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How Long Will Chevrolet Chevelle Lagunas Be Underrated? This Gorgeous 1974 Model Is Begging For Repairs And The Big Block It Deserves!


How Long Will Chevrolet Chevelle Lagunas Be Underrated? This Gorgeous 1974 Model Is Begging For Repairs And The Big Block It Deserves!

I might be a bit biased in liking the 1973-77 Chevrolet Chevelle…even though mine was one of the most rusty bodies I’ve ever encountered, period, that didn’t dampen my opinion of what was, even compared to the newer vehicles I’ve owned, one of the best, period. What wasn’t rotted through was dead-on solid. The handling was better than cars I’ve owned that were a half-ton lighter, so much so that I can admit that I never found it’s cornering limit. And even as a white-and-primered beater, it had a presence that very few cars have. General Motors might get things wrong every now and then, but in the early 1970s they certainly had their head on straight with the intermediates. The coupes are lookers and the whole lineup is solid. But the Chevelles and Laguna S-3s still have an image problem. Why is that? I understand some resistance to the padded-roof and overstuffed Monte Carlos, but how can you argue with a car that can tuck a ton of tire underneath the back without tubs and can swallow up whatever block you have planned? Swivel seats? C’mon! This 1974 Laguna might have a couple of rusty patches in the floor that need metalwork, and the 350 under the hood looks minuscule in that engine bay, but tell me why, when you have to pay $10,000 for a roller Mopar from the same era that looks like it should have been crushed fifteen years ago, why a Chevelle like this is still in four-digit territory.

eBay Link: 1974 Chevrolet Chevelle Laguna S-3

laguna3 laguna2 laguna1


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13 thoughts on “How Long Will Chevrolet Chevelle Lagunas Be Underrated? This Gorgeous 1974 Model Is Begging For Repairs And The Big Block It Deserves!

  1. Chevy Hatin' Mad Geordie

    Is it just me or does this look like a Mustang 2 from the front?

    Either way its neither gorgeous or worth paying even 50 cents for as it wears the cursed bow tie!

    1. Whelk

      I made the same mistake initially, the front ends are really pretty similar. The mid 70’s GM buckets were what I grew up with. Pretty sub mediocre stuff, at least stock it was.

  2. Anthony

    Great car and cheap. I agree about the handling too. I prefer the overstuffed Monte Carlo but thats just me-overstuffed.

  3. Loretta Carter

    I love these cars. I think its the swivel buckets. It’s what I want to Power Tour in. The 73 SS’s are cool too.

  4. Rock On

    Owned a 1975 Malibu Classic from 77-82. Swivel buckets and console. Corvette rallye wheels all around. Caught a lot of people napping at the lights with that 350, 4 barrel q-jet and headers.

  5. V12 guy

    That era GM “A body” was a pretty well dialed in piece. I still have my 73 GTO (same chassis) and it is STILL a nice driving and riding car. I had a buddy in HS that had one of these Laguna’s it wasn’t really fast, but was a lot of fun to cruise around in. Good times.

  6. scott

    My brother owned a 74 Laguna with a 454 and I had a matching 454 ElCamino Estate-Laguna had red half vinyl and red velour, ElCamino had black vinyl top and black gut-both swivel buckets and loaded. Ohio salt got both of them but they were great cruisers!

  7. Loren

    Mom-In-Law had a ’73 El Camino SS which apparently meant stickers, gauges, posi. It was totally beat but I gave it a rebuild one summer around ’89; interior, paint, alum ‘Vette wheels…it looked pretty good. I have to say that except for the tremendous f’n weight and size of the thing (and the fact that it was the wrong car for GM at the wrong time,) it was a sweet driver for highway use. Those thin, thin a-pillars…I loved ’em for the visibility but then of-course you went to look over your shoulder and you couldn’t see crap. Had to sell it for a smaller car, sometimes we hadn’t…but if I see one in the wrecking yard I’m just thinking, jeez what a tank.

  8. Anthony

    How was it the wrong car for GM at the time? Those were boon years for GM. The collonade design was a huge success and they sold millions of them every year. The styling kind of hung around right to the last of the A/G bodies in 88. They wish they could sell a quarter of what they sold then.

  9. jerry z

    Only like the 73 version with the round taillights. Too bad the undercarriage is rusty, car is nice otherwise.

  10. Turbo Regal

    I’ve always had a soft spot for these cars; My high school parking lot in the mid 80’s was full of Cutlasses, Monte Carlos and Malibus.

    “Chevelles and Laguna S-3s still have an image problem. Why is that?”

    C’mon Bryan, you know why? Big bumpers, no true hardtop or convertible, smog engines, little sheet metal or interior parts availability, no SS after 73 and the fact it will always be compared to the classic 70-72 models they replaced. The 75-79 Novas suffer from the same disrespect.

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