- 1971 MONTE CARLO SUPER SPORT “RARE MC” -
I grew-up in Downers Grove 3 blocks south of DG North High school & walked to Jr. Hi one block from the high school. I saw many muscle cars from the late 60’s and early 70’s cruising everyday and I determined I liked cars with long hoods and short trunks; Cudas, Mustangs, Chevelles and Monte Carlos. My first car was a slant six 1968 4-door Valiant but I knew I was a Chevy guy.
Forward to 1984. I
already owned (and still do) a Cottonwood Green small block 1971 Monte that I
bought in SC in 1979 and read in Super Chevy that they made a 1971 Monte SS454.
On the train after work one evening I saw a 1971 Monte SS advertised in the
Chicago Tribune. I called and he said it was a big block. I visited the South
Chicago location and looked
for
what I read were distinct Monte SS items. The original spare was still in the
car and the odometer read around 55,000. I bought the car from the lady owner
and she gave the money to her boyfriend so he could complete his candy-apple
read ’67 GTO. We came to a price and I drove it home a few days later. It
stayed in storage for a few years while I accumulated parts. At that time, I
needed all the body chrome parts and Chevrolet still had them all!! I also paid
$5 to have the state of IL. give me a copy of the previous titles, so I know the
dates the car was sold. When I first saw the car the Sandalwood cloth interior
was covered in plastic, and the owner didn’t know why. The reason would be
found out soon.
The restoration was
started around 1987 in a one-car garage in Darien. When I took the back seat
out, I found 3 buildsheets. The car was the 16th car built on Friday,
December 11, 1970. I sent a copy to Triple-A Enterprises in Indianapolis to
have a window sticker reproduced and when I got it back, there was a note from
the owner
saying
that the buildsheet had and unusual item on the bottom, “cc: Sid Bergstrom”,
the dealer order was the Zone office and delivered to City Chevrolet on S.
Michigan Ave. in Chicago in January, 1971. I contacted the Zone office and Sid
Bergstrom was retired in Michigan and was the person who ordered the cars for
the Chicago Auto Show. It has every option but 2, including tilt wheel. I
still wonder why tilt wheel wasn’t ordered. The seats had been covered for the
show.
When I bought the car,
it was a medium blue and the guy said he had rebuilt the engine, but friend and
NICC member Andy Marchiando encouraged me to take the engine apart while
I had the car stripped. It had spun a
bearing
along the way and the “rebuild” included putting new bearings in it. The crank
was turned and new rings were put on the factory stock pistons along with a
Crane Cams stock cam and lifters. The heads were rebuilt. At that time I
worked at Heller Financial and one of the clients was Certified Automotive
Warehouse on south Ashland. I bought all the parts needed to rebuild it there,
including an original exhaust lead pipe. That saved huge money. It needed
quarters and fenders, so I got new quarters and had them put on along with
fenders. It was repainted the original Placer Gold by Dave Marchiando using
lacquer base and clear. The gas tank had been undercoated so I spent hours
using a single-edge razor blade to reveal the original finish.
It made its first outing to the 1988 MotorRama show at McCormick place where it got 1st Place. I have since continued detailing it. In 2003 Chevrolet called and asked if I could bring it to their Woodward Dream Cruise display at the Chevrolet Triangle. For that I put the original tires on it and was one of 10 cars that year to display. That was the best thing that could happen to a Chevrolet guy. In June, 2004 it dropped an exhaust valve upon start-up but it didn’t hurt anything. The heads were rebuilt at Borowski Race Enterprises using Comp Cams springs. At this time the engine was pulled and regasketed to stop the various leaks.
Some info. on this car: 454 c.i., 365hp, Turbo 400 AT, 3.31 posi, 12 bolt, body is Placer Gold (code 53) with a black vinyl top, Sandalwood, code 716 interior. It has many options, including power windows, seats, door locks and trunk opener, sports steering wheel, auxiliary lighting (trunk, hood, ash tray and courtesy interior lights), tinted glass, floor mats, rear window defogger, special instrumentation, AM/FM stereo radio, G70-15 Goodyear Polyglass white walls. Have the original spare, with all the ink marks and stickers and the other original tires. The tires are used only for display and have tubes in them.
Some Fun Facts on the Monte Super Sport:
q
All were equipped with the Cadillac rear load leveling system (that is the tank on the inner left fender well).q
Cruise control was not an option on the SS as the load leveling system took up the space and the extra vacuum (although I have seen one with a window sticker that has cruise).q
Some, when ordered with front and rear bumper guards did not come with the rear guards, but a rubber strip on the back, as this car did.q
The Monte was built on the Chevelle frame using the same driveline and was built on the same assembly line as the Chevelle. Chevrolet advertised the Monte Carlo as “The Banker’s Chevelle”. The owner is a banker. 
This is the Monte with the original tires on it. This was after attending the 2004 Woodward Dream Cruise at the Chevy Triangle as 1 of 10 official display cars.
