Most people have little interest in a 3rd generation (1978 – 1980) Chevrolet Monte Carlo, no matter how old it gets. It’s never anyone’s top choice. At some point, even the Edsel and the Pacer managed to achieve some sort of loser cool. But the Monte was neither a loser in its day nor a magnet for reverse-snob hipsters as a used car, and so it somehow fell between the cracks. An area that I inhabited.
The downsized Monte Carlo, introduced in 1978, straddles the tail end of one era and the beginning of another. Conceived after the 1973 oil crisis, it represents the as yet un-humbled GM doing what GM always did best. Even though already reeling in response to the changing environment, the General could still bring off a successful downsizing, where the car would lose 700 pounds and 15 inches in length, yet actually gain interior space. The downsized GM coupes hit the very bull’s-eye of the mainstream market. THIS was what Middle America wanted and all was still right with the world.
In 1979, GM was still at the top. It was in first place with 4,887,281 cars produced that year, representing 46% of the domestic market. Its U.S. employment peaked at 618,365 in 1979, making it the largest private employer in the country. But just a year later, the General was already out of its comfort zone. 1980 saw GM’s first annual loss since 1921. The “first Chevy of the 80s”, the Citation, was a fiasco. Roger Smith took over as CEO and promptly started to consolidate operations and gloss over the differences between divisions. The beginning of a losing battle that ultimately led to agonizing loss of market share and bankruptcy was already underway.
The Monte Carlo was left right on the cusp: the last fully traditional Chevy coupe is smaller and somewhat better adapted than the unapologetic old-school Detroit dinosaurs of yore, but is still of the same species, and today, its kind is just as extinct. But while it seems to be even more underappreciated than most 1970s cars, the Monte is still a solid example of classic American design, totally evocative of its era and always deserving of a fighting chance. In other words, an underdog with character. Perfect!
Me, I was into cars for as long as I can remember. When I was 11, my family emigrated to America from the USSR. I soon had an impressive collection of dealer brochures and was learning to read English with the help of Henry Gregor Felsen. By age 12, I had firm opinions on various automotive matters and could identify almost any car from a block away. At 14, I started doing odd jobs for my neighbors after school and saving my dollars. And at 17, I bought my first car with my own money.
What kind of car would a teenager buy for $1200 in 1986? That was enough money to get something decent. Despite my impatience, I forced myself to save until I no longer needed to look at beaters and projects. None of that Henry Gregor Felsen jalopy stuff for this kid, I wanted to drive, not to wrench. I was determined that my car should be a 2-door coupe – a workaday sedan got about as much respect in a high-school parking lot in those days as a minivan would today. Nor would it be something quirky or foreign, I wanted to live the American dream.
And the American dream, for car-aware teenagers in those days, was still mostly made in America. Like the Pontiac Trans Am. That seemed to be the “in” car with the cool kids in my high school. But I wanted nothing to do with those cool kids, who tended to be badass cugines still living the Tony Manero lifestyle in those last years of disco and weren’t exactly friendly towards Russian immigrants like me. Those kids cruised 86th Street in Bensonhurst in their Trans Ams, wearing gold chains, tight Sergio Valente jeans and white canvas shoes, always talking trash and ready to pick a fight with anyone who looked at them wrong. Which was enough to thoroughly turn me off Trans Ams, as well as newer SS Monte Carlos, which the same demographic adopted en masse a year or two later.
Here’s a pic I found of 1980s teenagers on 86th Street. The car’s too nice and the kids a bit too too clean-cut, but otherwise that’s how it was. I spent my teenage years having nothing to do with this.
I wasn’t into disco, I didn’t wear gold chains, and I didn’t care to participate in this particular local version of American Graffiti. I played guitar, wore a black leather jacket and affected a rebellious outsider attitude. I was a rocker:
And we rocker kids had a different taste in cars. It might have been morning in America, but we all wanted 1960’s Detroit iron from the day before. The future – at least GM’s – belonged to cost cutting, downsizing, de-contenting, corporate consolidation, lack of a clear vision and one disaster or disappointment after another. With so much to be pessimistic about, there was plenty of justification for retro-inspired teenage reactionaries to stubbornly prefer pre-malaise era cars.
One of my friends back then had a loud red Barracuda that he occasionally raced at Gerritsen Beach. There was also at least one old Mustang and a jacked-up Duster parked near my school. This being Brooklyn, only a small minority of students had cars, but those that did tended to be car nuts like myself and usually drove something more or less cool, even if it was a crappy old beater. Only one kid, whose parents must’ve had some money, drove a nearly new Datsun 280Z. My classmates stuffed dog turds under his door handles on several occasions.
I really wanted to upstage all my friends with a ’68 or ’69 GTO, which was my dream car in those days. I had read the Pontiac Performance book published by Consumer Guide and knew all about the legendary Goat. Here’s what I used to doodle in my notebooks in eighth or ninth grade:
But no GTOs were available locally when the time came to stop daydreaming and actually buy something. Besides, prices were already starting to creep beyond mere used car levels, and high insurance rates were definitely a factor. Oh, I tried. I bought the papers early at the newsstand to check out the used car ads as soon as they came out. I kicked the tires of a tired green LeMans and a Chevelle or two. But a proper muscle car just wasn’t in the cards for me that summer. And so I settled for a nice clean ’79 Monte Carlo. Not a muscle car, but still a traditional 2-door, V8, rear-drive American coupe with a little bit of style, and still roughly fitting the same mindset. Mirroring the dominant trends in that era of diminished expectations, I too succumbed to forgoing real muscle for a high school version of personal luxury.
I now had pretty nice wheels, which at that stage in my life was a huge deal. However, my choice failed to impress my car savvy friends. My car was simultaneously too old and not old enough: it neither fit the current 1980s mode nor was the “correct”, cool kind of vintage. In a way, it basically confirmed my outsider status and my contrarian sensibilities. When I got to college, I met a few kindred spirits who drove ’59 Chevys and played in punk bands, but in high school I wasn’t that cool yet.
Did I say V8? Even that part I had compromised on. I liked this particular Monte so much, I decided I can live with a six. The car impressed me with its distinctive Cadillac yellow exterior, a no-nonsense all-black cloth interior, and a profound lack of dated 1970s gingerbread. Had this been a Landau, saddled with a tacky half-vinyl roof, or an earlier, bloated and overly baroque second generation barge with a plush bordello interior in some nasty 1970s velour, that would have been a deal breaker: too close to a cugine Cutlass, too much of a disco-mobile. The first thing I did was to tie a Rolling Stones air freshener off the rearview mirror and slap a couple of rock radio stickers on the rear bumper. There. Done. Territory marked, allegiance proclaimed. Now it was just a matter of blasting some REAL music and looking cool behind the wheel of my new (used) Chevy.
Despite the 6-cylinder engine, the car looked pretty sporty for the times, with dual aero mirrors and color-matched rally wheels. This was a trim, downsized, modern Monte, equipped with an automatic, A/C and an AM/FM stereo, as well as an anti-theft “feature” which left me stranded twice before I figured it out: the car often refused to start until one opened the hood and pulled the stuck throttle manually.
I had some vague ideas about eventually rebuilding that Rochester carburetor and maybe even “dropping in” a 350 someday, but really it was all just daydreaming out loud for the benefit of my friends. In the meantime, I merely took care of stuff like brakes and oil and did some minor detailing. I also replaced the sagging rear springs that summer, which allowed me to load the trunk up with all my stuff and take off for college in Binghamton, New York. My guitar and amp fit in the back seat, the little dorm fridge rode shotgun. Since the car had no tape deck, I always took a boombox along on long trips, with plenty of tapes. The good stuff: MC5, Gene Vincent, The Ramones… and of course Rolling Stones’ Hot Rocks. “Ti-i-ime is on my side, yes it is…” I kept meaning to upgrade the radio, but somehow there was always something more important to spend my limited funds on. LP records, textbooks, girls and beer, roughly in that order.
Or an occasional unexpected mishap, like a minor fender bender during a rainstorm. A trip to Harry’s U-Pull-It got me a header panel off a ’78 Monte and on my next trip home, my stepfather and I installed it ourselves. Here’s my car in “blackface”.
I took lots of road trips in my car, exploring most of New York State between the Catskills and Buffalo. I liked to stay off the Interstate and drive along the back roads, enjoying the scenery. A lot of trips were planned around flea markets and junk shops that I discovered in various towns, where I looked for old guitars to fix up and re-sell. In addition to a part time job at the college library, my developing luthiery skills helped to keep me in textbooks and beer. There was always a sleeping bag and a change of clothes in the trunk, so that I could take off on a whim without having to think about packing. I often slept in the car to save money. Those nice soft bench seats came in really handy:
One night after an off-campus party, I got into my car and couldn’t turn the ignition key in the column. That’s strange, I thought, why doesn’t the key fit? Then I looked up and noticed that my Rolling Stones air freshener was missing. What the hell, why is the steering wheel wrapped? I hastily got out and sure enough, somebody had parked a nearly identical white ’79 right next to mine. In the dark, I mistook white for yellow. GM cars of this era have two keys. The door key fit, the ignition key didn’t. I beat it out of there before someone mistook me for a thief.
The car proved to be reasonably reliable. Aside from basic general maintenance, my Chevy gave me very little trouble. My old logbook reveals that I did at some point replace the fuel filter, PCV valve, water pump, shocks, thermostat and muffler, as well as a steering column bearing and one worn-out door hinge. There was a tune-up or two and some new brake shoes, belts and hoses over the years – all routine stuff on an older used car with over 90,000 miles on the odometer. And it served me well all through my college years and beyond. The V6 was not a performance engine by any stretch of the imagination, but it was always adequate and happily piled on the miles…. until one day it wouldn’t. That evening, on my way home from work, the car suddenly started to lose power on the Belt Parkway. It got me home, but never started again. In the morning, I popped the hood to attempt to diagnose the problem before calling my mechanic, and discovered a cracked hole in the block and a puddle of oil under the car. I don’t know what exactly happened and why, but that engine was toast.
I was left with a choice: a new engine, or a new car. After some deliberation, I decided on the latter. The replacement car was an ’82 Oldsmobile Delta 88 that I found in the local classifieds: a newer, lower mileage car as well as a step up in responsibility. Fresh out of college, I had temporarily moved in with my grandparents while saving up to get my own place, and thought that they would appreciate being chauffeured in a 4-door
Olds rather than the Monte. Here’s Grandma in the back seat of my Monte, happy enough to be driven around on her errands, but not too thrilled about getting in and out of there every time:
There were a few other reasons to move on. Back in Brooklyn after four years away at college, I had discovered that the newer model SS Monte Carlo had in the meantime become the official car of every violent greaseball on 86th Street. By extension, all Monte Carlos were suddenly starting to be seen in a new derogatory light. It would be a few more years yet before a Monte Carlo would be universally stereotyped as the mullet-mobile from Central Casting, but here in Brooklyn this was no joke. Hell, it’s probably still not safe to drive a Monte Carlo around Bensonhurst.
Another push was provided by a rather materialistic young lady that I was trying to woo at the time. She saw my old Chevy as a significant demerit. It turned out she was also seeing another guy who drove a Porsche, which apparently suited her better. I bid her farewell shortly afterwards, but decided that maybe upgrading my ride wouldn’t be such a bad thing anyway, if not quite up to Porsche levels. Right about that time, my Mom borrowed the Monte and dented the passenger door. So by the time the engine went, it was definitely time to bite the bullet and step up the Alfred P. Sloan ladder of success. My mechanic took possession of the Monte in exchange for some minor maintenance work on my new Olds. He promptly put in another engine, banged out the dented door, painted the black header panel yellow to match the rest of the car and resold it. I saw it around Kings Highway a few times before it disappeared.
Over the years, I watched the Monte Carlo recede in life’s rearview mirror. The car continued to evolve – turbos, Super Sports, Aerocoupes… but I had little interest in any of them, new or used. To me, the fourth generation Monte appeared to be flawed somehow, whether resembling an old dog being cynically taught new tricks (the SS models) or simply past the sell-by date (the LS cars still sporting wire wheels and vinyl roofs). My ‘79 might not have been the most progressive choice in the mid 1980s, but at least it was of its own time in ’79. That gave it enough character to appeal as a used car, too. Once upon a time there was something fresh and modern about it, some basic Chevy integrity to respect, a bit of blue collar luxury to aspire to.
But fourth generation cars were self-consciously retrograde right out of the gate, the last refuge of desperate traditionalists who refused to be dragged into front wheel drive or an import at any cost. With the Super Sport’s introduction in 1983, the Monte seemed to have developed a schizophrenic personality: did the name now stand for Brougham or NASCAR? There wasn’t any integrity at GM anymore. And fresh, it definitely wasn’t. When the last G-body Monte bowed out in 1988, it was about as gauche and passé as a pair of acid-washed jeans. As for the Lumina-based FWD Montes of 1995 – 2007, as far as I was concerned, two-door Luminas should have just remained Luminas. There was absolutely nothing there to aspire to. But third-gen Montes still drew my attention.
Finally, by 2005, the nostalgia became unbearable and I decided to have my mid-life crisis early. I became determined to find another ’79 Monte Carlo – in excellent condition, completely stock, and only yellow with black cloth interior, please.
This proved to be much harder than I had expected. ’79 Monte Carlos are not exactly rare cars, 316,923 of them having been built that year, but by 2005 far too many of the remaining ones were either worn out, rusty restoration projects or were already resto-modded into donks, low-riders and trailer park hot rods.
At some point, Monte Carlos started to become regarded as raw material for some kind of conversion by most people, something that just wasn’t ever done back in my day. The fourth generation models prompted this change in perception: just as the original 1970 Monte was created by heaping extra bling onto a basic 2-door Chevelle, so with the Super Sport’s debut in 1983, GM started to reposition the Monte Carlo from a personal-luxury coupe back into some sort of latter-day Chevelle again.
Soon enough, this notion began to be retroactively applied to older Monte Carlos by their second and third owners. Towards the end of the decade, that mindset started to predominate. And for those who missed the trend, by 2001, the film Training Day, with its rather conspicuous hot-rodded ’79 Monte Carlo, spelled it out to everyone. Don’t you just “love” it when something you have always quietly enjoyed gets discovered by a large number of people with no clue as to its original context?
I refused to admire aftermarket wheels, balked at fancy paint jobs, and became very suspicious at the first sight of a chromed air cleaner. Which again put me into a rather small minority: one almost had to be some kind of determined reactionary to NOT want to modify an old Monte Carlo. However, I wanted my Monte the way I remembered it, and not somebody’s half-assed vision of what it should be. I also learned that black cloth must have been a rather unpopular interior choice in ‘79. Despite the fact that cloth was the default standard interior, and black was available with most exterior colors, apparently most buyers splurged for optional vinyl or velour, both of which were considered an upgrade at the time, but tended to hold up worse over the years than basic cloth and were far less attractive to me in a used car.
And then one day in the spring of 2006, there it was on eBay – a clean, low mileage yellow-and-black survivor waiting for me several states away. I knew this was the one right away, from only a short description and three blurry photos. I contacted the seller with some questions and waited nervously until the end of the auction to place a bid… only to be outbid by 25 cents. One lousy quarter! But two days later, the seller contacted me: the high bidder had backed out; did I still want the car? I guess it was just meant to be mine.
My second Monte came equipped for someone with an entirely different set of priorities than my first one: standard steelies with basic hubcaps in lieu of the nice color-matched rally rims, and an AM-only radio, but instead, the 305 V8. Other than the upgraded engine and A/C, it came with one other, fairly rare, factory option: a small detachable waste basket in the front passenger foot well. Just perfect for a tidy little old lady who cared little for music or fancy wheels, but wanted just a little more passing power. She had put barely 30,000 miles on the car before she died. A re-seller snatched up the Monte at the estate sale and listed it on eBay. I took the Greyhound south to Virginia, and drove my new Chevy back up north with a big grin on my face. Sliding onto that black cloth bench seat and clicking the column shift down into drive felt like coming home.
Eleven years later, my Monte is still with me, and still makes me smile. Yes, there was a time in my life when I would have preferred a muscle car, but not anymore. Besides, anything that gets too much of the mainstream’s attention still rubs me the wrong way. Give me an underdog with character, any day.
My choice of vintage car represents a return to my own roots rather than an attempt at achieving some postponed teenage fantasy. I had settled for my first ’79 Monte despite really wanting something else, but sought out my second one because nothing else would do. I guess this kind of explains why some of us are more interested in cars that we actually drove back then, rather than the ones that we wished we did. I am keeping my Monte just the way it is, letting time turn it into a classic.
Maybe. Some day. “Ti-i-i-me is on my side, yes it is…”
Great story, I enjoyed it very much. Like you, I was car crazy at a young age. I remember MTs 1977 Car of the Year, the full size Caprices and Impalas. While they were good looking cars, there was little resemblance to prior year models. Now the downsized Monte Carlo, that looked very much like prior year models, with those flowing fender lines. It was instantly recognized as a Monte. Even though the Monte and the Malibu were really the same, the Monte looked classy and you were someone if you drove one. Now the Lumina based one…
Great article, Big Beat. Nice to read something that describes the emotional reaction we have to, and affection we feel for, our vehicles. Welcome break from the “this car sucks” postings that dominate this site and comments section. I owned a 1979 Olds Cutlass Supreme. Like your Monte, it was simple, unadorned and very classy in my eyes. It also felt modern in a way I could never put into words, but I knew it when I got behind the wheel. Was it a great car? No, I can’t say it was, but I loved it nonetheless.
I wouldn’t say they dominate this site at all.
+1. This site is a veritable oasis amongst the aridness of online negativity. Certainly people here might disagree with the opinion of others, but it is done in such a way as to engender respect. Those that can’t abide by this are shown the delete button and entered into the spam filter.
Clean ride Big Beat. When I first read your name, I thought you were a fan of Moby and Fatboy Slim. Perhaps not. Love that GTO doodle.
I didn’t say that the site’s commenters bashed each other or snarked the writers. I DID say, however, that there’s a lot of posts about how horrible many cars are and/or were and not enough about why and how much we love cars, even Ford Torinos.
Let me be a contrarian for a moment…
There are an abundance of articles here and, frankly, we’ve got to the point where it is getting harder to find a car in the wild that hasn’t been covered in some fashion previously. With this being the case, and with multiple people covering the same car, this is adding a certain degree of texture to any given car.
In the articles I’ve written here, I have talked about the robust constitution of Plymouth Volare wagons, disclosed my experiences with a flawless Dodge Dynasty, and professed by devout love of four-wheel drive crew cab pickups.
All are examples of what many stereotypically categorize as either being rolling shit or an expansion of all the problems the world experiences.
I’ve also explained at length how the multitude of American cars owned by my father (two articles worth, published in June 2015) have been damn near perfect (one of which was a 1973 Ford Torino) and not self-propelled time bombs. Contrast this to a Toyota (owned long ago, admittedly) by my aunt that was a rolling need for a tetanus shot as well as her later Nissan Altima that drove her to swap it for a Buick.
There are also articles about my lack of affinity for, and never being particularly impressed with, Toyotas.
In a sense, cars are like people – all have certain merits regardless of their façade.
Frankly, your wide-sweeping statement about the number of “this car sucks” articles here might be more valid if you had provided specific examples of such. Pointing out flaws (often well known ones) in any given article doesn’t necessarily equate to saying “this car sucks”.
Well unless the subject is a mid 70s Torino LOL
J/k, seriously, this site is the only one that isn’t like that. While I do sometimes get the sense that some readers are here for confirmation bias on why “this car was better than that car”, or “look how far we’ve come”, CC is much more open to real discussion with different perspectives discussed and embraced. In contrast I can’t even read the comments in TTAC or Jalop anymore because of the negativity.
Great writeup about a car that, as you noted, has sort of fallen through the cracks. I too have considered buying a second version of a car from my past, but was always afraid it wouldn’t live up to my memories or just be too different.
Interesting that Ford’s direct competitor, the Thunderbird, also sought to transform its image from personal-luxury coupe to something sportier the same year (1983) as the Monte. But while Ford opted for Euro flair influenced by Ford’s own European division, Chevy chased NASCAR fans.
Worth noting that the guy who outbid you on eBay probably bet way more than 25 cents more than your bid. The way eBay worked back then, anyone who entered a high bid at any time during an auction would raise the current price just slightly higher than the second highest bid; eBay would keep raising it up to their maximum as needed. They were trying to discourage “sniping” – high bids placed in the closing seconds of an auction. Despite that policy, your best chance of winning an auction at a reasonable price was to bid at the last few seconds, because many bidders would enter a second or third higher bid when they learned their first one wasn’t high enough to become the high bidder.
And then there were the aftermarket sniping services . . . . . At one point, they were virtually necessary to win anything on eBay.
I’m aware of that, of course. But in my case, it was literally a quarter. I don’t remember what the bid increments were in 2006, but once the price got into the thousands, it would have been more than 25 cents. So anyone who bid significantly above my bid would have beaten me by $1, $5, $50 or whatever the next increment was at that price level – unless the difference between our bids really was 25 cents.
We both sniped in the last seconds and both had basically the same round number in mind, but the other guy was smart enough to add a few cents to his – something I have learned to do myself afterwards. Just one of many eBay bidding strategies…
The Monte Carlo basically fell into NASCAR by default in 1983 when the Malibu coupe was discontinued; it was the only two-door RWD midsize car Chevy had left that met the minimum frontal area requirements. Two years later it would be controversial but inevitable when Buick and Olds switched to the “FWD” coupes and ten years after that when Ford went to the “4-door” oval Taurus, and a few years later when Toyota entered…now for 2017 Chevy’ll be racing Camaro-bodied cars which was what would’ve made sense 35 years ago but that’s NASCAR for you…
Wonderfully written. And a man of my own tastes. If I get back into the AACA scene with something other than a vintage motorcycle, it’ll be something not unlike what you’re describing: One of the great American majority-owned cars. Not a muscle car, nor and exotic or sports car. Rather, something that the ‘average’ American car owner would have bought.
And, unmodified, nice and plain, and compared to what shows up at C&C ‘s, cruise-ins and car shows . . . . . . something incredibly rare. The forgotten part of the vintage automobile scene. The reminder that there’s more to life (and Detroit production) than GTO’s, Trans Am’s and Mustangs.
Great story! These Montes did nothing for me then, but I have come to like them more as time has passed. That black cloth interior is something I had never known was on these cars. I had completely forgotten that it existed.
And wow, while most of us have daydreamed of recreating our first car, you actually did it, and right down to colors and the rare low spec interior. What a great morning read.
Great post, and so cool that you found another yellow/black Monte! I also love how you chronicle the Monte Carlo’s evolution from ubiquitous suburban personal luxury to NASCAR mullet mobile to wildly modified examples of rolling excess.
I’d say time has already turned your second Monte Carlo into a classic–an unmolested car like yours is a great sight to see and will be very effective in bringing back memories for countless people.
Terrific read! It is great to see somebody go full-circle and capture a great example of their first car.
You’ve got today off to a great start. Thank you.
Now that’s a great story. It’s insane how popular disco was back in the late 70s. I graduated from high school in 1978, so I remember those times very well. I personally couldn’t stand it. I was very, very happy when it suddenly went out of style.
Those third-generation Monte Carlos were good-looking cars. Sort of like the previous generation went on a crash diet/exercise program, with very positive results. I think my favorite part of the story is the fact that your second Monte Carlo finally gave you that V-8 you wanted! I don’t think I will be following in your footsteps. Back when you had your first Monte Carlo, I was driving around in an orange Datsun B-210 with an automatic. I don’t feel a great deal of nostalgia for that car!
In New York City, especially in Brooklyn, disco lasted longer than elsewhere in the country. Studio 54 was still in business in 1986, the year I bought my first Monte! In my school, you could get beaten up just for wearing the wrong kind of sneakers. The division between rock and disco was almost like belonging to different gangs. The “good” old days…
1986? In Seattle, Disco died a sudden death in early 1980. All at once it was gone. My apologies to anyone out there who actually liked/still likes Disco, but I hated that crap. Springsteen, the Ramones and various pre-grunge Seattle bands that most of you have never heard of were what I was into!
Having “grown up” from the disco era through grunge bands, I always enjoyed the actual music production values and devices used in disco, especially harmonies. No autotune back then!
Love the car and loved your story! Great to hear from someone who owned a car in NYC, something I’m tempted to do. And you bought your first car again. Sometimes I’m tempted to find an old Astra like I used to have…
Wow… we have had some great COALs here lately. Last week was Vince’s Torino, now this.
Yes. The COAL articles have been great lately.
Awesome read! What a perfect start to my day. The compromise on your first car is similar to my experience. I wanted something from the muscle car era too, and ended up with a Chevelle with a six and a powerglide. The colour of your Monte Carlo appears to be very close if not the same as my brother’s old Cutlass Supreme. It too was a great car. These 1978-88 A/G body cars had great chassis dynamics with the F41 suspension. For the time, performance with the 305 Chevrolet was pretty good.
I don’t consider the 1978-80 Monte Carlo’s a separate generation, since the 1981 cars
were really just a reskin job. But in any case, people due tend to separate them due to the big styling differences. I wish you many more happy years of motoring in your Monte Carlo.
I sometimes wish for some of the cars I had in my youth.(plus a proper garage to keep them in!)
I’m glad you finally got your V8 – that would be my only choice in one of these. And hopefully, there’s enough aftermarket support for that Chevy small-block to keep it running forever.
I thought these were better looking than the bloated gen-2 Montes, especially without the ever-present tacky half-vinyl roofs that seemed to afflict everything in the ’70s.
It’s a miracle that your faux-aluminum plastic bumper strips are still present. Those would always shrink after a few years in the sun, then come loose or fall off. Congratulations.
Happy Motoring, Mark
Yes, the infamous bumper strips! On my first Monte, they were so bad I had to remove their remnants and do without. But thankfully, on this car they survived in great condition.
Great morning read Big Beat!
It is nice to know one can go back, at least automotive-wise.
When you mentioned the car losing power on the Belt Parkway I thought “better that than the Cross Bronx”. The Belt has those neat pull offs and water view walkways that make it somewhat friendly – or at least they did when I drove around there many years ago.
These Monte Carlos have a nice profile – I can understand your attraction.
Oh, I’ve had that kind of experience too. My next car, the Olds, once overheated at 5 am right off the Willis Avenue bridge on the FDR, so I had to push it off the exit right into the heart of Spanish Harlem… a story for another COAL.
Such a great read, Big Beat! And you know I have some Billy Squier in my MP3 player.
You brought up so many interesting perspectives on these Montes, but the one that sticks with me is how the image of this generation seemed to have morphed from brougham to a favorite of the customization set – and I can’t quite pinpoint (even within five years) when that happened. Granted, I’m all for people tricking their cars out the way they want to, but yours was a great observation. You’re also a great writer… looking forward to seeing more from you.
Your new-to-you Monte is a honey.
I loved your story. It took me back to my own arrival in the USA. My BiL James had an ’81 Monte Carlo that he cherished. It was black like the one from “Training Day”. Being about 5 – 6 years old at the time it needed a bit of love and he had plans to let a mechanic take care of the flaws. It wasn’t to be. A stroke took him away and way too young. This is a car I can appreciate for sentimental reasons, not so much for styling and engineering.
Great story – I didn’t foresee the plot twist at the end of you requiring another Monte. It’s a striking car and one that has indeed slipped through the cracks. It sounds like this one is a keeper.
A sales rep had a Monte Carlo of this generation back in the day. To me, compared to the original – well, nothing compared to the original – but to the previous generation, these seemed stipped down and cheap. I always referred to these, along with their cousins as “slab siders”
The following generation with the 1981 models, the MC became a real car again, along with the Gran Prix, Regal & Cutlass.
I think you missed the point of Big Beat’s story.
Didn’t care about the point of the story, which is a good one – only my feelings and experiences as a passenger in one of these.
Nice story, well told. I can relate to much of it. Those early Montes were still plenty popular in my neck of the woods in the early 90’s.
Fantastic writing, and a great story. I got a few goosebumps as you described life in Bensonhurst. My 5 years there were like a Twilight Zone time warp. Having grown up in the NJ suburbs, then living in Manhattan for 10 years I found myself inexplicably plopped down in the epicenter of Brooklyn “culture” by way of a then-new relationship with a Bensonhurst guy from an Italian family. To this day when I walk through that neighborhood on visits I’m amazed and sometimes dismayed, as I still feel a profound sense of culture shock and out-of-place-ness there despite having lived and worked there for a good stretch. (I quite literally had a nervous breakdown during my first month living there, which is probably quite understandable when one considers my relatively sheltered upbringing in leafy Bergen County, NJ as compared to the gritty smoldering melting pot that is Southern Brooklyn.)
As a car nut I was pleasantly surprised by the strong car culture in that part of Brooklyn, and working in the insurance industry I got to interact with quite a lot of the old-school gearheads still immersed in the hobby there. While I’d probably never voluntarily move back to that ‘hood, it has left such strong indelible impressions on me that it’s got a place in my heart and soul. I never would have expected or imagined having wistful feelings for Bensonhurst 8 years ago, trust me, but it sucked me in.
You’ve just taken me back in ways that I was unprepared for this morning. Thanks for that…I think?
Brooklyn can be a different universe sometimes 🙂
Wonderful story – and writing. Thank you.
+1
Great story, so cool that you managed to find another one, and more so that you have continued to enjoy it for years.
Since Chevrolet seems to have made over 300,000 Monte Carlos in 1979 that makes your odds much better than mine of re-finding your first car. AMC made only 7,300 Matador hardtops in 1972 🙁
Great story! I like the 78-80 Monte Carlo due to the rounded fenders (or hips, as some would say). Regardless of whether folks think it was a successful design, it was definitely distinctive.
For a while, I’ve been looking around for one of these to photograph for a write-up. This white ’78 lives nearby, but is in rough shape.
Last year, I saw a nice black ’79 Monte Carlo (equipped with the same original hubcaps as your car), but it was parked in a sketchy area, and whenever I’d drive by, there were always shady looking people lurking around it. One day I saw it parked elsewhere, with no loiterers around, and I stopped to take some pictures. But then I noticed a sticker on the back window that said something like “Protected by Pit Bull.” I drove away. Yes, I’d love to write up one of these, but I’d rather not get mauled in the process.
I love your car, and have since 1979. Quite the opposite of Ford’s egregious shrinking of the 1979 Mark V and 1979 Thunderbird, Chevrolet pulled off a masterful downsizing of the 1973 Monte Carlo.
There is certainly a familial resemblance to the ’73, but the styling is fresh and fits the car’s proportions well. This may be one of the last examples of the masterful styling continuity that GM was well known for, kind of like you can see the 1964 Cadillac in the 1965 Cadillac, but the ’65 was clean sheet design. The idea that Bill Mitchell may have still had some hand in this car may have something to do with it.
+100 – I came here to say what you’ve already said perfectly. I have a picture somewhere in my parents’ albums of my aunt’s Monte of this generation, in metallic brown, first year IIRC. In the same way that I admired the downsized 77 Impala/Caprice, I thought this smaller Monte Carlo was nicely done, unlike those downsized Marks and Thunderbirds recently featured here (I enjoyed Paul’s dismissive vitriol toward the Mark VI, a car that that I found nearly as repulsive as the 1980 Thunderbird when it first appeared in showrooms).
Great story with a terrific ending.
Great story!
My favorite downsized GM personal luxury car was the 78-80 Grand Prix. I liked the Monte too–the 78-79. The 1980 had a hideous front end. All I can say is that it suited the tone of that year (big recession, gas prices had doubled in summer of 79, US embassy hostages…)
When I was in college, I got a ride a couple of times with guy who had a 79 Monte Carlo, from Long Island to Bethlehem PA.
I thought it was nice for 4 year old car with 95,000 miles owned by people who did not especially like cars (or dislike) cars, but who gave me the impression of being tight with money. It was pretty quiet.
Glad you found one!
Great story
Seeing your car reminded me of my first car which was a 1980 Chevy Malibu sedan. As my “bu” shared the same style interior, seeing pics of your interior brought back a flood of memories. Mine was also a base model with a V6 and am radio. it was my grand parents second car (my dad’s father was a Buick man and kept the Malibu as a spare and when he got a new 1986 Park Ave, he gave the Malibu to my dad)
I kept mine largely stock however did “upgrade” the radio (am radio does not work for me in a daily driver) I bought a NOS GM Delco FM-AM Tape Deck (the top of the line radio Option for the 1980 Malibu). Then I went to the local junk yard (on the hottest day of that summer no less) and bought two good condition rear speakers, speaker brackets and the blue radio connector(with a good bit of wiring), and both speaker connectors. I then connected speaker wires to the connectors and now had a 3 speaker system (while keeping it stock)
I miss that car, a few years ago I bought a 1985 Cutlass Supreme sedan and though I like it and still have it, it is not the same.
As for why the 78-80 Monte was not as popular as the 2nd gen or 4th gen, I am thinking that there were two factors in play.
1. the 78-80 Monte looked like a shrunken 2nd Generation and a lot of folks were put off because it cost ether the same or more then a 1977 and it looked like you were paying more for less of a car.
2. GM offered a Malibu coupe that was attractive and did not look like a chopped 4 door sedan(plus the Malibu was fresh and new looking in 1978 and did not look like the 1977 version)
In any event it is sad to see the 78-80 Monte not have that much love in the auto world.
The Malibu coupe was a very nice alternative to the Monte in those years. It was priced cheaper and didn’t have the Monte’s neo-classic curves, so it was more attractive to someone who didn’t want any nonsense in their Chevy coupe. It was also a bit lighter than the Monte, therefore more readily lending itself to hot-rodding. I remember seeing modified ‘Bu’s before I saw any modified Montes. I also remember looking for aftermarket speakers in the junkyard to upgrade mine, I found a pair of nearly new Audiovoxes that I swapped into my first Monte at some point. The current one is still stock.
I like this. And not just because my first car was an out if fashion G body. I really like the psychology if the automobile both now and at time of manufacture, and applaud you for capturing a time and place I wasn’t a part of.
Great story, Big Beat… and congrats finding and scoring a car close to your first one.
I personally liked these Monte Carlos when they came out. Like Dave B said above, the downsizing was brilliant. They look like the ’73, but much more tasteful. My ex-wife briefly had the next generation until someone rear ended and totaled it. That car was an 84 – 86 model, but I’m fuzzy on it as we only had it for 3 months before that accident. It was a stock maroon NON-SS with a 4.3L V6. Very nice car, but not as well styled as your generation of Monte. I would’ve preferred one like yours in maybe a dark blue.
I went the T-Bird route in 1983 when both Ford and Chevy were offering up a restyle.
But when I read that paragraph about how you got in the wrong car and only realized it when you key didn’t work… WOW… The EXACT same thing happened to me with my Fairmont Futura… even the same exact year as your car… 1979!
In this case, the door was unlocked, so I got in and put my key into the ignition and it wouldn’t turn. WTF? – then I looked down and noticed pleather bucket seats with those awful plaid cloth inserts and a floor shifter… My car was a cloth bench and a column shifter… Then I looked two spaces to the left and spotted my car. DOH! – And this was in the DAYTIME.
In my defense though, both cars were midnight blue with the exterior accent group, and their interiors were light blue. I still felt like an idiot, and sheepishly (but quickly) got out of the car looking around to make sure no one saw me. I got into my car and left. This happened over 35 years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday… even more vividly after reading your story.
Again, a great read! Looking forward to more.
Great story, sweet Monte.
I’ve always been more partial to the later ’80’s, perhaps only because they are more commonly seen in the “sporty” trim than the early ones. But yours is just right.
Love this one! My first car in 83 was a 73 Grand Prix. No one else had one at my school. One guy had a 75, closest match. And yes, I’d love to have another 73 GP. But can’t afford right now. I traded it for a 73 Vega, eventually traded back for the GP for a while. Not even sure what I did with the GP. It always ran, the trans had a howl to it sometimes that no one could figure out. Copper paint wasn’t shiny, black vinyl top was starting to fall apart, someone had ripped the nose emblem out, rallye 2 wheels were crusty. Interior was perfect, though. 400 with a 4bbl and duals. Would smoke ONE tire till you let out of it. $300. Yeah, show me that again…
MY first choice was a 71 – 73 (I can’t remember) Mach 1 that my uncle’s wife’s brother had for $500 or $800 (CRS) but my uncle mentioned to my mom that i *might* get in trouble in that car. Like a 17 y/o couldn’t get in trouble with the GP??? But the GP was nice enough, til that “materialistic girl” you mentioned came along and needed to be driven in something nicer. (Audi Fox – whole other story)
So thanks for telling your story. Brings back fond memories of cars’ past.
My dad had a 1978 Monte Carlo in a dark cherry/maroon color. I always thought it was the most attractive car of my childhood.
I loved the early years of this design when it was more aggressively swoop-y and curvaceous. I never got to hand wax Dad’s but I always thought it must have been interesting to wax.
Good Grief, that comment just gave me flashbacks from hell.
My mother had a ’77 Monte Carlo when at age 10 the task of washing and waxing the family cars fell to me. I understand completely that you’re probably referring to the “interesting” body contours, light refraction, etc, but…. What was really “interesting” about that car was applying and removing 70’s vintage Turtle Wax on a chocolate brown car with light tan pinstripes outlining all those contours. This is not even to mention the body side moldings that ran the length of the car, which were chrome edged with a tan vinyl insert, and the fact that each wheel opening was edged with a chrome molding, as was the lower edge of the trunk, the edging around the license plate cutout, etc. And don’t even get me started on the bazillion little chrome grille cutout surrounds. Removing the hazed wax from all of the possible places where it could collect and get caught, and then stick out like a sore thumb against shiny deep brown paint was an all-day affair fraught with frustration. And this of course was after fracturing fingers trying to get brake dust out of all those little holes in the polycast wheels and scrubbing the graining in the vinyl top with a fingernail brush.
Every time I see a pristine example of a 70’s personal luxury coupe replete with vinyl top, coach lamps, pinstriping and whitewalls and I find myself pining for one I should have one of these flashbacks. It’d kill the urge immediately. Like nicotine gum for the car-obsessed.
All those crevices and edges also help burgeon corrosion as well. I often wonder if rust resistance was really actually worse in 70s cars from a metal quality/paint application standpoint or if it was actually just all the crazy shapes and adornments that pooled water and dirt.
Great story! This is my favorite one here at CC. When you mentioned the topic, then the MC5 (huge MC5 fan here), I could tell that we’d have plenty in common.
I agree, it’s a shame that the 78-80’s aren’t more well revered, and like you, I grew up (we had an ’80 from about 1983 to 1991) in a time before the cars became either mullethead/ metalhead muscle cars, or gangsta cars with ridiculously big or small wheels. On one hand, it was nice to see them gain popularity and be saved from the crusher (and seemed like vindication to those of us who had liked the classic styling of the cars in the first place) , but on the other hand, the demographics that adopted them became ones that I wanted to have nothing to do with. I would wage a guess that the popularity of them with metalheads and gangstas were that they were sufficiently dated and aged enough (ie: a car that could be considered a “classic” 10 years later, just because of the dated RWD/ carb’d nature), but available and affordable enough. You could still find parts for them, especially at the wrecker, and by about 1991 (as in when we sold our rusted/ worn out Monte for about $500 bucks), complete parts cars were an option if you had the room for storage.
Style-wise, the 78-80’s are by far, my favorite Monte, and one of my favorite bodystyles of any car of any era. The ’80 Cutlass is one of my all time favorites, as well. I agree that the 81-88’s were pretty much just holdovers and a stopgap in between the RWD carbed days of old, and the inevitable move to FWD and fuel injection. I also agree that the Lumina based Montes were not up to par, and that it was where GM really went wrong with the marque. Personal luxury coupe sales were on the decline in general, but GM went too bland, too stodgy with the Monte. In hindsight, they really should have just cancelled it altogether after ’88, if they couldn’t arrive at some decent approximation of sport/ luxury. Same thing with the Cutlass. It was just never the same.
The late 70’s downsized 2 door Impalas, I also love. It’s a shame that (around here, at least) they’re almost completely extinct.
Summer of ’86 I worked at a camp in New Jersey, and one of my coworkers there turned me on to both MC5 and the Dead Kennedys. I was floored when I first heard “Kick Out The Jams, MF’ers!!!” blasting out of his boombox, I was like “where has this music been all my life?” I copied all of this guy’s tapes, later of course I had to get the original vinyl, which was out of print and really hard to find at the time. Much easier today with YouTube and eBay. When I had my own band in the 1990s, “American Ruse” was part of our set.
My copy is a late 70s reissue vinyl, and the ‘MFer’s’ part has been replaced with ‘brothers and sisters’. Doesn’t quite have the same visceral effect, but what a track.
That’s awesome! Cars–like music–you always tend to remember when exactly you were turned onto them, and the effect that it has on one’s lifetime is immense. That’s why I always love playing music loud in my car, as it combines two of my favorite things in life!
Yep, Monte Carlos were super-popular among the local motorhead headbanger teenagers because they were cheap and easy to work on. Everyone called them “muscle cars” if they had a V8 — and compared to an old Datsun or something, they were pretty muscular.
Anyway, great story, invoked some memories.
Yeah, the ease of working on them, with less computer involvement in the cars, made them fairly popular, at least until the cars developed severe problems (frame rail rot, extensive underside rust, and needing maintenance of some things like doors sagging and window rubber deterioration). You used to see beater G bodies up until around the late 90’s, early 00’s, at which point, most of the daily drivers went to the scrapyard. I had an ’84 Cutlass Brougham, which was super nice to work on……had the 305 with a four barrel Holley, but could barely crack a one wheel peel! They were great entry level muscle cars, though.
Like Big Beat mentions, finding an unmodified Monte, that is stock (and original) is next to impossible. Like him, I would want to drive it and own it just for the time capsule experience, and would never modify it. One thing that really bothers me is all the guys that rip out the 305 in the Super Sports…….it just totally changes the character of the car, and would make it undesirable for me to buy it. The 305 will always be difficult to make high end horsepower with the swirl ports (which is part of their charm……automakers at the time, trying to balance emissions with power improvements on a carbed setup), but wIth a few upgrades, the cars can be made to be respectably faster, but still keep the character of the original car. I always love seeing an unmodified, or mild custom SS at the car shows.
I honestly cannot remember ever seeing an original looking Monte at the car shows, or in daily traffic. I would love to see one.
Thank you for this story.
I always had an affinity for G-Bodies, and watching Training Day also put me over the top for purchasing one.
Good to see another actual owner’s story of a 70’s car, instead of the usual ‘malaise, malaise, malaise’ editorial.
May not have been a “perfect import” or “classic” muscle car, but these cars got job done. I have same sentiment for G bodies in my family, 78 Cutlass Supreme and ’79 Malibu, green as Kermit. May have been slow, but rode and handled well.
I never really liked this generation Monte Carlo but I can very much relate to the story, being an outsider with an outsider car. It’s so cool you found another one in the same colors all those years later.
And Disco sucks!
With all due respect Matt… (some) disco rocks!
Four to the floor solidity on the best of them. (Yes, there is an awful lot of crap as well.)
My friends Dad back in 1979 bought one new, black with red interior, 305–he had the convertor ditched and true duals installed-not easy with only one hump on the crossover. Great times in that car.
This particular generation of Monte Carlo has always struck me as more of a feminine design than the ones that came before or after. It’s the “hips” of the car when combined with the front end and the way the headlights are set on the front. Not a bad look, IMHO.
Very true! I also think that the 78-80 Montes–like the 73-77’s–were very much inspired by the 30’s/ 40’s pontoon fender look, hence the swooping, sculpted fenders. The 78-80’s have a much more graceful look than the 73-77’s, IMHO. At any rate, I love the swooping fenders on Monte’s, because it really set it apart from the other designs of the time, which were boxier looking.
Great story, very cool that you recovered the “one that got away” even if it isnt’ the exact same car.
I’m surprised you haven’t picked up a set of the wheels like your original had on it. There have to be some out there. Sure it would be a long shot to find them in your color but you can always have the painted or paint them yourself. Many auto body and paint specialty stores can mix up any factory color and put it in a spray can for you. And I’m betting you could find a working higher model radio on Ebay as well and of course there are no hidden options so you can leave the stock radio in place and play music off of your device.
There is a company in VA that adds aux ports to factory radios. It is called 1 Factory Radio
http://www.1factoryradio.com/
They could wire up your factory radio with a aux port in the rear so you can hid the music device.
I have had radios by them for years and they worked well
I was thinking about that with the wheels, and initially I wanted to upgrade the stock AM radio too. The paint is getting a bit thin, so maybe a repaint. Then why not a nice crate 350…. At what point do modifications start to take away from the car’s originality? It’s a slippery slope. While I own this car, it is staying exactly as it was built, with the exception of stuff like tires and whatever else is needed to keep it safe and functional.
The ports in the original radio is a great idea, and I seriously considered it. But I never got around to it during the first few years of ownership, and after 11 years, I just got used to it. I have all the modern conveniences I need in my modern car.
I understand the slippery slope of modifications but the wheels aren’t permanent and something that might have been dealer installed to give the customer what they wanted.
Great writing, thanks for the piece.
Congratulations on knowing what you want and achieving your dreams. Then and now.
I remember when this generation Monte Carlo was everywhere.
Then I realized they’re almost 40 years old…..:-(
I’m glad you liked yours. I despised mine. Other than the driver’s seat being comfortable, I can’t really say anything else nice about it. It was the car that swore me off GM. I haven’t owned anything made by the general since. I want GM to survive, but I that car left me with such a sour taste I honestly think nothing will convince me to buy another GM car in whatever time I have left on this earth.
I totally understand how you feel. My next car, an ’82 Olds, did that to me and I never bought a current GM model after that. Stay tuned for my next COAL!
I’m with you on the 78-80 cars. I never understood the dislike. In the Monte’s case it was as conservative a downsizing as you could get in the intermediate range. Honestly, the Regal was the one that really got the short end of the ugly stick before the 81 refresh.
I liked these too.
To me, the real uggos were the 1980 Regal, Monte and Cutlass Supreme. The original cars were all quite clean, the ’81s were really attractive, but the ’80s were just a weird mash-up of both.
Great story, and timely too. I’m modelling a 1/25 scale ’78 Monte Carlo at the moment.
I understand about not wanting to modify it in any way. With me a working radio with ether an aux port or USB or iPod setup is a must on all my cars. It does not have to be big thumping radio but enough to be able to listen to my tunes on a drive. As I drive a lot, listening to DJs trying to be comedians or talk show hosts during the morning commute sucks. I have actually turned down some good car deals over the years because they were missing the ports or the ability to switch the radio out for aftermarket.
I started buying these radios(or sending mine in) from 1 Factory radio so I could keep the factory look and have the aux port
However as GM offered a tape deck in the 79 Monte, upgrading to a NOS Monte tape deck would not ruin the ambiance of the car.
Here is a dealer brochure for the 79 Monte with codes and other info from the GM Heritage Center
https://www.gmheritagecenter.com/docs/gm-heritage-archive/vehicle-information-kits/Monte-Carlo/1979-Chevrolet-Monte-Carlo.pdf
What can I say that hasn’t already been said? Sometimes, you CAN go home again. I managed to do it with my first car, a base 1970 Charger; although 34 years later, the replacement was a mid-level, base V-8, but did have the console and buckets that I wanted the first time! A most enjoyable read! 🙂
Great article indeed and the 1978-1979 Monte Carlo is my favorite of the model’s run.
My parents bought a brand new 78 Buick Regal, back in the day. It had the Chev 305.
At first, I didn’t think it was that bad of a car, but one day the rear axle broke in two as my mother was driving down the road.
What a piece of crap!
I was wondering if shoddy rear axles were also a problem with the 78-80 Chevy Monte Carlo or Olds Cutlass series?
Your story is amazing. I can relate to this a 100%. Just bought one this week , never had one before and it’s the best version I ever wanted. 1979, power windows, red velvet interior and it’s immaculate, and original silver-black two tone with red piping. Silver is not my favorite color but I am impressed that they even did two tone paint like this one during those years. Reminds me of some chip foose sketches. The most amazing thing about the car is that everything is original and the undercarriage is super clean and has almost no rust at all. hopefully you enjoy the pictures of my new dream car because truly, it is the car I wanted no matter people told me it was an old man car, old bucket, I did not listen to their bullshit, I do plan on repainting the car all black with daytons wheels like in the movie training day but still keep it mostly original. no gutted piece hopping with 10 batteries in the trunk lol.
Perhaps you might reconsider the all-black respray? That two-tone is absolutely gorgeous. Suits the lines of the car perfectly.
As a fellow owner of a 1979 A-platform Chevy that started life in same that pale yellow color, reading your article put a big smile on my face. One day I hope to know that “coming home” feeling of closing the door, firing up the engine, and moving the column shifter into drive. One day.
I commend you for holding out for a suitable replica of your original Monte, too, especially with the black cloth interior. I’m not even sure if black cloth was available on the Malibu side of the family–I’ve never seen one.
Great article! Thank you for sharing!
My first car was a ’78 Monte Carlo, which I purchased for $1200 in 1986. It was a solid car, in basic black, with seemingly no option except for air-conditioning. I also thought the basic cloth interior suited the car especially well. Unfortunately, I was altogether unable to keep the car on our twisty roads, wrecking it repeatedly until finally totaling it.
The issue with the Monte A/G Body was the separation of “generations”. ALL the other A/G bodies were of the same generation regardless if it was a 78 or an 87. Basically 81 was just a reskin. So for Chevy to separate the 3rd and 4th gen as two different vehicles was absurd. Olds, Buick, and Pontiac lumped them all into a single generation so why would Chevy be any different? I’ll tell you why. Chevy made an attempt to give the 78-80 Monte a look similar to the previous gen but on the new platform whereas Buick, Olds, and Pontiac made their respective G Bodies forward looking for the new coming decade. It’s a similar thing ford did with the Lincoln Mark VI. Ford in 1980 gave the Mark VI all the styling cues of the previous Mark V but on the smaller panther platform. I didn’t sell well BTW.
So this was a problem for the Monte. They tried to staddle the line between old school early mid 70s look with the forward thinking soon to be 1980s new chassis. They tried to have their cake and eat it too analogy.
The other G bodies were definitely leaving the 70s behind with their distinct look in 78. And with the reskin of 81 the restyle from 80 wasn’t that dramatic (Take the 80 Regal vs the 81 Regal for example). The outlier was the Monte. There was a clear attempt to make the retro looking 78-80 catch up to its other division G bodies in terms of a new generation look.
So that’s the long winded answer. Chevy tried to make the Monte retro looking in 78 whereas the Regal, Cutlass, and Grand Prix were forward looking. Therefore, Chevy separated the generations to try to distance itself from the retro look with the introduction of the 81. Although as stated earlier it was just a reskin like the other GM siblings and not an actual new generation. All the other G bodies are lumped into the same generation from 78-87/88.