Hey wagon lovers, I’ve been missing a US-built wagon since selling the 1990 Colony Park more than 7 years ago. So I have just added this 1977 Chevelle Malibu Classic to the mix. Years ago my father gave me his 76 plain Jane Malibu wagon so this becomes a driveable memory. Found at consígner Gateway Classic Cars, Las Vegas and had it shipped. It beat me home, photo courtesy of my wife. The body is decent. The electrics are currently messed up and the 350 v8 will need to be rebuilt at some point, the trans will need to be replaced even sooner. Of course I will turn it into an ‘Estate’ version using stripeman.com woodgrain vinyl in the dark rosewood pattern that they created from a digital file I had made based on an original roll of 3M Malibu di-noc (see posts in woodgrain section). Also still daily drive the Subaru Outback that I ‘wooded’ 4 years ago.
Nice! Suggesting an alternative to adding 'wood'..... - Since it already has some A/M wheels and tires, do a Malibu SS tribute with some stripes and badging...... Or.........
Nice! Since the trans is buggered up, you should consider a 700R4 swap to give the 350 an easier time when its rebuilt.
Shocking even or maybe especially to me, I’ve decided to keep the Chevelle wagon wood-free. I really like it as is. I guess one fake woodie in the driveway is enough. If it had originally had the Estate package, complete with aluminum trim surround moldings, I would have refreshed the vinyl, but I’ve decided I like the clean lines without those moldings and without even the belt-line body-side moldings. I will be replacing the black rims and low profile tires with 15 x 7 steel wheels and 1976 Malibu Classic wheel covers, as this will be a daily driver (once I conquer the various mechanical gremlins and do some surface rust repair on the inner door skins and a couple of other places). Overall I’m very happy with this purchase and it’s getting a lot of love in the neighborhood. If anyone has interest in the rims you can pm me. I’ll let them go for cheap once I put the steel rins on.
How cool. I'm excited for you. I did a search of the inner webs so I could find a front end view of a 77 and low and behold I found myself looking at the ad for this very wagon! I hope this car brings you much enjoyment.
Thank you OMJ! Yes, the car was for sale at Gateway Classic Cars’ St. Louis location in late 2021 and that old ad with video and lots of photos is still online. It definitely needs mechanical work but it’s a solid car and I’m hoping to bring it back to useful service very soon.
Pretty car, that’s gonna look great with the stock wheels. Congratulations on your new acquisition. Good luck with your fixes!
Think you are right, that Chevy has such clean lines. Congratulations on bringing a new wagon in your life.