Featuring colorful accent stripes on a gleaming, snowy white background, an extremely rare 1977 Chevy Monza 2+2 Mirage is up for sale in Florida through Hemmings.com, offering a host of features, an odometer reading of just 38,397 miles, and plenty of historic automotive flair.
A subcompact car motivated by the 305 cubic-inch, 5.0L V8 LG3 engine, this particular 1977 Chevy Monza hatchback offers 145 horsepower and 245 pound-feet of torque, but was fitted out to mimic the look of the much more powerful Chevy Monza GT race cars that achieved some notable successes in the Camel GT Challenge Series.
This Chevy Monza Mirage is one of 4,057 of these street-legal tribute cars that were converted at Michigan Automotive Techniques Corporation or MATC at an additional cost of $520. It was given Mirage graphics along with other appearance upgrades such a front air dam, fender flares, a spoiler, and the prominent accent stripes in red and blue.
The paintwork on this fastback isn’t perfect, with some of the paint on the stripes chipping off in places and peeling visible on the rear spoiler. Other cosmetic issues include surface rust where the cowl meets the windshield and more serious rust in the driver’s side lower doorjamb. Some plastic aesthetic pieces have shrunk and no longer fit precisely. However, the exterior lighting all functions and most of the paintwork is original.
Snazzy red vinyl seat upholstery, also original, is found in the interior, while the heater and gauges are fully functional. The headliner is nearly perfect condition as well. The Monza Mirage rides on brand-new BFGoodrich Radial T/A tires wrapped around 13-inch polished aluminum Chevy wheels.
The greasy bits of this ’77 Monza have been repaired, rebuilt, and refurbished with the correct replacement parts to restore original function. The seller says the “engine runs as smooth as glass and has recently been tuned up with original Delco ignition parts,” while the brakes are fully rebuilt and “stop the car on a dime.”
While perhaps in need of minor TLC in a few spots, this Monza Mirage is in very good shape for a car of its age and can be driven as noted. A rare historical piece with plenty of character, it’s listed with an asking price of $22,500.
Please leave a comment to let everyone know if you think this 1977 rarity is worth that much, and whether you would like to have it in your own collection.
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Comments
I had the first one her in Colorado it appears it has a 4 or 5 Speed in 77 they only came with an automatic I have the complete strip kit and folders from Michigan Auto technics who put these cars together there should be a face plate with the number built it was a very cool car and took a lot of first place in car shows would like another but price is to high for me
My 1st new car was a ’77 Monza, 305, 145 hp with a 4 speed stick. The dealer ordered it special and couldn’t even tell me what tranny it would come with, 4 or 5 speed. I told him if it came in with an auto, he can keep it. I must say it’s one of the tightest shift patterns I ever had! Only had it for a year and traded it for a real sports car, a 1978 Datsun 280Z.
Looks far worse than the Mustang II of that era.
The Mustang ll is outdone only by the Edsel and Pinto in terms of embarrassment for Ford. The Cobra ll package was a little less awful, especially if it had a 302 V8 under the hood.
Actually these basically were “V8 Vega’s” (if you got the V8 engine, of course) and 4 cylinder or a V6 were also available in various configurations and packages. When optioned correctly could be a lot of fun to toss around, in fact in California (and maybe some other states) a 350 engine with a 2 bbl carb and auto tranny only were available in other Monza models too.
The problem here is…the high cost of purchasing a vehicle like this (and sadly in this configuration in need of a lot of TLC) and the high cost of properly restoring such a vehicle plus finding the correct and original materials for a restoration.
This particular Monza seems to missing some of other bits and pieces I used to see on a few Monza Mirage model’s I’ve seen at Cars & Coffee events and some Chevy Car Shows here in Southern California. Namely a Sport two spoke tilt steering wheel, and a tachometer. Sadly being a unibody vehicle, the rust that you can physically see may only be the tip of the iceberg unless you can find the time to put the car up on a rack and do a proper check of every visable chassis component you may be in for a very expensive restoration project should you have to go deeper than whats being shown.
That said…I believe if you find the right person with the right frame of mind willing to properly restore this particular Chevy Monza Mirage, you’d have a fun and somewhat collectable future “Special Interest” vehicle worthy of both a driver and a show car status. Something like the Cogsworth Vega in that it is unique and somewhat collectable and should be done to a higher standard than simply leaving it in the state it is being shown here. The asking price (usually) is negotiable and if this car can be purchased for maybe 20% less, then it may be a future bargain but remember, the high cost of “doing it right” will eat up that “20%” discount (no pun intended Chevy) in a “Heart Beat”! I hope someone does purchase this Monza and does a “tried and true” proper restoration, I think this vehicle deserves nothing less. Good luck to the seller & buyer.
They were assembled in Kentwood, Michigan, a suburb of Grand Rapids. They were a few blocks away from the Pontiac – GMC dealership that I worked at. I used to see carriers loaded with them drive by on 28th street with the flairs and cladding installed
My late Dad bought my younger sister a loaded white Spyder Monza, V6, auto. Sporty & very sharp. She ran a 4 way stop on an unfamiliar road on the way to join a large contingent of friends to see Ted Nugent concert in Memphis. T-boned another car & totaled it but no serious injuries. Went to local NW AL family owned dealer& Dad let me spec out replacement. Light blue Spyder with every option. Dad asked would I option out like this if I was paying? Well, she totaled it on an icy road going to see doctor early In first pregnancy. She & our Mom crawled out back, both ok. One of my best friends also brought a new dark blue 305 2bbl, 5 speed Spyder. These were sharp cars & very popular in our area. With mt Dad being an insurance agent, my sister gave him many sleepless nights as she later totaled her husband’s Chevy step side pickup. Must improved driver with age.
My 1st new car was a 77 Monza. Bought it upon HS graduation. 77 was a terrible year for buying a GM car. They introduced a new computerized ordering system; not a single car came off the line with the ordered options, colors, etc. I found my V8 Spyder sitting behind a wrecked car in the dealer lot. They didn’t know it was in their inventory. Came with a 4 speed, Spyder graphics, whitewall tires and no gages!. My Dad worked for Buick Engineering. He “found” a full gaged dash insert. We converted it on a weekend. I soon burned off the white walls and put a set of RWL ‘Stones on it. Poor build quality, but what a fun car!
A HS buddy of mine had a ’75 California spec Monza. Had the 350 as the 305 didn’t make emissions. Also had a 4 speed. He put a 4-barrel carb on it. Wicked fun!
The only trouble was getting traction with the tiny tires that fit this car.
My buddy had one of these built in 1975 for the 1976 bicentennial that’s why they’re red white and blue nobody mentioned that that I saw I think they were only made for 75 76 and 77 does anybody know if that’s correct I love these cars though thanks peace for now
My 1st new car was a 77 Monza. Bought it upon HS graduation. 77 was a terrible year for buying a GM car. They introduced a new computerized ordering system; not a single car came off the line with the ordered options, colors, etc. I found my V8 Spyder sitting behind a wrecked car in the dealer lot. They didn’t know it was in their inventory. Came with a 4 speed, Spyder graphics, whitewall tires and no gages!. My Dad worked for Buick Engineering. He “found” a full gaged dash insert. We converted it on a weekend. I soon burned off the white walls and put a set of RWL ‘Stones on it. Poor build quality, but what a fun car!
I remember the Monza Spider was the one I wanted in high school. Never got one but still think they’re cool!
My first car was a 1977 Monza spider, I bought in 1982 when I was in high school, it was silver with the spider across the hood had a V6 4 speed. I put aluminum slots on it, back in the day those were cool. Always liked the looks of the Monza. Traded it for a 1979 Z28 before graduation.
You can buy a nice Corvette from the same era for this kind of money. That would be my choice for sure. There many old cars available that you can get for this kind of money that will out perform and are in better condition. The right buyer might be out there, but not too many at the asking price.
Never forget back in the day I put a mildly built small block 400 in where that 305 used to live. That was like driving on ice year round I tell ya. Those 13″ tires had no chance of hooking up and we just slid around everyplace we went. What fun
Yes! We had a full sized 1975 wagon with the 400 small block. I was stopped by the local police for squawking the tires on the 5,000 pound beast. We had a car with the 350, and it wasn’t quite as wild. The 400 only had 10 more horsepower but 50 more foot pounds of torque than the 350. Oh, for those people wanting to build one of these engines, the 400 is the only externally balanced small block Chevy engine. If you are stroking that 350 with a 400 crank kit, get all your parts from one source. Lots of luck finding the weighted flywheel for a manual transmission application.