This was my first car, almost identical inside and out except no vinyl top, unless it was previously removed. Mine had a 350 4BBL engine, TH 350 trans and 2:73 posi. Sadly it burned to a steel shell back in the 90's. I actually still have the build sheet from it. Thanks for posting this, brought me back about 30 years!
If I remember 73 was the only one that had full stainless steel trim around the triangle rear windows. I ended up using the set from a 73 Chevelle for my 76 Cutlass 442 restoration. My older brother had a 74 malibu in the mid 80s. Always loved this generation. It looks like you have the later models set up on the driver's side but the original stainless steel on the passenger side
Both sides have been replaced from a previous owner and are plastic with the exception of the stainless corner piece. I found some original ones but wow they are not cheap!
Like your car. I have a 1973 as well. Love it. It is in amazing condition. Just hit original 20k. Got it with 15k. Winter frost green. You either love or hate them. I love them.👍
Cool video I’ve got an SS 350 myself. 73 chevelle’s n Laguna, S3 Laguna . Not many people include these 73-77 , hard parts to get. My 73 ss bench ft seat black vinyl top wide quarter window ft n rear bumper guards . I did have a nice paint job done back in 84 , Iite blue met / blue int , hardest part is the full length body stripes wide n narrow from bumper to bumper. 14” rally wheels. Glad you are doing something nice work keeping this style of chevelle’s on the road.
Other option was swivel bucket seats..mine used the ten inch wide steel station wagon rims ran L 60s all the way around stabilizer bars from.police car tuck away ladder bar rear.. was a fun car
Had a buddy that bought one as his first car around 80. 73 Laguna 350 2bbl auto console and bucket seats. Car was maroon with the landau top. Top was pretty faded but I'd say it was beige, and the interior was off white too.
I had a 73 Malibu. They were built so poorly they, had such bad gaps, but he could slide something down along the glass and open the door faster than with the key.
After looking at a bunch of online photos of '73 Laguna's, it came down to the half vinyl roof. I couldn't find one single photo of a Laguna with a half vinyl roof like this one. Based on that sleuthing, it was easy to figure out.
Remember the 1973 CHEVELLE OR MALIBU is the Only year of the DUEL round lights on each side making them look more sportier like a Camaro or Corvette and with the laguna front package it looks even better,Mind you my girlfriend father gave me his 74 Chevy Chevelle LAGUNA STATION WAGON IN LIGHT YELLOW with the side wood panels this was in 1982 and super excited because I knew it was a special car well it didn't last long the city had towed it because of out standing tickets this is why he gave it to me so I could put it under my name but it too long to give me the title.I always like them RUBBER FRONT END like the 73-77 pontiac grand am or gto,77-79 Chevy Camaro and Fire bird the 1981 Chrysler Imperial and 80s Miranda The 77 78 Dodge Magnum Gt you get the Picture
Nope there is a big list of different copi options including gauges, brakes and same as in this case special paint options. Special paint options usually should have been used for fleet vehicles such as taxis, police and fire etc.
@@garysarnowski3113 Gotta remember, dealers like Baldwin and Yenko "built" specialty cars. Ordered what they could off the line but made them there own.
My 73 Laguna S3 was red with black bench seat interior, someone had put a 70 R.A 3 Pontiac engine in it with th400 auto, after I installed the 4.10 posi rear that car would get down, actually went off the road a few times when you floored it, once all that power and weight start drifting its hard to bring it back, the circle track guys love them because the car can take a lot of hits and stay on the track. Also had a 73 SS 454 car, brown with black swivel buckets and console. Living in the southeast you rarely see one of these without rust, I remember hearing somewhere that GM was experimenting with recycled steel in 73-74? Not sure if that was a fact or not. Your car is nice, do yourself a favor and never sell it.
Thanks for the comment. I do wish this one had a 454 in it but I would never swap it out. It’s such a great running and riding car. That’s the bad thing about living in the north, everything is so rusty up here if it was driven at all in the winter.
Interesting factoid about the recycled steel experiment, maybe that's why both of my doors rusted out around the mirrors...hmmm? The rest of it seemed pretty good if I recollect right though.
Actually the severe rust curse in pre '75 GM vehicles is attributed to the fact that they didn't start using galvanized steel til 1975 & even then the north - Midwest states & the salting of roads still tore them up...
These body style years never got much love unless they were the Olds 442. My 1st real daily driver was a '74 Chevelle Malibu in 1986. 350 2 bbl, 3 on the column, Burgundy with Houndstooth interior. Same large rear side glass, steel roof so idk anything about the window trim. It had the ugly single oval tail lights.
The 1973 Chevrolet Laguna is a beautiful car. I remember when the Colonade cars came out in fall 1972. I even remember what day it was when I saw my first.Colonade car on the road. It was a white Pontiac Grand AM with red interior. That was one sharp car. I'm looking at your car and I see two things. I'm not 100%, but I don't think that is a factory green color. I don't remember ever seeing one with a half vinyl top. I did on the formal roof model, but not the fast back with the larger quarter window. I'm wondering if the top was the dealer installed. My aunt had a 1973 Ford Torino with a dealer installed vinyl top. The trim is completely different than a factory installed vinyl top. Love the bench seat colum shift, and I'm glad to see the car in loving hands. The original owner is probably looking down with a big smile on his face.
Thanks for the comment. The green is a factory color, Chevrolet had a real fancy name for it..dark metallic green Lol! A full vinyl roof was an RPO option. According to build sheet the dealer special ordered it through the COPO codes to get the half vinyl roof. I think the half roofs came more common in 74. Seen a lot more Olds with them then chevs too.
Nope. The 73 Lagunas were required to have single catalytic converters so they used 2 into one, through converter and split back to dual. EPA regulations did not allow for dual converters until 74.
@@bobbyhunt7010 Nope, 75 was the first year for cats and unleaded fuel. Had a buddy with a 73 Laguna 350 2bbl auto car. It had duals but can't say they were original.
I hate to differ with you but I'm afraid the 73 did come with factory dual exhaust on the Laguna 350 my grandmother owned one of those brand new and she bought it in 73 and traded it in and 77 on the new for that year the Impala /Caprice hershad dual exhaust bucket seats it also had the 350 engine it had a.m. with eight track stereo I remember that too cuz we drove it from Illinois down to Georgia back in 1976 we went to Georgia to visit an ant from Illinois when we were visiting my grandmother now you take care of that car they're very rare.
@@kickdowngarage If you can get the Horsepower over 350 or so gross, over 400 if possible, they get really fun....and with the stiffer suspension and sway bars will keep up with (or humiliate) allot of expensive cars.
I had a 73 Malibu that I cloned into a Ss chevelle the donor ss was a rust bucket but I liked the car they were in their pinnacle GM was at that time it rode and drove wonderfully
You are correct. Even though this generation isn’t as popular as the 2nd I have to admit they do ride better and I sure can tell GM did improvements over the previous year.
I watched more your video I see yours had a two-barrel my grandmother's had the four barrel that might be why hers had with factory dual exhaust I know this year's also has a bench seat hers had the factory swivel bucket seats in the console those are nice they make the car a little sportier hers had like that white or cream color interior and then the outside was like a copper not sure exact color of it but it was a nice car she had a lot of problems because she didn't drive it hard she just put it around like a little old lady so the big 350 didn't like to be driven to the store and back and to work and back and that's it and needed to be blown out and she didn't do that so she traded for that 77 Impala and had that for a long time till she quit driving.
I was just going to ask you if hers had a 4 bbl for it to have duals! Thanks for sharing. This car is still fairly new to me and my first one of this generation so I’m still learning about them. Thanks for sharing and the comments!
1973 was the good old days. That was the year that our standard of living peaked in the United States. 1973 was also the year that our manufacturing peaked.
We bought a new one in 73... By early 74 the quarter window frames had big rust holes in them. What a crappy rusty car that turned out to be. The dealer had to take it back.
Labeled a COPO because of the half vinyl roof. The point of the video was to show that the cars could still be ordered differently beyond the RPO codes via the COPO codes. And that COPO was not just limited to big motors and could be simple options.
You betcha bub , had me a '88 Nova twin cam SS that somebody special ordered for their Mom ! All it was was a rebadged Toyota HA but it had a manual trans & special paint that turned out to fall under a copo designation.
@@blue_lancer_es well it was but the graphics were different from a friend's mom's which had red graphics & was special ordered under a Copo designation hers had an automatic tranny , mine was a 5spd technically that were rebadged Toyotas HA that car ran really hard I used it to go to work from Redwood to Berkeley about 80 miles round trip keeping the miles off my El Camino,Have a good day
Is it for sale ? My 1st car was a 73 Chevelle ... 350 , 4 speed . It got 10 mpg & top speed was 90 mph , down hill... But it was my 1st car. Love to find one.
Nope not for sale right now, I haven’t had it that long and I’m really enjoying it. With the bench seat it reminds me of my first car so it’s bringing back a lot of good memories!
I had a 73 Malibu, 350x2 w/a biege Landau, rear window defog/ac Brown/Biege top/saddle interior....copo?....hell no but a neat old car....I miss ot dearly.
Beautiful 73 Laguna but definitely not a COPO. I had a Glacier Blue one just like it (bought new) but mine had a 4bbl. Next year (74) I traded it for a Laguna 454.
Nope not a COPO in the way that we are used to from the muscle cars of the 60’s. But it does have one COPO option which to me made no sense to why they ordered it that way or why it was even available to order that way. I just wanted to show that things could still be ordered differently then the standard RPO codes.
The value is in.. the car Being a numbered car.. Meaning they only made 28,647 SS in 1973.. Brown en, Green cars were the last ones to leave the lot, copo
I don’t want to seam mean but why are you wasting your time on a 73 Chevelle. I could see if it was a 72 because they didn’t have those big ugly bumpers,and the emissions controls were not that bad. The body style on the 72 was so much better.
Depending on the state the 72’s did have the same emissions as this year. I also picked up this car for a pretty reasonable price and with already having the previous generation I wanted to try something new.
I had a 4-door with no vinyl top, exact same color in side and out. I got it on eBay sight unseen in horrible condition or else I would have kept it and not sold it.
Sorry thought I did. Nothing too important at all. This is a standard 73 Laguna with 1 COPO option, the half vinyl roof. Standard RPO code was for a full roof but the COPO code was for a half roof. Only one I’ve ever seen in 73 on a chevelle. Kind of weird they went through the work to order it that way and not to put on any other options.
You are not too bright, if you think COPO means a big block. Yenko and Nickey were not COPO cars. Yenko and Nickey ordered standard cars and then modified them at the dealership. COPO, is just a special way of ordering cars. There are many different modifications that had to be ordered through COPO. 427s, were just one.
Thought I explained that in the video. Either I didn’t or you missed it. Sorry for any confusion. Early on Don Yenko ordered Camaros with 396s in them and transplanted 427s. By 69 he along with dealers worked with GM and was able to COPO order 427s in the Camaros along with other options.
Technically the S3 started in 74 after they stopped making the SS in 73 and yes you could get a 454 in it. There are a couple original ones around here that I see at the local cruise nights that have the 454 in them.
Well apparently the "documentary" I watched many years ago about the Laguna S3 Chevelles was wrong. It said a big block was not an option. I could have sworn I seen one when I was a teenager that was a 454/4speed car. I love the 73 & 74 colonades especially the Pontiac versions.
COPO was just a list of different options that were available Central Office Production Order vs the dealers RPO Regular Production Order options. COPO options could have been something simple like a 140 mph speedo vs a 120 to non standard paint options, up to different engines and just like anything options varied by the year.
PUT 69 LINCOLN SPRINGS IN THE BACK AND IT WILL SIT HIGH AND RIDE SMOOTH... AND FOR GOD SAKES THEN YOU CAN PUT THE BIG BACK TIRES BACK ON IT LIKE IT SHOULD HAVE.... STOP TURNING IT BACK INTO A GRAMDMA CAR
I got a untouched dark blue 73 SS 454 4 speed with white interior & swivel seats . Yes it does atill have original dual exh. And 8" aluminum slots. Was probably sharp back in u3 or r❤+⁰.a Among others.. too bad that green one wasn't a t least a 72. They sucked ass after 72. And ive seen 73s with a landau top before... check up more on what copo actually means maybe
I’ve had 2nd generations before and wanted something different. In my opinion for a cruiser this one rides so much better. Never sat in one with swivel seats, they don’t look that comfortable though, are they?
