1970 Monte Carlo SS454 with stock Polycast mag wheels

[Dandy Dan]

I just found the coolest thing:

Pic 1 is a 1970 Monte Carlo SS454. We know it is a 1970 by the lack of:

a. standup hood ornament as used in 1971 and 1972

b. trunk lock bezel as used in 1971 and 1972

c. upper chrome strip, taillight panel as used on 1971 Monte SS454

d. blackout tail panel as found on 1971 Monte SS454

e. tail panel SS emblem as found on 1971 Monte SS454

Pic 2 is the same pic retouched into a 1971 Monte Carlo SS454 with Rally Wheels as found in the 1971 dealer brochure (courtesy oldcarbrochures.org)

Well, the 1970-1971 Monte Carlo SS454 was never available with either Polycast wheels OR Raised White Letter tires !

 

[Harry Joy]

Can you be certain that the original pic is original? It could be retouched too. Move the arms a bit, change the stance, add facial hair and....

[Dandy Dan]

"Can you be certain that the original pic is original?"

Yep

 

[Rob Hall]

Neat..I want to build one of my AMT '70 MCs with those wheels from the AMT Z/28...

[Snake45]

Retouching for showroom literature was common. In the '69 Chevelle brochure, for example, you can actually see where the '68 Chevelle and Malibu emblems have been retouched out.

All the '67 Chevrolet showroom brochures show the new Rally Wheels as black (with chrome rings and cap, of course) instead of Argent silver. It's possible that some very early Rally Wheels came through in black, but they're so rare I've never seen a set in person, then or now. (DID see a set on a TV "barn find" Vette once.)

[1972coronet]

Perhaps it was cancelled before production started or was cancelled very early in the production run ( e.g. , the 1972 440+6 ). That being said ; those wheels look awesome on that 'Carlo ! Same with the raised white letter tyres ! Who knows , maybe because  the Camaro that they were slated for  [ Z-28 and Super Sport ] was delayed until Feb. '70 , and GM wanted to put some-thing sporty on their new-for-1970 G-body , so they shot photos of the "pilot" model with those wheels / tyres ?

[Belugawrx]

I love those polycasts from the 70.5 OrNg camaro kit,...

I took them back 3.5 yrs,...

 

[1972coronet]

"Perhaps it was cancelled before production started or was cancelled very early in the production run ( e.g. , the 1972 440+6 ). That being said ; those wheels look awesome on that 'Carlo ! Same with the raised white letter tyres ! Who knows , maybe because  the Camaro that they were slated for  [ Z-28 and Super Sport ] was delayed until Feb. '70 , and GM wanted to put some-thing sporty on their new-for-1970 G-body , so they shot photos of the "pilot" model with those wheels / tyres ?"

I'm gonna speculate that they had production problems over at Motor Wheel in Lansing Mi and they didn't have enough parts ready to offer them at the start of the 1970 model year. It was a new manufacturing process. The Pontiac Polycast Honeycomb wheel didn't hit the scene until the start of the 1971 model year. Motor Wheel was making them , too.

 

I never even considered that ; that a new technology could be trying . I'm sure that there was a healthy-dose of trepidation after the ill-fated 1969 Dodge & Plymouth "recall" wheels ; although , those were a Kelsey-Hayes wheel , not a Motor Wheels product .

[Snake45]

I love those polycasts from the 70.5 OrNg camaro kit,...

I took them back 3.5 yrs,...

 

Wow, that's nice! The old AMT kit, right, not the new Revell?

[Mark]

The Polycast wheels (and white-letter tires) were probably dropped because Chevrolet was trying to pitch the Monte as a different/more upscale car.  I remember one of the early magazine ads; it read: "sorry, no four on the floor".  Even the brochure above makes reference to "subtle" SS markings.  They were trying to establish the Monte Carlo as more of a luxury car; that wheel/tire combo would have undercut that effort (though it does look great that way).  I've seen references to a convertible being offered; that was dropped too, not necessarily for the same reason.

[ChrisBcritter]

Is "Polycast" the correct term for those wheels? I thought those were the wheels introduced in '73 with the front of the wheel made of cast plastic molded on top of a steel backing. Thirty years ago I had a '72 Chevelle SS that had the five-spoke wheels and I thought they were just called "SS mags" or "SS rims". They didn't have any plastic in them that I could tell.

 

 

[unclescott58]

On first generation Monte Carlos, only the '71s had a hood ornament.

[unclescott58]

Oh, one of the 1970 Chevorlet accessory brochures showed a non-photographic picture of the Monte Carlo convertible. They came very close to offering the convertible. Why they didn't, I don't know?

[john sharisky]

 

Just to veer off into Pontiac territory for a moment, here's an excellent page:

Pontiac Promotional Photo Errors

I e-mailed the author:

"...the last few lines of your take on the 1969 Firebird TransAm photo errors are cut-off by the heavy black bounding box. Can you tell what the last few sentences are?"

He responded:

"There's a whole array of non-production items shown in this ad for the 1969 Trans Am (see my other article titled "The Development Of The 1969 Trans Am" for more details). The overhead shot of this pre-production car was also used in the Pontiac Dealer Album insert that Pontiac sent to its dealers detailing the specs on the new Trans Am. Unfortunately, by the time the car was put into production, a number of items were changed. Over the years, dozens of 1969 Trans Am's have been restored incorrectly as resto shop referenced this magazine ad and the dealer album insert to restore a 69 Trans Am. As the decades have passed, more information, most notably the actual 1969 Pontiac Firebird assemblymanual used on the production line, have verified that only pre-production models were decorated as the above photos show."

John

 

[Belugawrx]

Wow, that's nice! The old AMT kit, right, not the new Revell?

Right the Old AMT

[bbowser]

Beautiful.  I used to own a '71 that I was restoring, but divorce put an end to that.  I had a set of rallye's that were going on it, 15".

I've heard that the Monte had the longest hood of any production car, don't know if that's true but it sure must have been close!

Edited April 4, 2016 by bbowser

[espo]

"Perhaps it was cancelled before production started or was cancelled very early in the production run ( e.g. , the 1972 440+6 ). That being said ; those wheels look awesome on that 'Carlo ! Same with the raised white letter tyres ! Who knows , maybe because  the Camaro that they were slated for  [ Z-28 and Super Sport ] was delayed until Feb. '70 , and GM wanted to put some-thing sporty on their new-for-1970 G-body , so they shot photos of the "pilot" model with those wheels / tyres ?"

I'm gonna speculate that they had production problems over at Motor Wheel in Lansing Mi and they didn't have enough parts ready to offer them at the start of the 1970 model year. It was a new manufacturing process. The Pontiac Polycast Honeycomb wheel didn't hit the scene until the start of the 1971 model year. Motor Wheel was making them , too.

 

The wheels you are looking at are all steel with a polished trim ring and dust cover. I was in the retail end of car dealership management for many years starting in the early '70's. Thru '83 one of my duties was ordering new Chevrolets for inventory. The wheel you are looking at was a popular option and or standard on the high performance models. IE: Chevelles, Camaros, El Caminos. but not Monte Carlos. They where all "15 diameter and 7" wide. They where very heavy and in fact the bare wheel could weight almost as much as the same 15" X 7" Rally wheel and tire. OEM they where usually shades of silver and usually body colored on the Z-28 when reintroduced in '77. There was a "polyformed"  wheel that was an option for the Camaro Berlinettas but they where a 14" X 7" wheel and also very heavy. I was not ordering in '72, but I do remember a few SS454 Monte Carlos with raised letter tires with the Rally wheel. I think what may have happened in the case of the sales brochure the print lead time to have them in the dealerships before the vehicle is available. In the time from when GM would give the pictures a print for the brochure to the printer the production side drops an option because of supplier or design issues. At that time it would happen more than you would think.   I hope that helps on the wheel. But the model would look good with these wheels.