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2025 Nissan Sentra ReviewRetro Review: Chevrolet Caprice
The Chevrolet Caprice was the brand’s premier nameplate for decades, adapting and evolving through the years, from sales sensation to cop car.
Full-Size to Right Size
For younger car enthusiasts, the Chevrolet Caprice name conjures to mind is the late model police cruiser as the GM analogue to the Ford Crown Vic. But that was only the Caprice’s final, super Saiyan form. The mercurial Caprice was a car of many guises as Chevy’s long-running top-end full-size car (phew, that is a lot of hyphenating). When business called for something large and luxurious, the Caprice was there. When the suits wanted something smaller and more efficient, the Caprice delivered. When the world needed a sedan/taxi/police cruiser, the Aussies built a Holden and gave it the Caprice name. The Chevy Caprice’ fifty-plus-year run gave us clamshell tailgates, posh landau roofs, and police pursuit cars that inspired cold dread in the hearts of any unlucky enough to find one looming in their rearview mirror. This is the story of the Chevy Caprice.
First Generation (1965/66-1970)
The Chevy Caprice began its run as an upper trim level of the 1965 model year Impala. The four-door hardtop added $242 dollars to the Impala price tag along with cushier seats, upgraded interior materials, and real wood accents. In 1965, for the ’66 model year, the Caprice was given its own independent nameplate and was sold as a two-door coupe, four-door hardtop, or four-door wagon. The Caprice was positioned as Chevrolet’s top-of-the-line model, directly competing with other full-size cars like the Ford LTD. A wide range of V8s made up the Caprice’s engine options starting with a 282 cu.-in. V8 and culminating in a 427 Turbo-Jet V8.
As with many GM models of the time, the Caprice was restyled continually, starting with the 1967 model which received a refreshed front end and new taillights. 1967 GM’s 100 millionth car built, a Chevrolet Caprice Custom Coupe. That year, for the ’68 model, the Caprice was again updated with a new grille design. Styling was updated again for ’69 and ’70 models, and the base engines grew larger from a 327 to a 350 Turbo-Fire V8.
Second Generation (1971-1976)
The Chevy Caprice grew more luxurious with a bolder, boxier design for its second generation starting in 1970 (for the ’71 model year). Body styles were expanded to three two-doors – a coupe, hardtop, and convertible – as well as four-door sedan, hardtop, and wagon iterations. As was the fashion among luxury and semi-luxury models of the ‘70s, the Caprice grew larger, stretching its wheelbase to 121.5 inches and 125 for the wagon. One memorable feature of that Caprice wagon was its “clamshell” tailgate which retracted the glass upward and lower half downward, tucking behind the rear bumper. Engines offered were 350-cu.-in.- and 400-cu.-in.-small black V8s and 402-cu.-in.- and 454-cu.-in.-Big Block V8s.
Year-over-year updates included new, bulky federally mandated bumpers for the 1972 model. For ’73, the Caprice was retitled as the Caprice Classic and given the aforementioned convertible option for the first time. A new grille also graced the front of the car and engine options were limited to a 400-cu.-in. V8 or the larger 454 V8. The ’74 model revised the grille again and added a four-barrel version of the 400 V8.
Third Generation (1977-1990)
The 1970s saw seismic shifts across the automotive industry. New emissions and fuel economy regulations, the 1973 Oil Crisis, the immergence of Japanese imports all played their part in transforming what kinds of cars were built, how big they were, and what was under the hood. The Caprice’s third generation, 1977 through 1990 model years, perfectly illustrate this. “Project 77,” as it was termed internally, was a major overhaul for Chevy’s flagship model. The market had shifted toward smaller, more efficient cars and Chevrolet responded by drastically shrinking their full-size car. The Caprice dropped over 600 lbs. from the coupe and sedan while the wagon lost over 800 lbs. The car was shorter in length as well, cutting the wheelbase back to 116 inches and 125 in the wagon. Engine sizes were reduced as well. The new base engine was a 250-cu.-in. “Turbo Thrift” straight-six making 110 horsepower. The wagon’s default became a 305 V8.
The move blurred the line between mid-size and full-size, but the change was much to the liking of buyers who made the ’77 Caprice the best-selling car in the US with over 660,000 units sold. Major revisions to improve aerodynamics, further reduce weight, and improve fuel economy arrived once more for the 1980 model year. A new 229-cu.-in. V6 became the base engine, capable of achieving 20/29 mpg. The wagon too got a smaller engine, a 267-cu.-in. V8. The two-door coupe was dropped from production for 1983.
The 1986 model year was another watershed for the Caprice. Along with styling changes that included a new grille and head and taillights, the Impala was folded under the Caprice, making the latter the sole full-size Chevy. But perhaps the biggest move was the introduction of a new police package, the 9C1 Caprice that ran a 260 cu.-in. V6 or more suitable for highway patrol either a 305 cu.-in. or 350 cu.-in. V8.
Fourth Generation (1991-1996)
The fourth-generation Chevy Caprice received the nameplate’s most significant visual revisions to date. The car’s sharp edges were smoothed over, and a new more aerodynamic look was adopted. Gone was the two-door version of the Caprice, leaving just the four-door sedan and wagon body types. It was this generation that saw the Caprice become a popular fleet vehicle, often serving as a taxi or police cruiser. For the most efficient operation a 4.3L V6 was offered along with a 4.3L V8. Performance versions and the wagon were given the option of a 5.0L or 5.7L V8. For the 1994 model year, Chevy offered the LT1 V8 from the Corvette as an option on the police package and as the new standard engine for the wagon. The Caprice, along with most other full-size cars, was on the wane through the 1990s and by 1996 had seen its final year of production.
The Holden Years: Fifth & Sixth Gen
The Caprice was not quite done, however. The name returned under the auspices of GM’s Australian division Holden, starting with the 1999 model year as a four-door semi-luxury sedan. A sixth generation began in 2006. In 2009, GM developed a new Caprice PPV (Police Patrol Vehicle) which it brought back to North America as a police-exclusive patrol car running either a 3.6L V6 or a monstrous 6.0L V8. GM finally pulled the Caprice from production in 2017.
