VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1971-1979 Any '71/'72 Impala Fans Here ?

Wondering how many '71 or '72 Impala/Caprice fans we have here. From 1985 to present, I've owned 5 different ones. Still have them all but one. I sold a '72 Caprice 2-Dr back in '93.

I can't say I am a fan of those years but had experiance with them. They were some of the best, most rugged cars Chevrolet made.
I had a 1971 Impala wagon. It was a company car (demonstrator)..I was a Chev parts manager...I drove it to the first VCCA Anniversary Meet in Indy. in 1971. Had a small block 400. Had a 1972 Demo, same wagon and same emgine.Bought a used 1971 Caprice 4 door for my wife to drive in about 1973. 400 S.B also. That was replaced with a 1973 wagon SB 400.In general these were good all around cars. The only problem is that they had much less power than the 1970 400 SB. The 1970 I had felt like a rocket ship and didn't stumble around during the warm-up periods. Later I also had a 1975 Wgn 400 SB with 4 bbl. for the wife. The next step was the scaled down 1977 and up-which are still a favorite of mine.

Haven't owned one (yet) - but always thought the '71 Caprice 4 door 'Baby Cadillac' was an incredibly good looking car. I remember the mayor of the small town where I grew up bought one new - black on black, with full black vinyl top - and proceeded to leave the window sticker on it for quite a while. Wanted people to know how rich and important he was, I guess. It stickered just over $5,000. I remember a guy seeing that, and saying "Jeeze, over 5 Grand for a Chevy, what is the world coming too?"

Hard to believe that was 36 years ago.....

Gene,

My son had a '71 Kingswood Estate Wagon that I would drive right much. That car made it 6 total in the family. It also had a 400 Small Block. Those cars would haul more than some pick-ups will today. Would haul full sheets of plywood with the tailgate closed to boot.

ChevyGuru,

The '71 Caprice is one good looking car.

I would also refer to mine as "Cadillacs"

Mine all the the 3 forward facing seats .. Worked well with the 5 kids and still had room behind the 3rd seat. Also had a Genuine Chevrolet enclosed luggage carrier that fit on the chrome top carrier. a must for long trips. I still have the enclosed carrier up in the garage loft.
The only problem was with the leaf springs used on the wagons. Around here the rust would build up between the leaves and break them, a salt belt thing. The highway milage also was low, about 14 MPG, but the weighed over 5000 pounds and the early emission stuff didn't help.

I am a fan Bill! :grin:

I have owned several early 70s GM cars... of those the Chevrolets were... a 1971 Caprice 4dr hardtop and currently my 1972 Caprice wagon... I also had a 69' Caprice 4dr hardtop as you recall.... back in 1986, we had a green 1974 Impala 4dr sedan... I loved that car.. it was in EXCELLENT shape (only 12 years old) and like a fool, my father took out the engine to put in a 1969 El Camino and sold the Impala to a junk yard! :cry:

I would like to someday find a 1972 Caprice 4dr sedan and/or a 1973 Caprice Classic 4dr sedan. I like the hardtops too, but I have never owned a Caprice sedan (nor many sedans of the early 70s) and would like the change. We had a neighbor that had a 71' Impala 4dr sedan back in the early 80s... I always liked that car... it was gold with a white vinyl top.... ironically, at the time, we had a 1974 Pontiac Catalina 4dr sedan... very much like the Impala... we had a crash in it in 1985 - again like the Impala- he took out the engine and installed it in a 1974 GTO! It was a neat car too though. I wish I had the Catalina back though, as it was originally my grandmothers car.

Glad to see that you made it over here Tony.

Bill

I just bought a 72 Caprice in July of this year; it has on;y 33,000 original miles. I purchased it on Ebay thinking it had 133,000 miles, but after getting the car home and looking it over, I decided to bo a vin number search and found 2nd owner. He had the car about 3 years ago and at that time it had only 27,000 miles. Guess I lucked out. I looked for three years for this car.

What body style, color, engine, etc?

HELLO AGAIN GENE- THE CAPRICE IS A 2DR HDTP, SORT OF A CREAM COLOR WITH VINYL TOP AND 400 ENGINE WITH TH 350-ALL FRESHLY REBUILT. REALLY LUCKED OUT. GOT NEW CLOCK AND REAR BUMPER GUARDS FROM GARY ESSE ALSO. FOUND REAR BUMPER IMPACT STRIP IN PA.

Ok Roger, its the one I saw at Elkhorn....what a great car.

I have a 72 4 door sedan, she runs like a dream, I really like the car!!

I just bought a 72 Caprice in July, 2007 and it was manufactured in Canada. Great car with only 33,000 miles. Still looking for parts, especially a bumper jack. Hard to find parts for it.I managed to find a RH mirror, new clock and rear bumper guards. Hve fun.

I just need a clock, I have theoriginal but it does not work, I am in the process of changing out the inner workings of the old clock and replacing with the inners from a 80's caprice, you will not notice the difference!! I agree it is hard to find parts but give it a couple of years and spares, especially bady parts will hopefully become available, I am restoring a 84 Woody Wagon as well, that is a nightmare to get bits especially from the front doors back!!!!!! Keep on running.

Ahhhh...'71 Chevys. One of my favorite years. My second car I ever owned was a '71 Impala 2dht and then in '82 I bought a '71 Caprice 2dht loaded to the gills with a 402 or was it 403. I can't remember. The Caprice was a screamer for the weight of it. Black on black, tilt, cruise, air, pwr windows. Black vinyl top. If it didn't get stolen and totaled I'd still have it. I have never seen another one like it. The last year of Chevy making a real car.IMHO.

Sounds like it was a nice car.

Just to add a little info the Big Block you had in your '71 was a 402.

Also, the '72 is basically the same car altho some prefer the looks of a '71 more.

Bill

I have a 72 4 door sedan, I like the car, the front and rear windshields are out at the momment, they leaked so I am resealing them apart from that she cruises quite well, a 350 with headman headers and an edelbrock under the hood, twin pipes, she sounds great!!!!

Sorry to bring up an old thread. I only went back 2 pages on this forum. I just purchased a 72 Impala 2 door, 400 SB. Can't wait to get it. Bought it in another state. I like the body style. Not my favorite but I like it.

Excited to learn more.

I'd love to have one of those "modern" Impalas or Caprices, but the best we old folks can afford is an old 68 model! :vcca:

Back in 71 I was a young District Engineer in the Texas panhandle(I call 34 a young guy)and our Division Engineer a super troubleshooter(He was a WWII vet and learned radio before the war) He had a new 71 Stationwagon bigblock engine) and air shocks and carried several hundred pounds of tools and instrumentsso that he could leave to fix a problem quickly. He would send me on long jobs like to Gillete Wy. or Williston ND and I really let the hammer down going on long trips. It was a pleasure to drive and most of the time on long open roads The speedometer was rarely under 85. I loved the car but in 75 the company replaced it with a F0RD Van. That thing was top heavy and a bear to keep up. About when you got it wound up, you had to stop and fill it up with gasoline and oil.

Keep us posted.

Welcome to the site, by the way.

Bill

Thank you! I got it. Now to figure out how the bumpers go back on it.

Have a 1973 Impala 4 door post sedan that has been in the family since new. Pretty basic low options, AM radio, fender skirts,350 2barrel, automatic, no A/C with black interior and roll up windows! Grandpa wanted it this way so that's the way it is. Needs work now, both front doors need the trim strip and I really need to find some good rear fender arches, used, NOS, or whatever. Seems the 4 door stuff is the hardest to come up with...

David

Yes I am a fan. My first car was a 1972 Impala Custom coupe. 400 small block, TH350 trans. I ended up fixing it up and rebult the 400 into a 406 with 350 heads and a great cam, 3000 stall converter and 4:11 posi in the original 8.5 10 bolt and surprised a lot of people with it. At the time I had it the new 5.0 Mustang Fox bodys were new (early 90s) and the punks with brand new ones got a scare from me.

Hello do you have a 71 convertible? I’m looking for one also a 2 door ! Keith 404-983-6987