The most extensive redesign in the ten-year history of the Chevelle came in 1973, and marked the start of the vehicles second generation. In 1977, the Laguna S3 coupe replaced the SS as the performance edition of the Chevelle. At this point the Malibu, which had been a mid-tier offering, became the top-of-the-line trim as the Malibu Classic. The standard base model was simply the Chevelle as it had been. However, toward the end of this run, Chevrolet's lineup had grown too unwieldy, and as part of a company-wide downsizing, Chevy merged all mid-size offerings into the Malibu model. Unfortunately, the popularity GM had built with the Chevelle did not survive into the Malibu-only years.