Chevrolet never produced a Monte Carlo convertible in 1970, but somehow we can still find a number of them around.
From the moment of its introduction on September 18,1969, the Monte Carlo was a solid hit for the Chevrolet division. Despite a labor strike at General Motors that halted production for 67 days, the new personal-luxury four-seater racked up sales of more than 130,000 in the first year. Much of that success was no doubt due to the generous variety of choices available to Monte Carlo buyers: several different exterior looks; a range of small-block and big-block V8s; even an SS model. But oddly, perhaps, there was just one body style, a formal-roofed coupe. No convertible.
Still, you can find a surprising number of Monte Carlo convertibles around the collector car scene. Now where did those come from? They’ve been constructed after the fact by enterprising shops and skilled DIY-ers, aided by the friendly interchangeability in GM vehicle platforms. The Monte Carlo, technically designated a G-body, is actually a variant of the A-body—Chevelle, Olds Cutlass, Pontiac Tempest, Buick Skylark—all of which were available as convertibles. And they share the same black metal, windshield, and other critical points. A talented body technician can gather up a Monte Carlo coupe and an A-body donor car and put together a Monte convertible that looks for all the world like a factory production job. And who knows how many of these hybrids have been constructed.
Photo courtesy of Mecum Auctions 2010.
There’s one more wrinkle to this story. While there was never a production Monte ragtop (as in never, from 1970 to 2007) somehow a rendering of one appeared in an official GM publication: the 1970 Chevelle, Monte Carlo, and Nova dealer accessory catalog (lead image and illustration below) There was some talk in the press at the time about the possibility of a convertible at some later date, but never an official announcement. Did the production plans proceed far enough for this painting to be ordered up? Or was this simply a flight of fancy by an agency artist that somehow escaped into the catalog? We don’t know. It’s one more minor yet intriguing mystery of the Motor City.
I purchased a 1970 Monte Carlo identical to the top photo, being that at that time you could still repair cars with out a doctorate in computers I bought the GM repair manual so I could do a lot of the upkeep myself and their was a chapter with diagrams on care and repair of the convertible top. It was a great car I sold it with 150,000 miles on it with nothing more than basic maintenance. Living in New England the body gave up the ghost
There were also design renderings of a 4-door hardtop, which have since appeared over the years in several magazines. Would have made a nice-looking car.
Isn’t it really just a no-brainer as to why there was no convertible? GM management has to okay every model, and there was already a Chevelle and Caprice convertible. The writer also forgets that many dealers are not big enough to stocks three varieties of convertible close to the same size.
Personally I think the Monte Carlo loses a lot of its look without that roofline. Also no four-door hardtop on the G or A bodies was ever produced
From 1966 to 1972 Chevrolet Chevelles witch are A bodies were all available as four door hard tops. Lots of pictures on Google images.
Misspelled “which”.
That isn’t true. There was a four door hardtop variant of the A-body – the Chevelle/Malibu, Cutlass, Skylark and Tempest/LeMans all offered the body style. Quick Google searches before commenting help.
Why pay more to get a tent instead of a roof? Never made sense. And the car flops around like a dick in a hat. The roof is critical for structural stregth. You can bet those models with the tent had far stiffer sills etc. And that is still a patch not proper engineering.
2 door with a centre piller is stiffer than a pillarless as well.
“A dick in a hat”! LOL…
Well, aren’t YOU bag of fun. Geez.
Lee,what a loser you are. Did you ever drive in a vert. Sunshine, fresh air and the radio blasting your favorite song. Communist?
I think a German WW2 dictator liked convertibles. He hated communists too!
I actually have the Chevrolet accessory catalog showing the Monte Carlo convertible that I picked up as an eight year old in Sept 1969 when the new ‘70 Montes first came out. My parents had purchased a leftover ‘69 Chevelle and we were at Anthony Chevrolet in Sand Springs OK to pick it up. My understanding is that the MC convertible was indeed planned for production but the plug was pulled at the last minute because it was felt that the Chevelle convertible was sufficient to fill the mid-size convertible niche and an MC ‘vert would prove to be sort of redundant.
I’m surprised that there was no similar talk of a 1969-72 Pontiac Grand Prix convertible.
Gm also originally planned the Monte to be a front wheel drive. If you’ve looked under the hood of one there’s ample space to do it.
FWIU it was done on the cheap, they used the standard A-body coupe shell intended for a 112″ wheelbase on the standard 116″ wb A-body sedan chassis with the rear wheels lined up so that the stretch was reallocated from rear legroom to hood length. The long hood wasn’t a leftover from a program to put a UPP in it, it was the whole point.
Which is why we used so many in entry-level stock car racing. Rules said engines had to be in stock position, or set back no more than, the #1 spark plug being even with the upper ball joints. I never measured it, but a stock M/C looked to have about 5 to 6 inches of set back.