Chevelle SS

’70 CHEVELLE SS454: BIG-BLOCK BRUISER!

Posted on by MartynL
The new year ushered in magnum force from Motown: bigger, more powerful engines, a plethora of Ponycars, and the ’70 CHEVELLE SS454: BIG-BLOCK BRUISER! In many ways, 1970 was the storm before the calm. The war in Southeast Asia continued casting a pall over a much-divided country and thinning the ranks of young enthusiasts. Carmakers’ racing budgets were being drastically cut and engineering resources reassigned to prepare for restrictive emissions and safety legislation. And, Ponycar s...
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’65 CHEVELLE SS396 BIG-BLOCK Z16!

Posted on by MartynL
’65 CHEVELLE SS396 BIG-BLOCK Z16!
Chevrolet’s entry in the Supercar Sweepstakes - ’65 CHEVELLE SS396 BIG-BLOCK Z16! – is a rare, fast collectible. Chevrolet had been slow to bring a high-performance midsize car to market. Toward the end of the 1965 model year, they revealed the potent Z16 Chevelle Malibu SS396, powered by an all-new Mark IV 396 big-block. While somewhat boxy, it was the most powerful car in the Supercar Sweepstakes. But there was a problem. Chevrolet General Manager Bunkie Knudsen’s foray into the marke...
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’73 CHEVELLE L-88: LAST BALDWIN-MOTION SS-427!

Posted on by MartynL
The last Baldwin-Motion Chevelle SS built, powered by a full-tilt 427 L-88 engine, was not shy about ‘broadcasting’ its potent powertrain. The last Baldwin-Motion Chevelle, a $12, 030.24, L-88-powered ‘73 Phase III SS built shortly before Baldwin Chevrolet changed hands, was a tire-frying "billboard" for a program that would last just one more year. Built for Charles Crane in Ft. Lee, New Jersey, it was driven daily and street raced until he sold it in 1980. With its outrageous lettering and ra...
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’65 CHEVELLE FLASHBACK: STOCKER STREET EAST!

Posted on by MartynL
Back in the day, Norman Mayersohn was a hands-on drag-racing editor at Car Craft magazine. Since then he’s gotten a haircut and has held positions as Auto Editor, Popular Mechanics magazine and Deputy Auto Editor, The New York Times. And, he's been a friend for decades. He reminisces about winning races and setting national records in his ’65 Chevelle Super/Stock. Norman, top, with record-setting crapbox Chevelle sedan at the 1974 SPORTSnationals and, above, left, with CarGuyChronicles edi...
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MUSCLE CAR BRAND LOYALTY: OBSOLETE IDEA?

Posted on by MartynL
Stephen Cox blogs about being a Ford fan, racing a Chevy and not buying the popular concept of brand loyalty. I am a Ford fan. There, I said it. But I have little comprehension of brand loyalty; at least not the sort of fanatical allegiance so frequently seen among muscle car enthusiasts. I don’t even understand it. It is therefore eternally amusing to run across those typical chest-thumping car commandos who claim that every automobile that is not manufactured by their favorite company is...
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’65 CHEVELLE SS Z16: STEALTH SUPERCAR!

Posted on by MartynL
Dan Gulino blogs about the rare 396/375 SS Z16 Chevelle, the Supercar that did an end-run around GM’s big-block/midsize car ban. Only 201 Z16 Chevelles were built in 1965 and Ronald Pace has one of the finest examples in existence. The Z16 was Chevrolet's answer to Pontiac's sensational GTO. The ‘65 Chevelle Malibu SS Z16 included a heavy-duty chassis, suspension, axle, and brakes, a four-speed manual transmission, and unique power steering components. The 396-inch L37 engine was conservativ...
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CHEVELLE SUPER SPORT: RETURN OF THE SS MUSCLECAR?

Posted on by MartynL
GMI contributor, MonaroSS, blogs about what Chevrolet can do to bring back its legendary musclecar on GMInsideNews. We here on GMI have discussed the RWD saga in all its forms and 50 shades of grey. But I have a new one. Instead of Chevrolet getting it’s long longed-for RWD Chevelle from the Zeta or Alpha or Alpha+ or Omega whatever platforms, why not Sigma? Why not re-skin the outgoing CTS, above, as a Chevelle as I have done here? Sigma is a good and competent platform that simply is n...
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