Best Cars of the 1970s: The 1971/1972 Caprice & Impala Represented Attainable Luxury for the Masses

I owned a 1972 Chevrolet Impala. The standard V8 was a 350 Cu in 2bbl. I wanted to order a Caprice but also wanted a Desert Gold Metallic exterior and a light beige interior. The Caprice only came with a cloth interior and with two small children I wanted vinyl. So, as I had to order an Impala to get the vinyl interior, I added every option that came standard on the Caprice - small block 400 V8 and all of the extra trim items. It was a beautiful car and we kept it for a long time. Wonderful driving car.

I owned a 1973 Caprice Classic. It had the build quality of a high school shop project, the vacuum controls failed to suck, the emissions-choked 400CID made about 8 horsepower, and it rode like a waterbed on pogo sticks. And those were its good points

I LOVED my 73 Chevy Caprice. I miss it now. I was given it when I was 17. My first car in 78. I learned how to work on it and take care of it…yep ok sure, it had rust on the aprons it sure guzzled gas... But drove powerfully, reliably, and like on a cloud. The interiors and factory stereo with eight track player…were just great. Oh what good memories! A Collectors car now. Gorgeous. Classy. Cheers!

My best friend's mother had a 1971 Caprice Classic Coupe in the same brown color and with the exact same color interior as you have in this video. It was a nice riding, quiet car. The seats were like a Cadillac's. He would sneak it out and bring me riding around when his parents were out for the night or away on vacation. I would sneak my mother's car out too and go riding around with him. At the same time, my other friend's father had a beautiful Hunter's Green 1968 Fleetwood. The interior still smelled new. The sweet smell of the leather (Hunter's green, too) was intoxicating. Sometimes, he and his brother would sneak it out when their parents were away. My other friend used to sneak his father's 1970 Ford Country Squire Wagon out. He'd spin the tires every time we stopped at a light or stop sign. It had the big 390 in it. That thing was fast. Those were the days. 😁😁😁

Wish I still had my 73 Caprice coupe

I had a 72 Caprice with the 400 small block. Great car, comfortable and plenty of power for everyday driving. I miss it.

Adam, what an amazing circumstance for Chevrolet. The United Auto Workers strike of 1970 shut down all GM North American operations just as the all new 1971 GM full-sized cars were coming off the assembly lines. At the same time, the first press photos of the new Chevrolet Caprice/Impala were released to newspapers and magazines. The stunning "Cadillac-like" front styling really got people around town talking! The first TV spots proclaimed, "The 1971 Caprice - Looks and Drives like Twice the Price". But showrooms were empty until Thanksgiving 1970.

Thanks for taking me down memory lane. My grandparents had a 1972 Caprice 2 door in a sort of lime green. I LOVED that car. I had dreams of owning it one day. We always called it the “green car”. My grandparents kept it until around 1994. They knew how much I liked the car so they let me drive it once when I was 15. Shortly after that they sold it. I realized then they let me drive it because they were about to get rid of it. Back then, we didn’t have the internet like we do today and he needed some steering parts for it and had a hard time finding them. I think at that point my grandmother talked him into getting rid of it because parts were hard to locate. I was heartbroken when they got rid of it. I wanted my first car to be an early 70’s Caprice or Impala.

There was a mid century modern home in my home town that had carport on the south side. Under that carport, for decades, sat a 71 or 72 yellow four door hardtop caprice. It looked right at home there as the styling of the car was really nice.

My parents had a '73 Caprice 2-door black on black. So wanted my parents to keep it for when I turned 16 but couldn't talk 'em into it. Would be a collectible today for sure!

My cousin owned a 1971 Chevy Caprice coupe with a 402 big block in it. That car was powerful and had a really smooth ride, almost like a Cadillac.

My dad bought a new 1971 Caprice tan, brown vinyl roof, green interior. One of best cars he ever owned. What I learned to drive in. Only thing we didn't like was the flow thru ventilation..had 400 motor and that thing would scream!!😊😊

I love these older cars and you have to give credit to the people who either restore them or keep them as original.Magnificent cars should always be saved.

My 72 Belair 350 was a very dependable and comfortable car. I always liked the 72 best. Cheers 🇨🇦

Dad traded his 68 Grand Prix in on a 71 Caprice 4 door in 1974. I thought it was the worst trade ever, now I wish I could get that car back.

My best pal's dad gave him a '72 Caprice to drive in '77. It was a 2 door, grey with black vinyl top and 400 2V. Beautiful car and very peppy. Topped out at an indicated 115 and had a luxurious ride. Very durable too - he was not good with maintenance and one day the oil light came on, it was 4 quarts low. Filled it back up and never had a problem. Thanks for the memories of my teen years in the 70s!

Enjoy your content, especially the designer interviews!. First new car 1973 Caprice 400 SBC. Dad worked at Florida dealer Cecil Clark Chevrolet. A policy was to re-align front end and balance tires on every new car, something to do with motor carrier tie downs. This task fell to Dad as the alignment guy. He recalled later "the factory build got everything right on this car" and I noticed it when it first came in. A few months after the car was sold, the owner, a salesman, traded in the car for a station wagon model. Dad bought it right away; our family car until 1986, when it was given to me in my third year of college. When I bought a new Chevrolet in 1990, and while not a trade in, the Chevrolet salesman bought the for himself personally. He called us a few weeks after purchase to comment on the reputation the car had around the dealership for being so smooth to drive.

A friend of mine had one of these in the mid-'90s, when a bunch of us went to work for the same PC manufacturer right out of college. Sadly, being a 20-plus-year-old car belonging to a cash-strapped recent graduate, it wasn't the best-preserved specimen. One day all six of us were carpooling to work in it when the 454 threw a rod, stranding basically the company's entire technical support department. Our boss was... not amused.

My second car was a triple black '72 Caprice Coupe. 400(402) 4bbl. Had the bright aluminum wire caps with the knurled center knob. The were popular through 1977 or '78. Rode so smooth and very quiet.

I had a 1974 Chevy Caprice, it had the 454 engine for barrel, what a great car it was