Parts | Vintage Car & Truck Parts

Archive for the ‘parts’ tag

Chevelle Gto

The History of the Chevelle

With a lot of car manufacturers attempting to be the dominant force in the sale of muscle cars during the 1960s and the 1970s, Chevrolet Chevelle, would be one of those that captured the racing enthusiast's heart. The model debuted in 1964, and was to compete with the Ford Fairlane.

Chevrolet Chevelle SS is a high performance version of the Chevrolet Chevelle. It has its own lines of engines and performance equipment. It was first introduced with only a 327 v8 engine; it was soon upgraded to support the powerful 396 V8. And in 1970 began to support the most powerful engine in muscle Car History, the LS6 454. Its strong performance sold at a reasonable price and made it popular on the street together with the Pontiac GTO.

At first the Chevrolet Chevelle was behind the Pontiac GTO in terms of its performance. That would soon change in 1965 where the 327 cid engine was offered in 350bhp tune. Other components were also improved like the beefed up suspensions, front and rear anti-roll bars, stouter convertible-type frames and faster power-assisted steering. Handling and braking were subpar as more than 50% of the car's whole weight was over the front wheels. A year later, the 396 engine was made available to the consumers. It became the engine standard in the Chevelle SS. In the same year of 1966, Chevrolet released the L78 396, which had a 375bhp rating. It also sported stiffer springs and shocks to correct the handling problems. The performance was still subpar after this upgrade. The Chevrolet Chevelle SS was later renamed to Chevelle SS396.

The muscle car's design was also changed with a new roof line with a rear window between the sailing roof panels and a new bumper. The exterior still remained and the styling, the engine and the low price made the Chevelle SS a really great deal.

The muscle car's performance dropped in 1971 due to the GM's response that all engines run on unleaded fuel to meet the emission standards. This resulted Chevrolet to detune all of its engines. The Chevelle name was dropped in 1978, all models after that took the Chevrolet Malibu name.

About the Author

If your share my passion for a purring muscle car , then visit my blog today