Posts Tagged muscle cars
Drag Racing LA Invasion – 9 Second Camaro
Test-drive a Chevy Camaro
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 »
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 »
69 Chevy SS – Real or Fake?
Posted by chevyss in Information on January 15th, 2010
1969 Chevelle SS For Sale
How to spot a genuine SS Chevelle / El Camino
by: Daniel Carr (Part 2)
From 1969 on, the SS was no longer a separate model. Instead, it was now an “SS” option package added to a 300 Deluxe model, Malibu model, or El Camino Custom model. 1969 was the only model year that the SS package could be ordered on the base model Chevelle 300 Deluxe (as a 2-door coupe or a 2-door post sedan). The only SS option in ‘69 was the “Z25″ SS-396 package. The ‘69 and up cars are harder to authenticate because the VIN can not be used to confirm if the car is an SS.
There were two colors that were exclusive to the ‘69 SS. “Monaco Orange” (code 72) and “Daytona Yellow” (code 76). If either of these paint codes appear on the cowl tag (and the cowl tag is genuine) then that would prove the car to be a genuine SS.
VIN tag doesn’t tell you much
If someone had a nice ‘69 Malibu, and a rusted out ‘69 SS, it would be easy for them to simply move the SS equipment over to the Malibu. As long as they did not alter or move the VIN plates or cowl tags, this would be perfectly legal, and since the VIN tag doesn’t tell you much, there would be almost no way for you to know.
From ‘69 on, single-piston disk brakes were STANDARD equipment with the SS package. These brakes are easier to find parts for than the earlier four-piston disk brakes.
Chevrolet literature indicates that the only way to get a 396 was with the SS package. However, there appears to be at least one late-production Chevelle that was built with a 396 and all the required SS equipment, but the “Z25″ SS-396 option was not listed on the car’s build sheet. It is believed that this car came from the factory with “SS” emblems, but that is not 100% certain.
68 Chevelle/El Camino SS – Real or a Clone?
Posted by chevyss in Information on January 7th, 2010
Chevy SS - Real or Not?
How to spot a genuine SS Chevelle / El Camino
by: Daniel Carr (Part 1)
It is easy to spot an SS Chevelle compared to a “plain-Jane” model. However, it is not so easy to tell the difference between a genuine SS and a plain Malibu which has been altered to look like an SS. There are far more SS “look-a-likes” out there than people realize. There may even be more SS clones out there than genuine SS.
In the next couple of weeks, I will post, by year (68 – 73) a “what to look for” when searching for your Chevelle / El Camino Chevy SS. This article was written by Daniel Carr and posted over at chevelles.com
68 Chevelle SS / El Camino SS
In 1968, the SS was a separate model (the “SS-396″). Therefor, it can be identified by the VIN number. For example, a 1968 El Camino with a VIN number starting with “13880″ would be a genuine SS-396 model, while a ‘68 El Camino with the VIN “13680″ would be a non-SS “Malibu” version of the El Camino. All genuine Super Sports from 1966-1968 have an “8″ as the third digit of the VIN.
1968 was also the first year you could get an El Camino SS, and it is the only year for a separate El Camino SS model.
Genuine ‘68 SS-396 Chevelles had chrome trim pieces on the lower body sides both in front of, and BEHIND the rear wheels. The non-SS versions had the same trim in front of the rear wheels, but not behind them. None of the ‘68 Chevelle or El Camino models came with wheel well trim.
Read the rest of this entry »
So we came back empty handed…
63 Chevy Impala Super Sport
I was thinking back on a trip me and a friend took recently to Indiana to look at a Numbers Matching 1963 Chevy Impala Super Sport on the web. We knew this SS probably needed some work, but we decided to take the gamble and fly all the way from Florida. Other than running into some scheduling problems with the owner of the vehicle the traveling and trip itself didn’t have any speed bumps.
Modified or Stock?
72 chevelle SS
Today’s market is highly driven upon bells and whistles it seems. You turn on the TV and you will find a lot of car shows talking about adding LCD TV’s and speakers to every nook and cranny of a vehicle.
The problem is where does it start and stop? Have we forgotten about the reason behind restoring cars?
My buddy and I were driving to pick up one of his projects that he was going to convert from a piece of junk to a beauty of a Chevy.
Unfortunately when we got there the car was so rusted we couldn’t even sit in the thing. But we got to thinking, why are we doing this? Is it about the money or about bringing works of art back to life? We then got onto the subject of modified or stock or as i like to say sizzle versus steak.
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