Beauty Or Beast? 1975 Chevrolet Caprice Convertible
You’ve got to admit, when you see this shiny droptop listed here on eBay in Dallas, Texas it does appear to be a great looking, low mileage survivor. Even with bidding over $17,000 it hasn’t met the reserve. This droptop is “loaded” with AC and power everything. The color combination is not for everyone, of course, but it appears to be a great example of the last of the full-size convertibles. It’s being sold because the elderly owner is no longer able to drive it.
It is being sold by a dealer who says it runs and drives beautifully. This car looks like a beautiful low miles survivor that was well taken care of for many years. However, when you look at the pictures carefully and read the description, you might wonder. There are several things that show this car was restored and perhaps the work was not done well. The interior looks like new in this picture. There is at least one stain on the carpet shown clearly in the detailed photos. There are no cracks showing on the dash, but if you look closely you’ll see the dash has a plastic overlay. It appears likely this car has been reupholstered at some time. Those pedal covers look really nice, but it’s very easy to replace the worn covers.
Here’s the 175 horsepower 400 CID V8. It is very nicely detailed. It appears to be completely original with no signs of overspray.
There’s rust on the underside. Hopefully, it’s only surface rust and that shiny area is not a patch in the floor. It would definitely be worth taking a closer look before buying.
We’ve all seen them, the “20 footers”. They look great until you look closely. When you read the ad, you might assume the old gentleman has owned the car for many years and took great care of his droptop over the years. This car is being sold by a dealer though and does not actually say how long the fellow actually owned it. It’s possible he purchased it in the last few years after it was restored. This lovely drop-top could be a beautiful survivor or it could be a poorly restored car with lots of Bondo and paint covering a rusty hulk. There are several clues if you look at the pictures closely. The rear bumper is much lower on the right-hand side. The bumper’s alignment could be hiding something scary or at least an indication of the quality of the restoration work. The alignment and gap of the doors are far from perfect. Because it’s a convertible, there’s a good chance the floors could be rusty so they will need careful inspection. Reading the ad raises several more questions and concerns. It’s been repainted indicating some restoration work was done. If it really has less than 35,000 miles, why did the front end need to be rebuilt? Why is the VIN plate missing from the cowl? Does this indicate damage repair? Will it be a problem verifying the VIN to register this car in your state?
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Comments
The VIN is not missing.
Ass monkey car
Sorry, not a restoration candidate for me. This would be my summertime daily driver!
If it’s genuine then it’s a nice piece of equipment. There are a couple of niggling little things that ring alarm bells for me. Firstly, the plastic kick-panels in the front foot-wells appear to be odd, as if they are significantly older than the rest of the plastic in the interior. The other thing that worries me is that stain on the carpet. That looks less like a leaking heater core than “bleed-through” from rust in the floor. That would be the first thing that I’d be checking.
Door cards have been painted, have you ever seen white panels, in a convert no less, that haven’t yellowed over years? Dog legs look a little thick by the skirts. Seats were blue like the belts. Driver door bottom shot, putty showing, paint on new weather strip. Way over priced.
Good pickup on the weather strip Nrg8. I missed that. I also have to ask the question: How old is the right-hand half of the exhaust system? That’s looking seriously crisp!
Yeah , good eye. I missed the crunchy looking side. Guess they chopped the y pipe and added as little new parts to make duals. You can also see the original gun metal blue at the masking tape line. Brochure doesn’t list a baby blue. Some one did alot of work.
The white panels are surely repainted. My ’73 88 convertible has a white interior & the lower door panels have yellowed & nothing I’ve tried has whitened them. I also don’t understand why bidding is so high on this car. If I were to sell mine, I’d never get close to this number.
Not many, if any, GM cars back then had white seat belts. If “deluxe seat belts” were not ordered, on cars where they were not standard, all the belts were black. If “deluxe seat belts” were ordered, they were either the same color as the seats, or in the case of white interiors, the color of the the rest of the trim (e.g. carpet, dashboard, etc.
my thought on the carpet, is , this car definetly had a floor mat, as shown where some of it is more worn than the rest , and I think what I am seeing is the worn carpet Converts aren’t my cup of tea, even the hard top was a barge I am learning a lot from this site as to what to look for I thought I was good at spotting things . but, you guys are good!!
Beautiful car, wish you could change the bumper though.
Beauty.
My 73…..
Not as clean yet
I had a 1974 Delta 88 convertible.
I will never have a car with a scissor top again.
If you are interested in this car, take the time to click on the “full description item”; lots of pictures, etc. Looks okay but it does seem to be a bit dear with the price. Typical 1975; 400 ci and 175 hp. But, as Rolls Royce would say about horsepower, “adequate”.
It’s pricey and expect stripping paint down to metal to find all the Bondo .
I like earlier models but this one could grow on one person . Just pray those pesky sisor top
Frames never get out of line as your in big trouble ! GM should of keep their earlier technology top
frames !
http://www.remaker.com/caddy/scissortop.html
Barn finds? Change the name to “youpickapart”
Lol.
I have no interest in this car, especially at this price. It does bring back memories though. When l was in my 20’s my boss had one just like it. I thought it was gorgeous! Once it was out of warranty, l was the only mechanic he would allow to touch it. The condition of the interior on this one is suspect. The only complaint my boss had was that the door cards began yellowing after only 4 years, and his was garage kept! Now here we are 40+ years later and these look this good? Either they have been painted or they are NOS.
My favorite year was 1977 but I like the 2 door hardtop I’ve never been a fan of the drop top. The hard tops had a concave rear window that just looks sharp and by 77 the front had 4 square headlights which I think better suites the body style. As for the door card so what if he painted them maybe the owner didn’t like yellowed panels either. As for the exhaust, cutting the y pipe and adding a second pipe was pretty common practice back in the day it helped that smog choked engine breath a little better. As for the old side being crusty that’s to be expected it’s 41 years old. As for the seats I hope they were recovered now they’re good for many years to come. I see nothing to much wrong with this car things like door alignment might mean it needs new hinge pins those ar heavey doors and would wear the pins out in a few years. I’ve noticed that the gripping start at the top with the write up and has continued into the comments. Finally if it is over priced then it will not sell just because the asking price is high doesn’t mean they’ll get it.JMHO.
My favourite classic Chevrolet must be the B body 77 to 79 Caprice or Impala coupe with 350 4B and in All original low mile survivor condition of course!
Not as nice as what the seller would have you believe. New exhaust but no cat converter and a kind of dual exhaust system. Can’t see how it was done forward of the crossmember. Oddly ordered compared to most 75 converts. No locks, base engine, etc. The best this could ever be is average.
Too bad it’s so overpriced. Nice car to take to local cruise nights. After tossin’ back a few Buds nobody really looks that closely.
Cheap classy convertible and a good daily driver.
It’s no virgin. That filler “applied” to the door bottoms undoubtedly hides many horrors. The kick panels in the front footwell area turn to brittle chalk when time, and sunlight conspire against them, I believe they are probably original. Ill fitting body panels were a GM hallmark in the 70’s however this car may be hiding prior damage, rust or shoddy work. Tread carefully.
This was my all time favorite car to drive.
Unfortunately guys, after 1976 there was no Impala/Caprice convertible or 2 door hardtop, they had a B pilar making them a 2 door sedan. I did like the 77/79, loved the bent glass rear window. I still would like to restore one as a ” what if ” SS version.
Had a black one back in the day, also with the 400 ci in. It was slower than a school bus and burned gas like it was free. This is a nice example but those big mid 70’s Chevys were the low point for the brand.
Interesting that the same company built this PROPER car is the same company that pooped out turds like the Cavalier aka Cadaver, Corsica aka Corpsica, and Cobalt.
This car pushes all the right buttons for me, except for the price. I’m just not sure it’s as clean as it appears & what the paint may be hiding underneath. But, if it is a legit clean rust free car, it’s probably a good price, as it would cost plenty to restore one. Still, I like it.