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Hey, Camino...got an even better project for you


Flybrian

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About two weeks ago I watched TIN MEN, as I do every so often to drool at all the Cadillacs in the movie.

esp. Danny DeVito's '62 CDV, the hardtop, cooler version of the Banana Boat.

I have decided that my ultimate daily driver idea would be a MB turbodiesel inline-six with a manual

transmission in a '61 Coupe deVille (white interior of course) with a pastel exterior color.

That and the '59 Buick would be the last two Post-War cars I'd ever need. :D

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Damn.... that Sunbird Safari would look awsome nestled between the Datsun & Mercedes.

Looooooooooove it!

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Which is why the Sunbird name on this bodystyle (and front-end style) puzzles me. Must have been a transition year.

You are correct sir! I pulled my book off the shelf (Standard catalog of Pontiac 1926-1995). It shows 1977 as the last year for the Astre coupe and hatchback. It appears that the wagon got folded into the Sunbird line for 1978. There's a caption in the 1979 section under a photo stating the name as "Sunbird Astre Safari station wagon". Appears to have been dropped in 1980.

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You are correct sir! I pulled my book off the shelf (Standard catalog of Pontiac 1926-1995). It shows 1977 as the last year for the Astre coupe and hatchback. It appears that the wagon got folded into the Sunbird line for 1978. There's a caption in the 1979 section under a photo stating the name as "Sunbird Astre Safari station wagon". Appears to have been dropped in 1980.

Makes sense as I never saw one of these with the Sunbird snout.

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Camino, how can you tell that's a '76? I cannot tell which grille mesh it has... was the bowtie in the grille only on '76s... hmmm... I think I just answered my own question.

My H/T-body memory is fuzzy. I did remember they put the Sunbird name on the T-body Vega-based wagon after the Astre name went kaput... but did they put the Monza name on Chevy's T-body wagon after Vega died in 1977?

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Camino, how can you tell that's a '76? I cannot tell which grille mesh it has... was the bowtie in the grille only on '76s... hmmm... I think I just answered my own question.

My H/T-body memory is fuzzy. I did remember they put the Sunbird name on the T-body Vega-based wagon after the Astre name went kaput... but did they put the Monza name on Chevy's T-body wagon after Vega died in 1977?

It's a '76 because it has a mesh grille, the '77 has slats.

Yes, they put the Monza name on the wagon and it got the cheapo, round headlight, Monza nose.

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Well, I was using the word "mesh" in general terms, yeah, there was a crosshatch mesh on the 76s and vertical bars on the '77s, for the Classic trim level, at least. Didn't they still have a base model El Camino, at least in '76, with the round headlight front end and grille of the base, non Classic Malibu? Was there a bowtie in the center of both '76 and '77 models? I thought the bowtie was omitted on 77s, at least on the Malibu... I am relying on memory.
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im starting to warm up to a lot of oddball late 70's cars that i never liked before... i want a 78 malibu pretty badly, but ive been getting a bit of a monza fettish lately.... one of those "its so ugly its cool" things...

I've always liked the Monza - it would make a great drag car.

In fact, it was a common choice for NHRA Pro Stock back then.

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My idear of a Monza hatchback project would include a stock body and interior, canyon carver suspension with maybe 16" rims (if they fit where 13's normally reside), and perhaps an '08 CTS 3.6L DI/manual six speed drivetrain.:)
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My idear of a Monza hatchback project would include a stock body and interior, canyon carver suspension with maybe 16" rims (if they fit where 13's normally reside), and perhaps an '08 CTS 3.6L DI/manual six speed drivetrain.:)

I would tweak that to start with a Pontiac Sunbird Formula...

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