BB, you are mistaken. when they came out with the 78-82 malibu (mine was a 80) it was called Malibu Classic. there was no chevelle for the the 78 model year. from 64 to 77 there was only one mid size chevrolet car the base trim was malibu, the top of the line was chevelle. this is very similar to the full size chevrolets the base car was biscayne and the top end model was the impala even though they shared the same body and interior, the trim and badging was different. the malibu/chevelle was no different. toyota did the same thing in the early 80s they had a car called the celica supra and then supra became its own higher end and higher performance car.
*takes his geeky car knowledge hat off and hangs it up in the closet*
