Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS

Monte Carlo SS at a glance

A Grand Prix sibling with a big-block

Pete Estes and designer David Holls conceived the Monte Carlo, and John Z. DeLorean, then head of Chevrolet, introduced it in September 1969. It rode on the A-Special platform shared with the Pontiac Grand Prix, which Chevrolet used to enter the personal-luxury class. The general history of the car is told on the Monte Carlo page; the SS was its performance option.

The SS 454 package cost US$420. It brought the Turbo-Jet 454 with a four-barrel carburettor, rated at 268 kW (360 hp) at 4,800 rpm and 678 Nm (500 lb-ft), together with a heavy-duty suspension, wider wheels and tyres, SS 454 badges and an automatic load-levelling rear suspension. The Turbo Hydra-Matic was the only gearbox. A 3.06:1 axle was standard, with 2.56:1 and 3.31:1 ratios as options. The same engine family powered the Chevelle SS 454, Chevrolet's mid-size muscle car of the same year.

Road tests of both SS generations

Car Life's car had a 2.73:1 axle instead of the 3.31:1 ratio specified for it, a factory error that the magazine said blunted acceleration from low speed. It still reached 100 mph in 20.7 seconds. The test car weighed 1,878 kg (4,140 lb) at the kerb, with 57.5 percent on the front wheels, and averaged 12.8 mpg, about 18.4 l/100 km. The editors liked its quietness and the way the rear anti-roll bar reduced understeer at highway speeds. They disliked the dead spot in the steering, the imitation woodgrain, the missing oil-pressure gauge and the rear view past the formal roof.

1971 and the end of the first SS

For 1971 Chevrolet quoted the SS 454 at 272 kW (365 hp) gross, with a net figure of 213 kW (285 hp) listed alongside. Muscle Cars Illustrated gives 630 Nm (465 lb-ft) of torque that year and credits the change to a new camshaft grind. Output fell to 1,919 cars. Muscle Cars Illustrated links the fall to a 67-day UAW strike during the 1971 introduction, while Wikipedia says the SS was dropped because the Monte Carlo was sold as a luxury car, not a muscle car. In 1973 the Monte Carlo moved to the standard A-body.

The 1983 SS and NASCAR

The SS returned for 1983 because of stock-car racing. Chevrolet developed an aerodynamic nose for the NASCAR superspeedways and sold it on the road car as the Super Sport, option Z65, the first Monte Carlo SS since 1971. Under the bonnet was the L69 305 HO with a Rochester Quadrajet four-barrel, an aluminium intake, 9.5:1 compression and the camshaft of the 1982 Corvette L81. Car and Driver gave it 130 kW (175 hp) and 325 Nm (240 lb-ft); for 1984 the rating rose to 134 kW (180 hp).

The 1983 car had a three-speed Turbo 350 automatic and an open differential. A limited-slip differential, option G80, joined the list for 1984, and from 1985 the four-speed 200-4R overdrive automatic was standard with a 3.73:1 axle in place of the 3.42:1. In 1984 the SS cost just over US$10,000 before options, about US$12,000 with power windows and cruise control.

The racing side paid off. Terry Labonte won the Winston Cup in 1984, Darrell Waltrip in 1985 and Dale Earnhardt in 1986 and 1987. Across all its generations the Monte Carlo collected 396 NASCAR Cup wins, the most of any nameplate. On the street its rivals were turbocharged and sporty G-body coupes from other GM divisions: Buick sold 5,512 Grand Nationals in 1986, and Oldsmobile offered the Hurst/Olds.

Aerocoupe and the 1988 finale

The Aerocoupe was built to make the race car more slippery. In 1986 Chevrolet built 200 under option B5T and sent them to dealers in the South-East in spring; for 1987 the code changed to Z16 and 6,052 were sold. Car and Driver tested one in August 1986 at US$16,325.

Sources differ on 1987: Wikipedia's table gives 33,199 SS cars, its text 39,251, and Hagerty 33,204. The last G-body Monte Carlo, a silver SS, was built on 12 December 1987. The shortened 1988 model year produced 30,174 cars, 16,204 of them SS. The SS name later returned on front-drive Monte Carlos from 2000 to 2007, which fall outside the definition used in our muscle car guide.

Monte Carlo SS today: what to check

For the 1983-1988 SS, Hagerty's buyer's guide gives a simple test. The eighth VIN digit should be a "G" for the L69, matching the stickers on the bootlid and driver's door, and the option codes B4V, Z56 and F41 should be present; without them the car may be a clone. Rust is common, especially at the rear, and as these are full-frame cars the frame rails need checking. T-tops leak when the seals dry out. Many cars have LS engine swaps, manual conversions or disc brake kits, and too much power breaks the original four-speed automatic and the differential. Most trim parts, including stripe kits, are reproduced.

For the SS 454, the gearbox is the first check. The package was sold only with the Turbo Hydra-Matic, so a four-speed car is a later or dealer conversion. More Chevrolet models of both eras are in the Chevrolet catalogue.

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