It’s been four whole years since that whole new car shortage thing kicked off, and we’re still feeling the pinch on the used market. Deals are starting to return, but when everyone wants the same sort of deal, that’s when decade-old RAV4s with 100,000 miles on the clock end up being five-figure cars. However, if you’re willing to get a bit inventive, you might be able to find yourself in something wicked cool. For example, a Chevrolet dealership in Fillmore, Calif. shows exactly one pre-owned Malibu in stock right now, and it’s definitely not the sort of midsize sedan you’d expect.
No, this isn’t an off-lease late-model midsize sedan, it’s a full-blown SEMA car from more than 20 years ago, and not only does it have fewer than 15,000 miles on the clock, the parts and labor that went into this build alone are worth far, far more than the asking price. Hey, old show cars depreciate.
Confusingly, the 2001 Chevrolet Malibu Cruiser Concept started life as a 1997 model. So why’s it called a 2001? Well, it was built for the 2001 SEMA show, which was a bit like E3 but for people who made body kits and Altezza taillights. SEMA’s still going on strong, but word on the street is that it isn’t quite the party it used to be. If this Malibu’s anything to judge by, it used to be the aftermarket’s Project X.
See, after an example of Chevy’s perfectly anonymous midsize sedan got stripped down, the build team went to freaking town on it, working over everything from the engine to the paint in a ridiculously over-the-top manner. Let’s start with the motor. These Malibus came standard with a 3.1-liter V6 making 155 horsepower and 185 lb.-ft. of torque. I know, we have it damn good these days. Clearly, those figures wouldn’t do, so Chevrolet punched displacement out to 3.5 liters, and then bolted on an Aerodyne turbocharger to pump out 230 horsepower and 286 lb.-ft. of torque. Since everything’s technically a consumable on a long enough timeline, GM paired that engine with the 4T65-E HD four-speed automatic transmission from a Pontiac Bonneville SSEi, which could definitely hold that output for at least a little bit.
Of course, power is nothing without control, so that’s where some bigger tweaks come in. Coilovers? Check. Upgraded four-wheel disc brakes? Check. Proper summer tires wrapped around 19-inch Mille Miglia Evo wheels that we all remember from Tire Rack ads? Check. Back in the day, that’s all you needed, so that’s all this thing got. Sometimes it’s not about how fast your car goes, it’s how you stand next to it.
So what about sitting inside the Malibu Cruiser? Well, unlike most Malibus, there isn’t space for five. Instead, this thing gets four Sparco bucket seats and a full-length carbon kevlar center console. It’s a wild combination that may have resulted in the rear legroom of a compact in a midsize car, but you know what? This was SEMA in the early 2000s and style ruled everything.
Speaking of style, Chevrolet made a bold decision with the BASF Sublime Lime paint on this Malibu. It’s just so violently green, so out there. The body kit’s also a bit loud, but it does incorporate a few elements we’d see on later Chevrolet models. The Malibu after this one got a giant chrome bar across its nose, so think of this as a subtle prelude to that. Of course, it also wouldn’t be a SEMA car without some thing that weren’t quite optimal, like the weirdly shallow in-trunk segments of the tail lights. Yeah, those are original, even if they look like they don’t quite match the rest of the tail lights.
So how does something like this end up at a Chevrolet dealership? Well, the Carfax claims it was registered under an owner in May 2009, which sort-of lines up with a big clearing of concept cars GM did earlier that year. You know, amidst the whole financial crisis thing. From there, it was sold to Ohio in 2009, sold again within Ohio in 2010, ended up at a Kia dealership in Illinois for a little bit during 2011, before ending up in Wisconsin, Missouri, then Nebraska. After that, it was sold on Bring A Trailer earlier this year to a user by the screen name of Bigleo for $13,500. From there, Carfax records indicate it was serviced at Bunnin Chevrolet’s sister store in Santa Paula, Calif. before being listed for sale again.
Oh, and here’s the best part: Bunnin Chevrolet in Fillmore, Calif. only wants $17,500 for this pristine piece of show car history. That’s less than a new Mitsubishi Mirage once all is said and done. At that point, maybe a pristine Y2K-era SEMA show car would make a good family car. Or maybe not. Who am I to judge?
(Photo credits: Chevrolet, Bunnin Chevrolet)
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The fit of the headlight units into the front clip is just so….what’s the word?
Shite.
I honestly love this thing. Would I buy it? HELL NO! However, I think it’s a fabulous example of that era of “tuner cars” and there’s just something about a tastefully (for the time) modified unloved chassis. The color is fun, the interior is very tame for the time its from, and it actually has decent (again, for the time) power.
I dig it, and I’m glad it exists.
” the parts and labor that went into this build alone are worth far, far more than the asking price”
Yeah but SEMA cars typically are worth FAR LESS than the sum of their parts because the added parts are often useless crap.
I’d rather have the new Mitsu Mirage.
You actually found a car I would LESS rather have than a new Mirage. That is quite an accomplishment.
I didn’t realize that vehicles like these got sold to the public as they don’t meet (or at least get tested to check) all the govt regs that manufacturers have to meet. Or are they “washed” by selling the production vehicle to a third party who does the modifications and eventual sale?
It’s not a concept car, it’s a modified production car with a real VIN. For insurance and registration, this is just a Malibu.
My grandparents had a Malibu just like this. This is almost exactly how I would have modified a Malibu after a year of playing Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition. For that reason, I’m very happy I don’t have $17,500 to spend on a Malibu.
I am no expert but I play one on Autopian.
I am just wondering if I buy this 1997 Malibu that is registered as a 2001 Malibu and have a problem with it what happens when the shop runs the vin? How do you order parts? How many custom parts are there?
This generation of Malibu was the ultimate in sad suck sedan. Only to be outdone by the following Malibu, which is probably the worst car I’ve ever driven. But this SEMA build makes the Malibu far less hateful, which is surprising as that’s not usually how I feel about SEMA builds.
God knows I wouldn’t want to own it, but it’s a genuine curiosity. Which is a pretty nice achievement considering that the original car is hot garbage.
I think it looks like a reasonably priced collector car, not really a daily driver because of all the unique parts.
Gimme, real cup holders and no fake v10. Gotta be worth threefiddy or so.
To this day no one has fixed the huge injustice that was the fact that the Altezza’s taillights, which were not the ugliest taillights ever made, gave birth to generations and generations of aftermarket monstruosities (and Subaru’s errings with some Imprezas) bearing the name.
The lineup of used cars behind the Malibu in that second photo is wild—a Buick Cascada and a Bentley freakin’ Arnage! For those not in the know (I’m a native Southern Californian, and I had to look it up), Fillmore, while technically not that far from the greater LA megalopolis, is kind of in the middle of nowhere, between Ventura and Santa Clarita. It seems like a weird place for any of this to be happening at a Chevy dealership.
It just makes me sad how much money someone put into that car and then drove it so little.
On the other hand, most of the modifications would make this more unpleasant to drive than it was from the factory.
I rented a few of these back then and they weren’t particularly memorable one way or the other.
Damn, that thing has barely more legroom than the BRZ/GR86 and legroom in those is largely theoretical. It’s kind of interesting, though the price is a bit ridiculous when looking at the fit on the front end and wondering how the rest of it is put together when it was largely only ever intended to briefly sit in a show hall or maybe it had been in a crash.
That’s definitely of the times. All the ingredients are there for a unique whip. It would definitely get some attention at a Cars and Coffee.
I… I… don’t hate it…
Same. Sure, it could stand to be raised an inch and a half so that you didn’t have to avoid parking lots with speed bumps, and the euro tails are a bit ew, but I have a soft spot for plain five spokes and the body kit is actually pretty clean.
My thoughts exactly.
Not sure why the shade on the transmission; my recollection is that the 60 and 65Es were pretty solid behind the 3800 supercharged which made similar power to this (why they didn’t just use the whole powertrain from the Bonny SSEi is maybe harder to explain). It was only when they made the batshit LS4 cars that the transmissions finally gave up.
yeah, those Grand Prix GXPs were kind of crazy.
GM between hiring Lutz and the bankruptcy was really pretty crazy in hindsight.
Let’s radically reimagine Cadillac from a geriatric soft-riding brand to a angular, strange looking BMW-fighting sporty brand! Oh and sell a 550 hp sportwagon with a 6 speed!
Let’s experiment wildly with how trucks and SUVs work! (Envoy XUV, Avalanche)
Let’s turn a military vehicle into an upscale soccer mom-mobile, and make a whole brand out of doing so!
Let’s turn our V8s sideways and put them in flimsy plasticy midsize sedans!
Let’s literally parts bin together a Miata competitor from random components!
Let’s import not only Australian coupes and sedans, but a new El Camino too, only its a Pontiac!
Let’s make a “performance division” for every brand, even Saturn(!) and Buick (!!!) and have it sell stuff like Northstar-equipped Pontiacs and Cadillac versions of the Corvette!
Let’s develop the first PHEV!
Let’s build the SSR!
Compared to how conservative they are now, this was pretty amazing.
I’d also put in that list the LNF powered Cobalt. Nothing like a turbo charged compact economy car with optional 300HP dealer installed tune.
It’s too bad the recession made them reconsider all that. It is relatively boring these days.
Also: “Let’s literally parts bin together a Miata competitor from random components!”
I have one of these and it’s glorious. Every time I have to fix something the part cross references to something amazing. Equinox, Cadillac, Malibu, Colorado, and a PWM fan controller that is from a… Crown Victoria. That’s right, they even raided the supplier parts bin from other cars. Which is why the controller cost me 20$.
…and let’s put that LNF in a small panel wagon too! (HHR SS)
Let us not forget the most insane thing they built but never put into production: The Chevrolet SST Concept. 480HP, 0-60 of 5.3s (theoretically, nobody ever tested it), and in a two door extended cab format. The F-150 Lightning SVT only came in two door single cab configuration, and the later Harley Davidson edition was detuned. The Dodge Ram SRT-10 was also only available as a single. Ford was scared of stepping on the Mustang’s toes and limited the Lightning to 385HP, and the SRT-10 was already pushing past what the transmission could handle at 509HP. But the SST? Theoretically it could handle another 40 HP. It could’ve been the most powerful truck in the world.
But just because it would’ve been another repeat of the Syclone where a truck shamed a Corvette they never did it. Instead we got a regular Silverado with a body kit as the “SS”.
Oh, also, let’s not forget they wanted to build supercharged V8 minivans using the LS4 drivetrains from the Grand Prix GXP and Impala/Monte Carlo SS. But because of packaging issues and the fact they’d given up on minivans by 2005 that never happened. I would love to one day find out they actually made a development mule of one of those instead of it just being another idea they had rattling around.
Great post, but the SRT-10 was available as a 4 door, and the 2 door was not close to maxing out its T56 manual.
The auto trucks may have been, I’m not as familiar with them besides knowing they used the HD 4 speed usually found behind the Cummins.
Was it available as a four door? I remember the 2004 version was only available as a two door. The later Super Bee which was supposed to take the same slot in the trim hierarchy (although not the power hierarchy) I knew could be had as a four door. And the automatics, yeah, those were the ones I was speaking of. Used to be a fun way to get some laughs posting links from Google Video (remember that?) of some guy launching his truck only for it to destroy itself.
It launched as a regular cab only; they added the quad cab later.
2 doors were manual only, 4 doors auto only.
Ehh….the factory freak L67’s could and did put some of the -65-HD’s into the rebuild pile early. Those L67’s were a bit underrated at times.
It is like someone tried to copy a Nissan Sentra SE-R from the pages of Super Street but the copy machine was accidentally set to 125%
This would be a WILD thing to bring to a Radwood event.
This gen debuted in 1997, so it’s Radwoodable despite being a 2001 model.
This is a 1997 that was built for the 2001 SEMA show
Doh, that’s what I get for skimming.