[BlackBeauty]

Hi guys I'm new in here. Just wondering what the deal is with my Dad's chevelle. Its a 69 Malibu SS 396/325hp Convertible (canadian car). I can't recall seeing many other SS convertibles that also say malibu on the back quarters like my dads. Is it that rare, or a Candian thing that they put both insignia on the car. Im a little confused. Any comments would be much appreciated, thanks.​

 

[BlueSS454]

THere is no Malibu SS after 1965 EXCEPT the Canadian only built 1966 Malibu SS. A 1969 SS396 convertible WILL NOT have the Malibu script on the quarter panel. The Malibu name was dropped when upgraded to the SS RPO package.

 

[GCole]

My 71 SS has Malibu name tags on the inside door panels. I've seen others with the SS tags....Chevrolet...go figure.

 

[Gary S]

The Malibu emblems on an SS396 could easily be an assembly line mistake. I remember seeing one new one running the streets back in 1968 that was badged the same way.

 

[Wheelhop]

It is easier in a canadian car to either double check the V.I.N. tag or get documentation from gm of canada to confirm it is a true SS car.

Your canadian vin tag should say L35 on it for a 396-325 horse car.

 

[Bill Pritchard]

The Malibu emblems on an SS396 could easily be an assembly line mistake. I remember seeing one new one running the streets back in 1968 that was badged the same way.

PLEASE.....don't go there You'll have every person with a poorly cloned SS attempting to justify their car by saying it was just "an assembly line mistake"

 

[BlackBeauty]

Dads owned the car since 73. His brother owned it before that. Its always said it. Original GM documentation says 1 of 26 for the body/engine code or something. Ill dig it up and tell you for sure. Car is 100% guaranteed an original L35. Ill post up what GM sent us and it would be great if someone could fully explain the 1 of 26 thing. Thanks guys

 

[Bill Pritchard]

Dwight,

This all sounds very interesting. But in order to convince a whole bunch of people here, you will have to come up with more specific information than what you've provided thus far. You say your uncle "owned it before that (1973)". Does that mean that your uncle bought it new? If so, it would help to get confirmation from him. You also speak of "original GM documentation". Is this GM of Canada? Was the car either built in Canada or sold new in Canada? In order for any of us to do any type of believable explaining, we'll need this information.

If this is a Canada-specific thing, I've certainly never heard of it before, at least not on a 69.

Don Lightfoot, Cam, Keith Tedford (or any other Canadians knowledgeable about 69's)..... where are you?????

 

[Don_Lightfoot]

Don Lightfoot, Cam, Keith Tedford (or any other Canadians knowledgeable about 69's)..... where are you?????

You rang Bill?

There were Canadian built "Malibu SS's" in 1966 and I believe in early 1967 that had the 396 engines. I think the side script said "Malibu SS" and not "Super Sport". Some of them didn't even get the hood scoops. In regard to 1966/67 Cam is really the guy on that stuff. He did an article about them for our Club Newsletter a few years ago.

Now on to 1969. I have never seen a 69 SS-396, Canadian or American built, that had the "Malibu" script on the quarters. That doesn't mean it never happened as we're all learning new stuff every day. For example, there is apparently a 69 COPO Chevelle with the "Malibu" script and that specific trim is supposedly documented for that car. Could the quarters on the car in question here have been replaced at some time and the emblems were not removed nor the holes filled in? Certainly a possibility of that.

If you can in fact post some pictures of the Canadian documentation or other pertinent information that would be great Dwight. Pictures of the car with the emblems would also be interesting to see.

I'm keeping an open mind at this point

 

[garjhr]

Mr Lightfoot, you handled that very nice..."I'm keeping an open mind at this point"

 

[Cam]

First off, welcome to Team Chevelle Dwight!

Any legit Canadian-built 1969 Z-25-optioned SS396s, whether 300-Deluxe or Malibu based, should have come with the specific SS396 molding package (wheel opening moldings, rear cover moldings with black paint fill, deletion of other series-specific bright trim). They would not have used the Malibu script on the rear quarters.

I have seen an article on a Daytona Yellow '69 COPO that apparently came with the Malibu lower side trim & argent paint below that. I don't quite know what to say. Never say never, but it will take some real detective work and some solid proof to convince people of such an anomoly. I mean, assembly line workers didn't just decide to do stuff differently for one car and expect to get it approved for release at the end of the production line. It would take a specific notice, bill of materials, authorizations to make it happen for a mass production assembly line at GM.

I'm with Don, skeptical but warily receptive (that is how you feel about it, right Don? )

People regularly customized their cars back then. I remember back in 1968 a guy by my school (I was in grade 1 then) had a 1968 Impala Custom Coupe with the formal roofline like the Caprice. I distinctly remember the car having 1965/66 style Impala "Super Sport" emblems on the front fenders in place of the correct "Impala Custom" nameplates. Those things were attached by speed nuts and had to accessed from the inside.

Maybe the original owner of your '69 decided he wanted his Chevelle to be "a Malibu SS396". It may be as simple as that.

 

[Mr69]

Dads owned the car since 73. His brother owned it before that. Its always said it. Original GM documentation says 1 of 26 for the body/engine code or something. Ill dig it up and tell you for sure. Car is 100% guaranteed an original L35. Ill post up what GM sent us and it would be great if someone could fully explain the 1 of 26 thing. Thanks guys

I'd have to see pictures to even start to believe it and I'd have to see the car to believe it.

 

[Mr69]

The Malibu emblems on an SS396 could easily be an assembly line mistake.

easily??? I don't think so. While it is possible. It's highly unlikely. I don't think an SS buyer would be too happy to find Malibu emblems on his rear quarter panels in 1969. I doubt the factories let few if any slip out the door that way.

I remember seeing one new one running the streets back in 1968 that was badged the same way.

What's to keep somebody from installing SS and 396 emblems on the fenders of a 1969 Malibu in 1968?

answer........nothing.

Just because you saw it doesn't make it originaly like that from the assembly plant.

I'd be far more inclined to think that somebody didn't want to pay the extra cost for the SS option or found a Malibu on the lot they liked and added the SS and 396 emblems themselves.

People did and continue to modify brand new vehicles right after purchase. I remember about 15 years ago, my boss bought a brand new dirt bike for his son, who was racing dirt bikes at the time. They literally rolled the bike down the sidewalk from the motorcycle dealer and into the machine shop, where they proceeded to disassemble the top end and modify the ports in the cylinder. The tires didn't even have dust on them yet.

 

[wambams69ss396]

i dont remember where i found this picture but i thought it was on this site but i could be wrong.from what i remember the guy said this vert was also built in canada with full docs.i know i am not the owner, i dont have the papar work but here is a picture for you all to look at.maybe the owner of this car will chime in.you be the judge

 

[1badss396]

That is interesting indeed:yes: Also a while back wasn't their another car that had the elcamino script on the front of the car when it was a malibu car and not a elcamino?

 

[Bill Pritchard]

Yup, here we are 2 weeks later and nary a word from our friend Dwight who was going to post up the 'proof' about the car :sad:

 

[fcloud]

Even back then it was popular to put SS emblems on non-SS cars. We had a 1968 Chevelle in my area where the guy put SS emblems on his 327 car. In 1968 all SS cars would have been 396 cars. People do what they think is cool (even way back when I was a kid people modded their cars!

I would bet someone added something they wanted to add. The only other thing I could see is if the car was in a rear-end accident and they put on the wrong quarters, so they added the emblems instead of welding the holes closed.

 

[BlackBeauty]

Hi guys. i was working on the rigs when I posted this up I completely forgot about it. I started another thread and I have the documents to prove it. I will attach them right away to this thread and my new one. Titled "proof of malibu ss convertible?"

 

[BlackBeauty]

by the way that black car on page one is my dad, Dwight's car. I took those pictures in my backyard.

 

[BlackBeauty]

here it is

By herbison8 at 2009-06-12