1973 Chevelle, Buy or pass up.

[Kyle.Kimber]

Hey all, I'm trying to buy a Chevelle Malibu from 1973 with the original engine. The engine has 37,000 and is a 307 5 liter. My question is: Is this a good deal for $6500, and also how many miles do old cars like this for the span of the engine? I heard they only get to 90,000. The car is in perfect condition and has been sheltered all its life. I went to see it and it looks great. Please tell me what to do. Thanks

[Lohman446]

Unless you like working on them stay away from older cars. It was true that cars in those days were not expected to get tremendous life expectancy but that can be helped along. Tremendous amounts of time sitting are not good on cars either, low miles are not all they are cracked up to be.

When I was 19 I bought a cherry '75 'Vette convertible. Great chick magnet but when I was driving to and from work I normally just took my truck.

[Kyle.Kimber]

Unless you like working on them stay away from older cars. It was true that cars in those days were not expected to get tremendous life expectancy but that can be helped along. Tremendous amounts of time sitting are not good on cars either, low miles are not all they are cracked up to be.

When I was 19 I bought a cherry '75 'Vette convertible. Great chick magnet but when I was driving to and from work I normally just took my truck.

I'm so glad you are still on this is my first post in like a year. This car is really cool and as long as I don't have to drop in a new transmission or buy a new engine I'm fine. I don't know a super lot about cars but I've installed spark plugs and suspension and stuff. Is 6500 good for it? Or should I try to negotiate less?

[cdacda13]

NADA for 1973 Chevrolet Chevelle Deluxe Colonnade 2 Door Coupe

NADA 1973 Chevrolet Chevelle Laguna Colonnade 2 Door Coupe
Don't know any of the options, so its just listed with the 307.

I don't know much about that era of chevelles, but the 307 is considered a 'smog' motor. Not a lot of power. Just do a complete service on it (all filters and fluids, cap, rotor and wires, clean carb) and it should be fine.

[skife]

honestly man, you can do a motor/tranny swap in like 2 days.

like lohman said, low miles arn't all they cracked up to be.
'73 isn't the prettiest year for chevelles

307 isn't the greatest motor
and for $6500 you can probably find a better deal.

[TnDeathInc]

v/8 have much longer life than newer motors as long as they havent been hotrodded, conside 100k about midlife

[skife]

v/8 have much longer life than newer motors as long as they havent been hotrodded, conside 100k about midlife

they have a much shorter life than newer motors.

how often do you see a newer vehicle die with less than 150k on the ticker?

[drg]

'73 is the beginning of the "bad years" for American cars ... that said they are still real steel vehicles and can have promise. $6500 for any car of that age though ... is a lot. It's not even a really desirable year.

[CoolHand]

they have a much shorter life than newer motors.

how often do you see a newer vehicle die with less than 150k on the ticker?

Not necessarily.

When my family had a construction company we had several crew trucks that ran all over, towed nearly all the time (with 24,000 LB plates they were still over weight), and carried a utility bed with a gas powered welder, oxy/acetylene rig, 100 gallon fuel tank, and about 2500LBs of tools in it 24/7/365. Suffice to say the trucks were used hard.

We had a 3500 crew cab Chevy truck with a 454 that ran under those conditions for nearly 400,000 miles on the original engine, THEN when it was down to 5 psi of oil pressure and made with the not so nice noises, I pulled it and tossed in a reman 454 crate motor and it ran for another 125,000 miles before we folded the company and traded it off for a F150 of the same year (with only 12,000 miles) and about $800 boot money.

Try THAT with a modern truck/engine, regardless of brand. My old man just traded off his '06 Chevy Silverado 3500 diesel because he was having trouble with it. At 60,000 miles it had already been in to service for nearly two weeks for a blown head gasket, a wonky steering box (that they never were able to fix completely), and it had started making odd noises at slow speeds. A two year old truck that was literally coming apart at the seams with less than 75,000 miles on it.

That all said, I would not give even half their asking price for a '73 Chevelle. A '67 in decent shape, sure, but not that early '70's turd. It'll run like a dog, AND get horrible mileage while it does it, not to mention the obvious ridicule you would receive (and deservedly so) for driving such a steaming pile.

As the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but ugly goes all the way to the frame.

[skife]

Not necessarily.

When my family had a construction company we had several crew trucks that ran all over, towed nearly all the time (with 24,000 LB plates they were still over weight), and carried a utility bed with a gas powered welder, oxy/acetylene rig, 100 gallon fuel tank, and about 2500LBs of tools in it 24/7/365. Suffice to say the trucks were used hard.

We had a 3500 crew cab Chevy truck with a 454 that ran under those conditions for nearly 400,000 miles on the original engine, THEN when it was down to 5 psi of oil pressure and made with the not so nice noises, I pulled it and tossed in a reman 454 crate motor and it ran for another 125,000 miles before we folded the company and traded it off for a F150 of the same year (with only 12,000 miles) and about $800 boot money.

Try THAT with a modern truck/engine, regardless of brand. My old man just traded off his '06 Chevy Silverado 3500 diesel because he was having trouble with it. At 60,000 miles it had already been in to service for nearly two weeks for a blown head gasket, a wonky steering box (that they never were able to fix completely), and it had started making odd noises at slow speeds. A two year old truck that was literally coming apart at the seams with less than 75,000 miles on it.

That all said, I would not give even half their asking price for a '73 Chevelle. A '67 in decent shape, sure, but not that early '70's turd. It'll run like a dog, AND get horrible mileage while it does it, not to mention the obvious ridicule you would receive (and deservedly so) for driving such a steaming pile.

As the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but ugly goes all the way to the frame.

my dad had a '91 chevy with a TBI 350 that went well over 300k, it still runs today. truck is dissapearing but the motor is still strong. I'm just saying its not common to see motors from back then run much past 100k 100000 miles back then was considered the life expectancy of a car. now its not uncommon to get 200-300k

[Lohman446]

I can make most any engine go 400K without replacing it, as long as you plan on reringing it or doing valve seals somewhere in there. Obviously there are exceptions.

Someone did bring up a point here though. There was a major drop in power from 72 to 73 in American cars due to emissions requirements. Then again, when your buying something that old power is not all its cracked up to be. Due to a change in net / gross rated horsepower you are going to find that many modern cars that are not considered sports cars actually come close to the power of all but the most powerful cars of the 60's and 70's.

There is no good way to accurately appraise cars that old. NADA is generally overpriced. The only thing to do is look around and see what they are going for in your area in that general condition.

I was looking at old Mustangs / Camaros last year because I wanted one. When it came down to it I bought a mid 90s Camaro instead. All the power and fun with things like functional air conditioning and power windows. Plus better fuel efficiency, safety, and reliability.

Then again, I hate working on cars in my off time.

[punkncat]

To get back on track on that car consider all this...

I am going to make a few assumptions, so correct me if I am wrong. This car has been in a garage for most if not all of its long life. It has few miles because its been parked for a very long time.

When you start driving it, every oil seal in the car is going to start leaking. All the hoses and rubber are going to deteriorate in record time. The interior will fall apart fast including cracking dash, seats, headliner, and carpet going to hell. The engine itself will more than likely develop a knock fairly rapidly from rust being worn off a journal or crankshaft (etc.) from the sitting time. The gas tank will be full of rust and possibly a great deal of varnish from old gas. Expect to replace all fuel lines, brake lines, master and slave cylinders, radiator, basically every mechanical part in the car will start to fail over the next few months to a year.
The paint on the car, especially if its original is going to fade and rust will appear from underneath rapidly. Old paint doesn't stand up well to todays envirinmental conditions.

Unless that car has had a complete off frame restoration, it will need it soon. I suggest that unless you just really love the car that you take your money elsewhere. Old american muscle can be fun, but it isn't going to be reliable, ever. Its 35 years old after all.

[p8ntbal4me]

I dont know alot about classic cars, but my brother and father took a look at this post so let me leave you with what they say:

If you can get it at a younger age and hold onto it, the CAR ITSELF is worth it. But you must add YOUR taste into that solution. My father had a 1969 Chevelle 396SS he had his first child with my mother so he had to do "the right thing" and part ways. He was 20.

Its was last year and my father saw a Chevelle that looked like his but different color.
My brother wanted a Chevelle in that year so he bought it. He paid $15,00 for it.

After a few looks under the frame and some trips to the DMV, my mother went digging through the records of his prior "toys",.... and finds that the VIN is the EXACT same one as on my brothers Chevelle. Someone tell me what the odds of my fathers youngest son buying "his baby" 31 years later?

So for my brother,... that made the purchase of the car "priceless".

"Its all in what you feel when you sit in it and how you feel after throwing a wrench across the garage because shes being stubbern. If you cant love it everytime, you dont need to have a car like that." <--- my dad

I will say this on my behalf. We are building a 2-bay garage, 10' doors x 12' wide, underground electric to the car lift, overhead tool hook-ups (air hoses, outlets, etc). In my EP Kit videos floating around here on the AO you can see the gutting of the old barn and the start of the new foundation. Were putting money into a place where we can work on the car and take care of it. If you dont have a place to store it and work on it,... I would look into getting somewhere you can give it the attention it needs.

~ P8nt

[drg]

Someone did bring up a point here though. There was a major drop in power from 72 to 73 in American cars due to emissions requirements. Then again, when your buying something that old power is not all its cracked up to be. Due to a change in net / gross rated horsepower you are going to find that many modern cars that are not considered sports cars actually come close to the power of all but the most powerful cars of the 60's and 70's.

GM A-bodies also underwent a significant styling change in '73 ... for the worse, IMO (and in most people's as well).

[dave p]

1973 fender jazz basses suck too, but they fetch from 5-12k. sometimes more.
if its mint, buy it. keep it garaged, itll be worth something whether its desirable or not now. people in the northeast fall all over themselves to get older cars, cuz all the ones up here rotted out years ago.