As Good As It Gets! 1973 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
I normally wouldn’t give a flip about a second-gen Chevrolet Monte Carlo. How’s that for a brazen statement? However, this 1973 Monte Carlo Landau is so perfect that I must make an exception. It’s listed as having experienced 81K miles but you’d never know it by outside appearances. Is it a survivor or has it been restored? That’s a tough call at this point but let’s look it over and make a determination. This personal luxury coupe is located in Lakeland, Florida and is available, here on eBay for a current bid of $20,600 with the reserve not yet met.
The turn-offs for me with this generation of MC are the Super Fly character lines and headlights, opera windows, landau vinyl top, five MPH front ramming bumper, and emasculated power output, but other than that… The good points? Handling, ride and braking were all pretty sound, especially in a car of this size and a leap forward from the previous generation A-bodies. The Dark Red Metallic finish was incredibly popular in ’73 and the quality of this Chevy’s finish is not to be denied. Original or repaint? The seller calls it a “stunning original” so I’ll let it go at that. Same deal with the half vinyl top, it doesn’t show a single sign of age. Being a “Landau” model means a landau top, accent striping, “Turbine II” wheels, dual racing mirrors (driver’s side with remote control), and all of the requisite badging. There’s no listing back story included but this car has obviously been afforded some significant care over its 49 years of life.
I suppose some might consider the 454 CI V8 engine to be a big selling point but considering that this massive 7.4-liter, fuel-intensive engine (it’s there, under all of those hoses and smog plumbing) only spits out 245 net HP, it’s no great shakes. Sure, it’s well more than adequate but a pawn to what it had been two or three years earlier. It’s not said how this Monte Carlo performs, but I imagine it works well and as originally intended. The engine compartment and underside are clean enough to eat off of (though I don’t recommend it). Of note, the Turbo-Hydramatic 400, three-speed automatic transmission still has its original canister-style vacuum modulator – those things are almost always long replaced and originals, if you can find one, cost a pretty penny today.
The interior features first-year swivel seats, upholstered in black vinyl, and much was made of them upon their introduction. Many thought that the idea was new and unique but I believe both Ford and Chrysler had experimented with just such a design many years earlier. I recall working on the service line at a Chevy dealership in ’73 and I never used the swivel release on cars so equipped – I had to hop in and out of so many different cars a day that it was easier just to stick my behind in and then slide it right back out again instead of fumbling with the swivel release. But I guess if one is of a certain size, the design has its advantages. Regardless, the interior is perfect, it needs nothing. And that’s saying something as by ’73 the General was on a big cost-cutting mission and interiors seemed to fare the worst on that front, dash pads in particular, but that’s not the case here. Of note, in ’73 an amp gauge, instead of the more commonly found voltmeter, was still in vogue. Another change was removing the “Max” function from the A/C control head though that feature eventually found its way back. A nice inclusion here is the Delco AM/FM 8-track player.
So, do I like this Monte Carlo? Absolutely! Do I want to own it? Nope, I don’t like it that much. And a survivor or a restored car? I don’t know, maybe a combination of the two, some of it has survived and some needed help. Nevertheless, if you’re in the market for a second-gen Chevrolet Monte Carlo, I doubt that you’ll find a nicer example anywhere, wouldn’t you agree?
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Comments
Remember my Mom trading her 71 for one of these. It did handle better than the 71, power was not as strong as the 350 2bbl, in the 71. Hers was 350 4bbl and was the white accent (top and interior) same paint. Same rims, some flexible material molded to the rim over the steel wheel to look like todays cast wheels. Seems to me there was a thin beauty ring on them that doesn’t stay on the rim. The center cap doesn’t fit that well either. Not as good looking as the 71 I thought, but Mom liked those seats. Decent cars although the big block may take away the handling advantage.
My Mom had a loaded 73 Monte Carlo Landau. It was a good car, but those “beauty” trim rings kept flying off the car!
Big heavy gas guzzling engine, the extra weight negated any performance benefits
For a ’73… beautiful. Chassis pics required!
Chassis pics are in the listing. This is in excellent condition!
I quite like it for all the reasons mentioned to dislike it. The 70’s were a troublesome time, and this has a lot of classy appeal. That paint shines and overall this one would be a stately ride any day.
Maybe not $20K worth to *me* though.
Fantastic write up !! and I agree with all your points about the Monte Carlo and this one in particular…. Like you said, I like the car but I wouldn’t want to own it…. never could get my like meter to read very high for the Monte Carlos I’m afraid
I loved these when they came out, and still do. This car is beautiful, and so much nicer then the repainted green one featured a few days ago. If this was as close to me as the green one was (it was about 20 minutes from me), I’d have been there already to give it a serious looking at. I considered buying a new Monte Carlo in 73, but I was playing with dirt bikes then and decided I still needed my El Camino.
A pretty car, in a great color, that I’d love to have in my garage!
Nice looking Monte ! A friend had a ‘73 as a used car in the late 80s. Same exterior color and vinyl top if I remember. Swivel buckets, only in red cloth. 400 2 barrel so no 454. And I don’t think his had a tach. Smooth riding car. Fairly peppy.
That thing brings back lots of memories….. mostly of lots of blood sweat and tears thanks to many skint’ knuckles those were very popular however I wish I had a dollar for every a/c evaporator compressor or engine crankshaft that I had to change in them….
Same color as the 73 GTO featured below.What an exemplary pair of the best of GM colonnades .There are many of us out there who are fans ,as our Dad’s drove these .Don’t like the performance of the smogged BBC ?
$2000 in parts and a weekend will get you 400hp,and you would not need to touch the tranny or rear end .Gearing or high stall might put you in the high twelves,if that’s your thing .
Amen Brother, so many nonstop complaints about lack of power, that are simple to resolve.
Holley Sniper, fresh cam, and you’re there.
Soo many of these where destroyed by the Demo Derby guys and girls to try and win a couple hundred bucks.
Yeah, but they didnt look like this ; they were worn out tired 10 year old cars. We ( and a lot of other guys ) raced these in the Enduros back in the 80s. You could get them for 50 bucks or less out of peoples driveways . The Collonade cars were the most rugged cars for that kind of racing
Yup! Raced one and loved the distance between the fan and the radiator. Handled excellent with out mods, then make a couple tweaks… look out!
I had a ’75 Monte, in the late ’80’s, in the exact same color combo. 350 4bbl. Bought it for $500. Not a speck of rust on it! Drove it for two years as my work car. Beautiful car. Sold it to my boss and tripled my money.
The Monte Carlo was redesigned in 1973 and advertised as having improved European inspired handling. The style is love it or leave it but the Chevrolet and Pontiac Grand Prix had distinctive styling missing in a sea of current SUVs, pickup trucks and cars that look like a turtle shell or jellybean on four wheels. A 245hp V8 will still propel this heavy but comfortable vehicle smoorhly past all legal limits. Most modern 4 cylinder cars are only designed to pass a gasoline pump. That is what people today call progress.
As a child born in the early 60’s who became a teen in the 70’s..the Malaise era was my era.This was my fav of all Monte Carlos,the scond gen with round lights..did not like square lights on any car..that’s when my era got icky..lol.That being said..this is the most beautiful MC i’ve seen since my youth and i’m a Ford guy.
Wow those pics on ebay are truly stunning. Car is gone already as seller removed it. Could have been sold locally i guess.
Looks like it just came off the showroom floor.
And the swivel buckets were a great idea….could really use them now, not because I’m obese….but because of various sports injuries to my knees, legs and ankles. If you didn’t play sports you wouldn’t understand.
Don’t understand how anyone could try to punk this car and it’s condition. lol
I had a ’73. These cars were very good handlers with some simple changes. The worlds ugliest nose with the sexiest ass. I might be a player here.
“I normally wouldn’t give a flip about a second-gen Chevrolet Monte Carlo. How’s that for a brazen statement? “
As the owner of 4 First Gen Monte Carlo’s, your brazen statement is spot on!
I’ve got one of these with 454. It does fine. Lights the tires easily and pulls strong. Doesn’t do terrible on gas either. Those are the later turbine wheels. 76-77 version. 73-5 were darker shade,just a little different .The body side molding is gone,I’ve never seen a landau without them.
I had a new 73 black on black 454 Landau . . After loosing a trim ring the dealer salesman gave me a replacement . . I removed all 4 . . A while later I replaced the wheels with 15×8 Corvette wheels . . I think the Landau wheels were 15X7’s . . I never used the swivel seat feature . . The Govt. Cut the balls off the 454 . . That was a disappointment after my previous car was a GTO with 3×2’s . . The leaded gas at the time was rough on mufflers and spark plugs . . The tail pipes with resonators were a little pricey . . I replaced them with Tail pipes that had no resonators . . Might have been Chevelle pipes . . Good looking car . . Rode and drove quite well ..
I had to chuckle when I saw it mentioned that starting in 1973, GM removed the Max A/C separate function for these cars. I had a 74 Cutlass Salon coupe from 1981 to 2001, and presently have a 74 Supreme coupe that I bought in 2017. As such, I know a lot about those cars and their quirks and features, but though I’m great at keeping them clean and detailed by myself, and know what it takes to maintain them mechanically, I leave the actual mechanical work to the pros. But I find that it’s getting harder and harder to find anyone who knows how to work on the older cars properly these days, as most of those who worked on them back in the day as their livelihood have either retired or, sadly, passed on. So when I bought my present 74, which looked terrific and was mechanically sound, but needed to be brought up to date on lots of age related issues (exhaust, brakes, tuneup, etc), it was a challenge to find anyone who was willing, let alone able, to work on the car, let alone do so correctly. I did some research, visited a couple of shops to talk to the people there in person and get a “vibe” from them, and finally entrusted the Cutlass to a shop about 20 miles from my home. I was born in the early 60s, and the guy who runs the shop is almost half my age, but really knows his stuff – he’s got a natural mechanical aptitude, and if he’s unsure how to do something, he makes it his business to find out the proper way. He had the car running like a Swiss watch after the first time I brought it there, so little by little, I had him do more and more work as my wallet permitted over time. One of the things he did was convert the A/C to R134. When he gave me back the car, he apologized that he couldn’t figure out how to get the A/C to run on anything but the highest setting when the temperature slide was all the way to the left. I laughed, then proceeded to explain to him that on that car, when you slide the temperature control all the way to the left, that’s the equivalent of a separate Max A/C setting, and it only runs on high when it’s there. So even though I can’t work on my cars mechanically, the fact that I had owned a couple of these, and remembered what it’s like to drive one daily, enabled me to educate a very knowledgeable mechanic about something he might not have ever figured out otherwise!
We both had a good laugh over it…
Absolutely beautiful ride worth every penny for a 2nd generation monte if I had the money I’d buy it yesterday
Stunning car.