1977 Chevrolet Caprice Classic - As If

GM's 1977's downsizing of their full size cars was heralded with so much praise you'd swear they reinvented the automobile. "All they did", though,  was reduce the size of them to approximately what they were back in 1965. They called that progress? Problem was they did so without advancing the state of automotive engineering by one iota. Our subject today is a 1977 Chevrolet Caprice Classic that was for sale in Minneapolis for the jaw dropping asking price of $12,000. Another prime example of someone thinking they're sitting on a small fortune.  

 

 

While certainly in very nice condition it's hardly in the Concours shape it would need to be in to command anything near that kind of money. And while mileage doesn't really matter on cars this old, if the seller was able to verify that the car had an exceptionally low amount of mileage that certainly would be selling point. To the tune of $12,000? Well, the value of anything is only as much as someone is willing to pay for it.  Mileage on this car was a tad under 100,000. I know. Incredible. Can't blame 'em for asking though. Maybe they got lucky.

 

 

It's unusual for a car this old to be as rust free as the seller said it was. Especially being up in Minnesota. Sorry, I can't find the listing anymore so I have precious little info on it. Maybe it was a garaged southern car. I found this about four to six weeks ago and started a blog about it but I've really run out of things to say about these cars since I've done so many GM "B" and "C" bodies over the years. I would like to know if they sold it for that much money or anything over or near five figures. I've got a couple of bridges to sell the buyer if that's the case.

 



Of all the downsized "B's", though, remarkably, this Chevrolet fan found these cars, even the coupes, to be the least attractive of them all. The gimmicky three piece back light or rear windshield was never to me more than what it was. Then again, being such a big fan of the cars it replaced, it had a lot to live up to. Most of these left the factory with the Chevrolet 305 making 145 horsepower.

 

 

I do recall there being a dearth of information overall about this car in the listing. The owner was also quite brash in the ad saying that he didn't want anyone lowballing him because "he knew what he had". Ha. As if. Love his accent pillows. Note the ashtray in the armrest and the vision blocking seat belt retainer. Wow.

 

 

Hard to believe, though, that this car is forty years old. Seems like only yesterday they first came out with GM trumpets blaring and flags waving. It's sibling, the 1977 Chevrolet Impala even won Motor Trend's Car of the Year award that year. Less than five years later, actually, less than three years later, a second gas crunch and the rising popularity of small, fuel efficient and very well assembled imports made our award winning Caprice here as outdated as what it replaced.

 

If I find the ad again I'll update this and post it.