Tuesday, July 31, 2018

How long has it been since you've seen a cool 66 Chevelle? Where did they all go?



Sure, a 70 Chevelle is going to get a lot more publicity with the hood stripes and 454, but I like these just as much for the square body design and the way the grill looks. 

14 comments:

  1. Smashed up by crazy teenage hot rodders or rusted away.

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    1. sadly true. But dang, I dig the look, but NEVER see them anymore. When I realized that yesterday, I decided there must be a post showing a couple good looking examples with cool rims

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  2. Well I remember in the 70's I saw a lot of them at the stock car races, but in all probably not even a quarter of the total production number were used for that sport.

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  3. I was watching a repeat of a recent Mecum auction and they had a 66 or a 67 Chevelle with a 396 and a four speed. They said it was one of only 221 made. The reserve wasn't met at $275,000!!! That's right up there with the desirable Mopar's with or without a hemi!

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    1. 275k... wow. That's a lot more than I'd have thought any Chevelle without Yenko or Berger association would even ask for! Well... the Smokey Yunick Chevelles that raced would be, I think. Imagine getting the car that Smokey drove away, when the inspectors had removed the gas tank! Or the one he chopped a couple inches out of the roof, and a couple inches down the middle! the 5/6ths car, or whatever the fraction was. THAT Chevelle out to have a place in the Nascar museum/hall of fame

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    2. I was blown away too. Like you said, if it was a Yenko or a COPO. I've never heard of a Berger before? I'll have to check that out.

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    3. Googled it and it was a new one to me. Copied and pasted the following. After seeing the following list I do also remember Nickey and Baldwin-Motion. This would be a great show to go to! Berger Chevrolet cordially invites you to attend the 18th annual "All GM Show". Yenko, Nickey, Dana, Baldwin-Motion and Fred Gibb Chevrolet are sadly long gone but Berger Chevrolet is still very much in business. Since 1925 Berger Chevrolet has been owned and operated by the Berger family - 90 years of keeping performance alive!

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    4. I was going to protest... and then I found that I haven't posted much about Berger Chev... they are synonymous with hi perf chevies, and I sometimes just move past stuff that is so commonly known that there's no point in posting about it. I still thought I'd posted more, but I checked, and it's all as asides in other posts, like https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-complete-book-of-american-muscle.html

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    5. That auction car was probably a 1965 SS396 Z16. It was the first year of the 396 and they only made about 200 of them.

      https://www.topspeed.com/cars/chevrolet/1965-chevrolet-chevelle-z-16-ar12577.html

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  4. Roof line, fender lines, general proportions, I have always preferred the 66.

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  5. You’re 100% right. 67 and up are everywhere but the 66s are rare. My parents had a 66 Malibu SS with a 327 and a Muncie 4-speed, black over red. I’ve been looking for one for years. All you can find are later cars or 396 cars (probably fake). Everyone loves the 396 but IMHO the 327 was a better engine.

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  6. Jesse,don't take offense. I'd never heard of what you call commonly known. That's what I love about this site! I think I have a good common knowledge about a lot of stuff you post. Sometimes I learn new stuff, sometimes I share and sometimes I get corrected about what I thought I knew, and I'm fine with that. Nobody knows everything...nobody. I get turned on to more cool shit that I've never heard of before on your site! I've said it before and I'll say it again....keep up the great work!

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    1. Nah, it's fine. The half dozen or so dealerships that were known for selling factory race cars, Royal, Norms, Tasca, Yenko, Baldwin Motion and Berger... there are a couple more. They are the ones most referred to when talking about factory muscle cars. And I'm about the same, I learn new stuff, (post it here) get corrected constantly, and so it goes.

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    2. Good conversation Jesse, I think you touched a nerve. Great work as always.

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