1971 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu

-350ci V8
-Automatic Transmission
-73k Miles
-Black Over Black Interior

(Please note: If you happen to be viewing this 1971 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu on a website other than our Garage Kept Motors site, it's possible that you've only seen some of our many photographs of the car due to third-party website limitations. To be sure you access all the more than 145 photographs, as well as a short start-up and walk-around video, please go to our main website: Garage Kept Motors.)

“'71 Chevelle. How do you change America's most popular mid-size car?” – 1971 Chevrolet Chevelle magazine advertisement

The advertising copywriters wasted no time answering their own question: “Very carefully.”

Offered here is a black-on-black (with black vinyl top) 1971 Chevelle Malibu hardtop in very well-maintained survivor condition. Since being delivered new from Merrollis Chevrolet in East Detroit, Michigan, the Chevelle has traveled 73,059 miles, a very conservative under-1,500 miles per-year on average. The car's build sheet is included in the sale (please see the accompanying photo gallery) and shows options and other details demonstrating the Malibu's true survivor status.

As expected, the black paint shows some light patina from age, but no body-panel damage. Panel alignment is straight with above-period-standards fit. The black vinyl top shows no wear or other damage. All chrome—front and rear bumpers, grille (with single-headlight surrounds), window and lower bodyside trim, door handles, and wheel-well trim—is in very-good-to-excellent condition. Cabin glass and lighting lenses are free of cracks. All badging—including the front-grille bowtie emblem, front-fender “Malibu” model designation, and rear-deck “Chevelle” script emblem—is in place in the correct factory locations. Dual-exhaust tips add a hint of performance. Stock steel wheels with “Chevrolet Motor Division” hubcaps and chrome trim rings are mounted with raised-white-letter BFGoodrich® Radial T/A tires (another clue to the car's performance).

The all-black color theme continues in the all-stock-appearing interior. The front-row split bench seat and the rear bench seat are upholstered in black vinyl with black, diamond-weave, vertically pleated fabric center panels. Fresh black carpeting covers the floors, and a matching carpet panel is present on the lower door trim; black hard plastic, vertically pleated black vinyl, chrome trim, and a “Malibu” badge complete the door trim. Roll-up windows are stock. The black padded dash is in well-preserved condition and free of cracks. The original Chevrolet-script steering wheel fronts a horizontal speedometer with warning lights arrayed below. The shift lever for the automatic transmission is column-mounted. To the right are slide-lever controls for the HVAC above an aftermarket, stock-appearing AM-FM radio with cassette player. Air conditioning vents are located across the lower dash.

Under the hood, the stock, 350-cubic-inch Chevrolet V8 wears its correct orange engine-block paint. Otherwise, engine and component surfaces are stock black. The engine bay is clean and orderly with all components—including air conditioning—properly in place. All hoses and wiring are correctly routed. Viewed from below, the chassis is straight, complete and undamaged. The freshly installed full-length dual-exhaust system is a focal point.

The car's original identification and data tags remain properly mounted.

While the more than 145 high-definition photographs and the short walk-around-and-startup video available on the GarageKeptMotors website showcase this '71 Malibu in detail from every angle, including from below, we expect and encourage in-person inspections at our Grand Rapids, Michigan showroom. Please call to arrange an appointment in advance as our showroom is not open to the public. And feel free to get in touch anytime by phone or email if you have questions.

When the ad guys penned their “How do you change America's most popular mid-size car”” headline, none of them could've ever predicted that one of the then-new Malibus—in virtually stock, undamaged, original condition--would look as lovely and with so few changes fifty years later. The next owner will inherit stewardship over this blast from the Chevrolet past.