1969 Chevrolet Caprice with 427cid motor. Numbers Matching.

Considered “The Gentlemans Cruiser”, the 1969 Chevrolet Caprice coupe was the top of the line. With the bold outside color scheme, big block under the hood, and a loaded A/C interior, this restored hardtop is truly a distinguished machine. The Caprice was the more luxurious version of the famous Chevy Impala. Add that on top of the fact that this vehicle houses a numbers matching 427cid motor straight from the factory and you have a yourself a very rare machine! This car was built to not only be a luxurious form of transportation but with the big block 427 motor would have amazing power as well. The sport console style 3-speed automatic shifter is also a rare option that you don’t see very often. Obviously this car was ordered from the factory to be luxurious but also have the power to rival the other muscle cars of the day.

New paint and a new vinyl top were added to this vehicle. The interior was nicely restored as well with new carpet, reupholstered seats, dash and headliner.

The engine is the original 427cid from the factory. There are about 176k miles on the vehicle and the engine was overhauled by the previous owner at 75k miles, meaning that the overhauled engine only has about 100,000 miles on it! It runs very well after a warm up period.

The transmission was completely rebuilt and works like a champ with no issues shifting from any of the gears, even when putting the pedal to the metal! With the console shifter you can manually shift from 1st to 3rd gear to make it feel more like a sport option, or just keep it in the 3rd gear setting and it will shift as any normal transmission would. I would say the transmission works perfectly.

New exhaust and mufflers were added as well which give the vehicle a nice deep throated pitch when the engine is running. The volume of the exhaust note is quite low at idle. At higher RPM’s the deep sound of the motor leaves no doubt there is a monster under the hood.

With this vehicle we decided against a complete frame up restoration as we felt it would take away from this vehicles status as a survivor. This was never restored with the intention of making it a Barrett-Jackson show car, it was restored so that the owner could drive it. We felt that this vehicle had a story of its own and that it deserves to be driven on the road!

With that in mind there are going to be minor imperfections and things that show the age of the vehicle to the observing eye. The paint job is a few years old and there are minor bubbles in the quarter panels. The largest of which is a dime size bubble in the passenger rear quarter (see pic). There will be some small bubbles a few millimeters or smaller in size throughout the front and rear quarter panels. The hood and trunk are in excellent shape in terms of the paint and there is minimal to no bubbling in these areas of the car. The vinyl top looks like new and there is nothing I would state is wrong with it. There may be some minor dings in the chrome bumpers from being on the road over the last 50 years, but nothing noticeable unless upon very close inspection.

As far as the condition of the interior, the seats, carpet, headliner and dash are all in immaculate shape with no noticeable imperfections. Some of the original plastics that make up the console cubby have some cracking in them (see pic). The console shifting indicator also has a crack in it. To the observing eye the interior is going to show some of the age of the vehicle as this is obviously the area that the previous owners spent their time. None of these imperfections are going to take away from the enjoyment of driving this 50 year old machine.

In terms of drivability, the driving lights and headlights work. Interior lights work. Speedometer works. A/C unit works. The cruise control is not working, but a Pontiac cruise control unit was put on that should work if it can be correctly wired by a professional. The engine starts right up, idles well and has no problems whatsoever getting up to speed. The only noticeable problem in terms of the engine running is that when you floor the accelerator pedal the engine will cut out. This is especially noticeable when the engine hasn’t warmed up but gets better after the vehicle has ran for a few minutes. I would guess the carburetor needs tuned up and it should fix this problem right up.

Overall, this vehicle is in great driving condition given the fact it just turned 50 years old! It will obviously have the imperfections that you would expect from a vehicle of its age but only under close inspection. I would consider this a “3 footer”. Any observer over 3 feet away from this vehicle will see no noticeable imperfections and it will appear to be in perfect shape. Almost every time I take the Caprice out for a ride I get compliments for how clean it looks!

If you are lucky enough to be the next owner of this 50 year old piece of American history I can assure that you will be proud to drive it!