(first posted 2/12/2018) It has been brutal lately to start my morning commute in single-digit (Fahrenheit) temperatures. It is February in Chicago, though, and despite last year’s really mild winter, what we have now in the (cold and) Windy City is much closer to what could be considered par for the course. Some of us like to think of our winter weather as a control against overpopulation, because summers here absolutely rock. Right around the beginning of spring, many of my friends and a few relatives start lining up their visits for when it’s nice out, with warmer weather usually starting around May and lasting up through the end of September.
I had previously had a decade-long respite from the snow and ice, having lived in Florida for most of my twenties. Still, there’s no other city I’d rather call home than Chicago, even with its occasional, severe Arctic blasts. These recent, freezing temps called to my mind my high school days and the joys of teenage car ownership. Such pleasures included shoveling my parents’ driveway, scraping my car’s windows, and standing at the gas pump (frequently) to fuel up my own ’76 Malibu Classic, pictured above and below in shots I had taken in the fall of ’91, shortly after I bought it.
I have always had a thing for the Chevelle – pretty much any Chevelle. I like its image, its name, and the way those two syllables just roll off the tongue. One of my high school senior pictures was taken next to a blue ’69 SS that was randomly parked on the street in downtown Flint. This was in the early ’90s. I had spotted it from our ’84 Ford Tempo while on our way to the actual photo shoot destination with our photographer from Van Dyke Studios. My mom seemed completely okay with this idea, as long as we would still proceed to get the “nice” pictures she wanted of me standing in front of downtown’s sculptural fountain. Of course, I chose a “Chevelle shot” as one of my proofs for printing.
I was determined to own a Chevelle myself, and even though all of them after ’73 were Malibus of some ilk (except the Laguna S-3), in my mind, my ’76 still technically counted as one. My car wasn’t the prettiest thing on wheels, the color was unexciting, and I came to suspect that no less than a third of all exterior body panels were chock-full of skillfully sculpted Bondo – but it was mine, and I loved it.
I had spotted our featured, cranberry-colored Colonnade near my local L stop, and I immediately remembered one thing about my ‘Bu: it had a very effective heater. Within mere minutes of firing up the 350 2-bbl. V8 and with the dashboard’s sliding temperature control pushed all the way to the right into the red section, the inside of my car was all toasty and warm. I positively loved the inside of that car, with all of its wood applique, cut-pile carpeting and couch-like cloth bench seats. It was like my own private living room on wheels.
Combined with that “1970s GM interior smell”, which was not unlike a cross between the inside of your neighborhood dry-cleaner’s shop and the local thrift store with its racks of polyester clothing of yesteryear, the inside of my car – with the heater going, the radio on, and in the middle of mid-Michigan’s bitterly cold winter – was a very comfortable, comforting place to be.
Maybe this is why I used to hit the local Salvation Army and Goodwill stores in Flint so often when I owned my Malibu – all of those GM-science fabrics and surfaces in my car must have given me a taste for vintage clothes. Anyway, it was such a pleasure to see the ’77 example above and below (differing externally in grille texture and taillamp lenses from the ’76) about five years ago. I remembered feeling the pride of piloting a GM-built, V8-powered, once-popular coupe around my car-building hometown at a time when many factories were still humming away, with the pretty, white plumes of their distant smokestacks silently dissipating (and polluting) upward into the cloudy, gray, Rust Belt sky.
While the Colonnade Chevelles may not top many lists of favorite cars, they’ll always have a place within mine, if only for the experience of having taken pride in owning one, myself. I’m fairly certain that, despite the open windows in both shots of our featured car, our driver was not lacking for warmth in that burgundy Malibu. Hopefully “Big Red” is still on the road today, looking as rust free as it was five years ago.
Burgundy Malibu: January/February 2013, Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois.
Beige Malibu: Autumn 1991, Flint, Michigan.
Don’t forget the one driven in “Say Anything”
Great write-up Joseph. Nothing describes the dead of winter in a North America Rust Belt city better than the opening photo in your article of a salt – encrusted car.
thanks for this write up joe!!! i owned a 1977 4 door malibu and i remember it fondly. it was a cream colored beauty tan interior. i held my first born in it back in 1981. really reliable car. i really enjoyed and now miss that car. got me through a few cold winters and never let me down. for those who don’t like this gen malibu….it’s a real shame they are comfortable, good looking, reliable cars. these were middle america in those days and you could’nt walk 2 blocks without seeing one. my father had a 1974 malibu classic 2 door.
I had forgotten about the Malibu in your past. You are absolutely right about the heater – nobody was better than GM at getting heat into a freezing car FAST!
As I think about it, was GM the only domestic company whose trajectory from 1966-76 was not straight downhill in the qualities of the cars themselves? Other than federally mandated safety equipment I don’t think there was much of anything a Ford or Chrysler product did in 1976 that wasn’t done as well or better in 1966.
GM cars involved more of a trade off. What you lost in materials quality (mostly in interiors) you gained in transmissions suspensions and brakes which were all leagues better in the newer cars. I spent a lot of time in these Colonnades (Oldsmobile and Pontiac mostly) and know that they had a lot to recommend them.
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oops
Hi, Ed. Something must have happened to your comment. I was looking forward to reading it – would you care to post it again? I had seen that it was something about not liking the Colonnades, but it looked like an interesting counterpoint. Points and counterpoints on this site make it more interesting.
I am not sure I agree with everything you said JP. While it’s true GM cars did improve their transmissions from 1966-76, they were also behind the times in ’66, at least in the lower priced cars. By 1976 GM transmissions were simply on par with Ford and Mopar. I’d also argue that brakes for GM, Ford and Mopar all improved during this time. They went from all drums being common place to disc/drum setups. While stopping distances weren’t hugely different, resistance to fade, and directional stability were vastly improved.
The suspensions on the Colonnades were good, but only if you went beyond the base suspensions. Grand Am’s for example were well sorted. Base level cars were nothing to write home about and bobbed and floated like most other stuff from the era.
FWIW, in the my area of the Great White North, Ford’s always had the reputation of having the best heaters, while GM’s had the best A/C.
The parental Luxury LeMans and Cutlass Supremes that I drove (1974 models both) were excellent handling cars. I know the Pontiac had sway bars but I think the Olds did too. Were they part of an optional suspension package? No idea but seeing as each was bought new “off the lot” I kind of doubt it. I dont think anyone improved their suspension designs in that decade more than GM. Their designs of the first half of the 60s were, shall we say, undistinguished.
The Olds Cutlass Supremes generally got a bit stiffer springs and better sway bar setup than a typical Colonnade. The problem is there were so many variations on the chassis setups for the Colonnades, and some were better than others. I think a little context is at play here too. Most of the miles I put on Colonnades were when they were already older used cars, and my family had already owned more modern designs, such as a Fox Ford or downsized GM Body. Compared to these cars, the Colonnades were nothing to write home about. Whereas, you were driving them when there were newer.
No doubt the Colonnades are better handlers on average compared to its competitors, but again there were so many variations in the setups over the years that’s not always the case. I do agree that in the previous decade GM’s handling was not ideal, but they started to get their act together in the late 60’s. One thing that helped the GM Colonnades “feel” like than handled better was the best steering box in the business with a relatively quick ratio, especially compared to Ford.
I can say doing some significant suspension tuning on that Colonnade chassis, it’s not bad for the time in stock form. However, it still takes significant upgrades to get it to handle well (at least by my standards).
That lead in shot is another one of your master pieces: perfect color match between the car and the building in the back ground. Also the perfect 90 degree shooting angle to the subject.
Some time you will have to publish a coffee table book with your best selection.
Wolfgang, thank you so much. This is not quite the same thing, but similar: I have had the thought to print out my entries on CC and put them in a binder as a coffee table book. That could be fun. I always tell people who ask me about my camera about this site.
Looking at these pictures, it appears Joe also has an affinity for stacked headlights. Good call, Mr. Dennis.
Like JP, I had forgotten about your Malibu. These Malibus certainly had many terrific qualities, but were so overshadowed by the Monte Carlo. They have definitely grown on me over the years. I saw a rather straight ’75 wagon the other day and it got me to pondering what-if’s.
I did like the stacked headlights on mine, at the time! I remember the brights / dimmer switch on the floor by my left foot – I always thought that was so cool.
I think that besides the ’73, and in present day, I like the ’75s second-best. I did really like my ’76 when I had it.
I don’t know, these Malibus have always struck me as being purposely unstyled. By that, I mean there seemed to be an edict at GM that demanded that Chevy’s MUST be the plainest cars sold by any of the divisions. I can almost see the higher-ups telling the stylists that the proposed designs for these cars are too attractive….you must make them plainer.
Having said that, in my opinion the model years with the single, round, headlights and the dual round tail lights were the most attractive. The models with stacked headlights look like an overwrought facelift.
If I were buying a colonnade car, the Malibu would be my last choice, except for the 73….and maybe the 74.
I also owned a 1976 Malibu Classic very similar to the one shown here.
It was the last car my grandfather bought (new) prior to giving up driving and offered it to me for a fair price.
It wasn’t a favorite car of mine, but it was hassle free and served its purpose well for me and my young family for more than a decade.
Great write-up Joe! I always enjoy hearing about the car’s you’ve personally owned.
Agree Joe, if Chicago had milder winters, we would have millions of more people spread out like LA/NY, and more traffic, sprawl, etc.
Joe
Another great entry on a much maligned malaise-mobile. I daily drove my Monte from 1988 through 2005, including Ontario salt encrusted Winters. Always had great heat, comfort. and reliability in what was already an “old” car. I’m not entirely convinced that competing cars from the period could have done any better. I know what you mean with the typical GM interior “smell” was like, especially with the heater on!
Dean, that GM interior smell is something so hard to describe, but you know it when you smell it! Your Monte Carlo is a beauty – I’m so glad I got to see it in person. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – I love your taste in cars.
Joseph
Here’s one missing from my collection. I’d like to call it “Failed Restoration on the Rocks”. There was a ton of good ivory to be picked from the bones of this example.
The interior pics reminded me of something. I never had an experience with a Malibu or any other GM model of this vintage so…was the tiny vent under the steering wheel good at directing heat?
I wish car interiors were still as plush looking as the blue interior shot – and that wasn’t even a Caprice or Cadillac. They all look like dark caverns of lost hope now. You spend more time inside the car looking out than looking in. Why don’t they make them as nice and inviting as they did 40 years ago?
With all the 60s and early 70s Malibus being used as fodder for the Barret-Jackson and Overhaulin’ Industrial Complex, these models are our last hope for a similar experience.
I can’t resist pointing out that nothing beats an electric car for bringing the heat on fast. The instant-on electric heater is nice on cold mornings. Does cost a bit of range though.
2nd best were those optional gasoline heaters sometimes fitted to Corvairs and VWs.
Ugh, “Chicago Silver” –the color my cars, and everyone else’s, takes on during this time of year. No matter the color underneath, salt-encrusted gray becomes the dominant hue.
Joe, first an ’85 Delta 88 and now a ’76 Malibu?? Are you going through all the cars of my past. I didn’t know you owned a ’76 Malibu. As I have posted on here, my father owned a ’76 Malibu as his daily driver for many years. Like you I had a strong affinity for Chevelle’s in my teenage years (I owned a ’72 Chevelle). So when my dad went car shopping for a new car, he wanted a lightly used GM B-Body or a Ford Panther. I found a ’76 Malibu in the classifieds that I convinced him to check out, because it was a Chevelle of course. My dad almost refused, citing this had to be a family car, and that it was too old.
When we went to look at the car, it was literally almost like a new car. It was a well preserved low mile car that was from Saskatchewan and had never seen salt. Even though my dad wanted something newer for better fuel economy, after he look at the Malibu and drove it, he couldn’t pass it up. He bought it and it served as his family car and daily driver for many years. He did drive it in winter, but he was meticulous with his car, using Krown rustproofing and regular hand washing. I have a ton of memories wrapped up in that car. It was one of the cars I learned to drive on, we did many family trips, it suffered my teenaged antics, it pulled our boat and my dad’s motorcycles. We regularly had six people in that coupe with three of them being 6+ footer teenaged boys.
Our Malibu had the nearly identical interior to yours, colour and all. It had the 350 as well, and it always did well even in -30 degree winter weather. That car proved to be one of our families most reliable cars ever. My dad retired it from daily driver use in 2007. Since then it has been in the possession of one of my brothers who drive it as a hobby car. I still get to drive it on a regular basis since I do all of his mechanical work. If my brother ever loses interest, I’d have to take it in.
Thanks for bringing back memories!
Vince, it sounds like your dad’s old Malibu was awesome. I’ll qualify this by saying that I had never ridden in the back seat of my Malibu, but it did seem cavernous inside, and up front, there was tons of room.
I believe the color of my car’s (your dad’s car’s) interior was called “Buckskin Tan”.
My mom had borrowed my car a few times, and she remarked a few times just how smooth, comfortable and responsive it was. She disliked the gas mileage, though. 🙂
It’s great that you still get to drive yours. Mine died an unremarkable death by rust after I sold it to a friend’s brother.
The back seat was tight on the Malibu, especially compared to my mom’s big Pontiac wagon. It was definitely pretty much as tight as my dad’s Torino. At least the long doors made entry relatively easy. I wouldn’t say all those trips were comfortable but they were memorable. I was lucky being the oldest and tallest, I often got to sit in the front or my dad would let me drive.
That Malibu was a great car, but one that went unappreciated by many for years. My dad always had his Torino, which was kind of his halo car, while the Malibu was relegated to daily service. Others in the family never though much of it due to its less attractive looks, and just being an old used car with nothing special about it. I however, always appreciated how reliable that car was, how it served our family so well for decades.
Our Malibu got pretty decent highway mileage, but around town wasn’t great. It didn’t get a lot of in town miles though, as my dad would walked to work for many years. It was used a lot on the highway for some years because my mom and dad lived in separate cities.
I met a kid at a kegger in high school who had a cherry Chevelle Laguna S3. We geeked out for a good 10 minutes over his car. To this day I’ve never seen another one.
my dad bought a 76 Malibu Classic new in 1976, 2-door, blue with a white top. it was a good looking car but as a kid I hated it because it was a nightmare getting into the back of that thing. Between the very long door and the big front seat which didn’t exactly fold out of the way, it was challenging to get in. And as a reward you got to peek out of that opera window in back if you leaned forward. it was like riding in a submarine.
It’s funny you should mention the opera windows. I was thinking long and hard yesterday to try to remember the last time I had seen a base-spec model ’76 or ’77 Malibu with the dual headlights and the full, pennant-shaped rear quarter windows. I honestly can’t remember.
I don’t think I ever rode in the back seat of my Malibu, so I have no firsthand knowledge about ingress / egress, but I will take your word for it. And yes, those were some long doors!
Joe, here’s a base ’76 with the large windows. This car is actually the identical colour to our families car. In recent years I actually swapped the stack headlights for the same front end as this car has. Both my brother and I always though the round lights looked much better on these cars. My dad on the other hand preferred the stacked lights.
Here’s another shot of the same car. This car has a very basic interior though compared the Malibu Classics. My brother’s car looks very close to this now, as my dad ditched the vinyl roof when it was repainted. It just has the small opera windows, which I think look better.
Vince, I like this a lot! Looks great as a slick-top, but I like the original, triangular rear-quarter windows.
I do like the original dual-headlight front that basically dated from ’75, but at the time I owned my ’76 with the stacked headlights, I was into many things retro – and one can’t get more ’70s-retro than stacked quad headlamps!
I like that you were able to swap the front clip on yours. There was a girl I went to high school with whose parents had bought her a bronze, ’73 Laguna coupe around junior year, maybe (early ’90s). Its paint was faded, but it was in great shape otherwise. I would have traded with Suzanne in a heartbeat, though it was clear she had a way cooler Colonnade than me.
Thanks, everyone! I suppose I remember the heater in my Malibu being very effective, especially in comparison to my family’s ’84 Ford Tempo GL and our ’88 Chevy Nova. Our ’85 Renault Encore was the only four-cylinder car we owned that I can remember that had a decent heater. By the time I had my ’88 2.3L Mustang LX, I was in Florida and never needed to use a heater. 🙂
Nice write up! This car reminds me a bit of the 76 LeMans coupe I had for a few years.
It pains me to see this car all salt and grime encrusted. You can actually see rust forming even in a still photo! I don’t share your optimism that it is still with us!
“all of them after ’73 were Malibus of some ilk (excepting the Laguna S-3)”
Not all. In 1973 you could get a Chevelle Deluxe. It was the rubber floor special. And my first car (right around 1990). Right after I got it a buddy bought a 76 Malibu Classic and what a difference 3 years made. We eventually had our own Collonade club with close to 20 cars.
Glad to hear that you were as happy with yours as we were with ours!
20 Colonnades was quite a substantial number! I hope there was good representation across the four makes. I did enjoy my time with mine.
BTW, by “after ’73”, I had meant ’74+… Paul N. had featured a ’73 Chevelle Deluxe last October in this piece https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/cohort-classic-1973-chevrolet-chevelle-deluxe-sedan-the-no-frills-colonnade/
(For the record, I’m solidly in the “like” group for the frontal styling of the ’73.)
My parents bought a 76 Malibu Classic sedan new, and it became the longest serving car of any of the ones they bought to ‘replace’ it. They kept it 24 years before they deemed it too rusty or unreliable to keep. I drove it last in 2000 when it had 200,000 miles on it. It was the car that wouldn’t die, but I do remember it having some issues with vapor lock early on, that seemed to resolve itself or dad fixed it.
It became my first car when it and I were 16.
And I now own a 77 Malibu Classic sedan, which has lived up to the reliable as an anvil reputation the 76 had.
Sure, they aren’t the best looking Chevelle, but it’s the one I can enjoy without much worry about it running off without me.
Joseph, that picture of your beige Malibu brings back a lot of memories. I was working for GM at the Fremont Assembly plant when those cars were new. After I was hired, I had a cush job for a while driving cars off of the final assembly line over to the head light aiming station. Later, I did the head aiming and drove the cars out to the yard. Then I was sent inside where I was installing seat belts.
Light colors and two tone combinations were extremely popular. We also built Monte Carlos, Buick Regals, and El Caminos. Four door variants of the Malibu and Regal were also on our assembly line. The interiors were all pretty nice even on the base cars, but they were really nice on the highly optioned models. Man, did these cars smell good when they were new!
Loved reading this. Hearimg your story reminded me of touring various GM plants in Flint when I was growing up. Completely agree with you about these interiors, and if the interior of my ’76 Malibu smelled good when fifteen years old, I can only imagine what one smelled like fresh off the assembly line!
Such an ugly car when placed next to the 66-67 and the 68-72. I am not a Chevy fan by any means but I have always had a secret desire for a 66 Chevelle Malibu coupe with the 327.
Hey Dennis: It took a while for me to come to like these Colonade Chevelles, my favorites were 65,67,& 69. I owned a 65 327/PG which was a really fast car.. However, the mid 70’s version had improved looks (IMO). In honor of your attraction to your home city, I dedicate this song, Enjoy!!: 🙂
https://youtu.be/InVShJPKlcI?si=5mh3KqtUQQYSvKrW