Family-Owned 1971 Chevelle Malibu Sat 25 Years, Runs Again, Owner Doesn't Want To Drive It (2024)

61 photos

Photo: YouTube/Low Rancho Customs

The immediate association any gearhead makes when hearing ‘Chevelle’ and ‘muscle car’ in the same phrase is the 1970 SS454 LS6 mastodont and its never-before-or-since beaten 450-hp advertised output and 500 lb-ft of torque (456 PS, 678 Nm). But that car was only the pinnacle of a glorious bloodline that continued even after the big-block and its Z15 RPO (the LS6 V8’s code) were discontinued.

And even if the moniker stands supreme among the lead-footed anonymous overdosing circles, the Chevelle was so much more than a mean straight-line brawler. In fact, the heavy punchers represented a small portion of the broader masses of Chevelles.

Take the Malibu as the ultimate example – the top-of-the-line trim level offered in the mid-sized Chevy for a decade and a half, from inception until 1978. That year, the Chevelle name was dropped altogether, leaving only the Malibu to bear the intermediate platform Bowtie banner.

The Malibu was the best-seller version of the Chevelle in the moniker’s first decade of production, particularly the sporty coupe (advertised as a Sport Coupe and known to every Chevy fan as a hardtop). In 1971, for example, when the Chevelle hit an until-then-all-time low (due to the 1970 GM workers’ walkouts), the two-door Malibu hardtop alone accounted for nearly half of the entire Chevelle production run of the year.

189,970 pillarless two-door automobiles bearing the Malibu emblems rolled off the assembly lines (Chevrolet’s mid-size car production total records note a 387,025-unit volume). By comparison, in 1970 – the Chevelle’s best year - 289,622 hardtop examples were sold out of a total Chevrolet mid-size production of just under 634,000 vehicles.

Whichever way we look at it, they’re anything but rare, and some of them still hold a strong emotional value for their owners, even if the cars were abandoned long ago.There’s a perfect example – this 1971 Malibu 350 was bought new by a man from Missouri, then inherited by his daughter, who last had the car inspected in 1999.

After that, it was parked outside – under a shed, but still exposed to open air – and never started until now. That sounds like a dream for a college guy working on old cars, and that’s precisely what happened. The vlogging team behind the Low Rancho Customs YouTube channel had a go at starting the Chevelle.

Amazingly, it took only a minor effort to get the 350 cubic inches of Chevrolet eight-cylinder might to run again. The fabled 5.7-liter small-block that hadn’t been fired up once in the past quarter-century didn’t disappoint. The YouTubing duo only had to check the sparkplugs, clean the distributor points, and massage the two-barrel carburetor with some combustible fluid, and that was it.

It is probably the easiest ‘Will It Run After X Years?’ video endeavor of this year for the young mechanics, who only had to install a new battery in the engine bay to get the motor ticking again.From 1971, when it was released on the road, until 1999, when it was decommissioned, the Malibu covered a hefty 27,158 miles, according to the odometer.

However, judging by the alignment (or lack thereof) of the digits, it probably rolled over. Make that 127,158 miles (204,640 km)—although the interior doesn’t look like it. That’s because it was replaced at one point—another strong hint that this rough Malibu was a trusty daily driver for its original owner.

There are rust holes in the body and signs of sheet metal repairs (the layers of filler peeling away at the joints leave little to the imagination). However, the car is still up for it, even if it takes a while to clear its dual exhaust pipes and settle for a laid-back idle once the vloggers are done with the V8.

A two-barrel carburetor atop the 350 V8 meant 245 gross horses (164 net hp, or 167 PS) and 280 lb-ft (380 Nm). Curiously, although the four-venturi version of the motor advertised 270 Society of Automotive Engineering gross horsepower, the net rating was 175 (177 PS).

The drop from the previous year’s figures (250 gross hp for the Turbo-Fire 2-bbl V8) was due to a lowered compression ratio of 8.5:1 to cope with the Clean Air Act emission regulations. It was the beginning of the end for the muscle car age (remember that 1971 was the last year for the 426 Hemi), and no-lead or low-leaded gasoline was becoming the standard for Detroit.

Although the YouTubers were poised to give the car a thorough wash and then take it for a spin, the owner had a change of heart and settled with the first part of the job. Apparently, seeing her father’s car running again was enough reward, as she didn’t want to get it cleaned up and off the blocks.