Chevelle SS – Pulpaddict

’70 CHEVELLE SS454: BIG-BLOCK BRUISER!

The new year ushered in magnum force from Motown: bigger, more powerful engines, a plethora of Ponycars, and the ’70 CHEVELLE SS454: BIG-BLOCK BRUISER!

In many ways, 1970 was the storm before the calm. The war in Southeast Asia continued casting a pall over a much-divided country and thinning the ranks of young enthusiasts. Carmakers’ racing budgets were being drastically cut and engineering resources reassigned to prepare for restrictive emissions and safety legislation. And, Ponycar sales had been plummeting and would register new lows at the end of the model year. It was a banner year Motown Muscle, but the future of the performance car phenomenon was not bright.

General Motors finally dropped its 400-inch engine displacement limit for midsize cars. The ’70 CHEVELLE SS454: BIG-BLOCK BRUISER! championed the assault with an optional LS6 454/450, giving the LS6 Chevelle pavement-pounding power. Few cars, other than well-tuned Mopar Street Hemis and Buick Stage I Skylarks, could hold their own against the popular Chevelle SS454 with LS6 power. All three cars, especially when tuned and fitted with headers, were capable of delivering low-to-mid-13s at 105-107 mph terminal speeds. Showcased by the ’70 CHEVELLE SS454: BIG-BLOCK BRUISER!, Chevrolet offered the most powerful General Motors Supercar in 1970.

Baldwin-Motion based its Phase III 500-horsepower Chevelle Supercar on the on the LS6-powered model, adding options up to full drag racing engines and suspensions. Steve Calamusa’s white Phase III SS454 Chevelle, above, was originally delivered as a brand new car with a 500-horsepower LS6 with an 850-cfm double-pumper Holley carb, fenderwell headers, 4.56 Posi gears, ladder bars, coil-spring air bags, and ran low-11’s.

Adam Tuckman’s show-stopping green Baldwin-Motion Phase III, 500-horsepower SS454 Chevelle, above, also sports 1965-1967 Corvette side exhausts, a popular option on Baldwin-Motion cars.

The ’70 CHEVELLE SS454: BIG-BLOCK BRUISER! with 454/450 LS6 engine had few peers. Checking out a new SS454, above, on slalom course on Milford Proving Ground’s Black Lake at the 1970 model Press Preview, Summer 1969. The F41 Special Suspension with rear sway bar and chassis beefing made the difference. If you opted for ZL2 you got a functional cowl-induction hood.

For more information on the ’70 CHEVELLE SS454: BIG-BLOCK BRUISER! And the complete 1970 Chevelle lineup, please visit Over-Drive magazine @ https://over-drive-magazine.com/2024/02/23/1970-chevrolet-mid-size-cars-fact-sheet/

https://over-drive-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/1970-05-HR-LS6-SS-454-Chevelle-1-3.pdf

Check out video of SS454 Chevelle test from my pal, Muscle Car Campy @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M63ObPCYDBk

’65 CHEVELLE SS396 BIG-BLOCK Z16!

Chevrolet’s entry in the Supercar Sweepstakes – ’65 CHEVELLE SS396 BIG-BLOCK Z16! – is a rare, fast collectible.

Chevrolet had been slow to bring a high-performance midsize car to market. 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 market dominated by Pontiac was hardly noticed. Because of its late entry in August, production of the ’65 CHEVELLE SS396 BIG-BLOCK Z16! was limited to 200 plus a single convertible. Since the SS396 was built around a beefy convertible chassis fitted with big-car brakes and front and rear stabilizer bars, it would have been a simple matter to produce convertibles. But time was not on Chevy’s side.

There was a small Z16 press event at GM’s Mesa Proving Ground in February 1965. The word was that the big-block coupe was fast, but visually paled by comparison to the GTO. Since so few were produced, only key dealers were given opportunities to place orders and Z16s sold out quickly. A number of GM executives drove Z16s as did celebrities like Dan Blocker, Hoss Cartright on TV’s Bonanza. Chevrolet loaned Blocker a yellow Z16 coupe. Performance feedback from Mesa indicated that the Chevrolet Engineering prepared Z16 could sprint to 60 mph in the low 6.0s with quarter mile times of mid-high-14s at close to 100 mph.The Z16’s all-new, big-block displaced 396 cubic inches and rated at 375 horsepower at 5.600 rpm and a whopping 420 pound-feet of torque at 3,600 rpm. It showcased an HD block, heads with canted valves, forged steel crank and rods, 11-to-1 pistons and an aluminum intake manifold with a big Holley four-barrel. It was a one-year-only RPO L37 hydraulic-lifter engine unique to the Z16. Full size Chevys could be optioned with 325 or 425 horsepower Mark IV engines. The death knell had sounded for the outdated 409 engines yet 340 and 400 horsepower versions were still available.For everything you’ve always wanted to know about the ’65 Chevelle and the rare ’65 CHEVELLE SS396 BIG-BLOCK Z16! – complete specifications and factory press release – please visit Over-Drive magazine @ https://over-drive-magazine.com/2023/09/21/1965-chevrolet-mid-size-cars-fact-sheet/

ORCUTT DERELICTS: DONUT RUN CAR MEET

‘If Muscle Cars Could Walk’, blogs our intrepid, photo-journalist, Jim Palam! ‘I was expecting a four-wheeled GTO Goat from Pontiac, not a four-legged Bovidae family member at the ORCUTT DERELICTS: DONUT RUN CAR MEET.’

When a carguy buddy of mine from the Central Coast told me, they were expecting some cool musclecars and other surprises at the Orcutt Derelict’s Donut Run car meet in Orcutt, he peppered that prompt to attend by also telling me there’s going to be a beautiful GOAT there that shouldn’t be missed. As a young guy growing up in the heyday of the American musclecar era and a GTO aficionado, it was a no-brainer that I’d go. Little did I expect how special this GOAT was going to be.

The Orcutt Derelicts are a fun group of enthusiasts who live in and around the unincorporated town of Orcutt in the Santa Maria Valley, just south of Santa Maria, CA. This area’s history and development has been heavily influenced by the petroleum industry, agriculture and the explosive wine industry. There are still plenty of local acres dedicated to ranching and well, maybe this is a good time to tell you about that beautiful GOAT.

When I drove into the parking area near the Golden Donut bakery I quickly spotted some of the promised muscle – a bright-orange Z/28, a Bumble-Bee, race-worn Challenger, a rev-me-red SS Chevelle with injector stacks punched through the hood, a 1970 weathered-bronze 360 Ram Air AMX and a modified Buick GS Skylark with cross-ram Holleys, also punched through the hood.

It was great seeing my buddy Tony LaPolla and his wicked ’49 Studebaker Commander that he has lovingly transformed into a 1960s-style gasser cleverly named “Stude-A-Shaker.” But where’s the beautiful GTO I thought, as I grabbed my camera and said Hi to Tony. Then I spotted it. It was being off-loaded from a farm truck and it, was on a leash. Now where I come from GTOs have four wheels, not four feet. I had been had.

The furry goat’s name was Rocky and his polite and photogenic handlers were young twins who live on their family’s nearby ranch. Without me asking, they gathered together with Rocky and posed for a picture. I began to notice that there were more youngsters at this rural gathering than I have seen at the bigger city events.

As I was thinking about this young-with-the-old vibe, two modern aerodynamic machines joined the parking lot lineup of classics – a ‘17 McLaren 570 GT and a supercharged ‘18 Lotus Evora 400. OK, I’m guessing these guys must have driven up from the LA area but turns out they were just two donut and speed-loving locals.

Since I was running late for an appointment back in Solvang I quickly grabbed shots of other noteworthy machines that had caught my eye. There was a beautifully upholstered, Candy-Tangerine ’57 Chevy, a plain-as-vanilla ’51 Plymouth Cambridge two-door, an arrest-me-red dune buggy, a mildly modified ’58 Chevy Apache pickup, a low-riding ’61 T-Bird and a ’74 T-Top Corvette sporting a plate that read UCIMBAD. Duly noted.

With my appointment looming I hurried back towards my car but noticed that my path was now blocked by two of the Orcutt Derelicts and two canine sentinels. Stopped where I was, I asked the gents how they were enjoying the Donut Run meet-up. They just chuckled, seeming to enjoy my halted progress. Mind if I take your picture I asked, at which point the brawny brown man-eater approached me and started sniffing my pant leg. Finally, the man at the end of the carnivore’s leash spoke up: “Don’t worry, he’s as friendly as that GOAT you photographed earlier this morning.” Turns out everybody and every critter at this unpretentious and fun gathering was friendly and there for the same reason I was: The cars. It’s always the cars…and the people!

ORCUTT DERELICTS: DONUT RUN CAR MEET: Words & photos: Jim Palam, https://www.jimpalam.com/

Whenever you’re in the Santa Maria/Orcutt, CA area, check out the mouth-watering donuts at, https://onthe101.com/the-golden-donut/