Ford’s 1958 Thunderbird gave birth to the modern personal luxury car - a genre that peaked in the 1970s, but curiously, #Chevrolet did not respond directly to the T-bird for many years because Lee Mays, head of Chevy’s sales organization in the 60s, didn’t like such cars and didn’t feel the had a place at Chevy. - That feeling would prove quite incorrect as the original Monte Carlo developed almost immediately after Mays retired and piggybacked onto the 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix redesign, would prove enormously popular - and even more so in its second 1973-77 iteration. The “Colonnade” era GM Personal/Luxury coupes were the best selling of all - but in late 1977 the time came for downsizing, like the full-size models a year earlier. - Some of the downsized A/G #coupes lost much of their personality in this downsizing, but not the Monte Carlo; although it was clear that “peak personal luxury car” had come and gone - the new ‘78 Monte sold 316,000 units to the outgoing 1977’s 411,000. But #GM had done a good job of preserving the curvy neoclassic look of the previous car. Sweeping front fenders flowed into the doors, which cleverly used the frames from the Malibu to reduce cost. - 1978 and 1979 were still good years for the car, and having lost 13 inches in length and 700 lbs. In weight, the new car was lighter and better to drive than the tail end Colonnades, but had no real performance engines - a range of Chevy and Buick V6s were the low end, topped by the 305 V8 and Olds Diesel 350. With little organic performance but a big engine bay and good styling, these cars were often hotted up with the vast array of Chevy performance parts in the aftermarket. - 1980 saw a slight freshening - in front dual rectangular lamps gave way to quad lamps but only the fascias were changed, resulting in a one-year-only look as the Monte was restyled for 1981. - The ‘78-’80 Montes, like the other A/G cars, have been popular as #lowriders and customs since they were new - but in 2001, they got an especially large popularity boost from a starring role in Antoine Fuqua’s “Training Day” alongside Denzel Washington. This Monte is named “80s Baby,” part of the #eazyduzitCC. (at CenturyLink Field Event Center) https://www.instagram.com/p/Brxuzj-AVDS/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=ab3lhvaku504
