1970 Chevrlolet Monte Carlo SS 454

Subject Vehicle: 1970 Monte Carlo SS – 138570F131004

Condition:

Body – excellent

Paint – excellent

Interior – excellent

Mechanical – excellent

Tires – excellent

Equipment:

Engine: V8 454

Transmission: Automatic Driveline: Rear-wheel-drive

Suspension: Air-shocks

Body Style: Sedan 2-Dr

Factory Air Conditioning, AM Radio, SS/Rally Package

Vehicle History

The 1970 Monte Carlo was the very first edition of the Monte Carlo. It was the creation of Elliot Estes, who was at that time the general manager of Chevrolet, the Monte Carlo was built mostly as a counterpart of the then famous new Pontiac Grand Prix. The Grand Prix featured a body style with a much longer front end, and this was a huge hit with the general car-buying public. It was so popular, in fact, that it outsold its larger B body counterparts, even though the Grand Prix cost more.

Even though the Chevrolet Monte Carlo was developed, for the most part, by Elliot Estes, it was formally unveiled by the new General Manager John Z. Delorean in 1969. He had been the one responsible for bringing about the similar bodied 1969 Grand Prix in the Pontiac division, so his knowledge of the body style was pretty much one of specialist status.

The power train that shipped standard on the 1970s Monte Carlo was the 350 cubic inch (5.7 liter) Chevrolet Turbo Fire small block V8 with a two barrel carburetor. This motor was rated at 250 horsepower at 4500 rpm with 345 ft lb of torque at 2800 rpm. This, coupled with a column mounted 3 speed manual transmission built with synchro-mesh technology, helped to give the Monte Carlo a little bit of “buck” for the money. Disc brakes, which were located on the front of the vehicle, came standard with this model as well.

There were also a lot of options available for the 1970 model Monte Carlo. For one, you could get a two speed power glide automatic transmission (available on 350 engines only). There was also a three speed turbo hydromantic available, or a four speed manual.

You could get power windows, variable ratio power steering, power seats, air conditioning, strato-bucket seats, Rally wheels, or even full instrumentation. A fully equipped Monte Carlo, complete including all of the extras, could bring as much as $5,000, which was a lot of money back in 1970! But people still bought them, and loved them! There were also several optional engines available on this year. For one, you could get a four barreled Turbo fire 350 small block V8, which was rated at 300 horsepower at 4800 rpm. There was also a Turbo fire 400 with a two barrel carburetor, which was rated at 265 hp at 7800 rpm. There was the Turbo jet 400 as well, but this is not to be confused with the Turbo fire 400. They were both different designs… while the Turbo Jet 400 was a sort of enlarged version of the 396 big block V8, the Turbo Fire 400 was a small block V8 which was more similar to the 350.

The sportiest option for any Monte Carlo this year was the 454 Monte Carlo SS. It featured a Turbo Jet 454 with a four barrel carburetor that was rated at 360 horsepower. Keep in mind that all of these horsepower ratings were made before Chevrolet made the switch to the new SAE horsepower standards.

The 1970 Chevrolet Monte Carlo was intended to be a more 'luxurious' version of the popular SS-Chevelle a.k.a. “the Gentleman’s Muscle Car”. It was built on the same A-body frame as the Chevelle with a slightly longer wheelbase and had the same powerful LS5 454. It has the same rally gauges but with a wood grain finish, more luxury appointments and a smoother ride. There were only 3800 made, which explains why they are rarely seen today. Those remaining are of particular collector interest but rarely in this mint condition.

The LS5 454 in this car is a warranty replacement from 1970 and is correctly stamped CE, 1970 and has been in the car since then. See the attached Protect-O-Plate (stolen at a car show) that confirms this engine. The 12-bolt posi-traction rear end and 400-turbomatic transmission are also original to the car. The fenders and quarter are original and show no signs of any collision repair.

This car is very straight and runs and drives excellent. This car is reported to have spent its first 40 years in Orange County, CA and is now kept in Arizona. This car is reported to have never been exposed to or driven in inclement weather. It is without rust. The paint is like new and the interior is in excellent condition.

This car has been completely rebuilt including the massive 454 V8, which has been redone with high-performance parts. The car and engine have been driven fewer than 5,000 additional miles since the restoration. It has a brand new Street Avenger 4bbl carburetor and has recently been dyno-tuned with new spark plugs and now produces approximately 460 horsepower. The engine compartment has been upgraded with many chrome parts as you can see in the photos. The original radiator was replaced with a custom made PRC aluminum radiator with twin electric fans. Ceramic coated stainless steel headers have been installed.

Vehicle Features & Condition

The car is equipped with factory A/C and has a brand new high-capacity compressor. The A/C blows COLD! The interior is the very desirable black with bucket seats and a center console with the famous horseshoe shifter. The car also has the wood-grain trim on the console and gauge cluster. The car has the original AM radio, manual windows and seats –like a true muscle car of the era. The car also has like new Firestone black-wall tires on the original rally wheels. Additionally the car has a complete set of new Bilstein gas shock absorbers. Also the car has new 3M ceramic film window tinting that was professionally installed. The ceramic film is more expensive than metallic but does NOT interfere with cell phone reception the way metallic films do. The car is owned by a car collector and has NOT been abused. The car was driven from CA to AZ and handled magnificently!