well my boss called me up today and asked if i could come jumpstart his Chevelle...I have the tow truck this weekend, and have a battery pack in it, so i said alright...

I get there, and i see a beautiful site.....It was a '66 Chevelle SS 396ci in MINT condition....He popped the hood, and i see a completly done up motor...ALL new parts through it....Brand new rear end with 4.10 gears, The interior was ALL Original...the driver seat only had two little tears in the leather.

We put the battery pack on it, and he starts it up, and the thing has a complete exhaust system..dont know what kind, but it was F'N loud....

He told me to jump in....it was a 4spd...and he takes me for a ride....the thing squeeled tires through all 4 gears....we got 0-100 in no time...stopped at the corner, went to take the corner he guns it, and the thingfish tails right out leaving a zig zag strip of black all across the pavement..

By far the FASTEST vehicle ive ever been in...the thing put me right back in my seat, and he was hammering on it...it was the best car ride ive ever had...it was awesome...

Im going to try to get some pics this week if it doesnt rain...he wont even open his garage if it rains....

But damn...thats the kind of car i want when i have some money to toy with..it was ****in awesome..

 

I love those cars..

I had a buddy who's stepfather owned a '66 SS.. It was emblembed 396, but he had a 409 in that bad bear.. I wanna tel you it had a Munci M-22 'Rock-Crusher' 4sp in it..

He had it floggin' perfect- what wasn't powder coated in the chassis was chrome.. he had those little mirrors set up in his garage where you could walk around an see underneath it..

He took it to a total of three shows- two of which he claimed every prize possible, and the last one where he came in something like 5th overall- it was a local yokal thing and based on the good-ol-boy system of which he wasn't a part.. He swore he'd never show it again..

It was ford racing blue w/ white leather interior- which would not have been my first choice, but it was immaculate.. he painted it himself.. His son said he got to something like the 6th coat of clear and got a small run somewhere insignificant, but it pissed him off and he stripped it to metal and started again.. This guy was a pilot in the military (retired) and flew a jump plane for some recreational skydiving service.. He had time on his hands, and $$ wasn't an issue..

He got drunk one night and took a joy ride.. I would loved to had been on that trip, because though I'd seen the car at least a dozen times, I'd never heard it run once.. Apparently, it was FAR from slow..

That car was made back in the days where manufacturers were transparent and there were no weird tunings, or 'hidden parameters'.. It took patience and a good ear to get them where you wanted them- and those guys made an art out of building an engine/chassis instead of following a recipe and slapping a 'puter on it to see where to go next in the tune.. Obviously, today's is better- but we've lost the art of making a vehicle.. now it's CAD systems and theory.. I'd LOVE to see one of those bow-tie big blocks built under today's tolerances, monitored with today's technology, and controlled by a computer AND BE AFFORDABLE..

Wish in one hand... right?

I swear to little baby Jesus in a tuxedo shirt, if the big three dropped 'retro' cars similar to those back then, they wouldn't be able to keep them in stock.. oh, wait a minute...

 

possible to get pics?

and this was like the transformers movie....if you have seen it, you know the part where they pop the hood on the junky camero, and it was a brand new motor underneath...thats what this was, except the body was flawless too

it was like a pale green, and the interior was the same color....and on the motor there was a tag that said "375hp" on the valve covers....but with the speed this had...i bet it had more....

 

that rated HP was a tricky thing back then...

first off, it was all flywheel and no terra rating.. second, for insurance purposes they were rated low, and third- the competition was fierce..

in '67 chevy dropped the famous bow-tie 302.. which was (IIRC) a 283sb, w/ a 327sb crank.. it was stroked in other words.. they put it in the z28 package, and rated it at 290HP.. They did this before the first one rolled off the line..

Ford took notice, and the BOSS 302 hit the street at a rated 335HP, and similar weights/footprint as the z.. but guess what? that z was actually producing 410HP, and had in excess of 290 on the terra.. it was a tactic to throw Ford for a loop, and it worked.. They took the IROC series from Ford that year, and to my knowledge never gave it back.. (to Ford anyway)..

375? No way.. the Yenko 396 produced 450.. that 427 Capo produced almost 5.. those were some bad **** engines my man.. that thing was likely producing 375 average, and excess of 4 after tinkered with by one of them artist..

 

the engine was not stock...and my boss said it had a "Short cam" in it...I dont know much about old muscle cars, but damn, that thing was peeling tires at 60 mph no problem....and the rear end was BRAND NEW...not used, the axle was still black, and the cover was chrome...he was saying something that it had a 10 bolt rear end, and now it has a 12 bolt...dont know what difference it makes, but it had 4.10s i know. this car had some F"N *****