1966 Chevrolet Caprice Custom Hardtop

It was 1966 and the Caprice had just been promoted up to its own series having started the previous year as a Custom Sedan option on the Impala. It was Chevy’s regal series offering the most luxurious car they had on offer. An even more fancy Impala if you like.

It was now available as a 2-door coupe, 4-door sedan together with 6 and 9 passenger station wagons.

This great looking 1966 Caprice is fitted with a 396 V8 and repainted in Willow Green (code H) – a great color that takes you right back to the mid-sixties.

rear view of a 66 Chevy Caprice
rear view

The roof line of the Caprice coupe offered a different look to the Impala with a much more formal roofline – or a ‘prestige limousine look‘ as the Chevrolet brochure put it.

side view of a 66 Caprice showing the roof line
side view showing the roof line

Inside, there is the beautiful Medium Turquoise vinyl interior (code 848) – an all-vinyl bucket seat option. Note also the simulated walnut wood inlays on the instrument panel and horn ring – it is also found on the door panels for that touch of extra luxury.

Interior of a 1966 Chevy Caprice
beautiful interior

Under the hood sits a 396 cubic inch Turbo-Jet big block V8 rated at 325 horsepower. This is paired with a Powerglide automatic transmission. Both of these are factory options, original to the car and numbers matching.

1966 Chevy 396 V8 big block engine
396 V8

Chevrolet sold a healthy 181,000 Caprices that first year and that figure doesn’t include the station wagons.

A two door hardtop like this one would have cost you $3,000 fitted with the standard 283 cubic inch V8 engine and would have come with a 3-speed manual transmission. To get the engine / transmission combination on this car would have cost an additional $414.

This 1966 Chevy Caprice is currently for sale on eBay. (follow the link for lots more photos)

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