How many "unaltered" 1975 Monza 5.7's are out there

[workingtoomuch7720]

I would love to know, by a show of responses, how many unaltered, true 75 California only 5.7 Monza's are actually still out there. I don't believe that out of the original 3699 5.7's that were built, that many of them are left that are unaltered and have documentation of its authenticity. My first one was bought back in 1993 from the original owner with 72,000 miles on it. He ordered it from a dealer in Los Angeles. It was a white hatchback. He was the squadron commander of the SR71 Blackbird program and loved speed. The guy I sold it to in 1995, of course, hacked it up and turned it into a drag car. Sad to see one die a death this way. I now have a Towne Coupe that I just purchased from a private party in Lakewood California. This coupe is completely original, unmolested, and unmodified. I am very happy and proud to say that I have a numbers matching car, with the matching factory build sheet, owners manual, etc. The car was built at the South Gate GM factory, which many of you enthusiasts know, only built H-body cars for the 1975 model year, from 1976 to 1980 they went back to assembling Buick and Oldsmobiles. That plant closed up in 1980. The car was delivered to Pollard, Wittman, and Robb Chevrolet in Van Nuys California. The build sheet is all original and authenticates this cars life and options, etc. This car has the gold "Preferred Customer" sticker on the windshield side of the review mirror that has the Pollard, Wittman, and Robb Chevrolet name on it. This sticker was applied by Pollard, Wittman, and Robb to notify the service writer that the customer was to be seen quickly. I really hope all the Monza fans can respond to my inquiry about how many true, unmodified, 1975 5.7's are left in the world. Pics on the picture pages would be great too. I would like others to see the build sheet and how all the options and vin and body numbers all match on this car, and hope they can feel proud to show theirs too.

[cjbiagi]

That's a very good question and I am sure there are not many at all. There are a number of purists on this forum and while I don't know if any own a 75 California 350 it will be interesting to hear their take on this. Unfortunately the 350 in these cars were very low performance, I believe they were rated at 145hp so many of them probably did get modified for more performance. They were also only available with a automatic trans and pretty low numerical gearing.

[stage169]

No help on how many are left but there are some here and I hope they chime in. I would really like to see your car and documents if you want. I like the original along with the modified H bodies.

A couple years ago I took the 1975 Chevy option report and made a post from it. Shows a lot of information if you are interested viewtopic.php?f=16&t=38704 Has the same number you posted for the 350 V8 but shows only the TC and S model Monza getting the 350. I know that is probably wrong or maybe the S car got some 2+2 emblems I'm not sure. What was your hatch car?

I have a Buick report for 1976 that shows half of all the Skyhawk's made at South Gate. The cowl tag on these cars has the code for the exterior color with a "W" in front of it. GM's first use of water based paint.

Brian

[workingtoomuch7720]

The gearing for all 350 Californian's was the 2.29 ratio. Wow, 70 mph with aftermarket 15 inch rims and 265 tires and you only turn 1700 RPM. My first 5.7 was indeed a true factory, California only 350 model, and yes it was a hatchback. The original owner was a Major General in the United States Air Force,(That's a two star General, and he was the first American to fly Mach III in the SR71 Blackbird) and he bought the car direct from a dealer in California because he said he "enjoyed unique cars and thought it was rare". I have a picture of he and I standing next to the car the day he sold it to me. His name was Major General Douglas T. Nelson. I will have to hunt down some of my pictures of this 5.7 hatchback and post them. It was very clean, unaltered, and all original. I miss that car. I will be posting pictures soon of my first 5.7 and my most recent purchased 5.7. I will scan the build sheet and post it here as well. If you have never seen a build sheet for the 5.7, its quite interesting. Mine shows the L65 option(350 engine with 2 bbl), the K89 option (Catalytic converter with air pump), VJ9 option(Cal Emission Compliant I), GH2 (2.29 rear axle gear Ratio) plus a whole bunch more. It really is fun to look at the RPO numbers I see posted here on h-body.org and match those up with whats on my build sheet. My car was built on 4/9/75. Order number for this car was CGS142 ordered by Pollard, Wittman, Robb Chevrolet in Van Nuys California. Destination charges $194.00. That's pretty sad that the dealer got charged $194 when the dealership was only 25 miles from the factory.

Don's 350 Monza build sheet.pdf

Here is a picture of Major General Douglas T. Nelson and me the day he sold me his true 5.7 Monza

[Monza Harry]

workingtoomuch Welcome aboard! This is a cool story about your first 5.7Monza and your present one too. The part about the "preferred customer" sticker was probably from higher up than the dealer Think Corporate as I remember all the astronauts drove 'vettes as that is the way the General (motors) wanted it (I was only 7 when man walked on the moon for the first time but I was already drafted by the other General [Motors] so my memory maybe a little fuzzy) and by '75 I doubt they would want a high ranking Test Pilot driving a Mustang II, so I would absolutely believe they would give a general in the Air Force (especially in that program) their new HotRod V8 Monza! I feel you should check out Bryans web Site, another regular contributor to this board, for a little more info on your newest "Baby" Thanx for Sharing and good luck! Harry http://monza.homestead.com/monza.html

[Biscayne John]

Harry,
I don't think the Preferred Customer sticker was a deep as you think, with the dealers name was on it. I have seen similar before from other dealers on other years, from different states. From what I understand it derived by coprerate to acknowledge returning customers respecting the dealer loyalty, it was placed on by the dealer to returning customers. The 70's brand loyalty was going fast, they were happy to get anyone back in the door again

Don I love original paperwork, really cool stuff

[cosvega76]

The general's name is interesting. He didn't have a genie living in a bottle at home, did he?


Chuck

[Monza Harry]

The general's name is interesting. He didn't have a genie living in a bottle at home, did he?


Chuck

You caught that to! Harry

[stage169]

I had to google it I couldn't remember. Can you imagine the jokes? Must of been a word association thing? I've done that before but you have to admit that was kind of funny. Major General Douglas T. Nelson, so this guy was 72 years old when he sold his Monza to you in 93. Thanks for the build sheet that is cool. Look forward to more if you can dig them out.

Hard to keep up with your posts! We must be online at the same time. I have to say that looks like the guy, very cool story!!!

WTM I was asking if your hatchback car was a Monza "S" model or a 2+2 (both hatch cars). The VIN would show that these cars had the 350 with an H or a K (4bbl). This letter is in the 5th position of the VIN (1M27H5C217174) If you have the VIN for your hatch car we could tell if it was the "S" model or a 2+2.

Your next pic answered that question! Very nice!

Brian

[vegastre]

The number would have to be low, very low as all H-Body cars were everyone's favorite shade tree hot Rod in the 70's. Hers a link to another survivor thread.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=40912

The upside is I think enough time has elapsed for these survivors to find the right owners who appreciate what they are. BTW, how many miles on the car?

[jpb04619]

if your car has the original air cleaner sticker i would like to see a photo....if not can you give me the 2 letter code and the part number on it thanks john b

[Kbasing]

I recently purchased what I believe to be an original 1975 California 350 Monza