With its low mileage and packed option sheet, today’s Nice Price or No Dice Monte Carlo offers a lot to like. That’s even more true for any Dale Earnhardt fan, as the Intimidator package is one of those options. Let’s see if it’s priced to go the full Monte.
When we last met, we looked at a bit of an oddity—a 1977 Lotus Éclat sports tourer. Once one of Lotus Cars’ great hopes for bigger and better things, it’s now just one more reminder of the company’s tragic history of off-the-rim misses in its decades-long attempt at automotive adulting.
Still, our candidate Éclat did appear to be quite solid, and unlike many Loti from the ’70s, it was a runner. That combo proved favorable to opinions about both the car and its $9,500 asking price, with the latter narrowly winning in a 52% Nice Price victory.
Super Sport
Tuesday’s bonus-edition Lotus may have been intended as a sporting car, but today’s 2004 Chevy Monte Carlo SS was designed from the get-go to dice it up on the track. Chevrolet first introduced the Monte Carlo in 1970 as the marque’s entrant into the then-hot personal luxury coupe segment. Seventeen years and four generations later—including one downsizing—the model was done. That wasn’t the end of the Monte Carlo story, however. Chevy brought back the Monte Carlo in 1995, rebranding the Lumina Coupe and creating the first front-wheel drive edition in the model’s history.
The Monte Carlo remained in production for one more generation, and, like its predecessors, it was campaigned on the NASCAR circuit. The Monte Carlo was such a popular ride on the ovals and super speedways that race teams consulted with Chevy engineers and designers on the sixth-generation Monte Carlo’s styling to ensure the track editions would have proper airflow and downforce where it matters. That NASCAR connection means that the Monte Carlo truly earned its Super Sport badging.
Hill and Dale
One of the most successful drivers to campaign a Monte Carlo was, of course, Dale Earnhardt Sr., whose “Intimidator” nickname—earned due to his aggressive driving style—adorns this special “Signature Edition.”
It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost a quarter of a century since Earnhardt’s Daytona Speedway crash that took his life, and it’s a testament to his enduring fame and following that this car was still offered in his honor, fully three years after his passing.
The Dale deal includes black paint, Intimidator script on the flanks, trunk lid, door sills, and dash, as well as the man himself eternally raising his fists in victory in front of a stylized E embroidered on each headrest.
There’s also some go paired with the show in the form of the supercharged 3800 pushrod V6 borrowed from Buick. That sidewinder mill makes 240 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque, and is paired with the standard 4T65E-HD four-speed automatic.
That new car smell
That drivetrain has pushed this Monte Carlo a mere 10,901 miles, according to the odometer picture. That’s not to say it’s been sitting around gathering dust, though. The seller claims the car to be “LIKE BRAND NEW!” Yes, the ad is entirely in ALL CAPS, but then so is NASCAR, so that seems wholly appropriate.
Less appropriate are all the blurry “taken with a potato” pics that show us snippets of the car rather than the broader detail. That’s OK, though, since we still get a general sense of the car’s condition and kit—the latter being fully loaded.
We also see that the chromed factory five-spoke wheels look to be uncurbed. Aside from some flaking of the silver “Supercharged script on the plastic engine beauty cap, everything else does appear to be in as-new condition. Mechanically, it’s touted as running and driving like it’s still 2004, and even still captures that intoxicating new car smell.
The best there is?
A clean title and the seller’s promise that it will be a hit at cruise-ins or just as a collectible close out the car’s bona fides. The asking price is $17,900.
Based on the Monroney Sticker that’s included with the sale, along with the car’s original manuals, that asking price is a little bit more than half of what the car was listed for when new. With the seller claiming it to be “LIKE NEW,” does that make it a bargain?
What do you say, is this Monte Carlo a deal at that $17,900 asking price? Or does that earn the car a DNF?
You decide!
Zanesville, Ohio, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
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