Chris purchased this 1971 Monte Carlo in Tampa Florida and drove it home to New Hampshire back in 1982. According to the build sheet, it was originally a Hertz leasing vehicle delivered to Vic Potamkin Chevrolet in Miami, Florida.
The Monte Carlo was Chris’s daily driver up until the mid-1990s. Originally white, he ended up having it painted black, then GM Flame Red metallic. He also converted it to a 4-speed and added power windows and locks. After years of daily driving it in New England weather, he took it apart in November of 2000 to replace a quarter panel and redo the interior. Like many projects it snowballed, and the next thing Chris knew, the body was off the frame, and the car was completely disassembled. A major rehab was in progress!
Kids, other cars he built and life got in the way, but slowly progress was made. In May 2023, after 23+ years Chris finished it, the weekend before he debuted at the NH Musclecar Club season opener in Deerfield, NH. Chris did everything himself this time, including paint. Only took him 3 tries to get the paint right, but that’s another story he says. The car is now painted Medium Charcoal Grey Metallic.
The Monte Carlo is now powered by a NOS 1992 Tuned Port Injected 350 (located in a warehouse in Cleveland), with a Muncie M20 4 speed, and a 3:36 posi. It has power windows, power locks, AC, tilt, a black cloth bucket seat interior, and even a Dakota Digital RTX dash. Chris built his own functional cowl induction hood using a new Chevelle SS hood, plus his original Monte Carlo hood. Drilling out 70+ spot welds on each hood to separate the inner frames from the skins was a long process he says, as this was before the aftermarket started building them.
Chris is proud of the fact that he did everything on this build himself. After all those years he’s working on it for a while. Time to enjoy Chris says…we agree!
