Chevrolet Chevelle SS
Glamorous looks, flashy colors, and big engines all worked to help build performance-fever in the late 1960s and early 1970's. For Chevrolet, the most powerful entries in the muscle-car wars carried the name "Chevelle", one of the best looking and most sought-after vehicles to ever carry the bow-tie logo. Over the past five years collector car fans have increasingly sought out these popular cars, with values on some models having doubled.
While the majority of Chevelles produced were sold to the public as family cars, a special breed of these are today at the pinnacle of anyone's muscle car list. These special Chevelles are the "SS" models, or the Super Sport editions. Chevelle was first produced in 1964 as Chevrolet's entry in the growing mid-size market. Adding a little flash to the base Chevelle line were the dressed-up Malibu models. These carried more bright trim and plusher interiors, but came with fairly tame power-plants including the series base six cylinder for economy. However, if money and mileage wasn't a concern, and power and looks were, the SS was just for you.
ZENITH REACHED
Without any reservation it can be said that the biggest and most powerful era for the Chevelle SS were the 1970 and 1971 model years. Available in two body styles, 2-door hardtop and convertible, the base version of the SS came with a big 396 cubic inch Turbo-Jet V8 sporting plenty of horsepower. In base form this engine was rated at 350 hp, while a performance option of 375 horses could also be ordered. Transferring the power to the rear wheels was a Turbo-Hydramatic 400, or the fabled "Rock-Crusher" four-speed.
But the real king of the Chevelle SS was the 450 horsepower 454 V8, known in collector circles today by its original option code of "LS6". There were actually several versions of the LS-6 450-hp engine. By specifying aluminum heads, ported valves, and beefy crankshafts secured with four-bolt mains, performance was improved but advertised horsepower remain unaffected.
