1967 CHEVY 396/427: BIGGER IS BETTER

Posted on September 29, 2024 by MartynL

Our friends at OVER-DRIVE Magazine have published everything you want to know about 1967 CHEVY 396/427: BIGGER IS BETTER full & mid-size models. Chevrolet expanded its use of four-barrel big-block engines in 1967, offering 396/325 and 396/385 versions in full-size Biscayne, SS and Impala models and 396/350 and 396/375 engines in Camaros and Chevelles. GM divisions were prohibited from using tri-power induction on passenger car engines, barring the use of 427/400 and 435 horsepower Corve...

1966 CHEVY 396/427 MARK IV: BIGGER IS BETTER

Posted on September 6, 2024September 6, 2024 by MartynL

Chevrolet raises the performance bar with big-block Mid & Full-Size models: 1966 CHEVY 396/427 MARK IV: BIGGER IS BETTER. After teasing enthusiasts with a very-late and very-limited-production Z16 Chevelle SS powered by a proprietary 396/375 Mark IV big-block, Chevrolet followed up with a newly-styled ’66 Chevelle SS396 with less horsepower! First introduced with base 396/325 and optional L34 396/360 hydraulic-cam motors, it was a while before they quietly offered the L78 396/375 so...

CHEVY 409: BIG-BLOCK LEGEND

Posted on October 23, 2022October 23, 2022 by MartynL

It may have started out as an updated 348-inch truck engine, but it ended up as the CHEVY 409: BIG-BLOCK LEGEND! Two years before the Supercar hype and big-engined midsize cars, full-size ’62 Chevys, powered by 409-inch versions of the 348 W-Series passenger car and truck engine, carried the Musclecar banner for Chevrolet. While the engine first surfaced in the 1961model year, it was a late arrival. Just 142 Chevys with RPO-580 360-horsepower, single-four-barrel (Carter AFB) and solid-lifter-ca...

RPO Z11: CHEVY 427 LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Posted on May 17, 2022 by MartynL

By checking off RPO Z11 on a 1963 Chevrolet new car order form, you could buy a factory-built racecar. Only 57 people made that choice before GM pulled the plug. Hemmings’ Mike McNessor writes about the rare RPO Z11: CHEVY 427 LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT. She’s so fine my… 427? Clearly not 1960s radio gold. But among Chevrolet W-engine enthusiasts, more poetic words were never written. The 427-cubic-inch Mark I big block was part of the factory-lightweight 1963 Z-11 package built to win rounds in quarter...

CHEVY: LS427/570 BIG-BLOCK

Posted on June 12, 2020 by MartynL

Latest CHEVY: LS427/570 BIG-BLOCK LS7 crate motor boasts more of everything, including ease of installation in a variety of vehicles. Chevrolet Performance today announced the all-new LS427/570 crate engine - an enhanced version of the production-based LS7 7.0L engine that offers more horsepower, more torque and, thanks to a simpler wet-sump oiling system, easier installation. A new, high-lift camshaft developed specifically for this engine helps produce a GM-estimated 570 horsepower and 540...

’65 CHEVY Z16: ONE-YEAR WONDER!

Posted on April 23, 2018April 23, 2018 by MartynL

One of the highlights of Chevy’s 1965 performance portfolio was the limited-production big-block 396/375 Malibu. Chevrolet had been slow to bring a high-performance midsize car to market in 1965. 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...

MARK II: CHEVY’S MYSTERIOUS 427!

Posted on February 15, 2018February 15, 2018 by MartynL

The real 427 Mystery Motor, unlike the Z11, was not available in a car, or to the public. You had to have serious NASCAR cred to get one of the 20 built. In the 1960s, Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen always seemed to be one step ahead of GM Chairman Fred Donner’s anti-racing missives. While running Pontiac, he had supported the Super-Duty Group that later, after he left, managed to get 421 Catalina Lightweights to drag racers before the axe fell. Then he moved on to Chevrolet in 1961 and supported the R...

1967-2016 CAMAROS: PACING THE INDY 500!

Posted on May 27, 2016May 15, 2017 by MartynL

Nine pace cars trace the history of Camaro at the Brickyard, pacing the Indianapolis 500. Among the milestones surrounding the 100th running of the Indy 500 this weekend is Chevrolet’s legacy as supplier of the official pace car – an honor it has held more than any other manufacturer. A unique version of the new ‘17 Camaro SS 50th Anniversary Edition will lead the field on Sunday, May 29, driven by motorsports legend Roger Penske. It’s the 27th time since 1948 that a Chevrolet has served as t...

MARK IV: THE BIG-BLOCK THAT ROARED!

Posted on April 24, 2015May 15, 2017 by MartynL

A guide to the engine that made Chevrolet The Number One Team. Between 1965 and 1976, Chevrolet’s iconic big-block distinguished itself in all forms of racing, and on the street in Corvettes, Camaros, Chevelles, Novas and full-size Chevys. Big-blocks started out with cast-iron blocks and heads, progressed to cast-iron block with aluminum heads (L-88) and peaked with aluminum block and heads (ZL-1). L-88 aluminum-head 427 engine, top, in '68 Baldwin-Motion Camaro. Joel Rosen, left, tun...

BALDWIN-MOTION SS427 CAMARO: WANTED!

Posted on December 7, 2013May 15, 2017 by MartynL

The 1969 ‘Poster Car’ for Baldwin-Motion Camaros disappeared six months or so after delivery to Joe Oldham and never recovered. It’s Déjà vu all over again! Hardcore Camaro enthusiasts at the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals (MCACN) in Chicago last month did double takes when visiting the MOTION MADNESS III display. They stopped in their tracks when they saw the triple-black 500-horsepower SS427 ’69 Camaro and its owner, muscle car maven Joe Oldham. Could the car showcased on the iconic W...