1977 Chevrolet Caprice Classic: The Great American Sedan
I know it’s hard to believe, but over approximately the past ten years, the population of new sedans has been rapidly dwindling. As a sedan fan (with the exception of a Volvo station wagon, they are all I’ve ever owned) I find this trend most annoying. I have never longed for a potato-shaped crossover or SUV with phoned-in styling. But oh, in 1977, you had choices! And a Caprice Classic sedan was a very good one.
Chevrolets were all new for 1977. Well, mostly new. The chassis had started out as the midsize “Colonnade” version, with suitable adaptations to the dimensions of the new car. As a result, the new ’77 full-size Chevys were actually slightly shorter than the Malibus and Malibu Classics that year. Order would be restored the following year when the A-body midsizers got their own downsizing.
For people who were used to the extra-large Chevrolets from 1971–76, the ’77s must have almost looked like they came from another car company. Instead of the long, low, and wide look of the ’76s, the cars were tidy, wearing Bill Mitchell’s “sheer look” that highlighted rectangular shapes and boasting 90-degree angles (or close) on their front and rear fenders. The look had first appeared on the 1976 Cadillac Seville, and by 1980 pretty much all GM cars had it.
It was a big year for change. For the first time in decades, there were no pillarless hardtops. Models were restricted to a four-door sedan, a two-door coupe (with nifty, wraparound, bent-glass rear window), and a four-door station wagon.
As in ’76, you had your choice of Impala or fancier Caprice Classic models, with the Caprice Estate sporting the requisite wood-grained paneling on the sides and tailgate. The Bel Air, once the top of the line, had faded away after 1975.
Despite the cars being noticeably smaller, headroom and rear legroom actually increased over the jumbo ’76s. Trunk space was greater too—a neat trick. Brochures prominently featured new two-tone paint, as seen on our featured car.
In fact, the deluxe ’77 Caprice/Impala brochure prominently featured the very same combination of silv- and medium-blue as seen on this car, which was spied by your author back in April on Miami Craigslist.
This is one of those amazingly well-preserved cars that I’d love to hear the story on. To survive 37 years in this condition is a clear indication that this Caprice Classic was well-loved. The ad, sadly, didn’t have a lot of detail, but it did list an amazing odometer reading of only 35,816 miles. The car was at a lot in Lake Worth, Florida at the time. The VIN was 1N69L7J120782. Hope the right person got it and continues to lovingly preserve it … and drive it and enjoy it!
For people my age and older, who remember these cars when they were fairly new and as they aged, you know the late ’70s color-keyed interior trim faded in rapid and sometimes odd ways. I remember seeing a ’77 or ’78 Olds Delta 88 coupe once with a red interior. Between the different plastics, fabrics, vinyls, and rubber trim bits, there were no less than four differing hues throughout the inside … not on this car!
The Caprice Classic sedan had a base price of $5237 with the inline-six and $5357 with the V-8. The base V-8 was the 305. With its various emissions devices, it produced 145 horsepower.
However, the tried-and-true 350 V-8 was optionally available and still a great choice. Installed in a ’77 Caprice, it produced 170 hp.
The Caprice sedan was the most popular full-size Chevrolet of 1977, with 212,840 built, believe it or not. Runner up was the Impala four-door sedan, with 196,824 made. Those numbers include both V-8 and six-cylinder equipped models.
As the ’77 brochure confided:
“The strategic elimination of excess inches and ounces has produced a car that is more impressive to look at, more manageable to park and more economical to operate. Without abandoning ‘big car’ room, ride and comfort.
“The time had clearly come for a new kind of six-passenger car. One that was more efficient, more manageable in city traffic, more appropriate for the times than the former full-size Chevy. We figured you wouldn’t mind if it also turned out to be more beautiful.”
And so they were. And I miss them. I look at most of the new cars today, and sure, some are pretty good-looking, but not many. I really miss cars like this. I wish I could still get a Caprice sedan with a smooth ride and plush, quiet interior. The last chance for anything like that was the 2019 Impala. I always admired those cars, and it was even on my short list when I got my last car. But we can at least reminisce on what was!
Bang on with the 70s GM interior colour fade. My poppa’s 74 Monte Carlo had an all-original all red interior and saying 4 different shades by the 90s is being generous. I have seen Camaros with seat belt fades in the back.
Our family 77 LTD was the all-green. I don’t remember it fading into mismatch so much but it did disintegrate from sun exposure and the dash cracked in multiple places (in a northern climate location –not like it was desert).
My family has owned (and continues to have a few) of the next-gen Caprice Classic, Impala, Parisienne sedans. The coupes are very uncommon in that generation where I live. These 4-doors are starting to get appreciated, even seeing hot-rodded ones more now.
The best ad for the new 77 Caprice was simply a side view of the coupe, 2 tone, with the tagline, “Now, That’s More Like It!”. Says it all.
I had 4 of these, 77 and 79. Loved them all.
I get different answers wherever I look regarding whether or not the downsized GM full-size cars were based on the 73-77 mid-size “Colonade” platform. There is no consensus but I believe not. For instance, none of the front suspension components are shared. I would think a shared platform would share those pieces (such as the Chevy Nova/Cadillac Seville share most of their front suspension components). Whatever platform they used, the 77-90 Impala and Caprice were delightfully athletic and “tossable” in F41 and especially 9C1 (cop car) versions. I’d love to have one, particularly a 2 door bent-glass coupe with a 350.
GM really got the size of these cars right. Not too big but big enough.
My favorite is the 77 Bonneville coupe with the 400 Pontiac in jade green with skirts.
How much you’ll sell it for??
These were beautiful cars. My dad had a 77 Caprice Classic in brown metallic. Ice cold A/C, power windows(!) ,am/fm and the 350. He ordered the car, and I read the brochure so many times the staples came out. I loved to get picked up from school in that. But then my mom got a 78 Rabbit 2dr Custom 4 speed with a crank sunroof and everything changed…
I had a 1979 hand me down from my brother. It last me ten years. Lasted me through college in Indiana and snowy winters. Brought me down to Atlanta where I still am with a u-haul in tow. 160,000 miles later, I traded in the old girl. She did her duty proudly and never once did it leave me stranded. A great America sedan.
Mom had one of these identical to the photos of the article. She traded away her fox body Mustang (4 cyl) for the Caprice. It was a very different car to ride in by comparison. I had to move it out of the driveway one winter in order to shovel snow when I was 13. Me being me, I backed it into the street and drove to the end of the cul de sac we lived on, and proceeded to do donuts on the icy glazed over street. I remember things got wildly out of control with the car sliding backwards and the speedometer being somewhere in the 70 mph range. Several weeks went by, and the transmission failed. Nobody saw anything, and I never fessed up.
Coming from Europe I found these just bad. Big, shoddily built, without offering much actual comfort, cumbersome, underpowered, wafting aimlessly on the road. Interiors fell apart in no time. Ridiculous fuel economy. No fun zones for driver and passenger.
Little wonder import cars stole their thunder. The Germans the higher end of the market and the Japanese the lower and mid range. These represent the nadir of American car manufacturing. It can be argued it never recovered.
Good
I miss proper sedans too, and it is even worse here in Europe. Why don’t we get a choice anymore?
My grandparent’s last car was an 84 tan Caprice with a V-6. I inherited it in the mid 90s after my grandmother passed. Big and comfy but so severely underpowered.
A 1977 Caprice is not 37 years old.