Join us at this years Old Chevy Show in Englewood, CO! For more information, visit the Mile High Chevelle and El Camino Club at: www.milehighchevelleclub.com.
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What if GM Built New Performance Versions of the Nova and Chevelle?
With the resurrected Camaro hitting the streets back in late 2009, Chevy performance enthusiasts have had plenty to cheer about in the world of late-model muscle. It was a long time coming, and the fifth-gen arrived with plenty of power, handled well, and like the first-gen, it carried a good amount of attitude. With the addition of upgraded models like the 1LE, ZL1, and the amazing Z/28, the car continued to gain major street cred for the power-hungry folks itching for even more performance. Needless to say, all is good in “Chevyland”… or is it? It seems Chevy’s two other prominent performers from the muscle car golden era got the short end of the proverbial stick shift; namely, the Chevelle and the Nova. Sure, you could argue that those models were not quite as popular as the Camaro, but these two muscle car icons have been completely ignored in the late-model-performance-car-resurrection wars. Call me crazy, but I’m betting a late-model Chevelle, if done properly would have easily outsold the new Chevy SS. Now, I’ve driven the SS and it’s a great car, but I think simply calling the car an “SS” was a little confusing since, historically speaking, “SS” (Super Sport) has always been known as a performance upgrade to an already-existing Chevy model. So, should the GM brass look into giving the Nova and Chevelle a shot at this late-model performance car game? Why not? In the early ’60s, these cars paved the way for the Camaro’s very existence. That alone should be worth giving them their day in the sun once more. With that said, it’s got to be done right. I’m not talking about the embarrassing 1985 version of the Nova (that’s not even funny), I’m talking about the Chevy design team dusting off the old toolbox and incorporating the soul of the 1967 or ’68 Nova and putting it into a badass late-model performer with some sweet styling and aggressive body lines. Same goes for the Chevelle. No, not today’s Malibu, either. I know GM’s talented artists and designers would be able to capture some of that 1970 Chevelle spirit and turn out a killer-looking, modern version packed with a pissed-off LT1. Think about it – we’d have two more models with the ability to wake up the neighborhood and keep Ford and Dodge on their toes and in our rear-view mirrors. Is this some sort of crazy pipe dream of mine? Probably, but with the popularity of the fifth- and soon-to-be successful sixth-gen Camaro, I can’t help but think there has to be something to chew on for a revised version of the Chevelle at the very least. So, while you fine folks at GM take my ideas into consideration, you don’t even have to give me credit. In exchange, just send over one of those “old” 2015 Z/28s for a while. Besides, you could probably use the extra room for all those new 2016 Camaros heading your way. You in? Littleton Independent | Cruiser Crew Flexes American Muscle | Classic Car Cruise in Littleton, CO4/25/2016 Check out this great article by the Littleton Independent's Jennifer Smith about the Littleton Cruise!
__________________________________________________ Cruiser crew flexes American muscle Original Content By: Jennifer Smith Remember back in the day, when the kids would pile into their hot rods and muscle cars and cruise Main Street, honking at passers-by, cranking hot tunes like “Little GTO” by Ronnie and the Daytonas? You know, way, way back in the day, like last Saturday? That's when Harold Schultes and the rest of the Littleton Cruisers met up at Woodlawn Shopping Center (as they do every second Saturday), rolled over to the Littleton Court House and rumbled their way down Main Street and back up Alamo Avenue a few times in an impressive show of shiny steel. “We're just a bunch of old guys getting together and driving around like we did back in the day,” said Schultes, downshifting his beefy 1965 Chevy Chevelle Malibu SS, painted a delicate “Evening Orchid” shade of purple. “It's just what the old farts do.” Met with grins and waves on the bustling streets, for many of them, it was literally a return to the good old days. Mike Devlin, Littleton High School Class of 1960, remembers cruising Littleton Boulevard in his friend's little red Kaiser Darrin, spurring in him a lifelong love of the brand. His 1954 “Pine Tint Green” Darrin and blue 1954 Kaiser Special stood out from the crowd on that Saturday afternoon, among the 50 or so other classic beauties assembled at Woodlawn. “Littleton is still great for cruising, because it still has its small-town character,” he said. “And the Darrin is a real eye-catcher.” American muscle, however, is not just for the old guys. Killian Bailey, 24, and his friends were captivated as they checked out each specimen. “I was just going to get some beer at the liquor store, but this is even better,” he said. “It's classic Americana, it's Detroit steel. They're built to last.” Schultes' friend Don Nigh raced on quarter-mile tracks like Bandimere Speedway most of his life, and remembers cruising Main Street, Federal Boulevard, Colfax Avenue in his younger years. He said cars are something whole families can bond over, and notes there are second- and third-generation racers at Bandimere even today. “There's always something about going fast — and here's the song that says it all,” he said just as the deejay cranked up Jan and Dean's “Dead Man's Curve.” “We both popped the clutch when the light turned green, you should have heard the whine from my screamin' machine.” Though the Littleton Cruisers stuck to Main Street's 25 mph speed limit, the rumble of their engines in unison made them sound like they were racing through town. “I've always been a muscle-car guy, it's got to go `vroom,' ” said Schultes. “… I've got a cover, but it's never been on the car. I like it when I lock up the garage at night and I can look at the car.” The power and sex appeal that literally drove America car crazy.The North American muscle cars came to life in 1964 to fuel the need of speed-minded youth who seemed to have the money to match their desire for automobiles with large capacity engines and a high-horsepower output.
If we look back in time, excluding the very expensive, hand-built and fast European sports cars that were available in the North American marketplace, the new muscle cars as they were called were truly the supercars of the day. The engineers at Ford had recognized this new market and were busy developing the Ford Mustang, a redesign of the compact Ford Falcon. Over at Pontiac, Russell Gee, Bill Collins and Pontiac’s chief engineer John DeLorean were defying GMs new policy of limiting their A-body intermediate cars to an engine no larger than 330 cu. in. They were secretly fitting a 389 cu. in. engine into the redesigned Pontiac Super Tempest. In their eyes the GTO (Gran Turismo Omologato) would be merely an option package; they could use that loophole to defy the corporate edict and, surprisingly, they got away with it! At General Motors’ Chevrolet division, the engineers had been working on the first generation Chevelle, which was intended to compete with the similar sized Ford Fairlane. The Chevy engineers decided to toe the line and not upset the top brass, unlike their corporate cousins at Pontiac, so for the time being the largest engine available in the 1964 Chevelle was a 327 cu. in. V8. That all changed in 1965 when the gloves came off and the muscle car battle broke out; the Chevelle Malibu SS of that year was available with a 396 cu. in. engine. With the help of a new customer, I discovered that between the end of January and early March 1964, it was possible to order an RPO (Regular Production Order) L76 optioned Chevelle fitted with a 327 cu. in., 365-horsepower Corvette engine and the new Muncie four-speed gearbox which could handle the power and much more. Only a handful of orders were completed and today these cars are as rare as hen’s teeth! Remove Before Flight | Why Hurst Shifters Are Exceptional In Your Classic or Modern Day Muscle Car4/25/2016 Have a Hurst Product In Your Garage?
Hurst Performance Parts has been an American Icon since 1958 and is STILL America’s Number One Shifter! To this day, Hurst proudly maintains a wide variety of exceptional shifter products for the performance enthusiast including automatic shifters, legendary Hurst manual shifters, Hurst shifter knobs, and shifter handles. Over the years, Hurst has been the OEM shifter supplier for the Pontiac GTO, Plymouth Barracuda, Plymouth Super Bird, ford Mustang Boss 302, Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 KR, Oldsmobile, AMC and the Dodge SRT-10 Pickup, just to name a few. Hurst is also the leading supplier of performance aftermarket products for MODERN MUSCLE CARS. The Hurst Elite Series products can turn your car into a legendary Hurst-like Camaro, Challenger or Mustang. Also, the newest line of Hurst products includes the incredible Hurst Cat-Back Exhaust Systems, which provides an excellent addition of a perfect combination of SOUND, improved POWER and BEAUTY to your modern muscle car. So so if you own a classic 442, Challenger, Charger, Chevelle, Camaro, GTO, GTX, Superbird or Mustang, make sure you check out all of the goodies at : http://www.hurst-shifters.com. |
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May 2018
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