I’ve been talking with a gentleman from the First Generation Monte Carlo Club about his 1972 “W” Code Monte Carlo “Custom”.
A “W” Code car is a reference to a car that was built in 1972 With the 270 HP Turbo-Fire V8 454. The 5th character in the 1972 VIN was a letter that denoted the size of the engine the car had. Here’s a look at the various engine codes for 1972 Monte Carlos.
- H 350-2bbl 165 hp
- J 350-4bbl 175 hp
- U 402-4bbl 240 hp
- W 454-4bbl 270 hp
These “W” code 454 Big Block, (also known as the LS5), equipped cars from 72 are rare and getting rarer, there were only 1268 of them built in 1972, so this car is among some of the rarest cars from that year.
Another note, the 1072 “Custom” Package was offered in 1972 but the 70 and 71 “SS” package, Chevrolet no longer offered on the Monte after 1971.
The Z03 Option code on a 1972′s build sheet is what denotes a “Custom” badged car, along with badges that appears on the sail panels behind the “Monte Carlo” Script as seen in the graphic below.
There isn’t any way to know how many actual “Custom” packages Chevy built in 1972 as it wasn’t something that was tracked, however the “W” code in the VIN was, and as mentioned before the production run for the “W” code cars was only 1268 making this 1972 a rare model. That it is the original block that came in the car is also a important consideration, as it makes this car a “numbers matching” car.
Pat in WA State has a new blog up about the restoration of a 1970 Monte Carlo.
Go give him a visit, there’s a bunch of great photo’s and slide shows of the car!!
Well luckily, actually he is along with Red, his wife, Welcome Dave and Red!!
Dave is a fellow member of the FGMCC and he and his wife, whom I only know as “Red” are the proud owners of this stunning 1972 Monte . It just returned from the body shop where it was treated to a new coat of sexy black paint.
Dave, and I chat back and forth on occasion and I’ve (along with all the other Monte Nutz over at FGMCC) been anxiously awaiting the results of his Monte’s newest make over. I have to say the car gives me great inspiration, I’ve wrestled with the paint scheme for my Monte for months now, but seeing this example, maybe the Triple black motif is going to stay. Thanks Dave, thanks a whole bunch bud, thanks for sowing yet more seeds of uncertainty into my already addled mind…
This is a true “W” code Monte originally equipped from GM with a 454 cubic inch engine, which makes it a fairly rare beast, only 1268 454 Big Block equipped cars were produced for the 1972 Model year.
As my own project plods on at a glacial pace, as Dave and I chatted over the last few days, an idea struck me that I could profile his car here on 454Monte, and also, let him answer some questions about the car as well.
I’ve highlighted other Owners Monte’s in the past, but only my impressions of them, Pictures are great but to get a feel for what this or any car’s history is, what sort of efforts it took to bring it to it’s current condition and why it is being done, takes a little bit more effort. So I sat down and I composed a list of questions and then I Emailed them to Dave. He graciously took time to reply, and here’s the results…..