Back in 1970, Ralph Truppi and Tommy Kling built an LS6-equipped Chevelle convertible into a machine that utterly dominated the SS/EA class that season. After that, the car knocked around the country in your typical famous-race-car odyssey, eventually getting restored back to street-legal trim and selling for $1.2 million at Barrett-Jackson in 2006. Last month, the same car fetched... $264,000 at auction. What will it be worth when the Financiopocalypse is over?
[New York Times]

The Gawker Server Hamsters have decreed that new galleries shall no longer function, so we're going back, back in time, back to a day when you had to wait for a bunch of full-sized images to load. Apologies to those of you with slow internet connections, but we must do as the Hamsters decree!

This is a type of vehicle that was once as common as the minivan is today: the midsize station wagon. The Concours was one of the lower-level trim levels for the ubiquitous-in-its-day Chevelle station wagon.

This one has the 350-cubic-inch small-block Chevrolet engine, the favored engine of Camaro hoons the world over. Of course, this wagon may well be on its 7th small-block by now, but odds are it still has the original 350.

Station wagons are cool. Primer paint on a station wagon is also cool. And we probably don't need to point this out, but a Roots supercharger on a primered station wagon is so cool that it's hard to even contemplate without feeling totally inadequate for driving a (insert name of your car here, unless it's a blown, primered station wagon). OK, so that's settled- now we just need to start talking about price. This 1972 Chevrolet Chevelle wagon has a low-profile Weiand blower on a 350 (yeah, it's not a Rat Fink-grade 6-71, but we still approve), Torq-Thrust-esque wheels, recent suspension rebuild, a bench seat, and a paint job that looks- and probably feels- like the skin of a whale shark. On the minus side, it still has the original one-legger non-posi rear end, the upholstery is shot, the weatherstripping is bad, and there's no manual transmission. Now, for a 1970 Chrysler Town & Country woody wagon with a blown 440 and a 4-speed, 7 grand would be the steal of the century… but we're not so sure the same could be said about this Chevelle? What do you say?
[Craigslist San Diego, go here if the ad disappears]

Some of these may be familiar to you, thanks to our Top Car Commercials Of The 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s series a while back, but we've got plenty of lost classics as well. We had to be careful not to give you too much of a Camaro Overdose (the Camaro seems to be the most heavily advertised product ever hawked by The General), but we don't want anyone missing out on the heartbeat! Enjoy.

1980 Monte Carlo Turbo	1985 Corvette	1985 Camaro	1985 Celebrity Eurosport
1967 Camaro	1984 Sprint	1969 Impala	1955 Chevrolet Cars
1970 Nova	1970 Chevelle SS 396	1984 Camaro	1984 Cavalier
1982 Chevette	1977 Camaro Z/28	1985 Camaro IROC Z	1970 Caprice
1986 Camaro	1971 Vega Kammback	1969 Chevelle SS 396	1955 Chevrolet Engines

I'm still not quite sure what you're supposed to call the Malibu from this era, whether the preferred nomenclature is "Chevy Malibu" or "Chevy Chevelle Malibu." The Malibu was just a trim level for the Chevelle in '67, but later became a model in its own right. Either way, this one is seriously mean-looking, which means we get to see how it fares against some other Evil Alameda Chevrolets.


This car was parked in front of a house undergoing a roof replacement, and the roof racks seem to be made for ladders and scaffolds. There's the usual neglected-California-car surface rust, but overall it appears to be pretty solid; no doubt this much-sought-after two-door will evade the Crusher when the current owner decides it's time to move up to a beater pickup.




OK, now let's have our poll! Here's a sampling of some of the Evil Chevy cars we've seen down on the Alameda street (sorry, truck fans, cars only). Vote for your favorite!

First, let's get in the right frame of mind by listening to a song that captures the wholesome appeal of the SS396:




Well, maybe this car is a little more menacing than what those Wonder Bread-eating boys had in mind when they wrote that song. I talked to the owner's father, who verifies that it is indeed a genuine original 396 car and that it's currently in a "needs persuading to run" phase of its Hell Project lifecycle.


Back in the '69, this was a fairly expensive machine; the base Chevelle coupe could be had for $2,458, but the price tag on the go-fast options started to mount fast: if you wanted the 375-horse 396, you'd have to shell out $253- a 10% premium; the aluminum-head version cost a wallet-vacuuming $648.

Early emission-control equipment was pretty crude, so compression ratios had to come down, down, down to meet the new federal standards. 1973 was the first year of the Malaise Era (I made up the term, so I get to decide that stuff), and the 350 in this car was rated at either 145 horsepower (two-barrel carburetor) or 175 horsepower (Quadrajet). That hurts, but worse was in store.


3,580 pounds. That's the factory shipping weight of the V8 Chevelle for '73. That means the Chevelle scaled in at 45 pounds more than the weight of the V8-equipped two-door '66 Impala (and about the same as the projected weight for the 2010 Camaro). But you did get the colonnade roof in the Chevelle!


The big round taillights are vaguely reminiscent of the ones found on early-60s full-sized Chevrolets and Corvettes, yet very much of the Watergate era.

This car doesn't seem to move much, judging by the dusty windows, but it looks to be complete and fairly solid. I found it parked on the same block as the BMW 3.0 CSi, though I'm pretty sure they're not owned by the same person.


Most of these cars came with 194-cube sixes or 283 small-block V8s, though the options list included the 300-horse 327 (you had to wait for '66 to get a big-block Chevelle from the factory). This car has no 283 or 327 emblems, but there's no telling what's powering it these days; it might be on its 10th engine by this time.


The paint is faded from decades of California sun (and we can assume the interior is in similar shape) and the chrome is peeling off the bumpers, but it wouldn't take much to get this car looking sharp. And now, since polls are fun, let's vote on which street-parked Alameda GM A-body is our favorite so far.

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I took some pics of these 2 sweet lotuses and some other cool stuff in my area - Burnaby just outside vancouver BC .. There is a mazda eunos and 2 honda beats at that one guys house.. He must do some importing I guess.

When this car was made, "Malibu" was just an optional trim level available on the Chevelle; it didn't become a model in its own right until later on. The standard engine for '71 was the lackluster 307, though this car may well be on its 15th powerplant by now; small-block Chevy engines might as well have Velcro mounts, given how often they get swapped around.


This example drives every day and parks on one of the island's busier streets. It looks to be in pretty solid original condition.


Well, original except for the Camaro wheels, that is. The mix-n-match Chevy wheels game is fun for everyone!

Mothers' 1970 Chevelle "ProPane" to Debut at SEMA Show 2007

The team from Mothers Polish has another cool ride to add to its already impressive fleet of hot rods, customs, race cars and big rigs. It's the ultimate symbol of Chevy muscle, a 1970 Chevelle SS. But this build is more than just your average overhaul — it's resto-modded with pro touring in mind, and produces over 1,000 clean-burning propane-fueled horsepower without the aid of boost or nitrous.

The concept of ProPane was developed by Jim Holloway of Mothers Polish, designed by Chip Foose, and brought to life at Paul Gonzalez Custom Cars, who managed the build. A talented team of expert fabricators, suppliers and other friends of the Mothers family were recruited from throughout the automotive aftermarket industry and worked tirelessly until its completion. ProPane sports a unique tube chassis by Obrothers Design, which mates to an innovative inboard pushrod coil-over suspension dampened by Penske 8300 racing shocks and sports one-off Foose Design wheels and Pirelli P Zero rubber.

Thinking forward as well as "green," the ProPane's groundbreaking power is provided by a large-displacement Haigh Blocks small block motor with Propane Performance Industries fuel delivery managed with with a Link ECU. Any way you look at it, the Mothers ProPane is unlike any other hi-po Chevelle. Previewed earlier in the year with a developmental engine, the completed ProPane makes its world debut at the only place that seems fitting — the SEMA Show 2007.

Cars like this '69 Chevelle. Or maybe it's a Malibu. In any case, you could time-travel this thing back to '82 and it would fit right in on Alameda's streets (and the APD would have the owner eating hood as they searched him for dope, a ritual that the primered-A-body owner could count on experiencing at least once a week in those days).


This Chevelle looks pretty mean, all right. It's sad that most of the ones you see these days are all shiny and sanitary.


The 307 emblem would have caused some real confusion in the minds of other musclecar owners back in the day. Does the car really have a 454, with the emblems just serving as a ruse to sucker small-block-equipped Barracuda drivers into an ill-advised wager? Or does it actually have the sucky 307... but then why would you leave the emblems on while making the rest of the car look so evil? Aaaagghhh!


It's got the aftermarket steering wheel and B&M Megashifter, plus the optional boxer shorts and graduation tassel. And Malibu emblems on the door panels... but the other door doen't have one, if I recall correctly. Feel free to debate the Chevelle-versus-Malibu issue, hair-splitters. Actually, this may not even be a '69, what with the junkyard mix-n-match thing so prevalent on these cars.


I'm totally hearing Montrose when I look at this shot.


Strangely, GM didn't actually issue these cars with Centerlines, though it sure seemed like that for a big chunk of the 70s and 80s. Bonus points for having them on the rears only, just like the Evil Kingswood Estate wagon that lives a few blocks away.

So now I'm going to try a new variation on the gallery thing; all the small images will be in the gallery, plus some extras. We'll sort this out eventually.

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Of course it's got the small-blockiest of small-blocks, the good ol' 350 (which means the original buyer didn't cheap out and get the standard 307 or the cheapskate six, though he or she also passed on the 400 and the big-blocks). Well, actually, only the owner knows what it actually has under the hood by now, what with the mix-and-match nature of Chevy A-Bodies and small-block engines. Hell, maybe the owner doesn't even know.

This particular El Camino is fairly rough, but it's been spared the horrific rust that assails these cars in the salty-roads regions of the country.

It's a bit odd seeing a semi-wretched-looking El Camino that doesn't have any broken household appliances, cylinder heads, or 40-dog bottles in the bed. Maybe the owner just cleaned it out.

However, the bed does feature what appears to be a healthy coating of bathtub caulk on some of the seams.

Looks just like a Chevelle from this angle, don't she?

It would be nice to set up a drag race between this car and the Evil '69 Ranchero that lives a half-dozen blocks away. Might not be a fair race, though, since the Ranchero has a 4-speed and looks suspiciously like it's got Enhanced Meanness under the hood.

It's a bit sad looking at this car/truck, knowing what we do about the less-attractive designs and low-power engines that afflicted the '73 and later El Caminos. Perhaps a shipment of Holden utes would cheer us up, GM!

So-Cal Speed Shop 1966 Chevrolet Chevelle LS7 - Devine Intervention [Hot Rod]

Related:
The Summer School Chevelle [Internal]