Seeing a late 1970s Chevrolet Caprice in the United States is usually a pretty rare sight but in Germany? We’d venture to guess that’s a really rare sight.
Somehow, the some 40-year-old Chevrolet Caprice ended up calling Germany home, but was involved in a one-car wreck in the country a few weeks ago. According to local Osthessen News, the Caprice was driven by a 28-year-old with a 24-year-old riding in the passenger seat. Police said the driver was moving at high speeds when he lost control of the Caprice during a fishtail and hurled the vehicle into a ditch.
Police also said the two were intoxicated with open containers in the vehicle, while some were thrown from the car following the impact. Both the driver and passenger are said to be “seriously injured” after not wearing seatbelts.
The story of a classic Caprice came to an end that night, as the vehicle was sent off to be junked. And we’re sure the two responsible for the wreck won’t be behind the wheel for quite some time.
Comments
I would think that this car was brought to Germany by an US soldier being stationed in Germany who, on his return to the USA or some other foreign place, then preferred to make some bucks by selling it to a German national instead of paying the freight for transporting to his new location.
Yep that is generally how it works unless it is a Corvette, Camaro, Hummer or Suv. Even then that is how some of these even get there.
Merkel’s Germany for you…
BTW, the car is marked with a big 77 and has what is called in German “Ralley-Streifen” — ralley stripes. When you click on the link to “Osthessen News” in the article, you should see a number of images.
Does this 77 ring something specific for an US American automobile fan?
As the number 53 is for the car in the VW Beetle film series…
In the period between 1977 and 1980 a lot of US cars were sold in Europe. The dollar was cheap, which made US cars very competitive in Europe. The caprice at that time was seen as a very luxurious car to European standards. Most came with the 4.1 liter 6 cylinder engine (250 cid), whereas the 5-liter (307 cid) V-8 was for the happy few. I used to have a 1979 years ago, which I bought second hand as a student… Very reliable car. So seeing these in Europe is not so strange ;).