(first posted 3/29/2016) At the outdoor display area at last year’s Motorclassica show there were a few cars in a ‘park and sell’ area, including this 1975 Chevrolet Chevelle Laguna Type S-3, which, to say the least, is not a car that you often see in Australia.
Until the recent explosion in American classic car imports, I doubt there would have been too many 1970s US intermediate sized cars. While there were some US imports at the time, they were typically luxurious Cadillacs, Buicks, and Lincolns or the sporty Camaros and Firebirds.
The left-hand drive interior indicates that the car was imported after it was at least 30 years of age, otherwise it would have been required to be converted to right-hand drive.
Thus I had to do some research on this car, which was apparently the top of the line model for the intermediate Chevelle in 1975 and available only as a pillared hardtop. I gather there was a connection to NASCAR racing, certainly the former owner’s wife mentioned it.
The engine, either a 350 or 400 small block, has had a few modifications such as extractors and dual Edelbrock carbies – plus presumably a lot more.
Further Reading:
JPCavanaugh’s more in-depth look at a 1976 Laguna
John, thank you for this great post and pics of my favorite year Laguna!! I agree it’s amazing to see one in your hemisphere, as I’ve seen probably only three (across ’73 – ’76), with two in shows, here in the U.S. over the past ten years or so.
I can’t remember seeing any since the 90s! In fact the last “special” A body I spotted “live” (IE not at a car show) was a ’77 Pontiac Can-Am. This brings up a possible QOTD: “What 1973-77 GM “A” Body would you go back in time to buy?”
James, you must make that post.
I wish I was a better writer, But I’ll give it some thought!
If I can do it James… you just need to start by saying which is your favorite A body and why, add a photo or two and then throw the question open.
The new white ’73 Grand Am that was on the lot for months, but was waaayyyyy beyond my financial reach.
’73 GTO.
What a great find! I love these… That’s a rare bird too, only 7788 Lagunas were produced for 1975.
I have one that my dad left me when he passed away. She is a rust bucket now but I plan to restore it.
A great mid 70’s car! The speed shop dress up kit and decals under the hood do it no favors though. you can run a high compression SBC with cam and heads without the window dressing…or is it just window dressing?
Maybe not the case here but in instances of upgraded valvetrains with rockers of a different ratio they do sometimes necessitate the use of aftermarket valve covers with more clearance, so the dress up can be functional as well. I’m with you though, I’ve never been a fan of dressup kits for most pushrod V8s, especially of the “finned” variety, it just looks busy.
This model “Colonnade” Chevelle was always my favorite, for all 3 years [74-76]! Odd and wonderful car in an unusual location. Whoever brought it there has great taste!
I’ve always liked this body style of Malibu, especially in NASCAR race trim.
Yes! These make me think of those reruns of “Car and Track” with Bud Lindemann that they used to show on the old Speedvision.
Built right here in Baltimore, Hon! ;o)
I got to tour GM’s Broening Highway Assembly Plant twice in my life as a kid. Both times they were building the coolest of all Chevelles.
At just about 9 years old, it was the 1969 SS 396 Chevelle.
In 1973 at the age of 13, it was the Laguna S-3.
Sadly this plant was torn down and the site is now an Amazon Fulfilment Center.
If it’s a Wisconsin car than more than likely it was Kansas City Leeds. What’s left of it (quite a bit, actually) still stands across the freeway from the Chiefs and Royals stadiums.
Balamer did build one helluva little work van!
Yeah, before its demise, the Baltimore plant cranked out many many Astro Vans. There were so many of those in this area back it the day, one got the feeling that GM never shipped them anywhere, that they just sold them all here. My plumber had one for the longest time, and was quite sad when it finally died and he had to buy a ‘normal’ Chevy Van.
Cool Chevelle Laguna front-end. I wonder if some folks did some aftermarket modifications to put a Laguna S-3 nose on a 4-door Chevelle?
You mean like this?
Yes, like this. 🙂
73 you could get a Laguna sedan and wagon from the factory. 73 was also the only year you could get a factory SS wagon with a 454 and 4 speed.
However, the ’73 (pictured) and ’74 Lagunas didn’t have the slantback nose of the later models.
true, but I like the earlier nose over the shovel nose.
I recall as a kid seeing the 1976 Chevelle brochure when my dad was shopping for cars. I flipped through it and saw the Laguna Type S-3 and barely recognised it as a Chevelle. I assumed it was a completely different body since the front looked far more rakish than the Malibu, the bold stripes and mag wheels looked racy, and the rear quarter window was louvered over (I thought the louvers were standard on the Laguna by ’75; suprised to see one without them). Only when I looked close did I start seeing the commonality with the Malibu.
Wow like so many cars of this era big wide mags make this car, which I long considered a frumpy lumbering oaf, actually look downright attractive.
Agreed. I’m generally a bit wary about big mags/tires, but these big, wide and flamboyant cars really need some shoes that match the rest of the outfit.
The last gasp of the Chevrolet muscle car.
I know someone who has his now restored Laguna since new. Nice, but knowing what the Chevelle of era was like I’m not impressed. I’ll back that up by saying my friend had a Malibu Classic loaded with options that he bought new and slowly fell apart during the three years he drove it. They were also poor fleet vehicles as witnessed by how many Chevelle police cars I saw put out of service from 1974 onwards.
I dunno… maybe I’ve had good luck with them, my parents bought a 76 brand new, and it lasted till it and I were 24 years old with some rust issues in the trunk and 200,000 miles. My current 77 I’ve had for 7 years and put over 100,000 miles on it ontop of god knows how many it had before I got it, and its been pretty troublefree aside from stuff just aging out after nearly 40 years on the road.
Like a lot of GM cars that were so often lemons, it kinda seemed like at least half died in the first five years, then half of the rest in the next five years or so, ….but ones that lived longer than that were probably in for the duration. 🙂
alive in detroit when this one rolled off the assembly line somewhere …. as 14 year old car nut my peeps and i considered these all show and no go. yes, they looked cool but they had been so detuned that the hp, torque and speed ratings were laughable.
high school kids would loose all day in new cars like this to rusted, dented or bondoed muscle cars from the mid to late 60s and wonder why their new car would loose.
dont get me wrong i like the look i just wish there was more umph to back up the looks. with dual carbs this one has me wondering what else was done to it.
Joel Rosen at Motion Performance was able to fix you up if you were disappointed in the performance of your new Collonade. This particular car is notorious for being the last showroom new car he tried this treatment on. Not long after this article appeared, the EPA raided his shop and while not exactly shutting him down,
forced him to cease and desist modding new cars.
That is interesting, a 1150 cfm carb, I wonder what the horsepower was? Quite the combo with 4.88 gears but an overdrive to bring it back to something half-reasonable to cruise the highway with.
Using an estimated weight of 4,400 pounds with driver and fuel along with the quarter mile time and ET in the article, the horsepower should have been around 525 at the crank. That sounds reasonable for the build specs.
The Colonnade was originally supposed to come out in 1972 but was delayed. Has anyone seen what the stillborn ’72 models would have looked like? I’ve never seen any pictures of them. I would assume they would have smaller front bumpers.
Love these cars, a neighbor had one new back in the 70’s. It was a lime green color. First car I saw with a fascia covered bumber.
This looks almost identical to my first car. Mine was a 1976 model though. I bought it used back in 1981. It was a fun car and I wish I still owned it!
Heres my 75 Laguna. Wayland, Michigan.
That car is gorgeous!
+1!
+2…That may be the best looking Colonnade on the road today.
I am looking for a laguna to buy. Thanks Matt 916-225-0151
Ever consider selling it?
The 74-76 Laguna S-3 replaced the ’73 Chevelle Malibu SS. And, the ’74 Malibu Classic replaced the ’73 Laguna, which was the top of the line for one year, offered in also in 4 door sedan/wagon. And, likely the Laguna was kept around for 74-76 as a ‘homologation special’ for NASCAR. Gone for ’77.
When mid size car buyers showed a preference for formal looks, the swoopy Laguna was replaced as ‘top line Chevelle’ with fancier Malibu Classic, offering hood ornament, chrome bumpers and smaller opera windows. But it still had the fastback roof, unlike the squared off Monte Carlo.
Malibu name became more commonly used for Chevy’s mid size line by mid 70’s and were all called that starting in ’78. Some forget that the Colonnades were still Chevelles.
Chevrolet seemed to de-emphasize the “Chevelle” name by the end of the Colonnade run – the only reference to Chevelle on the car was a tiny nameplate to the right of the rear license tag.
Even more forgotten than the Laguna is the Deluxe, a one-year-only entry level Chevelle for 1973 below the mid-grade Malibu. One such car, a four-door with a taxicab-plain black interior, was my occasional ride to middle school.
Certainly a rarity in Australia, and I agree it would be a recent import – definitely not something that was brought in at the time. Sometimes you do see some neat old cars in the strangest of places – like when my son and I took a load to the tip, and we pulled in behind a pristine ’74-ish Maverick. Wish I’d had my camera.
The Laguna is one of those cars I forget ever existed… Seeing this one here I can’t imagine why that is so.
Interesting combination of options….it has the swivel bucket seat option (standard in ’73) the Laguna is best known for, but no A/C. The no A/C part could very well be explained by the Wisconsin front plate.
Given how many rusty Camrys, Accords, GM W-bodies and other modern staples I see on my trips to Minocqua and Eagle River, if this is an original Wisconsin car its condition is all the more remarkable!
Although the compressor is missing, one can see by the dash that it had an aftermarket in-dash AC at one time. Look how the right-most vent doesn’t match the style of the center one. Frigi-King, more than likey.
Good catch! I grew up in Houston so I’ve never seen or ridden in a Colonnade A-body (and they were EVERYWHERE when I was a kid) without factory a/c. Even the few I see on the local car show circuit here in the Illinois burbs of STL all have a/c.
Looks strange seeing photos of the IP and there’s a little map cubby in place of the driver’s side A/C outlet.
Being from Saskatchewan, I’ve seen plenty of almost anything you can name without AC when it wasn’t standard.
Shovel-nosed ugly, but much better than the 1973 model, which shocked me at how awful it was.
The first car I ever owned was a 1973 Laguna, complete with swivel bucket seats. I never actually drove that car!
Good one John. As I recall, the asking on this was eye-watering.
Yes, I also thought probably a bit optimistic! Over $50k from memory.
You can’t be serious.
Yep
That’s nearly $40k USD – ouch.
Saw plenty of those while growing up, in different states of repair. Never imagined someone would bring one down here.
It looks like there’s a single carbie in there. Also no A/C.
The Cobra Daytona replica to its left is far more interesting, and I think I’ve seen that car personally… somewhere else.
The Laguna has dual quads; you can see that there are two fuel inlets. The “Engine Masters” show on YouTube just compared that manifold to a Holley triple two-barrel setup.
I love this colour on this Laguna, and the nose on these years of the cars suit them. This is one of the best examples of that era of Chevelle that I can think of, in terms of the way it looks, the tires/ rims and overall vibe of it. I like some Colonnades, but can be lukewarm on some of them, depending on how they look….this would probably be one to win doubters over on the whole Colonnade era, in how they can be done right.
I just noticed something…on the fender badge, why are the colors of the German national flag under “TYPE”, sandwiched between all-American imagery? This car certainly wasn’t supposed to have been thought of as European in any way. I’m a huge fan of the Laguna, but maybe the use of those colors was purely coincidental.
My sister’s first car was a 1973 Laguna coupe. It was probably one of the nicest Chevelles of the Colonnade era. My only nit-pick was that the moulded in front Endura bumper was not matched at the rear. The standard Chevelle bumper was used, but painted body color instead of chrome.
Her car definitely had the swivel seats. They seemed pointless for most purposes. Her car was pretty well equipped; 350 automatic, AC, console (standard?) and vinyl roof. The car was in great condition, a fresh trade from an old lady at our nearby Dodge dealer in 1982. Unfortunately she totaled it within a month when she tried to cross some traffic in front of our high school.
This car is a fairly close to what hers looked like, except the body was an unusual dark maroon brown color….
“Pillared hardtop” is an oxymoron. These were post cars.
Notice how the “S3” logo looks like an “SS” logo from a distance? I wonder if GM knew that performance cars were going to come back one day and they shelved the SS badge because they didn’t want to ruin it putting it on underpowered cars that weren’t particularly sporty.
You know Chevy II’s, Chevelle’s and full size SS’s were available some years as 6 cyls?
I’ve always wanted a 6 cylinder SS Chevy of some kind, but I’m a fan of Inline 6s in general and have a mildly modified 250 in my ’74 Chevy Custom 10 pickup already, so…
Chevy did keep the SS package on the El Camino through the Colonnade era. More likely to say ‘cheaper insurance’ by not having SS coupe. ElCo is a ‘truck’ so affects insurance rates.
Great to see a set of American Racing 200S wheels. I had some on my 78 Malibu coupe, they’re pretty rare now I would think.
Not Rare at all you can buy Tourque Thurst brand new. Check EBAY!!
I am picking up a 1975 S-3 today trade for Boat I hope its nice!!
Love these retro vehicles and the attention they bring at shows. Here is my 76 with only 21,000 documented miles.
If you ever want to sell your 21K mile 76, my email is buffstang@yahoo.com
I had a 76 laguna SS. I miss that car. It haunts me every day.
Collectible Automobile printed pictures of prototypes for “would’ve been” 1972 Malibu, Monte Carlo and GTO. The last of those looked just like a Grand Am.
Malibu would’ve had a larger grille, with a half loop bumper under it. MC kind of the same. Haven’t seen prototype pics of Cutlass or Grand Prix.
Oh man, I bet I’d love what Olds and Pontiac came up with! Probably lost to history.
I’ve found myself attracted to the Olds and Pontiac Collonade coupes here lately. Not so much the Chevys, but this one is beautiful.
The Laguna was the only noteworthy Malibu model.
The Malibu was an awful car and I have a friend who would back me up on that. He bought a Malibu Classic and only kept it for a couple of years. Mind you, in the mid-seventies there were a lot of cars that were underpowered and overbumpered.