"Boxer_4" (Boxer_4)
05/31/2020 at 14:26 • Filed to: None
4
17|
"Boxer_4" (Boxer_4)
05/31/2020 at 14:26 • Filed to: None | 4
| 17 |
If the hubcaps are original, then I believe this is a ‘77-’79 model. I’m not completely certain, however.
fintail
> Boxer_4
05/31/2020 at 14:36 |
|
Yep 77-79, the greenhouse proportions and front clip changed for 80.
Kind of a milestone car when new, a quantum leap from the older cars, and very well received by the motoring press.
Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
> Boxer_4
05/31/2020 at 14:37 |
|
‘77
Is it for sale?
Very rare now. The only examples surviving these days are the coupes.
|
Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
> fintail
05/31/2020 at 14:38 |
|
1977. Motor Trend Car of the Year for 1977
WilliamsSW
> Boxer_4
05/31/2020 at 14:38 |
|
I’d say so. We had a 79 wagon when I was a kid, fake wood paneling, 3rd row and all. I definitely recognize that front end.
|
Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
> Boxer_4
05/31/2020 at 14:39 |
|
Equipped with a 120-horsepower 305 CID V8 and a Turbo Hydro matic 200 transmission.
Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
> Boxer_4
05/31/2020 at 14:44 |
|
The one that you spotted looks a little better than the one I spotted today...
|
fintail
> Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/31/2020 at 14:50 |
|
And others raved about it, too. I guess with the inexpensive “handling package”, they drove really well relative to other period domestic cars.
|
Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
> fintail
05/31/2020 at 15:00 |
|
I learned to drive on one and it drove very well, but the 305 V8 had like 105 horsepower... I’d love to restore one and LS-swap it but maybe in some other lifetime.
Do you think the riots will help or hurt efforts to oust 45?
|
Boxer_4
> fintail
05/31/2020 at 15:10 |
|
I’ve never really looked at these Caprices much, and most of this generation I’ve seen are likely the post ‘80 variety , so I missed that. Very interesting.
|
Boxer_4
> Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/31/2020 at 15:14 |
|
I found it in a grocery store parking lot. Looked very original, and was still running a standard license plate.
|
fintail
> Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/31/2020 at 15:14 |
|
With enforced 55 mph speed limits, I am sure it was adequate. When I was a little kid, maybe 4 years old, a neighbor had one of the “glass house” coupes, I still remember it:
I don’t think the riots will change any minds. The left will say there needs to be some disobedience, but no fires of course, the right will continue to preach law and order, but only for the laws they like. 45 has a history of stupid statements, new ones on this subject will fade into the roar in no time.
|
fintail
> Boxer_4
05/31/2020 at 15:19 |
|
The early ones, sedans and wagons, are quite thin on the ground these days. And for logical reasons, they are all over 40 years old now.
I think it was an overall excellent design, especially for the big 3 of the time - Ford or Mopar had nothing to compete for a little while.
|
Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
> fintail
05/31/2020 at 15:22 |
|
No, the 305 was not adequate. Not for a 17-year-old driver, anyhow. After the TH 200 transmission failed and was rebuilt to TH 350 standards, that was an improvement. Funny thing, the transmission shop did not get the kickdown linkage hooked up properly and only my foot was heavy enough to notice that and get Dad to have that straightened out. What was that, G-body? I loved those cars of that era, but I’d have loved whatever I was driving at that age.
|
fintail
> Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/31/2020 at 15:30 |
|
Ah the TH200, forgot about that. When I was a student, my roommate had an 83 Monte Carlo with a 305/TH200 (aging car then maybe 15 years old). I remember the transmission failed, but the car had over 100K on it by then, so it happened.
A Monte Carlo would have been a G body, the Caprice/Impala is a B body. And I can relate to loving whatever was available as a teen. I did a bit of driving in a Ford Tempo for a bit, and was thrilled to have it.
|
Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
> fintail
05/31/2020 at 15:35 |
|
The TEAM OPPOSITELOCK Lambo is a ‘76
|
fintail
> Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/31/2020 at 15:40 |
|
Good year for those
ranwhenparked
> Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/31/2020 at 16:38 |
|
And for good reason. They cut 21 inches out of the length, and 637 lbs from the curb weight, increased fuel economy by 4-5 mpg, interior space barely changed, and the trunk got noticeably bigger. Preserved all the big car comfort and ride quality that customers wanted , and wrapped it in a very elegant variation of Bill Mitchell’s Shea r Look design language. These were as important to GM’s bottom line in ‘76 as the Silverado is today, they couldn’t afford to get it wrong, and they didn’t.