Archive for February, 2010

Test-drive a Chevy Camaro

Posted by chevyss in News on February 25th, 2010

Camaro SS

After decades of being the No. 1 brand in Northeast Ohio, Chevrolet fell behind Ford last year. Chevy dealers don’t want that to be a trend.

So when organizers of the Cleveland Auto Show tried to see if several different brands wanted to get together to create an indoor test track at the I-X Center, Chevy dealers said no. They wanted the whole track for themselves.

“I think it’s going to be packed from open to close,” said Rob Patterson, Chevrolet zone manager for much of Ohio and western Pennsylvania.

There will be two free indoor test tracks at the show this year – the Chevy track and Camp Jeep, a smaller course at that brand’s exhibit. The Jeep exhibit was a popular feature at several auto shows in 2007 and 2008, but it was not in Cleveland last year.

Patterson said at the GM track the visitor can drive either at Chevy Malibu, a Camaro or an Equinox crossover. At the Jeep exhibit, the show visitor is a passenger in a vehicle driven by a product specialist.

Auto show chairman Gary Adams said he was surprised when the Chevrolet dealers group snapped up all of the space for the test track. Because of the large amount of space needed, he had assumed that no brand would want to take on all of the expense alone.

“It’s costly because it’s indoor space,” Adams said. Read the rest of this entry »

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Is my 1970 Chevelle SS a Clone?

Posted by chevyss in Information on February 5th, 2010

1970 Chevelle SS

How to spot a genuine SS Chevelle / El Camino
by: Daniel Carr (Part 3)

In 1970, there were two different SS packages available. One was the “Z25″ SS-396 and the other was the “Z15″ SS-454. There were only two engine choices for the SS-396: the 350 and 375 horsepower versions. It was a confusing year for 396 buyers. The 396 engines now actually displaced 402 cubic inches, but were still called a “396″ when installed in an SS. There was also a new 330 horsepower “LS3″ big-block “400″ engine option available for the non-SS Malibu and El Camino Custom. To confuse things even further, there was a 400 cubic inch 2-bbl small-block available (only in the ‘70 Monte Carlo).

The Malibu “400″ big-block was also actually a 402, and was basically an overbored version of the 325 horsepower 396 motor that had been available on the ‘68 and ‘69 SSs. The “Malibu 400″ package, produced from ‘70-’72 on the Chevelle and El Camino is fairly scarce today. The reason is that many of these big-block vehicles have been converted to SS clones. In stock form, the Malibu 400 and El Camino 400 carried “400″ emblems on the fenders.

A very limited number of SS Chevelles with the 375 HP 396 and the “L89″ aluminum heads were produced in ‘70.

There were two engines available for the ‘70 SS-454 : the 360 horsepower “LS5″ and the 450 horsepower “LS6″. The ‘70 LS5 Chevelle is actually rarer than the ‘70 LS6 Chevelle. The LS6 was only available in the ‘70 Chevelle, the ‘70 El Camino, and the ‘71 Corvette. It was never available to the public in *any* other cars. The ‘70 LS5 motor used in the Corvette was identical to the Chevelle LS5, but for marketing reasons the Corvette rating was 390 horsepower. There was purported to be one known LS6 Chevelle with the L89 aluminum head option, but it is now generally believed that this car (and its documentation) is fake. Chevrolet also had an experimental LS7 engine that was supposed to be available in the ‘70 Corvette, but never materialized. However, the LS7 heads were available over the counter at GM dealers in ‘71 and ‘72. No factory built LS7 cars were ever sold to the public. Read the rest of this entry »

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