Luxury Meets Muscle: 1966 Chevrolet Caprice
The Chevy Caprice was added to the lineup in 1965 as a competitor to the new Ford LTD. Just as the LTD was an option on the Galaxie 500, the Caprice was on the Impala. But it would be so popular that it became a series of its own in 1966 and remained so through 1996. This ’66 Caprice Custom Coupe combines all the luxury that Chevy could offer with a big-block 396 cubic inch V8 and a 4-speed manual transmission. Whether it’s rare or not isn’t known, but this looks like a project cruiser that is almost finished. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this Chevy is available here on eBay where the opening bid of $10,500 has not been cast.
Until the advent of the Caprice, the Impala Super Sport had been the top-of-the-line full-size Chevrolet. In 1966, the company produced 181,000 of the new Caprice vs. 119,000 of the Impala SS, so the roles had reversed, and the SS editions became increasingly less in demand through the end of its run in 1969. Since you could get both nameplates with any Chevrolet power in ’66, the Caprice stood out over the SS because it was more luxurious, and the coupe came from a formal roof while the Impala had a fastback.
The VIN on this Chevy identifies it as a Caprice, but we don’t know if the vehicle’s numbers matching. As much of the car appears to have been redone, was the 396 and 4-speed in it from the factory or added later? The Marina Blue paint is nice and shiny, and the black bucket seat interior is most inviting. But how did all of this come about and why has the seller not finished the work himself/herself? We’re told only a minimum amount of effort is needed to button it up and all those parts may be in the trunk.
It’s said to be a strong-running auto and goes through the gears well, so why not pull it out of its storage space for better photos? There are loads of new parts which include the exhaust, carburetor, fuel tank, and more. But has the engine been redone at 115,000 miles? And why does a powerful car like this only have manual drum brakes? The original wheels and covers are gone, replaced by some aftermarket wheels that have lots and lots of bling. This may be a great car for cruising around Arnold’s Drive-in on Saturday nights!
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Comments
Looks like a perfect project to finish, matching numbers or not! Put the grill work back on, sell those ridiculous rims/tires, upgrade the brakes (Wilwood?) then drive the beast anywhere and everywhere.
You are so right about the wheels and tires
Awful trend indeed.
sooo right, what a way to cheapen up a otherwise classy machine.
the cheap chinese bling on these is disgraceful
however, maybe theyre just ‘rollers’ and they are keeping the nice wheels
This is killing me. 1 day left and onlty $10k? It has to climb like crazy. 396 and a 4spd. Almost worth the Alimony payments when I kick the wife’s car out of the garage for it…
Making me sweat….
I’d like to get a look at the internals on that 396 and upgrade the brakes (including adding power assist) as others have suggested, but it doesn’t look like it needs much to bring this car across the finish line. The problem is that the last 10% of the build can take 90% of the time and money, LOL! If the 396 or A/T has issues, then that’s more time and money to fix, but again, that’s the chance you take finishing someone else’s build, you don’t know how well the work was done or if the work was done at all, so Caveat Emptor!
More pictures would be nice. But looks like a good start to a fun project. Like he said if the price doesn’t go to high.
I didn’t see the wheels, but they wouldn’t be coming home with it. Ralley Wheels are cheap for a start…
What a/t? Last I checked that stood for automatic transmission and this car doesn’t have an automatic in it. Sure would be nice. Definitely change the wheels. Power brakes with discs on front. Looks like it needs power steering also. Would be nice if the price doesn’t go to high.
My Bad! Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa, Mea Maxima Culpa! I didn’t look at the pix before posting, and assumed it had an A/T. You know what happens when you assume, of course, and I just turned into one, LOL!
I’d be glad that this car didn’t come with disc brakes. The only ones back then were the same leaky-assed calipers used on the Corvette. I’d rather do a conversion using single piston delco calipers for ease of maintenance.
My first car was a 66 Chevy Caprice 4 door 327/ 275 Holley 4 barrel it quit running one morning on the way to work I think it may have jumped time this was 1972 .
At least somebody put a cover on one finally!!!!!
Sweet car, lazy seller. Why would you not take it out of storage for pictures? And everyone else is right- those hidioforous wheels gotta go. I’d use them to drive it home, then immediately install some rally’s and good tires and put those chrome eyesores on Craigslist. But the car itself is gorgeous, Marina blue, a 396 and a 4 speed? Hell yes!
Sold! $10,800.