this Z16 Malibu SS was found in a junkyard

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10223619938779515&set=pcb.10223619988260752

Jerry was the "Grand Marshall" for that Union 76 - 200 lap National Late Model Sportsman race Thanks Justin and Jeff in Seattle!

 

But a quick search on the internet turned up nothing

https://www.facebook.com/groups/226675368608297/posts/569639524311878/

Justin points out:

When they were filming Smokey and the Bandit, he heard the music they were planning to use, thought he could write better music than that, and wrote East bound and down in his motel room that night, along with most all of the songs they used in the movie. 

Smokey and the Bandit was written by mostly by the stuntman that was working on the movie White Lightning in Florida, the housekeeping staff kept swiping their Coors beer from their motel room fridge, and when confronted, admitted it and said that one of their group of friends usually made a trip from Florida to Texarkana every few weeks to get lots of Coors, but no one had been able to go lately and they were all out, and desperate enough to steal it from the guests.

Hot Rod Magazine, getting better all the time

Seriously gets better every month and year

Turbonique was founded in the '50s by Gene Middlebrooks of Orlando, Florida. A former aerospace engineer, Middlebrooks believed that microturbine engines could replace piston engines in drag racing and many industrial and recreational applications. In a 1967 Turbonique catalog, he wrote, "Turbonique's goal of stripping the military price tag from power turbines has at last become a reality through the introduction of the low-cost microturbine."

So what is a microturbine? Simply stated, it's a small version of a gas turbine with one major difference: special Thermolene monopropellant fuel. The term monopropellant describes a fuel that will ignite and burn without the presence of atmospheric oxygen. As a point of comparison, the nitromethane used in Top Fuel dragsters is a semi-monopropellant. It requires a little outside oxygen for complete combustion, but only a small fraction of what is required to burn gasoline, alcohol, or kerosene. Most gas turbines run on petroleum-based fuels that require plenty of air to support combustion. They take in atmospheric air at the front and compress it to a high temperature and pressure. Fuel is then sprayed into this hot air, which ignites, creating the high-pressure gases that drive the turbine wheel and make torque. The problem is that a typical air-breathing gas turbine uses over half of its total turbine power to drive the compressor. Turbonique engineers sidestepped the problem and simply replaced the weighty, expensive, and inefficient compressor with a high-pressure storage bottle containing Normal Propyl Nitrate (Thermolene), a stable, milk-white liquid fuel that brings its own oxygen to the party and that moves the engine into the category of a rocket because it can run without the benefit of atmospheric oxygen. When the Thermolene is introduced to the combustion chamber at 600 psi and ignited by a glorified spark plug connected to an on/off switch, the immediate result is an intense release of hot gases to spin the turbine blades. Anti-swirl turbine wheel vanes prevented flames from exiting the tailpipe, but a special wheel was optional for "spectacular flaming night runs."

Marketed as Thermolene and sold for $3.50 per gallon in 1967, the catalog states that "Normal Propyl Nitrate was selected as the preferred fuel because it is easily ignited, clean burning, and relatively inexpensive. Further, it is compatible with most metals, storable for indefinite periods, and the cautions to be observed are no more involved than those ordinarily followed while handling other fuels such as high-octane gasoline." And according to the catalog, the exhaust plume was "no more toxic than ordinary automobile exhaust." By utilizing this monopropellant to fuel its little monsters, Turbonique wound up with a very compact, light engine with an ability to deliver incredible power for brief intervals.

But as many users quickly discovered, there was too much power. Extreme tire spin (even on the best slicks of the day) made Drag Axle-equipped cars difficult to control. Full-quarter-mile smoke shows
with impressive trap speeds, but mediocre elapsed times were the rule, not the exception.

Turbonique Drag Axles were available with or without a one-way Borg-Warner sprag clutch to automatically disengage the microturbine when not in use for normal axle operation. Prices for sprag-equipped units ranged from $2,430 for model TB-28-C (raw castings with complete blueprints for machining), $3,225 for model TB-28-B (same as TB-28-C but including all needed hardware) and $4,695 for model TB-28-A (factory assembled and ready to run)

http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/engine/hrdp-0403-turbonique/

1965 Chevelle Malibu SS, only 201 made... out of 70,000 Chevelles that year

Only one was covertible, built for Dan Blocker, because he played a rancher on the tv show Bonanza, and his cowboy hat was huge... and he wanted to drive in parades in character with that huge hat, and Chevrolet was a big sponser of the show.

When Chevrolet released the Chevelle Malibu SS in the summer of 1965 it produced only 201 of them out of a total of 70,000 Chevelles of various models. This muscle car had all the ingredients to be a hit; stunning good looks, power, and a very limited number. And it was a major hit. Chevrolets sponsorship of the hit tv show Bonanza helped push the brand with one of the stars, big Dan Blocker, who played Hoss, being an enthusiast of the Chevelle Malibu SS. Most of the car magazines ran some sort of article on the 65 Malibu SS that year and they pretty much waxed lyrical about this special sports car.

Thanks to this heavy promotion of the 65 Chevelle Malibu and the fact that only 201 of them were made meant that it was a runaway seller. Many Chevrolet dealerships never got to see one of these babies let along get the opportunity to sell one. Those that did get one on the car-yard had no trouble selling it.

Looking at the 65 Chevelle Malibu SS today, it is one of the most sought after classic muscle cars around. There are only around 60 to 70 of them left in good to pristine condition, so if you happen to come across one of these in a car graveyard then it is well worth the effort to bring it back to life.
info in italics from http://bruizer.hubpages.com/hub/The-1965-Chevelle-Malibu-SS

Original owner 1964 Chevelle Malibu SS convertible partially restored, it's been repainted, but still has original top and back seats

After seeing the above magazine (yup, this exact one) Miss Santow and her mom went to the local Chevrolet dealership and ordered it's exact duplicate

I forgot to get a photo of the owner, this is Just A Car Gal Tere in the car... she wants one someday

Here are a couple of shots of the album the travels with the car of gas and oil consumption

Original sales reciept and order form

Motorhead madness, Poway Transmissions annual car show

1930 Pontiac, about 27 thousand original miles the sign said
The radiator cap is so scarce, and attractive, that the owner told me that ebay has these going for around 5 thousand dollars.

I wonder how long the courtesy and civility of the "Correspondence pertaining to" was on the body tag, before the company types were tired of getting letters about the cars they produced? It is a notable sign of that generation's more civil and polite behavior, I believe. We now see all traces of such customer service courtesy have been removed, and replaced by "press 1 for .... and press 2 for... press 3 if ... " etc.

I dig the designed handles and ashtrays of the 30's cars

When a "hub cap" was literally capping the hub, and not a big piece of adornment to cover up the rim, and cheaply change the looks of an unattractive rim to appear similar to an expensive aftermarket rim.

The gas cap, and original key to it

I noticed the cool design of the rear speaker grill...

This is still in the hands of the original owner, who bought it at the young age of 18, when her father went down to the dealership with her to co-sign on the financing. She married a cool guy in the next year, and they are still married, with a couple of great Mustangs.

These were found under the sound deadener in the back of the blue car when it was restored....
Click on them to get the full size
His is the blue one on the right hand side

Great looking shop interior!

59 and red on the left, 55 blue and white on the right


I love before and after photos

Beautiful suede and chrome!