1972 Chevrolet Kingswood

Terrible ad. Has 3rd seat, and it looks like the tailgate is manual (maybe). Can't tell anything really beyond that other than the original owner allegedly had it until 2011. Price is ridiculous.

http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/cto/4395208595.html

 

The ad says derby guys are paying $5000 for these cars, can that really be true? I know the clamshells are big and solid but they still couldn't last more than a couple of derbies and the prize money isn't that much. It doesn't add up to me.

 

On one site, one derby idiot was boasting that his wagon lasted 5 races and won him over $12,000! So it is possible for these strong solid wagons to sell for several thousands and still be destroyed.

 

Were the clamshells that much better for DD's than say a big Ford or Mercury wagon of the same age?

 

Yeah, it definitely has a manual gate. I can see the handle on the gate, as well as the knob there at the key hole.

 

Wow, maybe now is the time to sell mine! I will take $5K for it! (Ironically, I would be breaking even in what I have invested in it, lol).

 

Yes I could crush a ford wagon with a sedan

 

I know some that lasted much MUCH more than that.

You guys do realize these "Derby Idiots" you speak of have probably $10-15,000 invested in some of these rides now?

 

After becoming more acquainted with mine when I drove it 3,500 miles across America, I can see why these are favorites with the derby'ers because they are very weighty and really strong especially around the rear of the vehicle. The tailgate is so independent (almost a cover only) from the vehicle, so they made up for this with extra strengthening in the body itself. They really are very heavily engineered on those rear corners.

 

I really like this one but not enough to pay $12,000 for it.

 

When you look at this car, there are some very interesting questions that need to be answered before you would look at for anywhere near 12K

1) Kingswood but no wood? Not unusual I know but but black on tan??? That would have been a little usual combination for any era. Was it painted black from the factory or has it had a respray? No rust now but was any cut out? Any accident damage along the way?

2) Milwaukee advertised car, but any A/C? A lot that come from that far north east don't seem to.

3) Other options that would make it a 12 K car after all, it is a Kingswood and not a Biscayne. Third row (yes) Power tailgate (no) A/C? Engine size? power windows? central locking? Cruise? Anything that might make it worth 12K other than the fact that it is Clamshell?

4) Interior condition, no mention, not even the fact that it has the prized third row??? Go figure!

5) Last but not least, this is what you would expect from an ad for a $1500-$2500 car imho. Little effort put into showing you the car in what some us call "LIGHT". The second pic shows us just about as much of the car cover than it does the actual car.

From what I can see (and the onus is on the seller), this is a just a 4-6K car depending on options.

 

For '72, Chevy had 4 big wagon models (the big 'car' line only had 3 - Bel Air, Impala and Caprice)

The wagons were called Townsman, Brookwood, Kingswood and Kingswood Estate. Only the Kingswood Estate had the Di-Noc wood grain.

 

Thanks Krash, gotcha! Ok does black on tan seem right? I know you could order pretty well anything that took your fancy back then, same for us here, but this colour combo is well... yuk! My first car was a 1972 Holden Premier (no great surprise there!) and it had a near white interior with matching black dash pad steering wheel and carpet. Tan just seems wrong with black. I am just wondering if it has been resprayed at some point in its life. This is an expensive car and it will need to come up to wagonmans 73 Impala for that sort of money imho.

 

Black with tan (or beige) interior was I'm sure one of the possible selections back in '72. That particular combo would be very popular on the later GM whale wagons of '91-'96. Black as an exterior color is a lot more popular now, but it was available back then.

 

Yeah and I think there was a Biscayne sedan as well for '72 - very rare car. It was not even mentioned in the '72 Chevy brochure, so they probably discontinued it early, or it was only available for fleet use such as taxi/police cars. I think that was the last year for it in the US, but I could be wrong, but I am sure I have seen a '72 4dr Biscayne before unless the front clip was changed. I think the Biscayne wagon was called the Brookwood. For '73, the Biscayne was gone in the USA and Bel-Air was the base model, but by then, the wagons were simply the same name as the car with the exception of the Caprice wagon called Caprice Estate.