GM’s 1973-77 intermediate cars, known as Colonnades, get much love from us at CC. While the collector market hasn’t warmed to most of these models, we here at CC recognize that during an era when Detroit wasn’t exactly at its peak, these cars had a lot of inherent goodness. I think it’s also recognized that the dominance of the Colonnade car line in the personal luxury car field means they hold a significant place in history.
That said, we here tend to give a lot of love to the Buick, Oldsmobile and Pontiacs but the Chevrolets, at least the Malibus and Chevelles, seem to be the bottom of the barrel. Clearly, the 1964-72 Chevelles are well-loved and accepted by the collector community, but even die-hard bowtie lovers offer little love to the Colonnade Chevrolets.
I have made the argument that the Chevrolet Malibus from this era are probably one of the cleanest Colonnade GM’s of the era. Buick, Olds, Pontiac and even Chevrolet’s Monte Carlo had swoops and curves but the Chevrolet Malibu wore rather basic lines. Not until the revised Cutlass Supremes and Buick Regals was any other Colonnade cars adorned with such clean sheet metal. While the Chevrolet Malibu had clean styling, unfortunately Chevrolet stylists chose rather bland or unattractive front and rear styling on these cars. In my eyes this takes away from the remainder of the car, which I’d argue is relatively handsome.
I have to admit though, while I have come to this conclusion, as a former ’68-72 Chevelle enthusiast, there was a time I turned my nose up at these cars. Only after spending many years with Dad’s Malibu did I come to the realization that it is actually a nice clean design. Furthermore, they are relatively well-engineered, reliable, comfortable cars that are easy to maintain.
This ’77 Malibu Classic I found on Craigslist in 2019 was one that demonstrates Chevrolet Malibu’s clean styling in spades. Having very little trim and no vinyl top it shows off its rather attractive lines, which I think are especially noticeable from the side profile. I know many here have the preference of the more formal roofline of the Cutlass Supreme, but I have always thought the semi-fastback Colonnade roofline was far more attractive, having an air of sportiness during the drudgery of Broughams.
That said, I still haven’t warmed up to the stacked headlights that were adopted in 1976. Clearly, it was a quick patch job by Chevrolet Styling to bring the old body style in line with modern trends with minimal investment. Only the Malibu Classics received the stack rectangular headlights though, and base models continued to use the dual round headlights with a unique grille for 1976-77. Also new for 1976-77 were larger and squarer bumpers, which spoiled the side profile somewhat. At least the rear styling was inoffensive and consistent with the 1975-76 Chevrolet Impala.
This particular Malibu appears to be quite the time capsule, a wonderfully preserved original car in fantastic condition. The seller claims 31,000 original miles and based on the condition, I have no doubts this is true. Not only that, it is somewhat of an unusually equipped car.
This being Malibu Classic, it is a step above the bare bones Malibu. However, beyond the upgraded Malibu Classic trim and interior, it seems to have few other options. While over 90% of 1977 Chevrolet’s Chevelle/Malibu line had V8 engines, of those equipped with a six, the majority were the base model Malibus. Only 7,765 Malibu Classic were equipped with the 250 six compared to 24,076 base model Malibus.
Although the 250 six was once Chevrolet’s most powerful six cylinder option, by 1977 this was the sole inline six being used in cars. With ever tightening emission standards, the six was rated at 110 hp and 185 lb-ft of torque (SAE net). Not exactly a pavement shredder, but a powerhouse compared to the Ford 250 six and a 5 hp increase from 1976. However, I do question the seller’s claim that the car is “peppy.”
The original purchaser of this car did spring for the $282 3-speed Turbo-Hydramatic 350, which no doubt would help improve performance over the older 250’s equipped with the 2-speed Powerglide. By 1977 automatic transmissions were becoming pretty ubiquitous in this class, and Malibu was no different with 98.7% being equipped as such. The original purchaser also selected power steering ($146) and power brakes ($61), which were in 99.3% and 97.4% of 1977 Malibus respectively.
The original purchaser, however, kept the base hub caps on body coloured wheels. Air conditioning, a passenger mirror and even a clock were also not selected. By this time the majority of the Malibu line-up was equipped with air-conditioning, in fact 80.6 % were so equipped in 1977. However, many northern state and Canadian cars still were built without A/C. I also noticed it had the optional (and not very effective) rear window blower defroster and that it’s being sold in Rochester. So it likely was a northern car from new. Despite that, its undercarriage is very clean and unmolested, suggesting it was never exposed to harsh weather.
This Malibu is a true unique rolling piece of history that hopefully found a good home. The owner was asking $9000 for the car, which may have been somewhat optimistic. But considering how few are left in this condition, and how few are equipped like this, it was probably a reasonable price. It would have just taken the right buyer to come along and scoop it up. Let’s hope it found a new care taker.
All that car needs is the factory column-shifted three speed manual to go with the I6.
Most of the cars of this era looked OK, but we car enthusiasts used to the 1950s-1960s cars were turned off by the 1970s emissions slug engines of lower HP, lower Torque, low RPMs, soggy polite throttle response, and horrible MPG… plus the cars were gaining weight… even Camaros/Firebirds which had started around 3200 lbs. were pushing towards 4,000 lbs. by late 1970’s… 4 bangers got 14 MPG, 6s 12 MPG, V8s 8 – 10 MPG…
Although starting in 1976, some relief was appearing… Pinto Ponys were claiming 30 MPG… Iron Duke 4s at 28 MPG City / 34 MPG Hiway… Pontiac’s new 301″ V8 at 16 City / 23 Hwy… add 1 or 2 MPG more later when overdrive automatics became available…
Unfortunately, some V8s were really slow to be upgraded like Chryslers 360″ V8 born in 1972 as an emissions slug was still ridiculously rated 9 City / 11 Hiway until 1993 when it was finally upgraded into the Magnum 360 / 5.9L !
Excluding light trucks, the 1977 Malibu was the last, big, column stick-shift Chevy, which seems like something of the passing of an era. A survivor would be a terrific carshow find.
My family owned a Chevrolet dealership in 1977 and my demo for half of that year was a color #22 lt. blue metallic Malibu Classic 2 dr. The car in your article looks especially good with dog dish caps! Small coincidence-I bought a 1979 Caprice Landau from Rochester on Craigslist in 2017. I would have thought all cars that originated in Rochester would have been ravaged by the road salt used to make the streets passable during Rochester’s harsh winters. My Caprice and this Malibu Classic might have been the only exceptions. BTW- Bill Mitchell is my favorite car designer and VP of Design at GM, one of several reasons I bought my Caprice Landau.
As a former colonnade Malibu owner, I believed that the Malibu had simpler lines to maintain separation from the Monte Carlo.
This particular car sits funny with me, though. I can’t begin to understand why someone would buy the higher trim level with almost zero options, as opposed to getting a base Malibu with a few more options, maybe a V-8 and A/C.
This seems like the occasional minimally-optioned Chevy Impala of the 1960s, with their front fenders proudly proclaiming…nothing! (At a local annual car show here, I have seen, more than once, a ’64 Chevelle Malibu 4-door sedan with a six and aftermarket air conditioning.) I guess some people wanted the fancier trim level but wanted to keep everything else simple.
I would’ve paid a few bucks more for a Malibu Classic, just for the interior upgrade. As I recall, the interior of the base Malibu was pretty low-rent. The price difference between a base Malibu and a Classic was only about $240. Although I guess you could argue, that was still about 5% the base price of the car.
My Dad’s reasoning for stepping up the Chevy trim ladder was trade in value. The name plate retained more of its value than the options on the lower model to give it some of the extras the fancy trim level gave you. Since accounting was his original profession and being a frugal person, I’m sure it was all backed up by his research and a “spread sheet” done of course on graph paper with a pencil.
In this case that also gave the buyer the latest fad, rectangular headlights, that the base model didn’t get, both for the status and again for the better resale by not looking dated pretty much instantly.
Perhaps, I was too judgmental as a kid. But I did not find much appeal in that era’s average working class cars. Often well-worn by owners, and overexposed on the roads. Unfortunately, this was one of them.
Dusters, Gran Torinos, Mavericks/Comets, Pintos, Malibus, Citations (at their peak), drew little or no interest from me. And I loved checking out cars. Rarely, did they look their best. They were often unwashed, missing wheel covers, rusty, or otherwise prematurely tired, and neglected looking. The popular term is ‘malaise’. I simply considered them lackluster. Not in retrospect, but at the time.
I loved looking at cars as a kid. By 1976 or so, I was pretty fatigued by the Colonnade Malibus. Particularly coupes. Overexposed on the roads, and typically appearing maintained, like the owner’s lawn mower. One of the most overexposed cars of the 1970’s.
I cut the other Colonnades, a great deal more slack. As they appeared a little more interesting. Or had a bit more gingerbread. I liked the Malibu wagons.
The chassis of the colonnade cars is vastly superior to what the 68-72 Chevelles offered, it’s noticeable that the aftermarket sells complete kits to fully revise the early Chevelle steering and suspension with many commentators remarking how bad they were and that many upgrades are needed. The colonnade cars come factory with all the upgrades. The six cylinder in this car performs just fine, most ordinary driving would be no difference between the 6 or 8, one exception would be freeway merging acceleration. Once under way on the freeway, the 6 will go any highway speed desired.
At least it had power steering & brakes making it manageable in the long run. No mention of a radio, but lots of after market audio equipment available during this period.
If I remember correctly, the Buick & Olds equivalent were selling like gang busters.
We enthusiasts ordered radio delete credit in those days because for the price of a factory AM radio we could self install an aftermarket AM/FM/tape and 4 nice 3-way speakers… and the ’50s – ’70s music was fabulous!
I have a lot more respect for survivor Colonnades than I had for them when they were new. The trouble is that when these cars were young, it seemed that there were so many of them that rapidly developed major cosmetic defects. Adhesive oozed out from under chrome trim around the windshield and backlight. Adhesive oozed out from under the rub strips on the sides of the cars. Weatherstripping around the doors disintegrated. Paint peeled or faded. Maybe GM built these cars without fully taking into account that a good number would end up in desert climates where the sun, not icy roads, was the great destroyer.
Nope. GM door seals were just as bad in overcast Canada than in sunny Arizona. I also remember adhesive in these cars oozing all over the place. It is a bit odd because it never happened in the 1977 B Bodies.
As for peeling paint, in most of Canada the cars rusted to pieces before the paint could peel.
I think these in the wagon form are the best looking
That’s a nice one. I prefer the smaller quarter windows on the later Malibu’s. 250 6 with a Turbo 350 transmission is a durable combination.
To those of my generation, this car brings an instant image that involves a certain Lloyd Dobler and a big boombox playing Peter Gabriel. It’s even the same color.
I never cared for these cars when they were common, but today a clean survivor is a welcome sight.
Besides the headlights, the other reason to go for the base Malibu on a coupe would be to get the larger triangular quarter windows and the original slim Colonnade C-pillar instead of the opera windows seen here which look off when not surrounded by vinyl.
I have to disagree. These two-door colonnades were duds. A 1975-77 Nova 2-door was better driving car, quicker, more fuel-efficient, much better outward visibility, same pitifully small back seat.
A 77-79 Impala/Caprice was vastly better than a 4-door colonnade–much roomier rear seat, better-driving.
These cars were all about styling and “style”. That’s it.
That is a little harsh. The Colonnades drove quite well. Chassis turning really improved with this generation and the cars drove very much like a 1977 B Body.
You are right about the back seat, however!
The styling details on these after 1973 were a let down. Combined with questionable build quality of these details, it was had to muster much enthusiasm for the Chevelle.
I will say this Malibu Classic trim did clean up nicely for 1976 and 1977. The fact that I sometimes liked the stacked headlights on most cars certainly helps.
The Oshawa cars had decent build quality, or at least in compared to other plants in GM’s portfolio, Freemont CA coming to mind. The cars were also hit and miss. My dad’s 1979 Impala was mechanically bulletproof. The engine, for example, went over one million km. The exterior of the car was a quality nightmare.
This does appear to be a nice one. I preferred the “Pontiac, Tempest/Lemans” variation though.
This is a well-preserved time capsule, as it still has its side terminal battery terminals. Most GM cars that came with side terminal batteries have had the side terminal ends cut off and replaced with cheap top terminal ends. When GM came out with side terminals along with front side marker lights flashing with the turn signals on the 1971 models I thought both were great ideas. Sometime between 2004 and 2012 GM went back to top terminal batteries and non-flashing side markers and I have never understood why.
I loved side terminal batteries. They don’t require nearly as much maintenance as side terminal batteries of the era, which were constantly corroding up. The only downslide was it was harder to jumpstart a side terminal but it could still be done.
Two other things I noticed on this car: it looks like it still has its original pellet type catalytic converter and the external coil early type HEI ignition with conventional vacuum and centrifugal advances. I have noticed on some GM 6 cylinder engines (inline or V6) the coil would be in the cap like the V8’s while the engine on this car has the external coil. What is the deciding factor for the difference?
I loved my ’76 Malibu Classic I owned for about five minutes before I moved south decades ago. In my mind, the niceness of this example is what I dreamed mine actually was. I hope it found a good home six years ago.
This is quite a find. The prince seems a bit high, but I am old and remember $6000 new cars. Even at $9000, one would be getting a good car. GM cars of the era had many things going for them. First was the GM High Energy Ignition, which is by far the best electronic ignition system of the era. Another really good thing about these cars was the electrical system. GM used its twenty-one wiring harness for years. It is practically indestructible and in old cars, chasing electrical gremlins is a mug’s game; once it starts, you may as well replace the whole harness.
The Thriftmaster six was bulletproof. I can’t recall how many of them I saw horribly abused and still run. I knew taxi operators who literally never changed the oil once and they still ran. The horsepower may have been low but around town it would be just fine and the car would easily sustain and legal speed.
I am also unique among humans in that I like the stacked rectangular headlights.
These cars were trash. The beginning of the end for GM. I wouldn’t take that thing unless you paid me to. And then I’d take your money & drive it into a river.
I can’t see a Colonnade (or 2nd gen F Body) without hearing in my mind’s ear the rattle of its partly-down window when the door closed. They had a LOT of tumblehome, which can’t have helped.
Very nice ! this is a Colonnade I could go for .
The underside has clearly been resprayed poorly with Foo-Foo cans, I don’t see any rust but this always makes me suspicious and the crappy low buck improperly installed new exhaust doesn’t inspire confidence either .
The 250 CID i6 is a peppy little thing, remember : GM’s motto back then was “give a nice brisk tip – in and they’ll be happy” .
Plugging / disabling the E.G.R. valve and setting the proper ignition timing won’t make it any sort of race car but it will easily keep up with the daily needs .
I’d love this but it needs to go to someone who will cherish and baby it, not a guy like me who’d rack up the miles post haste .
-Nate
These were very cleanly styled as you say, sportier than the Cutlass or Regal. I really loved the Lemans design from this era, including round gauges (or gages in GM-speak). Ribbon style speedometers never made sense to me….
The styling was ruined by the 5 mph bumpers.
That little opera window (where lower-end models had a large triangular window) helps this Malibu pass for a personal luxury coupe; somehow my eye barely notices the lack of a stiff roofline the PLC genre usually has.
No “Chevelle” identification anywhere on the car.