Photo from the Cohort by J.C.
There’s little I can add to the Monte Carlo lore on this post (for now). However, the vintage image posts I’ve been publishing got me thinking about the many lives and looks these vintage rides have had through the years. For example, on a post I made with vintage shots of Chevrolets from the 1960s and 1970s, there wasn’t a single one sporting Chevy Rally Wheels. A rare and unusual feat, as I was told.
But this 1970 one found by J.C. in NY makes up for that oddity, sporting them in earnest.
Of course, in the past, many of these carried whitewalls that altered the look of the car to… something else. Certainly far more formal, and broughamy.
Not that those rally wheels were that rare back then either, as this one sitting in a dealer shows.
And well, here’s a ’73-’75 one from the Cohort shot by canadiancatgreen some time ago. The kind of ‘classic’ Monte Carlo that I used to see around my high school in the late ’80s. It was mighty hard to think of them as broughamy or sporty by then.
Still, the point is that if the object (i.e. the car) remains, it’s only natural that as time passes, updates take place to fit current tastes, or to fit the desires we had in our youth. If the car survives, we’ll witness it go through duress, death, renaissance, or maybe even reinvention. And unless our featured 1970 one has been really lucky, I would think it has experienced many such fates throughout its life.
Related CC reading:
Curbside Classic: 1970 Chevrolet Monte Carlo — A Modest Beginning To A Huge Hit
You bring up a really good point. I went to high school in the ’80s as you did, so these 1970’s Monte Carlos do nothing for me: They were never anything other than beaters in my personal experience. Sure they were something completely different when new, but I never experienced that first hand.
Sort of like how we all know our parents were young at one time, but we never got to see or experience their youth – we only got to see them as older adults.
One of my automotive turn-ons is clever space utilization.
The Monte Carlo, with it’s coupe body hard points intended for a 112″ wheelbase repositioned on the 116″ wb Chevelle sedan frame with the stretch originally meant to enhance sedan rear legroom reallocated to hood length, is the opposite of that.
I’d forgotten how ubiquitous these were way back when .
In 1982 the L.A.P.D. bought a fleet of SS Monte Carlos and gave them to the drug & gang squads, that was interesting to say the least .
-Nate
That ’72 in “Mojave Gold” sure looks GR8!! A clean design enhanced by COLOR! Amazing, not WGB!! (WhiteGrayBlACK) 🙂
I must admit that I was and am very partial to that color!! It adorned my ’56 Chevy 150 for almost 18 years. DFO
My fav version of the “MC”!
To me, the top red car (initial photo) would look better with narrow stripe whitewall tires too!
These Monte Carlos were able to be personalized by the selection of many factory options. The cars are often “custom built” for the owner that ordered their’s from the dealer. That leads to some interesting combinations, though dealers ordered their inventory more carefully. Though I’ve never been a Chevy fan, I like the earlier models the best.
Really liked these when they came out. Stopped at the Chevy dealer and the salesman said there was one just off the truck in the back of the shop. Wife and I went back to look at it. Loved the color and the look of it. Opened the drivers door and noticed a few wires hanging from under the dash. Bent down to look under the dash and it looked like somebody reached under there and just yanked everything down. Wires, parts, everything. Walked out of there quickly and the next day went to the Olds dealer down the street and ordered a 1970 Cutlass Supreme.
Despite sharing some roof panels, the MC looks several inches taller than the Grand Prix, but I can’t find actual dimensions online. As a ’70s carspotter, I can’t remember seeing any slick top first gens and few non-landau second gens (also true of the GP). The ones that turn up vinyl-less in image searches now are bound to be repaints.
I’m reasonably certain that the junkyard Monte Carlo is a 1973 model, not a ’75, based on the taillight design and the fact that the license plate is in the bumper. All other Colonnade MCs had their rear license plates mounted above the then-required 5 mph bumpers.
My mother bought a ’73 Monte Carlo new; my brother and I helped her special-order it. It was dark blue metallic with a slick top.
You are correct. The taillights indicate it’s a 1973.
The original Monte Carlo was one that could credibly do either sporty or luxurious, depending on the options and colors chosen. I remember seeing one near my neighborhood back in the day – solid black, fender skirts and wheel covers – it looked every inch a luxury car, at least from a distance. Of course, versions like that one are not the ones that show up at car shows today.
I am not enamored by the “ReSale Red” paint color on this one; but have always considered this body the most appealing of all the various Monte permutations.
Some teen around the corner from me had one of these. It was painted blue with neon pine stripes (didn’t look as bad as it sounds) and had these rally wheels with fat tires. It appeared to be in good shape but iy was parked 90 percent of the time in front of their house.