The AMC Pacer from the "Wayne's World" movies recently made headlines when it sold at the Mecum Auction for an incredible $71,500. I never "got" the joke of the two Wayne's World movies, although I find Mike Myers and Dana Carvey brilliants comedians, and I also fail to appreciate why an AMC Pacer was cast as the "Mirth Mobile". If the producers were looking for a vehicle that oozed the '70's in buckets, for us that were there, albeit I was but a wee-little-nipper, nothing said "Nixon-Watergate-Petrocks-Gerald Ford-Discotheques-Jimmy Carter, "Three's Company" and "The Love Boat" like a 1973-1977 Chevrolet Monte Carlo. What's more, this 1976 Monte Carlo should make headlines like the "Mirth Mobile" if it retails for anywhere near its absurd asking price of $19,500.
I read recently that with the "chip shortage" inhibiting new car production, used car values have increased by some forty percent over the course of The Pandemic. For whatever reason that inflation has also trickled down to the "classic car market". Tell me why that is, please. Chop forty percent off the asking price of this car and you get a more reasonable $11,700. Still a lot of money for a rental-grade, bone stripper, 95,000-mile, 1976 Monte Carlo with a "305", but far easier on my stomach. Imagine what it would be worth if it was painted blue and had flame decals on the front fenders. Party on.
Opinions differ as to what was officially the first "personal luxury car" but many say, me included, that Ford's 1958, four-passenger Thunderbird was the first. Followed by the Pontiac Grand Prix in 1962, Buick Riviera in 1963 and, subsequently, the Oldsmobile Toronado in 1966 and Cadillac Eldorado in 1967. However, it wasn't until a redesigned, mid-sized Pontiac Grand Prix debuted for 1969 that the market for these types of cars really took off. Chevrolet followed suit in 1970 with their first Monte Carlo.
When General Motors rebooted their intermediate line for 1973 and rolled out their famous "Colonnade's", they were called that because of the pillar or column set behind the driver's door on the coupes and in the middle of the car on four-door models and wagons, the Monte Carlo was the most outlandish if not polarizing of them all. Allegedly an exaggeration of the "suitcase fender" design first seen on 1970-1972 Monte Carlo's, you either "got" these cars or thought they were as hideous perhaps as some think the AMC Pacer was. Many loved them, however, seeing how well they sold. Incidentally, the bulging, "suitcase fenders" were meant to evoke the spirt of classic cars from the 1930's.
If that seems far-fetched to you, well, keep in mind at the time, the "1930's" were only some forty years prior to when these cars made their ostentatious debut. To put things in perspective, this being 2022, forty years "ago" would be 1982. Are you feeling old yet?
In addition to the swoopy fenders, which I adore in case you're wondering, the Monte Carlo's triumphantly long hood is also a calling card of these beautiful monsters. Which, again, are supposed to be "mid-sized" cars. Note how big that radiator shroud is in front of that tiny, small-block Chevy. These cars were built on the 116-inch wheelbase that also underpinned the station wagon version of GM's new-for-'73 intermediates. However, rather than put all the extra space into the passenger cabin, designers put it in front of the firewall. Again, you either get this or you don't. To those of us of a certain vintage, "big-hood" means "big-luxury".
In this seller's market there is something to be said for used cars appreciating. Our 1977 Corvette has finally seen some decent lift of late but not to the tune of what this overpriced Monte is going for. I wouldn't pay half the asking price for this, but I can't fault the seller for asking that much.
I could, on the other hand, take exception to someone paying that much for this much in the same way I want to examine the head of the person who dropped more than $75,000, after taxes and fees, on the "Mirth Mobile".
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