Archive for October, 2009

Hennessey Camaro HPE550 Throws Down!

Posted by chevyss in Video on October 14th, 2009

You wanted to see the SRT8 and GT500 throw down with a Camaro “Z/28″? You got it…sort of. The Camaro in this test isn’t a Z/28 since Chevy hasn’t officially made one, but the next best thing – a Hennessey-built Camaro with over 600 horsepower dubbed the HPE550. Can this Z/28 imitation take back the muscle car crown from the GT500 and SRT8?

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Chevy SS Horsepower

Posted by chevyss in News on October 10th, 2009

chevy_chevelle_burnout

Chevelle SS

Chevrolet set the horsepower bar high with its first production SS car-the 1961 Impala. While most manufactures were happy with a 300-horsepower engine, Chevrolet rated its first 409 at 360 horsepower. And in 1962, they raised that to 409 horsepower. Nothing looked or sounded more impressive in the summer of 1962 than a glistening black Impala SS rolling through a drive-in- restaurant with 409 flags visible on the front fender.

Thanks to the GTO, Chevy decide to make the
SS option mean something

But “Super Sport” wasn’t always synonymous with “fast,” at least not in some cases. In 1962 Chevrolet allowed any of its engines to be included with the SS option, including its inline six-cylinders. (Why Chevy Why!) Product planners continued with this strategy until they saw the success of Pontiac’s 1964 GTO. In 1965 Chevrolet released a small production run of Chevelle Malibus equipped with its 396 engine: the legendary Z-16s. In 1966 Chevrolet made horsepower available to the masses and equipped the new SS396 Chevelle, which featured the potent 396-cubic-inch Mark IV big-block as standard equipment. They made another strong horsepower statement in 1967 with the release of the Camaro SS with its 350 and 396 engine options.

In 1968, much of what was being written about the muscle car focused on Plymouth’s new Road Runner, a stripped-down, midsized car with high-horsepower engine. Chevrolet also released its new Nova SS, also a stripped-down, midsize car with a high-horsepower engine.

Chevy unleased it’s SS 454

Throughout the late 1960s, Chevrolet offered several versions of its 396 in the Chevelle, Camaro, and Nova. Customers who wanted more horsepower could purchase it through Chevrolet’s Central Office Production Order (COPO) system. Then in 1970, Chevrolet unleashed its SS454 Chevelle with the famous LS6-a 450-horsepower, 454-cubic-inch engine. With the LS6, Chevrolet offered for retail sale the highest horsepower engine of the muscle car era.

Information provided by Chevy SS 50 Years of Super Sport

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