Chevrolet Chevelle

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Chevrolet introduced their mid-size Chevelle in 1964 to keep GM ahead of the sales race with Ford and Chrysler.

The Chevelle’s basic engineering allowed for a whole raft of body options, from four-door sedan, two-door coupe, wagon to the ‘oh-so cool’ El Camino pickup. There was plenty of engine choice too, with both sixes and eights on offer.

GM also needed an answer to Ford’s hugely successful Mustang and it came in the form of the Chevelle SS. Initially only available with V8 power - and big ones at that, from 1966 a range of small-block V8s were added to the line-up.

By the early 1970s, the SS badge referred more to the interior spec level and exterior badging than the cars’ performance credentials, with updated grilles and rear light clusters changing model year to model year. In production until 1977, the Chevelle was gradually supplanted by the Malibu models, although underneath they were all pretty much the same.

The chassis number on this sharp-suited Chevelle shows that it started life in 1972 as a Chevelle two-door Sport Coupe. Originally fitted with a straight-six 250ci 4.1-litre engine, it now sports something a bit more exciting under the hood.

We are told by the vendor that it was built into a quality SS replica by a specialist ‘shop’ near New York and was commissioned by an oil company to display in the lobby of their prestigious down-town New York offices. It certainly must have looked the part. It has been fitted with all of the right detail elements that one would expect in an SS, including a 350ci 5.7-litre V8 mated to an auto trans.

Liberated from New York sometime in 2017, it found its way to the UK where it has had two owners who have used it sparingly. Making all the right noises, it looks like a lot of fun.