruiser that you could drive anywhere. Donnie also says this car is a great investment, but I’m not sure how much upside potential there may be at the asking price. BTW, thanks to T.J. for another cool tip.
Is it just me, or does anyone else see the spectrum here? To go from a Kei car, to a Chevy Impala. Opposite ends are not more obvious. Put me in the Impala. For the record, the “See the USA” anthem ended in 1963, but continued on for a couple years. It morphed into “Building a better way to see the USA”, and by 1975, it was gone, in place was “Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet”.
These were wonderful cars, the epitome of all Chevys that came before it. Cars could have stayed like this and would be fine by me. Nice car, $34gs, um, we’ll see about that. Don’t kid yourself, someone spruced up an already clean car. Several times the original cost? More like TEN times, at about $3400 new.
Don’t forget: “Like A Rock” by Bob Seger in their mid ’80’s ads.
That was for the trucks, not cars., in the early 90s.
Taking inflation since 1970 into account, $3400 back then would be close to $30,000 today. So the ask is not too far removed from the original price.
Looking at what’s available in new cars today for $30K I’d much prefer this Impala if I had that kind of money to spend on anything!
Have to remember this is a used car for as that would be close to $30,000 today.
I remember sitting down at the kitchen table with dad, he was going over the affordability of a new 1970 Caprice sedan. It was gold with a white vinyl top- Our first car ever with air conditioning. I remember him saying, “Takes me three month’s salary to pay for this car!” He traded in our ’67 Galaxie 500 with 50,000 miles on it and wrote a check for the balance. The Galaxie had a 390 in it and no AC. We loved the comfort of the Caprice, but that 350 was nowhere near as powerful as the Ford 390. I also remember a bit of advice he gave me at the time, I was 14, “Now son, when a car gets about 50,000 miles on it, it’s time to trade it in…”
Apple pie 🥧 🇺🇸 machine Howard 👍
Clean everyday car, nothing special. I remember every old lady would drive cars like this back in the day. This was the type of car that got you from A to B in comfort. This car is well preserved but, I think $35k is a bit much.
Considering the average retail for a average condition 1970 Impala is around 11k and the value of one in great condition is around 21k..This seller musta watched B-J and saw something that scattered his thinky bits.
This is a nice looking car. Looks just like the one my grandmother drove in the mid 70’s. As for price, I see low to mid $20’s
Divide by three and add a lil and your there
I had this in a convertible with the 350 four bolt main and a turbo 400 tied to a 12 bolt rear end.
It’s a tight economy now and cars are a lil down on price but evidently others are overpriced.
My reason I sold mine was to get a smaller 67 Stang vert was the new house built in 1999 with little standard garage. It was built for compact cars and the boat ( nicknamed) if almost touched the front wall then the garage would close. The wide body stole from the two car garage too.
Goid luck with sale..
Old Chevy steering wheels are just so gosh darn ugly.
Right before my dad left for Vietnam, he bought my mom a brand new 1969 Caprice two door, gold with a white top. I never thought of it until years later, but I realized my dad was probably taking a bit of precaution by doing that. It was my mom,me and my brother, and our life on a sergeant’s pay was comfortable but left no room for error. It dawned on me, knowing my dad, he was just making sure if he didn’t come back, my mom would at least have a good reliable car. Every time I see a car like this, it reminds me of those days.
My dad loaded equipment on Clark USAF base in PI for Nam from 1968-1972 then returned state side and then got orders to head over but Nixon was doing reductions and under the microscope. He had the call the morning of deployment stating to stay. He had bought my mom a 1973 LTD also to have a dependable car to drive just in case too. I went to many funerals at a young age back in the day due to the now called conflict. I also remember many alcoholic dads who came back home of my friends as PTSD was not a thing back then..
Dave…. One upvote registered as 5…. Anyone else have this happen?
What you noticed is that 4 other people upvoted before you did, and then when you voted, the page refreshed and showed those other 4 votes, making it look like you did it.
I have left pages open, gone away from the computer for a couple of hours, came back and gave a thumbs up and it looked like I gave it 10 or more.
I bought from neighbor in 1976, a blue ’70 Custom Coupe. It had 46k miles, few dings and some rust. Back then, it was a common family car. 350 V8, 250 hp, 2 barrel carb, single exhaust and big trunk…that slept 6. I did most of the body work. Body shop removed vinyl top, prep & painted car….blue body with white top. I removed bench seats to replace carpet. And put Sear’s rolled & pleated seat covers on front & back seats. Replace car radio with 100 watt stereo system. Kenwood stereo, EQ, and Sanyo amp in trunk. For me not a pro, it looked good. In ’88, I sold it for $1500 with over 200k miles. It still ran and looked good…But I was tired of driving same car. Now, I kinda wish I still had it.
Dad came home and got orders for Forbes Field in Topeka, Kansas. After a year, they told him he was due to rotate back to Vietnam, and he said, nah, thanks anyway. By this time he was a Master Sergeant and they tried to bribe him with Chief Master if he went. With almost 22 years in, he put in his papers instead. He saw that war for what it was and knew his going over again wasn’t going to make any difference.
Way overpriced for an average car, looks clean but with that kind of mileage the drivetrain will be ready for a rebuild. Just being realistic.
really nice and good looking too. i really like the 1970 impalas. might be worth the price but just seems a bit too high for me. i would say 20k-25k.
I thought that the full-size Chevy line for 1970 was gorgeous! The Fords of 1970 weren’t appealing (especially the fastback – ugh!). My mom had a Caprice 4-door sedan, and I had a Kingswood Estate, and both were fine cars. She traded hers in for a ’78 Caprice Classic coupe. I was not so lucky – 5 months after I bought it, some old guy ran a stop sign when my then-girlfriend was driving. I remember seeing the yellow and black flash in front of the car, then the green hood of my car crumple up towards the windshield. The guy insisted he was not a fault, but a pastor that witnessed the accident told him otherwise. I loved that wagon, even if I only had it for those 5 months. I saw it at the towing company in their garage – the front end was pushed in at least a foot, and it made me cry when I saw it. But I digress – this is a very fine example of an Impala that has survived 56 years and probably could go another 20 if the next owner plays it right. $35k is pretty steep, when Chevelle SS models are going for not much more than that. They will have to bring the price down a bit if they are serious in selling it.
It’s a nice right by all means I had a friend that had one just like this he had it Lord no hydraulics just riding on low Supremes and that puppy look great but for the money that this guy is asking absolutely not this is about a $15,000 car cops maybe 18 if the guy really wants to buy this car and it’s looking for that special car it’s a nice car no doubt about but it’s overpriced by a long shot if I was buying this car I’d be right at about 17,000 tops nothing more than that
Way too much money for this one. If it were loaded, maybe, but this one is an average dealer stock unit. Nothing that special about it.
I hope he does not hold his breath till he gets his asking price.
Growing up my parents bought a new ’70 Caprice 4-dr, 400 (small block), Turbo 400, 12 bolt “open” 2:56 rear, dual exhaust. Traded up from a ’69 Caprice, with the hidden headlights, 396 2 bbl.,(?), 2-dr. During my senior year in school, my auto-tech teacher also had a ’70 Impala 2 dr, 350/Turbo 350. He stated my family’s cars “drivetrain” wasn’t available, I had to be mistaken, didn’t know what I was talking about. So, when I received my license, probably much to the dismay of the local PD, I brought my parent Caprice to school. My teacher STILL didn’t believe it: I changed the air-cleaner lid with another car and put new emblems on the fender. likely just a 307 or 350 like all the others he said. Now, in his defense the 400 SB had just come out in ’70, so it wasn’t well known to “everyday people”, even 7-8 yrs later! But c’mon, I’m a 17-year-old kid, I’m not buying emblems for my parents’ car. I don’t care what it is, especially the family car! So, to prove it had more torque than his “lil 350”, at lunchtime I went out back to the end of the parking lot and proceeded to blow that bias-ply tire (Radial tires were still a very expensive option then) into 3rd gear fumes! You can’t imagine the smoke coming from a stationary tire spinning at 140-150 MPH!……Ah yes, the “Good ‘ol Days”!!