Silver Survivor: 1975 Chevrolet Monza
The guys over at Hagerty have it correct when they say that the Chevy Monza was born at just the wrong time. The Monza was released in 1975 as a rear-drive renaissance for compact American compact sports coupes, and while it sold in decent numbers (over 800k from 1975-1980) it was released at the height of the malaise era when the fuel/emissions/safety crisis was in full boom. This meant that the highest horsepower V8 version made a paltry 125 horsepower…uggg. A few decades later and most have been crushed into recycled metal, but the few that remain are loved and modified by a dedicated crowd of Monza enthusiasts. Find this 1975 Chevrolet Monza offered for $10,000 in Brownsville, CA.
From the seller:
1975 chevy monza
condition: good
cylinders: 8 cylinders
drive: rwd
fuel: gas
odometer: 8500
paint color: grey
size: mid-size
title status: clean
transmission: automatic
type: hatchback
Sounds mean is mean! 383 w/forged pistons, rods and crank. AFR heads with 160 roller rockers, isky solid lift cam shaft, rpm air gap intake, 830 holley performer carb., 350 with manual shift body and 3800 converter that feeds ford 9″ with spool and axles by strange with Right stuff disc brake conversion. Wildwood master cyl., line locks, 5 lug all the way around, QA1 race shocks………..Look I could write a novel for everything this car has in it. The car was a bracket racer for the last 10 to 15 years. I removed the electric water pump and fan and went with high volume belt driven pump and fan to make the car more street friendly. The car has been stripped down to lose weight has roll cage, racing seats/belts. It has lic plates with cal title. I took engine down to verify and freshen up with new main bearings, rod bearing and hone with new rings. Has just about every invoice for everything ever done to this car. Street or strip ready. Comes with its racing rims and slicks both front and rear. the curb weight is 2700 lbs. Not for average person. comes with 390 and 310 gears. Had a frame kit installed to handle Horse power. Fun car to drive. The guy I bought it from ran dial in time was 11 seconds even in 1/4 but said the car flat out did 10:30s at 130ish mph +- air temp strip conditions. If you like talking to people well heres your ticket. Every body wants to talk about this car. #1 thing asked is what is it? There is just so few of these cars on the road anymore.
See a better way to drive a Monza? tips@dailyturismo.com
That is one sweet Monza.
Yeeeeeeesss!!! I strongly approve. Another better $10K investment than an Aspen wagon. It’s smog exempt too.
I want to see this go head to head with the ’64 Skylark. It pains me that both are in my neck of the woods. Time for me to make some space in the garage.
These–like the Vega–were desivned for engine swaps. The original garbage engine basically had to be pulled to change the plugs…it was a horrible design.
That post is very informative. I saw same car in Royal Orchard Sahiwal . That is amazing place.
Always like the looks of the Monza, especially in the special edition Monza Mirage model, which paid homage to the Monza IMSA racers of the day.
The Monza was originally supposed to be offered with a Rotary Engine, but that fell through. Good thing too as it’d likely have been an economic disaster for GM. One can see the design nods that Chuck Jordan, GM Design Chief gave the Monza when you look at the 1971–1972 365 GTC/4.
I had a chance to drive my sister’s Pontiac version of the Monza, for over a week. Outfitted with the 4 cylinder Iron Duke, it was underwhelming. And the overall build quality was not good.