This 1970 Chevelle offers a lot to the next owner if they are looking for a project car that is solid. The owner has already done some work on the car, and it runs and drives. It could easily be used as it is, with the restoration work waiting until both time and money permit. Located in Selah, Washington, you will find the Chevelle listed for sale here on eBay. Bidding on the Chevelle has now reached $7,800, and with the reserve now met, this is a car that is destined to head to a new home.
It isn’t clear what color the original vinyl top for the Chevelle was, but I suspect that if it matched the interior trim, then it would have been black. This would have looked quite classy when combined with the Cranberry Red paint on the rest of the car. The Chevelle has suffered the common fate of cars from this era with vinyl tops, and there are some rust issues below the rear glass that will need to be attended to. Apart from that, the worst of the remaining rust seems to be confined to the lower fenders. The owner says that the floors are good, and have recently received a coat of POR-15. There are also a couple of small rust-through spots in the trunk, but otherwise, the news seems to be quite good. There are a few dings and marks around the car, and the worst of these are on the driver’s side fender. Given that there is also some rust in the lower part of that panel, the next owner might choose to replace it completely.
The interior of the Chevelle has recently been the recipient of some TLC, and while the results are pleasing, there is still some detail work required to bring it back to its best. The carpet set is new, but there are some fitment issues in the front, especially around the transmission tunnel. They detract from what is a clean look, but a bit of judicious adjustment should fix that. The door trims are new, as is the headliner. The original dash is in great condition, as are the seats. There is an aftermarket radio/cassette player fitted to the dash, but it doesn’t look like the dash has been cut to fit it. The rear trim panels are also looking a bit tired, and given how nice the rest of the interior looks, I would be very inclined to replace these to make the interior look as close to perfect as possible.
Lurking under the hood of the Chevelle is the numbers-matching 350ci V8 engine, and I think that this one is backed by the original Powerglide transmission. The Chevelle is also equipped with power steering and power brakes. Apart from a couple of pretty chrome items, I can see that the 350 also wears a set of headers, so it should sound pretty nice. The owner says that the car runs and drives, but that he hasn’t driven it very much. It sounds like a thorough mechanical check might be on the cards for the Chevelle before the next owner contemplates a coast-to-coast jaunt, but it seems as though they could be starting from a solid base.
For our regular readers, I don’t really need to mention just how popular the Chevelles of this era are. This looks like a nice one that would make a great restoration project. It isn’t an SS, but it is still a nice car. With the rust addressed, a new vinyl top, and a fresh coat of Cranberry Red paint, this is a car that would stand out a mile away and would get plenty of admiring glances.
Great car, could be a nice daily driver. I doubt it would have a powerglide in 70. Pretty confident it would be the th350, but who knows. The price at $7800 with 15 hrs to go, would be a great price for any Chevelle in my opinion
Power glide was available in 1970
I had a 1970 El Camino, 307 with power glide.
Original warranty information showed it was bought new by Del Monte in Texas.
This is a MALIBU, which i’m pretty sure warranted the TH350 and as Sparkster noticed, a closer look at the dash, it shows that. Interesting that the red indicator is broken, as the car is clearly in park, but the indicator is L1.
Also interesting the new door panels have Malibu on the Passenger side, and not on the drivers side. Just a Whoops in the ordering I guess.
ALL CAPS doesn’t make it right. Powerglide was available in Malibus through 1972.
absolutely the glide was available, in fact it was the base automatic transmission, not the turbe 350.
Apparently some folks are under the assumption, that I am saying the Powerglide transmission was not available in 1970. I never said it or implied it. I said, THIS car does not have a Powerglide transmission, as evidenced, by the photo of the dashboard. it clearly shows, D, L2 and L1, which is quite obviously a TH 350. This was also pointed out by contributor Sparkster.
As far as using caps, for the word MALIBU, that is how it is scripted on the car. Conversely the script on my 69 el Camino, was all lower case except for the capitol C because that is how GM displayed it. I apologize if I stepped on any toes in my comments, it was not my intention.
One last thing. Contributor Del, your figures of 15K in paint, and 15k in mechanicals, is perhaps accurate, if you are just sitting back and writing checks, and paying shop labor rates. I am confident, it can be done for substantially less, if the work is done by someone that likes to work on cars, and that is why they would buy it. As far as a restored small block 70 Chevelle only being worth your figure of 20k, I never see any in that price range. Perhaps 30k, but seldom if ever less.
Just my 2 cents worth, not said to make anyone mad, just defending my position
Being able to get this cool ’70 for a reasonable price, drive it, and tinker with it would be awesome. And I wouldn’t want to restore the body because then I’d have to worry about where I park it, having a bird poop on it and hurt the clearcoat, etc. I could just drive it and have fun with it, like I use to when I was a kid.
Fix the problems and drive it.
Nice car and great potential, but growing up they were indeed popular…to the point of being too popular IMHO. They were the car that half the guys in town hopped up, running of course with whiny gear drive …the other half drove square body GM trucks, with Cragars.
I see L1, L2, & D on the instrument cluster , TH350 ?, two dome light pictures but no undercarriage pictures ? ? ? Chrome pieces under the hood ? ? ? 50 yrs ago I had no idea how much havoc vinyl tops played on the preservation of the metal underneath, or lack thereof
I had one .had an ss cowl induction hood with aircleaner.. non original to car of course but this takes me down memory lane
Wow, does this take me back to my high school years in the mid 1980’s!
I bought a 1970 Chevelle, plain Jane without the Malibu chrome spears that run the top of the front fenders. It was a gold 2 door hard top, oil burning 250 inline 6 & powerglide, black interior & dog dish hubcaps. I was 15 when I bought it. Mom had no clue lol. Miss that car & the times I had in it!
Later, there was a white Malibu 2 door hardtop, black vinyl roof, came from the factory with a 307. It had a 427 stuffed in it out of a 1969 Bel Air retired squad car. Couldn’t keep a rear end in that no matter what, but that powerglide took the beating “like a man”, so to speak.
Makes me wish I had the funds & room for this one. I would just restore back to original. I don’t have the need to speed like I did as a kid.
The kind of Chevelle us gen Xer’s usually drove, hopped up, had loads of fun with. The black interior looks cool, faded paint is fine with me.
Throw on a noisy moroso air cleaner, a pair of noisy thrush muffler’s, and of course mags…there you have it, the classic high school hot rod. Nice ride.
I guess that I am now old. As these were new when I was in high school. I guess I will have to be content with memories of the car that I had in high school. (1955 Chev Convert)
There’s definitely a lot of potential here, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a lot of hidden issues that tend to be overlooked as well. Ironically I bought almost the same car (color, interior, black vinyl roof, 350 auto, rally wheels) but in better shape, coincidentally also from WA state. And I still had to put considerable work into it to make it reliable.. You don’t just buy a car like this, put it on the road and expect it to give you trouble free service. Hopefully whoever buys it will keep it true to it’s roots, and not make an SS clone out of it.
I’d buy it for the one chrome Bracket under the hood!!!
I wonder if the party with the rusty hulk ’69 feels stupid now,,,this is so much more like it. Drop your 396 you got in that Chevy wagon out back, be a much better starting point. Truth be known, I bet most Chevelles were just like this, something the librarian or bosses secretary would drive.
be an excellent candidate to clone into a Malibu 400!
I wouldn’t change a thing as far as originality goes, but I would freshen things up while driving this Chevelle. With the stock 350, it has enough to provide decent performance and of course, you have the option of adding go-fast goodies.
After it’s cleaned up, bring it to your local cruise nite and have the only Chevelle that’s not an SS. Or a clone.
Hey, for under 10K. Nice. Ended: Jul 06, 2019 , 10:00PM
Winning bid:US $9,610.59
[ 9 bids ]
All that and $.59. Wow! “Hey, Buddy, can ya spare a dime?”
That’s how you win bids on Ebay. Odd numbers with cents. Just won a $800 metal detector for $183.53……
Nice car. A friend’s mom bought one
brand new in ’70. Hers was green with a
matching vinyl top and dark green interior. Just before church let out, Jimmy and I would sneak out the back door, go sit in the Malibu, and listen to
music while Jimmy smoked a couple of
cigarettes waiting for his mom to come
out after church services were through.
Seems like Jimmy’s mom blamed me for
his decision to get into the music business. He was a gifted musician who
played fiddle and steel guitar. Turns out
he was picked up by The Amazing Rhythm Aces in ’75 and went on to play
the steel guitar solo on their song Amazing Grace Used To Be Her Favorite
Song. Lotsa great memories with that
old Malibu.
Ten grand is too much for this tired old beast.
Gonna be 15 grand to straighten and paint.
Then another 15 in mechanicals.
So almost 40 with purchase price for a car worth half that when restored