Dusty 1972 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu SS Clone
For the past several years, the second generation Chevelle Super Sport has been one of the most often cloned muscle cars. And it’s sometimes hard to distinguish an imposter without a build sheet. The seller of this 1972 Malibu is forthright in acknowledging this is an older tribute, dating back to at least 2007 when it first went into dry storage. It’s not in running condition, but the body may be okay except for one of the rear quarter panels. Located in New Bern, North Carolina, this ’72 Malibu is available here on eBay where the bidding stands at $13,400.
From 1966-68, the Chevelle SS 396 was a series of its own in the days of growing demand for mid-size performance cars. From 1969 forward, it reverted to option status, which can muddy the waters in terms of sorting out an SS from a Malibu. Given the VIN provided by the seller for this Chevelle, it left the factory in 1972 as a Malibu with a 307 cubic inch V8, a motor not available with the Z15 SS option. At least 15 years ago, the seller’s car lost its original engine in favor of a 350 V8 of unknown vintage.
As the story goes, this Chevy was taken out of regular use and stored in a climate-controlled garage in North Carolina beginning in 2007. That’s the only photo provided indoors, as the rest are from under an open carport where it’s been since the seller acquired it not too long ago. We’re told it has not been washed in ages but should clean up nicely when addressed.
The body and paint don’t look bad overall, but the driver’s side quarter panel is both crunched and rusted, so a replacement will be in order. Corrosion may not be a big issue elsewhere. The sheet metal lines up correctly and the doors open and close properly. The chrome parts on the car should respond well to polishing. We’re told the black interior is original and needs cleaning, but there is a tear in the front bench seat. A prior owner added a CD player to the sound system.
No mention is made as to what it will take to get the motor and automatic transmission to propel the car once again. The 350 looks lonely under the hood and the seller believes there was factory air conditioning there at one time, but the hardware is gone now. A Holley carburetor sits under the air cleaner and a new battery has been installed. I suppose you could resurrect the Chevelle as the SS 350 it was emulating, return it to pure Malibu status, or go a different direction altogether. It comes with some spare parts, including a set of chrome headers in the trunk.
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Comments
Neither the front seats, nor the door panels are original. While the back seat is original, it’s ripped and torn, meaning that it will take more than a good cleaning to bring it back to life.
A lot of people like to turn “regular” Chevelle’s and El Camino’s into SS’s, but the one thing they almost always forget, or neglect, to change is the instrument cluster. The Chevelle used a straight speedometer. The SS cluster had a round speedometer in one of three large round pods, even when the optional gauge package wasn’t ordered. It’s not easy or cheap to make the switch, so most people don’t bother.
Not only is the AC compressor and brackets gone, but they gutted the evaporator box too.
It’s already over $14K, which seems like a lot to me for what’s basically just a nothing special old Malibu, that needs a fair amount of work.
thos look like chevelle door panels to me, exact same ones in my 71, just slightly nicer.
The armrest and top portion were part of the original panels, but the panels have been changed below the chrome foil divider line that runs across the top third of the panel.
The panels originally would have had vertical, heat pressed pleats, below the chrome divider line, and a carpet strip across the bottom couple inches of the panels. The pleated section and the carpet strip has been removed from the panels in this car, and looks to have been replaced with smooth, black vinyl. If you look closely at the picture of the side panels in the picture of the back seat, you can see the pleated portion of the panels, that the front door panels should also have.
I’m very familiar with what the 70-72 panels should look like (all three years used the same panels). I have a 71 El Camino that I bought new just short of 50 years ago, in May 1971. And it still has it’s original panels in perfect, unrestored condition. :)
Nothing wrong w non ss original Chevrolet chevelles.
4th generation
My last Chevelle I had was a ’72 Chevelle Malibu. Like a lot of them it had a 307 CU with factory air, but like a lot of people couldn’t afford a genuine SS so my sister-in laws ex boyfriend at the time was a Chevelle guy, He had an xtra SS hood and SS bucket seats I put in painted it Cranberry red and there I had my SS clone lol. Loved that car, it ran great and with factory air was nice taking drives to the beach with my late wife. I wish I never sold it but buying a house and raising a family took precedence.