I've seen a few 1st and 3rd gens, but almost no 2nd gens. People seem to love 1st and 2nd gens but they don't show any love for 2nd gens.

I'm going to have to say 2nd gens are rarest, at least over in my neck of the woods

 

In my are I would have to say 3rd Gen !

 

I'd have to say 2nd and 3rd gens - I never see them around my area.

 

No, I'd have to say the second generation. The most common I see are 4th, 5th and 6th.

 

ive never seen production numbers, but i assume the 2nd gen would be one of the highest produced having run for 5 years. the third gen was a 3 year only body with 80 having a completely different nose. i stand be 3rd gen being the rarest with possibly 78 being the rarest of the 3. followed by the 73 monte. id say from least to greatest. 3rd,2nd,5th,1st,4th,6th. if you just went with SS cars id say 1st,7th,4th,6th. the 7th may very well be the least produced of the SS cars. idk both 1st and 7th only ran 2years. i know the LS4 cars in general are fairly rare.

 

You would be correct, there were a total of 1,626,129 second generation Monte's produced, with the 77 being the most popular with just over 411,000 sold. However, production runs don't necessarily mean what the most common are. With just the fact of second gens being "too heavy" and not having any power, they are generally seen by the muscle car world as being "unworthy" of being restored or modified. A lot of 2nd gens were destroyed in demolition derby's because they have such a strong body and frame, they were one of the most desirable to use. That and the rust issues with the vinyl top cars didn't help (I'm dealing with that issue now). The most common I see driven on the road are the 4th, 5th and 6th gens (06-07 are officially considered 6th gens by GM and the NMCOA). In fact, the 4th gen is the most common I see at car shows and drag strips as well. I see more 1st gens driving around and at car shows than I do 2nd gens. Based on my combined observations from going to car shows, driving around and while at work (I work at a gas station so I see a lot of cars, lol) my ranking from rarest to common would be: 2nd gen, 1st gen, 3rd gen, 4th gen, 6th gen, 5th gen.

 

ahh i see what you did there. see i thought that by common they meant most produced. if you guy by most common what is most commonly seen as we speak then ill say from least to greatest. 3rd, 2nd,5th,4th,6th. i dont really consider the 06-07 a seperate generation since it shares most body panels and what not, but i know on here its considered its own.

 

Yea, I know on the forum its considered a 7th gen and I don't want to create an off-topic argument about it. BUT, there is a Monte Carlo group that considers the 78-88's as third generation so it wouldn't be the only time something like that has occurred.

 

true. everybody refers to the 78-88 as g bodies, but i believe that they were a bodies until 81 in 82 they switched the body designation to g body and the a body became fwds.