Chevrolet quietly dropped the Biscayne from US showrooms after 1972, selling it only to fleet buyers — but the nameplate kept going strong in Canada all the way through 1975.
Lead trim: Biscayne 250 I6
Chevrolet BiscayneBISCAYNE-1971 · 1971–1975
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Chevrolet Biscayne yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactChevrolet quietly dropped the Biscayne from US showrooms after 1972, selling it only to fleet buyers — but the nameplate kept going strong in Canada all the way through 1975.
The B-body Biscayne of 1971–1972 (US) and 1973–1975 (Canada) was a four-door sedan (with a 4-door station wagon in Canada 1973–75, the wagon previously sold as the Brookwood); the Turbo Hydra-Matic became standard on all V8 cars from mid-1971 (V8/six production: 23,100/12,300 in 1970, 34,700/2,900 in 1971 and 19,000/1,500 in 1972). Production for the US market ended for 1972 (it was not advertised in Chevrolet's brochure that year but remained available to fleet buyers), while the name continued in Canada through 1975 with the 350 V8 and Turbo Hydra-Matic standard for 1974; the 1975 model had new dashboard, radio and climate control graphics with a 100-mph speedometer with kilometer equivalents and new Econominder gauge package and intermittent wipers options. Three factors killed it off: the government wanted more fuel-efficient cars, it overlapped with the Bel Air and Pontiac Catalina (including on price), and Chevrolet, losing money to imports, put its effort into the Vega and Chevette. Engines: 250 cu in (4.1 L) I6 and 350, 400 and 454 cu in V8s. The Chevrolet Biscayne was a series of full-size cars produced by Chevrolet (General Motors) between 1958 and 1975 (model years 1958–1972 in the US, 1958–1975 in Canada), named after a show car displayed at the 1955 GM Motorama (the Biscayne XP-37) and after Biscayne Bay near Miami, and the least expensive model in the full-size range (except the 1958-only Delray), a step below the Bel Air, Impala and Caprice; it was produced primarily for the fleet market, though also for buyers wanting low-cost, no-frills transportation with the room and power of a full-size car. Most were sold with a six-cylinder engine through the late 1960s and the V8 was more popular by the early 1970s (76,800 V8 against 16,700 six-cylinder cars in 1970–72). The exterior lacked most chrome trim (two taillights per side except in 1959 and 1972, against three on the Impala) and the interior trim was spartan, yet customers could order any of Chevrolet's high-output big-block V8s and performance transmissions including a floor four-speed with Hurst shifter and low-ratio final drive; few were built and they are highly sought after, and Baldwin Chevrolet of Long Island became famous for the 1968 "Street Racer Special" Biscayne coupe with a dealer-fitted 427 and heavy-duty suspension, the high-performance Biscayne being nicknamed "Bisquick" by enthusiasts (a nickname tagged "citation needed").
Collectors Spotted in the Chevrolet Biscayne Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Chevrolet Biscayne yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
4 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biscayne 250 I6 | 1971–1975 | 4.1 L Inline-6 | — | — | — | RWD | — | — |
| Biscayne 350 V8 | 1971–1975 | 5.7 L V8 | — | — | — | RWD | — | — |
| Biscayne 400 V8 | 1971–1975 | 6.6 L V8 | — | — | — | RWD | — | — |
| Biscayne 454 V8 | 1971–1975 | 7.4 L V8 | — | — | — | RWD | — | — |
Owning one
An estimate, for the Biscayne 250 I6 trim: fuel on its EPA figure and a dated national price, upkeep on a per-mile average for the kind of car it is.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
Chevrolet quietly dropped the Biscayne from US showrooms after 1972, selling it only to fleet buyers — but the nameplate kept going strong in Canada all the way through 1975.
Chevrolet built the Biscayne as its cheapest, most stripped full-size model — which didn’t stop a Long Island dealer from turning a 1968 coupe into a 427-powered drag racer.
Chevy's cheapest full-size car hid a secret weapon: a handful of 1961 Biscaynes got the brand-new, 142-built 409 V8 — dropped into the bargain-basement trim purely to go drag racing.
Chevy sold a Biscayne with no back seat at all in 1959 — a two-door 'Utility Sedan' built as a disguised delivery van for fleet buyers, not families.
GM's small-block V8 debuted in the 1955 Bel Air, an engine still in production decades later in wildly different displacements.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
It briefly served as senior sibling to Marquette, a GM companion brand cancelled after just one year.
Nissan hired former BMW engineers to help develop the 510's suspension, which is why period reviewers frequently compared its handling to the BMW 1600/2002.
A Trabant 601 won its class at the 1970 Monte Carlo Rally, with a second 601 right behind it in second.
The 600 was a stopgap: the P50's body over the 601's mechanicals, and for a while its estate was built alongside the new 601 saloon.
The G80 Sport brought a 370 PS twin-turbo 3.3 V6, a mesh grille and copper-tinted chrome with copper stitching to match.
The Vigor was sold only with a five-cylinder engine, an unusual configuration Honda used to fit a longer engine transversely under a short hood.
The GS/E coupe earned the nickname "German Charger" for its long hood, short deck stance borrowed from Detroit muscle cars.
This DeVille/Fleetwood was the first production car anywhere to mount its V8 sideways, Cadillac's front-drive gamble on the new C-body.