45 years is a pretty long time if you think about it. It’s longer than a lot of Barn Finds readers have been alive, maybe longer than their parents have been alive. This 1975 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu Classic Coupe has had only two owners in the last 45 years. It can be found here on eBay in “Southern California”. That’s a big area with 24-million people and 56,000 square miles, but that’s where it is. They have a buy-it-now price of $8,900 listed or you can make an offer. Let’s check it out.
I grew up in this era, the infamous malaise years, but I was either driving illegally – too young – or not driving at all so I don’t remember how bad those years were. Were they really as bad as people say they were, car-wise? I know that regulations were coming on strong with sequoia-tree-like bumpers and gobs of anti-pollution pumps and valves and servo-controls, etc. But, really, how bad were the cars in this era? I like them, a lot, and I can’t be alone.
Normally, when a person says that they have a two-door Chevy Chevelle for sale for $8,900 people would crawl over broken glass to get it, but maybe not a medium green, third-generation Chevelle Malibu Classic Coupe with opera windows and white wall tires. The seller says that it basically only has surface rust, what we used to call patina before “flash rust” became a thing recently. I wonder what they’ll call surface rust next? The body does look good on this car, though, other than the missing filler piece in the photo above.
The interior looks great, nice and 1970s green! It looks so great that the seller opens their eBay photo gallery with the interior photos. The back seat looks like new as does the carpet, which isn’t surprising because the seller says that both the carpet and seats are new. There is some fading here and there on some of the plastic parts, but a little interior touch-up paint and this thing would look like new inside.
Here’s where the screeching sounds occur. Most folks looking for a Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu would want a V8, I might even want one. This is Chevy’s 250 cubic-inch straight-six with 105 hp. The 454 V8 had just 215 hp in this era. Ok, I’m starting to get what the malaise era meant. This car reportedly “runs amazing” and the seller has spent a whopping $8,500 on all sorts of maintenance and the new interior, and new tires. So what’s the deal with the malaise era, there had to have been some good cars that were produced in that period of time. Is this Chevelle Malibu one of them? It looks good to me.
I had a ’74 Nova with a 250 six that had a bad rocker tick. This was before I knew much about cars. I took it to a mechanic, and he took off the valve cover, started the car, and proceeded to adjust the rockers with the car running, oil splashing. If I recall, he backed off the nut until the rocker would clack, then tightened it down until it quieted down, and then went another half turn. Something like that. Old school.
That brings back memories! That’s how I used to adjust the rockers on my 1974 slant-six Dodge van until I discovered feeler gauges. Why I had to adjust those dang things so often is beyond me, but it worked great and I didn’t even think of it back in those days, it’s just something you did and then went on with your life a half-hour later.
Your slant six would have had solid lifters, which would require more maintenance than Rex’s hydraulic lifter Chevy. Plus, most young gear heads just like to get under the hood and believe that they are improving their vehicles.
Rex, you are right on the money. I had a 72 Lemans with the same engine and same problem. My neighborhood mechanic instructed me to do the same thing. Back off until clack and tighten slowly until quiet.
I don’t think Barn Finds readers are as young as you think they are. From what I’ve gleaned from three years of reading BF, most of the commenters are older gearheads with more accumulated automotive knowledge than your average thirtysomething could be expected to have.
I’m in highschool
Welcome on board Carter! Car-geekdom is a great hobby for the entire life, will keep you out of trouble and you’ll learn plenty along the way!
What started out as fascination only in my early teens evolved into doing a lot of wrenching myself and has further made me interested in car fashion, legislation, general history and technology.
Being in my 40s myself I still love to learn from the ol’ farts but it’s great to hear there are recruits to the hobby! 👍
Old fart? I resemble that remark!
https://youtu.be/RrcXYn6HqX8
I left high school way back in 1983, so I’ve got a few miles of automotive info tucked away in my brain!
That said, $8900 is a bit too strong for this one. I can’t come up with any sound reasoning to justify dropping $8500 into a mediocre model Chevy from Autodom’s malaise-era, with NONE of that “investment” spent on a repaint.
$5k is about all the money this Malibu will bring home
To answer your inquiry, they were pretty bad. I had a 1974 Buick Century Luxus with the 350 2-barrel. It was very cranky when you would first start it and it would stall frequently. Pretty scary when pulling into traffic. Once it warmed up it was fine but that took awhile as I remember.
It got terrible gas mileage. I don’t remember exactly but I think it was around 12 or 13 MPG. Bad by any measure but especially considering the lackluster performance. The car wouldn’t even break 100 MPH.
Rust was also a huge issue in this era. I recall it was something about the steel they were using and they rusted very fast. The Buick was starting to rust significantly by the late 70s.
Overall, a necessary but not really a great time for cars. They have nostalgic value now but when you take off the rose-colored glasses things weren’t all that good. The best thing about the mid-1970s was you could get a late 1960s or early 1970s muscle car for very cheap.
Related to my comment above, this car would be very very slow. The automobile catalog puts 0 to 60 at 17.5 seconds. There is no car on the road that moves that slow today. With the size and power of modern cars, and the way people drive now, I would be concerned that this would be a safety issue. So definitely take it for a test drive and make sure you’d be comfortable with it first!
$8900? Seriously? Pea green, 6cylinders. Way over priced in my opinion. This thing won’t get out of its on way. I dig these colonade cars but come on. Takes a bunch of cash to turn ugly and slow into something enjoyable. Of course, I’ve been wrong before so good luck to the seller and the new owner.
Wow, that’s a lot of money for this car. Ordinarily, I’m of the mindset that a couple thousand dollars shouldn’t stop you from buying a collector car you truly want, because you may never have the chance again. In this case, though, I can’t imagine anyone wanting this car enough to pay anything close to that price.
Personally I’ve never really understood what people find wrong with this gen – IMO they’re the last cars that have that arch-typical American car look to them in and out, at least if you like road boats. They’re also old enough to be completely analoge and smogging isn’t any issue with the older models.
As for this one I really love its colors and being a SIX it’s a miracle it wasn’t scrapped decades ago! However even in today’s market asking is hilarious – this gen is one of the very few that still can be found for decent $. I like the quad headlight setup on the ’76-’77 Classic better though
This car has A LOT working against it, even before you look at the price. A big engine (4.2 liters) but the kind of horsepower that no new car can claim. Then there’s the color combo, pea green over pea green, and no vinyl roof to break up the “lump of algae” look.
BUT, having lived in California I can attest that car prices there are insane.
Definitely a car that needs an engine swap.
I’ve seen this car before on Craigslist and it was a lot cheaper.
I was 14 in 1975. My Dad was shopping for what turned out to be his last car. One of these was on the short list. I remember a test drive in one. Dad bought a Granada. I don’t know why. I liked the Chevy but the Ford ended up being a huge part of my early driving years. I like this one.
I was 11 in 1975, but love the cars from this era. Been a car guy all my life, and won’t own (with very few exceptions) a car that was not built between 1965 and 1980. This one, however is very over priced. No 350, and no A/C kill more value than the color already does here. Probably not a California car, as even at that time over 99% of cars here have factory air, and very few had 6 cylinder engines other than Novas, Darts, and Valiants. Seller will be hard pressed to get over 2K here in California for this car, and that is being somewhat generous. This one would sell better to a buyer in the northeast or upper midwest, where the lack of air conditioning will be less of an inconvenience, and the rust free body will be something they won’t find on local examples in those areas.
Waaaay over priced.
Looks like someone bought a deceased old lady’s car at an estate sale and decided to float a ridiculous price out there to see if anyone will bite. Even for Southern California, this ask is a pipe dream.
Dreaming. I like these cars. Lowered, big sway bars, stiffer springs and shocks and the Monte Carlo sport steering box, 265’s all around these can actually handle decently. Give it the NASCAR look. I had a 74 with a 454 4bbl 4sp w/10bolt 3:42 positraction.
I’m sure that California is probably the only place you’ll see a solid one of these, here in the Midwest, you could sit on the front porch and watch these rust! They must of had some surplus steel left over from the Vega plant, so to see one in clean shape is cool, and I’m cool with the 6, but $4k would be about it.
These were still well built cars for thier time and lasted with our hot foots well into the late 80’s. Little high verses demand….but maybe some one will come close.
There are many desirable versions of these cars, nicely appointed Lagunas, Malibu Classics, etc, this is not one of them, Pea green no option 6 cylinder, that cost about 4500.00 new, did not really go up in value, just something that escaped the crusher for one reason or another
I had one just like this, but gold with a b lb ack interior. I paid $75.00 from my Dad. Number one cylinder had a bad ring & it blew the blues something fierce lol. Add a quart of oil & clean the plug once every 30 or so miles. I painted SS stripes on the hood & trunk lid, and Starskey & Hutch type stripes over the roof & down the doors & front fenders. Used to “cruise the strip” in it, thinking I was cool lol. What a dork! This was back when I had a mullet. Pretty sad!
I’d post a picture of it but I can’t since I gave up my membership. I am debating between rejoining or just abandoning this website. Not sure which yet…..