You Can Buy This Chevy Malibu Cruiser SEMA Show Car For Less Than A New Mitsubishi Mirage

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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