This week, the T87 files will be opened on the “1970s Detroiters” tab. Big hoods, huge engines, garish detailing and vinyl roofs – in glorious overabundance. Let’s start with something not too exaggerated, something relatively modest and restrained, albeit with a dash of style.
And a big splash of green, too. Nowadays, you’d be lucky to find a single green colour option for your car. The 1972 Chevrolet Monte Carlo had three – this is Gulf Green, the more muted of the three and a very typical early ‘70s shade.
Might as well put up the options list at this point. Whoever ordered our feature car fifty-plus years ticked a number of boxes here, including the Custom package and the Strato-bucket seats. But not the fender skirts (good call), nor the Rally wheels (ditto). No idea about the engine, but I’d wager one of the Turbo-Jets with the Hydra-matic. Just an inkling.
The Monte Carlo was still a recent addition to the Chevy range in 1972, having debuted for MY 1970 as a sort of Malibu-plus with individual styling and a bit more wheelbase. It was essentially a Pontiac Grand Prix without the schnozz, just like the 1970-72 Olds Cutlass Supreme. Pontiac had led the way in reasonably-sized A-Body PLCs, and Chevy and Olds eagerly followed.
It was a winning formula that served Chevrolet (and GM in general) very well for a couple of decades. But as the ‘70s wore on, the styling got increasingly tortured and, in the end, truncated. It went from Monte Carlo to MOntE CArlO, then just “Onte Carl”. But as far as this first generation is concerned, unless one is congenitally opposed to ‘70s Detroit designs, the Monte Carlo is one of the best-looking PLCs of the pre-big-bumper era.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind a bit of torture, if it’s inventively done. My personal ‘70s fantasy garage has a 1971 Buick Riviera, for instance. Before I encountered this particular car, I don’t think this generation of Monte Carlo was really on my radar, but it is now.
It’s not perfect, of course. I don’t care for vinyl roofs, on any car. It never ceases to amaze me how widespread these were at the time, and not just on American cars. Never really understood the infatuation with mock-Enlightenment cursive script, either. That one is a very American trait, on the other hand, though one that was often imitated by Japanese carmakers.
But these affectations come with the territory, I guess. And there are plenty of endearing features to compensate for those minor nits, such as this gloriously green interior. That alone might be worth the price of admission.
Speaking of which, I have no idea how much one of these would cost to buy and run in 2024 Japan, but at least finding one is within the realms of possibility: they made over 180k of these for 1972, so a few must have survived.
Affordable, reliable, reasonably-sized and decently-styled – there are a lot of reasons to like the early Monte Carlo. The buying public seemed to be far more infatuated with the later models, with sales reaching over 400k in the late ‘70s. To each their own, but in my view, the first generation is unsurpassed, especially in this doubly green incarnation.
Related posts:
Curbside Classic: 1972 Chevrolet Monte Carlo – All Dressed Up With Nowhere To Go, by Joseph Dennis
Curbside Classic: 1970 Chevrolet Monte Carlo – A Modest Beginning To A Huge Hit (and Hips), by PN
In-Motion Classic: 1970 Chevrolet Monte Carlo – Motor City Monte, by Joseph Dennis
Cohort Pic(k) Of The Day: 1970 Chevrolet Monte Carlo — The Classics, Now And Then, by Rich Baron
Boy, do I remember that color. Oldsmobile called this 1972-only color Pinehurst Green, and it was the color of the 72 Cutlass Supreme my mother was able to scrounge late in the model year. Ours had this same green vinyl interior (with buckets too) but a green vinyl roof in place of the black one on this Monte.
I hated the color then, but have warmed to it over the years. It was a very popular color that year on GM cars of various brands.
I agree that the early MC was a really great looking car. And I actually kind of like the skirts on versions painted dark colors.
Not my favorite color (or favourite colour as it were) but in the 00’s there was a very nice green MC just like this locally and I always enjoyed seeing it. I too think these are prettier than the more baroque versions that came later.
I had that U-bar shifter in my 1972 AMC. God only knows why I spent money on that instead of something useful like brakes or tires, but I did…
Perfect. I’m probably in the minority but I believe this to be the most attractive generation of Monte Carlo, provided the fender skirts were omitted.
I agree… especially without vinyl also. The later versions were too baroque looking.
Brilliant. Dress up a Chevelle. Put the best GM intermediates had to offer in it for a luxury ride. The first generation Monte Carlo is the best. (The later ones were a stereotype with the silly fenders.)
Marketing target? Destoyed. The Monte Carlo was what every parent on my blue collar block wanted. Affordable. A good looking fake fur. The Chevelle in a Elvis jumpsuit and toupe. There were only two PLC cars that made people want one – the MC and the Cordoba. Then, they went to their Olds dealership and bought a Cutlass Supreme.
Such a simple idea. Done so brilliantly.
GM had some serious marketing mojo going by 1970. Every division now had their own Personal Luxury Car (PLC) and every one was golden. Since their gestation was during the musclecar era, the new, intermediate Grand Prix and Monte Carlo had performance options for those cross-shopping against the Dodge Charger, which would get even closer to a quasi-PLC for 1971.
Yeah, Ford had the new, successful Mark III, but the Thunderbird had been saddled with the ungainly ‘Bunkie Beak’. And the very attractive Cutlass hardtop was virtually a PLC on-the-cheap for those Oldsmobile faithful without the funds for a Toronado.
Some certainly decry the styling of the 2nd generation Monte Carlo as getting a bit cartoonish but the market sure didn’t think so and, frankly, I’m in the camp that thinks it’s okay, especially the versions that got the still available 454. I’d go so far as to say the big-block Monte Carlo and Grand Prix were the reincarnation of the original Chrysler 300 letter-series cars. If not for forces outside of GM’s control, those muscular PLCs would have lasted much longer.
It wouldn’t be until Roger Smith cheap downsizing of the E-body PLCs for 1986 that looked way too much like their small, plebian sibling versions (specifically, the Buick Riviera/Somerset) when GM’s tight grip on the PLC market began to slip.
Yep, the 1970 Olds Cutlass Supreme notchback coupe was introduced the same year as the original Monte Carlo. I really like both of these cars. Both were attractive and very good cars.
Agreed. Oldsmobile had a real sleeper in the 1970-71 Cutlass SX Holiday Coupe. It was the notchback, luxo-cruiser version of the 442 without any of the typical musclecar frau-frau like those big hoodscoops. I dare it was a better PLC than the bigger (but slower) FWD Toronado.
Tough choice between the Monte Carlo SS454, Cutlass SX, or Grand Prix SJ.
Triple green, the only thing missing is the ‘eco’ badge next to ”454”…note that today we have eco-boost pick-ups .
These pre-bumper Monte’s are good looking cars. I’m amazed that the Monte still had a 3-spd manual (GM doing the GM thing – to advertise a low MSRP) as the base transmission, though I doubt many were spec’d that way. And no 4-Speed at all?
Ditto for the ancient (but nearly bulletproof) Powerglide two-speed automatic transmission.
At least they didn’t spec the 250 CID 6 as the base engine.
I believe there are a few, factory 4-speed 1st gen Monte Carlos.
But, yeah, I’ve never seen a 3-speed (column mounted, yet). Even more bizarre is that the base 3-speed manual lasted into the second generation car, as well. But, to the best of my knowledge, none have ever been found and all got the ‘optional’ automatic. Same with the ‘optional’ radial-tuned suspension.
Count me a fan of green interiors, too. But why did they make the seats look so plast-sticky? Corduroy would habe been a nice thing …
When I was growing up, the guy immediately across the street from us had this car’s doppelganger. I always liked the Monte, but at 9 or 10 years old, I had no idea that this car was on the same platform as a Chevelle. This makes sense though, since it was smaller by about the same amount as compared to my parents’ Grecian Green ’68 Impala.
Green really was a thing in those day, eh?
It seems all cars came in multiple shades of green that seemed to change slightly with every model year.
I liked these a lot, more so that the “Rolling Hills” effect on the profile view of the subsequent 1973 to 1977, and then the downsized ones that came out in 1978 (where the rolling hills REALLY looked extreme). I was happy to see GM tone that look down a bit after 1980. My ex and I had a maroon 1984 with the 4.3L that was a really nice used car, until someone totaled it after only 3 months of ownership.
This vintage MC is and has been my favorite forever. My brother had a 1977 I think in a maroonish red with white top. I liked it, but never as much as the 71/72’s and yes, I liked them with the rear fender skirts the most. Made it stand out from the rest.
The interesting thing about the first gen Monte is that it could either look very formal with the vinyl top, fender skirts and full wheel covers, or it could look very sporty without the vinyl top or fender skirts and with the rally wheels. Personally I would have bought the original 1970 or 1971 model in this sporty version and added the 454 and bucket seats. That would be a screamer. I prefer the headlight bezels, parking lights and grilles on the ’70 and ’71 models to the ’72.
Given you won’t be traveling anywhere fast in greater Tokyo this kinda makes sense provided you have a space to park it at home. A luxo-cruiser that will grab attention and keep you in comfort in all that traffic; gas mileage be damned because how far from home will you really go anyway?
I like the car, but I detest the aftermarket body side molding somebody tacked on over the years. I’d rather have door dings.
We had a vinyl roof on a couple of cars from ’73 to ’82. In the first case, we bought the car without knowledge of the presence of the vinyl top. Then they called us to inform us our car had not had the vinyl roof “recorded on the stock card.” Extra $50 bucks please. What a cash steal. I told em to take it off – either the vinyl or the $50.
The second instance, the car came with vinyl, which was unusual in that it had been a company car.
Great find, first one of these first gen’s I’ve seen here. Have seen a few last gen models, but they all seem to have been given the low-rider treatment.
Cool find, and I love the color!
I think this Monte Carlo is extremely attractive. Personally I like the Chevrolet Rally Wheels. For the most part I am not a fan of wheel covers. These are no exception. Truthfully the only wheel covers from this Era that I liked were the Dodge Dog Dish Hubcaps. Of course those only belong on a Dodge.
I did see a 70 Monte Carlo on Ebay a few years ago in dark green. It was equipped with the base 350 and “3 on the tree” and low miles. It had a damaged front fender but was very solid. I think it sold for under 8 grand. Should have brought it. That 3 speed manual would have been a crowd pleaser. That was the only 3 speed column shifted Monte I had ever seen.