Loaded 1976 Chevy Monte Carlo at the scrap yard

 

Scrap that! I guess we do live in an era where someone’s trash is someone else’s treasure. Look what we found unceremoniously discarded at the side door to a scrap yard. A 1976 Monte Carlo Landau!

The first look I took just made me shake my head. How could someone NOT want this? How could it have been saved this entire time and only now finding its way out of hiding and into a crusher? This place does not even entertain selling parts. It literally means a few dollars to them. 

When Jody said that this car has his name on it, I thought he was speaking metaphorically.

Now my second look yielded more head shaking. I didn’t realize it at the time, but upon closer inspection this baby was loaded! You just had to look a little closer. The full Monte, If you will.*

Original window sticker was in the car!

Someone may have left the original window sticker in the car and possibly a Junkyard Life Monte Carlo Nerd could have come along and retrieved the document for a story he planned to write. This is all just speculation at this point. Who said anything about a window sticker?

Knights of the vinyl top table in the order of Landau.

If there was a window sticker, it may have alerted (alarmed?) the Monte Carlo Nerd to other hidden and not so hidden treasures. Desired options fill up this disco era Colonnade. This silver Monte with a vinyl top was some looker in its day. Someone beat us to the small block 400 engine that Chevrolet left under the hood. Yes, it was indeed a small block 400 power plant. Two options above the base motor. Shame.

Window Sticker, Where Art Thou?
Looky there! The original paperwork just sitting on the bench seat. Who could resist?

Cruise control under the hood still intact.

More options
That wasn’t all. It wasn’t cheap. If we did have that window sticker, it potentially could have told us about all of these options: 

• 400 4 barrel ($73)
• Power bench seat ($124)
• Power windows ($99)
• Power locks ($62), 
• Tilt wheel ($52)
• Cruise control ($73)
• 15” wheels and not hub caps (actually standard on the Monte according to the window sticker we don’t have)
• Rear window defroster ($77)
• Cloth interior (free with this package)
• Illuminated sunvisor with vanity mirrors ($23)
• Extra lighting group for the trunk, glove compartment ($31)
• Landua roof package (no charge in this case)
• Air conditioning ($471)
• Intermittent windshield wiper ($28) 
• Color key seat belts ($17)
• And for a substantial amount in 1976 American dollars… an 8-track stereo ($324)!

You got all this and more for a mere $6,985! At least that is our guess. We would confirm if we had that confounded window sticker. We can only guess that it was borrowed by an inspiring automotive journalist for the integrity of the article he was going to write. Sounds like a nice guy. 

See 8-track stereo?

Mandatory poke of slot on 8-track stereo is the official tape deck test.

Four Squares a Day…
This car was a nice package all wrapped up in luxury, comfort and performance. Would we have liked it then? 

1976 was a great year. The Monte Carlo was still big.** Chevrolet celebrated America’s independence with a new beginning for the classy Monte Carlo, the entry level Malibu and the racy Laguna. Maybe not so much a beginning as a new front… the square stacked headlights. 

Is there a sadder sight than a Monte Carlo parked on the hood of a 1982 Camaro?

Hey, four eyes!
The headlights were met with mixed reviews from many different perspectives of the new automobile buyers. They ran the entire gamut from “Yay!” safety via improved visibility to “we hate the new stacked headlights.” Junkyard Life is guilty to some degree. What can we say? We love Colonnades but prefer the round eye headlight era.  

What doesn’t this have? Sunroof, tachometer and bucket seats are all we can think of.
What would you have ordered?

Stop the madness
So someone’s trash may be someone else’s treasure. I wish our treasure would stop showing up at scrap yards. There are so many other avenues that do not lead to the foreboding scales. Then people like us would not cringe as we pass by. That is indeed the Junkyard Life.

Ron Kidd
– Junkyard Life

Editor’s Notes:
* We allow Ron only one “Full Monte” joke in his Monte Carlo articles. Why do we do this to ourselves and our readers?

** Ron tried to use another “Full Monte” joke here. Like I said, he is limited to one.

Optional 15-inch Monte Carlo wheels.

We believe the name Monte Carlo is responsible for a few children named Monte.

Bumpers that only people who lived through the 1970s understand.

Cruise control on the stalk.

Last look. The next day the car vanished from in front of the scrap yard. We suspect the giant shredder ate its way through the Monte Carlo, options and all, in seconds.

Do you have a classic car in the yard, or a great story? Send us details and we’re on the way!  Send emails to Jody Potter at junkyardbull@gmail.com 
or Ron Kidd at Kidd403@bellsouth.net.