Faults:

Carburetor.

Gaskets.

Valves.

Starters.

Would run good and dependable for a Monte, once it was warmed up and driven long distances, but would refuse to start after being parked and sitting some time. Starters would and carburetor was always in need of work to make it run dependable again.

General Comments:

This was my first car I got back in HS that was bought new in 74 by my ex. I inherited it from him in 79 as he bought a new station wagon at the time and didn't drive it much anymore. It was black exterior, black interior; the S Coupe with power windows options, bench seat, with the standard 350 4 barrel Cali Car. It was luxury and offered a lot of room and comfort for the interior, which I liked. The backseat was spacious for my stuff and the trunk could hold a lot also. I would drive it to work and across state at times with no problems; only some overheating in the hot summers, but it had some good power.

Towards the mid 80's and late 80's as I worked as a waitress and attended workouts at the gym, it was costing me a lot of money that I nearly did not have to keep it running. It would refuse to start and I could not always depend on it; the motor was tired out in need of work. It was then parked in a carport for almost a year without being driven, as I was forced to sell it to a towing co in 92 for fast cash to buy a smaller, newer dependable car. I wonder now whatever happened to it, if anyone grabbed it and restored it before it was junked. I suppose that's where it wound up. I never kept the VIN# or made a spare copy of the title.

I would buy another Chevrolet, but not a Monte Carlo.

Faults:

Since owning this car, I have not had many problems with it.

I bought it on eBay in 2002. I was particularly looking for a big block engine as this car was being bought for my son (17 years old). This was a car I myself had in college, and just by chance it was also a 1974 Monte Carlo with a 454. I did not know why when racing others in their Mustangs and Camaros, I was just blowing them away with ease.. until I had a mechanic replace some hoses and found out it was a Factory 454 installed. I have always thought that the 350 and 400 were the biggest engines installed on these models.

Please look for rust when looking for these cars. They tend to rust in the trunk areas, so pull the trunk lining and look underneath. The bumpers tend to need re-chroming, so watch for that. And of course with a big muscle car, it eats gas like I eat pizza.

General Comments:

This car is sometimes over looked in terms of what is called a muscle car, and the reason for this is that you had 3 choices of engines and several choices in carbs, so you could order a 350 engine with a 2 or 4 barrel carbs, or a 400 with the same choices, or the monster, the mighty 454 with 4 barrel. Only most people saw the Monte as a personal luxury car, and ordered the first 2 options. Those in the know ordered the 400/4 or the 454/4. In those days, if you were going for the big block, you usually bought a Chevelle, Camaro, or Corvette, so only less than 3% of Montes that left the factory came with the 454 option; a rare beast in of itself.

With minor modifications, the car is seriously quick, even though for muscle car purists it was born in the smog age, 73-81. But never the less, these cars tuned right could hang with the best of the so called classic year cars 1962-72.

I believe and prices on eBay, Autotrader, etc.. are starting to reflect interest in these cars, as I bought mine for 2,500, and now it's worth over 8,000; not a bad investment, and I am sure the worth will only increase, as these cars are now being noticed.

As for the car itself, the seats are nicely appointed with 2 options that I am aware of.

First, the bench seating with the front split by the arm rests, and the desirable famous swivel bucket seats that swing out when the door is open.

The car was also offered with column shift and shift on the floor. There are some rare cars that have manual transmissions in them, so you could see the confusion as to whether this car was a muscle car (engine 400, 454) or a luxury car.

It has a landau roof, velour seating and other comforts.

One point that I would mention though; the doors are very heavy, not for the lightweights.