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Chevrolet Caprice (1st gen) 1965-1970
The Chevrolet Caprice is a full-sized automobile produced by the Chevrolet Division of General Motors in North America for the 1965 through 1996 model years. Full-size Chevrolet sales peaked in 1965 with over a million sold. It was the most popular American car in the sixties and early seventies. which during its lifetime included the Biscayne, Bel Air and Impala. Introduced in mid-1965 as a luxury trim package for the Impala four-door hardtop, Chevrolet offered a full line of Caprice models for the 1966 and subsequent model years, including a "formal hardtop" coupe and an Estate station wagon. The 1971 to 1976 models are the largest Chevrolets ever built. The Caprice was renamed Caprice Classic for the 1973 model year, but the Caprice nameplate returned—added in 1986 replacing the Impala. The downsized 1977 and restyled 1991 models were awarded Motor Trend Car of the Year. Production ended in 1996.
In 2011, the Caprice nameplate returned to North America as a full-size, rear wheel drive police vehicle, a captive import from Australia built by GM's subsidiary Holden—the police vehicle is a rebadged version of the Holden Caprice. From 1999 to the present imported Holden Statesman/Caprices built by Holden have been marketed as Chevrolet Caprices in Middle Eastern markets.
[B]Early History[/B]
The Caprice name was coined by Bob Lund (Chevrolet's General Sales Manager) after a classy restaurant he frequented in New York City. Some say the car was named after Caprice Chapman, daughter of auto executive and influential Indy-car official James P. Chapman.
The Caprice Custom Sedan option oackage (RPO Z18) was very well received during the sole year it was offered despite adding $200 to the $2742 price tag of an Impala 4-door hardtop. Essentially a luxury package for the Impala, the Caprice included a heavier stiffer frame, suspension changes, black accented front grille and rear trim panel with Caprice nameplate, slender body sill moldings, Fleur-de-lis roof quarter emblems, color-keyed bodyside stripes and Caprice hood and dash emblems. Wheel covers were the same as that year's Super Sport, but the "SS" emblem in the center of the spinner was replaced by a Chevy bowtie. The Super Sport's blackout rear trim panel was also used, sans the "Impala SS" nameplate. The interior featured a higher-grade cloth and vinyl seat and door trim (as well as thicker, higher-grade carpeting), walnut trim on the dashboard and door panels, pull straps on the doors and extra convenience lights. A full vinyl roof was optional. A 283 cubic inch, 195 horsepower V8 was standard equipment; no six cylinder engine was available for cars equipped with the Caprice package.
[B]First generation [/B]
1966:
For 1966, the Caprice was made Chevrolet's top-line series and included a two-door hardtop with a squared-off formal roofline (in contrast to the Impala/SS coupe's fastback roof).
The Caprice Estate, a new station wagon model with simulated woodgrain exterior trim was the first Chevy woodie wagon since 1954. All wagons featured an all-vinyl bench seat interior. A V8 engine was installed in every Caprice. While features such as an automatic transmission, power steering, white sidewall tires, and vinyl top were extra-cost options, virtually every Caprice was built with including them. Although a few Caprices were sold with the new 425 hp (317 kW) 427 cu in (7.0 L) Turbo Jet V8 mated to a four-speed manual transmission, most were built with the more-civilized V8 engines such as the 325 hp (242 kW) 396 cu in (6.5 L) Turbo Jet V8 to handle multitudes of luxury options such as air conditioning, power windows, Cruise-Master speed control, power seats, an automatic headlight dimmer (1965 only) and stereo radios. Several automotive history books noted that a fully optioned Caprice rivaled the appearance, comfort and convenience of the Cadillac DeVille.
The 1966 Caprice featured a revised grille and front bumper, and new rectangular taillights which replaced the Chevrolet-traditional triple round taillights used on Impalas since 1958 with the exception of the "bat-winged" 1959 model. Lenses and silver trim on Caprices differed slightly from the other big Chevys. Sedans and coupe models came standard with a luxurious cloth and vinyl bench seats with a folding center armrest in the rear seat. Optional on both was a "Strato bench" seat which combined bucket-style seat backs and center armrest with a bench cushion for six-passenger seating.
Caprices got their own unique standard tire covers, although some of the optional wheels and wheel covers for all big Chevys were also available on the Caprice as well. Cars originally ordered with the optional "mag" wheel covers or "rally" wheels are of particular interest to collectors, as are cars that came from the factory with the optional wood-grained "sport" steering wheels and gauge packages.
New options included the automatic "Comfortron" air conditioning system — the driver could set a constant year-round temperature reading. A "Tilt/Telescopic" steering wheel option could be adjusted vertically in six positions as well as be telescoped further out from the steering column for improved driver comfort. Coupes could also be ordered with an all-vinyl interior featuring Strato bucket seats and center console with floor shifter, storage compartment, courtesy lighting and full instrumentation at the front end of the console that was integrated with the lower instrument panel – in essence a more luxurious Impala SS in a formal-roofed bodyshell.
The 1965-70 GM B platform is the fourth best selling automobile platform in history after the Volkswagen Beetle, Ford Model T and the Lada Riva.
1967–1968:
The 1967 Caprice received a restyling with more rounded body lines and revised grilles and taillights, optional front fender corner lamps which illuminated with the headlamps, as well as a revised instrument panel with round instruments and a new steering wheel. Backup lights were built into the rear bumper, unlike in the lesser big Chevys, which had their backup lamps built into the center portion of the taillights. The allowed Caprices to feature all-red taillight lenses, no doubt considered more elegant by the stylists. Also new was a dual-master brake cylinder and optional front disc brakes. Other new options included a stereo 8-track tape player, power door locks and a fiber optics monitoring system. The same seating selections continued as before with revisions to trim patterns plus the new addition of all-vinyl upholstery as a no-cost option for conventional and Strato bench seats in sedans and coupes. Engines/transmission offerings were carried over from the previous year. The exception was the optional 425 hp (317 kW) 427 cu in (7.0 L) Turbo Jet V8 was no longer listed, leaving the 385 hp (287 kW) 427 as the top power offering. The three-speed Turbo Hydramatic transmission previously only offered with the 396 cu in (6.5 L) and 427 cu in V8s was now available with the 275 hp (205 kW) 327 cu in (5.4 L) Turbo Fire V8. As with all 1967 cars sold in the U.S., Caprices featured the set of occupant protection safety features including an energy-absorbing steering column, soft or recessed interior control knobs, and front outboard shoulder belt anchors.
The 1968 Caprice received a minor facelift that included a new grille with taillights set into the bumper and optional hidden headlamps. 1968 Caprice coupes came standard with the new Astro Ventilation system, which included extra vents in the dash, and the removal of vent (wing) windows. Federally mandated side marker lamps became standard on all US cars that year; the Caprice carried over the optional white corner marker lamps at the forward edge of the fenders in addition to the now-required amber parking lights which were illuminated with the headlights. The fiber optics monitoring system was offered again as an option. Chevrolet decided that the Caprice Coupe's formal roofline would make a worthwhile addition to the Impala series, so a new Impala Custom Coupe was offered starting this year. It quickly became the best-selling Impala in the line. The famous L72 427 cubic-inch 425 hp (320 kW) Turbo Jet was once again available. Also, a new 307 cu in (5.0 L) Turbo Fire V8 rated at 200 hp (150 kW) replaced the 195 hp (145 kW) 283 cu in (4.6 L) small block as the standard engine. Inside, the instrument panel was revised with a return to the horizontal sweep speedometer and a revised three-spoke steering wheel. The horizontal sweep speedometer made adding an optional instrument cluster a difficult proposition; this was solved by narrowing the speedometer within its opening and flanking it with engine-turned instruments in the place of warning lights. The fuel gauge, placed next to the speedometer within its own pod in the base models, was moved to its new place next to the speedometer. A tachometer took the place of the fuel gauge in the large opening left by the fuel gauge.
