Mopper77

Looks solid. Very nicely optioned. I'm curious about the "charged to" Research Labs - Warren, MI? Like...GM R&D? -Bill

Sure. The non-functioning UM1 and lenses were ~$250. Barry's 8-track dinged me ~$900 for all of his work.

Just my $0.02, but I think the decision you need to make first is if you want the 8-track or not. There are some "new" radios out there that look pretty stock (Antique Automobile Radio brand is one example) - these will have Bluetooth, aux, etc., but none of the manufacturers are producing new radios with 8-tracks to my knowledge. My build sheet shows UM2 which is AM/8-track and FM, and I really wanted to stick with that set-up, so I went with the rebuilt OEM option. Problem is, in my experience, there are a lot more original UM1's out there vs UM2's, and the respective costs track with the rarity. So I ended up buying a much cheaper UM1 off of eBay as well as the main and 8-track door lenses (to show the "FM" and frequencies) and sent all that stuff to Barry's 8-track repair in AZ. He also added Bluetooth, aux, etc. Before and after photos below. -Bill

"Sold". -Bill

Yeah, that dealer had it listed a month or two ago at $69,900, looks like they dropped it $5K. It was sold at Mecum Indy in May for $49,500 inclusive of auction fees. Sweet car. -Bill

That stinks Wayne. Very unlucky. My TH350 has had what I would call a small leak at the pan gasket for a couple months. I have been keeping an eye on it until a friend who helps me out and I can get into it. I've been topping off with small amounts of Dexron synthetic when necessary. Probably put a couple hundred miles maximum on it this summer. It has been shifting perfectly. Couple mentions above to not mix standard and synthetic. I do not know what was in it when I got it, but probably safe to say it wasn't synthetic. "No big deal", or "Stop doing that immediately but otherwise OK", or "Drain that sucker right now!"? Thanks guys. -Bill

My '72 (small block; A/C) build sheet has the Z14 option but not the ZK1. Arlington, TX build. -Bill

I’m sure I’m not the only Hagerty customer here, so apologies if this is a rehash for some of you, but I hadn’t seen it posted previously (the article is only from a few days ago): https://www.hagerty.com/media/great-reads/did-facebook-kill-the-car-forum/?utm_source=SFMC&utm_medium=email&utm_content=MED_UN_NA_EML_UN_UN_WeekendRoadTrip&hashed_email=7b8ee430d5ebbb680c2e2c3fd6e1e834e48825e23f83451b285d469187578b71&dtm_em=7b8ee430d5ebbb680c2e2c3fd6e1e834e48825e23f83451b285d469187578b71 It’s a long read, but I found it interesting and worth the time. Why post this? For one, it definitely helped me further appreciate our forum, as well as all the time and hard work that goes into it. There is a lot about how forums work that I was totally ignorant of. I’m 47 years old and never joined any social media. Not at all judging anyone who does (literally every person close to me in my life), and I can certainly see/understand some of the pros, but it’s stories like this that continue to hold me back. -Bill

Correct me if I am wrong, but I do not think BJ allows reserves. Unless it’s a multiple six figures car. Gorgeous car man. Good luck. -Bill

Personally witnessed and started up this car at Mecum the last time they came to Chicago in October 2022. https://www.mecum.com/lots/522873/1970-chevrolet-monte-carlo-ss/?aa_id=315774-0 It looked really nice in my totally-non-expert opinion. Still missing the load leveler tank though, correct? Hammered at $56,000, out the door with fees for $61,600. -Bill

Something to like about all of them I think: https://www.gaaclassiccars.com/vehicles/39261/1971-chevrolet-monte-carlo https://www.gaaclassiccars.com/vehicles/39129/1972-chevrolet-monte-carlo https://www.gaaclassiccars.com/vehicles/39018/1972-chevrolet-monte-carlo https://www.gaaclassiccars.com/vehicles/38913/1972-chevrolet-monte-carlo -Bill

Not to sound like a know-it-all, but the $62,700 for the red 1970 SS already includes the 10% buyer premium. So, hammer price was $57,000. The real reason I wanted to bring it up is that, as Jared mentions above, it's same one that sold a few years ago: Mecum Kissimmee January 2022 - $67,100 all-in, so $61,000 hammer price. That's about ~7% decrease over two years from probably the peak of craziness in January 2022. Frankly, I'm kind of encouraged by it, i.e. it didn't get dumped for a 30% loss or something similar. Will be a very interesting data point to see what it goes for at Kissimmee 2026 LOL. -Bill

Here she was at GAA last month. $32K. https://www.gaaclassiccars.com/vehicles/38461/1972-chevrolet-monte-carlo -Bill

Hey John, I got one of those too! 🤜🤛

Congrats Glen! Car looks awesome! -Bill

He mentioned he got it in March somewhere in Ohio. I did not press him for details - it’s funny how many how many people walk up to me/my car and their first question is “Hey how much did you pay for it?”. Thank you very much Glen! Don’t think I can make that show Thursday due to family obligations but if something changes I will keep an eye out for you. I am going to try to make this one in a couple Saturdays though: -Bill

Ha. I totally missed that. Maybe an oops when the top was switched from green to black? -Bill

Konow’s farm in Homer Glen, not too far from you. -Bill

I think I heard a rumor once that there's a couple of guys around here that like pictures... Was able to hit a local cruise night with my dad yesterday. The black one is mine. Also bumped into a very nice guy who had recently acquired an absolutely gorgeous '72 402 Custom, numbers matching, says he has a build sheet to prove it. Green interior (why did I not take any interior photos?!?!) which I thought looked super cool with the pewter silver exterior. Supposedly it had a green top originally. I will be really embarrassed if this guy is an FGMCC member and/or there is club knowledge of this car and I missed it, but it was such a gem that I can't help myself. -Bill

“Sold” according to Volo’s site. Didn’t seem like it was on the market long. I spent an unhealthy amount of time staring at those pictures, that gold/gold setup put me in a trance 😵‍💫 -Bill https://www.volocars.com/auto-sales/vehicles/17928/1970-chevrolet-monte-carlo-ss-454

Doh! Thanks Vaughn!

I remembered your story too when I saw that listing a few days ago Rob. I pulled up a record of the last auction from my "archives", which, coincidentally, stopped bidding at the exact same price that you were going to offer the original owner... But the top is black now? -Bill

Jealous! I am itching to get mine out, but the weather here just will not cooperate as much as I'd like it to. I've driven it about 9 miles since I got it last fall. On a positive note, this week I finally received the car cover I ordered in November, just in time to not use it for the next 6 months... -Bill

Oh cool, I was not aware you could get in there before the auction officially starts tomorrow. Shows you what I know… Very interested to hear your thoughts on the car and the set up at GAA! -Bill

Hey Bryan, If you're interested and it helps you, I was out at GAA last year. Prior to jumping on a plane, I hooked up with a local guy whose business is car inspections to take a look at my '72 - Brian Manning at NC Auto Appraisal, (919) 606-6720. He dinged me $400 for about 250 pictures, a video of the car running, paint/sheet metal evaluation, and a couple of phone discussions about his findings. Not necessarily cheap, but I felt it was a fair value for what I received and that it made sense relative to my budget and what I thought the car was worth. The biggest positive for me was that he could get into the auction house a few days early so that I could determine if it was even worth making the trip or not - for me anyway, the plane tickets, hotel, etc. were worth a lot more than $400. I wouldn't call him a First Gen expert by any means, but it's his everyday job and it struck me that he knows what he's doing. Note that he does not look at the seller's paperwork or verify engine block stamps/codes or things like that. He also does not provide a written report of any type - a little weird I thought but apparently that's something he does for higher fee insurance claim inspections I guess. Whatever, I just took really good notes when we spoke post-inspection. PS - I have no affiliation with Brian, that was the first and only time I used him. I found him through the interweb... PPS - I thought the GAA "campus" was pretty cool, and would definitely go back to another auction just to look around if I get a chance. For sure not the level of cars at BJ or Mecum, but still plenty of neat stuff. -Bill