The Vintage
Chevrolet Chevelle SSrepresented Chevrolet's entry into the
muscle car
battle. Early 1964 and 1965 Vintage Chevellehad a MalibuSS badge on the rear
quarter panel (the sought-after Z16 option had the emblem on the front
fender, where 201 VintageChevelle Malibu 396 were produced); after 1965, the Malibu badging disappeared except for those sold in Canada. The
Chevelle,
which became a regular series of its own in 1966 called the 396, was the
high performance version and had its own line of Chevrolet Chevelle engines and performance
equipment. The performance engines available included 396 in³ V8s - rated at
325, 350 and 375 hp respectively (the mid horsepower 396 was rated at 360hp
for 1966 only and 350hp thereafter). The SS 396 Chevrolet Chevelle
series only lasted three
years from 1966 through 1968 before being relegated to an option status just
like air conditioning or a radio. The 1966 and 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle
model years also saw the
limited run of the 'strut back' 2-dr sport coupe with its own model number,
17, as opposed to model number 37 used on previous and later 2-dr sport
coupes.
The 1968 Chevrolet Chevelle
model year was the first and only year of the
SS 396 El Camino with its own series/model
identification of 13880. Almost all the goodies (big block engine,
suspension, transmission options, etc.) of the SS396 could be ordered on the
1966 and 1967 El Camino but, sadly, the SS396 series El Camino was not available until
(and only in) the 1968 model year. As with the 300 Deluxe and
Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu in 1969
and only the Malibu from 1970 to 1972, the SS option could be ordered in the
El Camino as well.
For Chevelle enthusiasts who wanted a high-performance mid-sized car but
with a hot small-block V8, rather than the big-block found in the SS 396,
the regular Chevelleand Malibu models were available with a
350-horsepower
327 cubic-inch V8 (option code L-79) in 1965 and 1966. That same engine was
also offered for 1967-68, but down rated "on paper" to 325 horsepower, the
same as the standard 396 found in the SS 396. Chevrolet Chevelle SS Convertible
For the 1969 model year, the SS396 series (138xx) was dropped and the Super
Sport became a performance option. In 1969 the SS option could be order on
the 300 Deluxe 2-dr coupe (13437) and 2-dr sedan (13427) as well as the
Malibu 2-dr sport coupe (13637), convertible (13667), and El Camino(13680).
In 1970 the SS option was limited to the Malibu series (2-dr sport coupe,
convertible, and El Camino). In both
1969Chevelle and 1970 Chevelle the SS option included
the 396/402 as the base engine keeping the option alive as a
performance-oriented choice. This changed in 1971 when the SS option could
be ordered with any optional V8 and became more of a dress-up option than a
performance option
In 1970 GM dropped the displacement rule, and that was when the bigger
engines were available as regular production options, resulting the addition
of an SS 454 line option to the existing SS 396 option. The first change was
that the 396 engine was bored out to 402 in³ , but the car kept the 396 badging
as so much advertising had been put into the
396 namesake that they didn't want to change
it. Most notable was the 454 in³ LS5 V8 rated at 360 hp
and the LS6 at 450 hp. It was the 454 that made the Chevellea legend.
The LS6, with 450 hp and 500 ft·lbf of torque, would rocket the Chevellethrough the 1/4 mile in low to mid-13 second times at 105 to 108 mph.
For 1971, GM
mandated that all divisions design their engines to run on lower-octane
regular, low-lead or unleaded gasoline due to tightening emission
requirements and in anticipation of the catalytic converter that would be
used on 1975 and later models, necessitating the use of unleaded fuel. To
permit usage of the lower-octane fuels, all engines featured low compression
ratios (9 to 1 and lower; well below the 10.25-11.25 to 1 range on high
performance engines of 1970 and earlier). This move reduced horsepower
ratings on the big-block engines to 300 for the 402 cubic-inch V8 but
surprisingly, the LS-5 454
option got a "advertised" five-horsepower
increase to 365. The LS-6 454 option, which was originally announced as a
regular production option on the Chevelle SS for 1971, was dropped early in
the model year and no official records indicate that any 1971 Chevelleswere
assembled with the LS-6 engine.
In the face of declining muscle car sales following the "insurance surcharge"
wrath of 1970, the Chevelle SS - at least in base form - changed from a
specific performance car to a trim package, much like the original 1964
1964 Chevrolet Chevelle ss-65 Chevelle SS models that pre-dated the introduction of the SS 396 in 1966.
For 1971, the base Chevelle SS engine
was a two-barrel 350 cubic-inch V8 rated at 245 gross (165 net) horsepower
and optionally available was a four-barrel carbureted version of the 350 V8
rated at 275 gross (200 net) horsepower. The big block engines of previous
years were now extra-cost options including the 402 V8 rated at 300
gross/270 net horsepower; and LS-5 454 V8 with 365 gross and 285 net
horsepower. Chevrolet
specifications for
1971 included both "gross" and "net" horsepower figures for all engines to
ease the transition to 1972 and later years, when Chevy and other
manufacturers only listed the "net" horsepower ratings.
The 1972 Chevelle SS had a top engine rated at 270 net hp (201 kW)
conforming with GM's decree that all engines were to be rated at their net
engine ratings. Despite the lower rating there was no evidence that power
had actually changed on production cars of that year. All other engines on
the SS roster were unchanged from 1971.
In mid-1971 and continued through 1972, the base Chevelle
coupe was offered as the "Heavy Chevy"
model featuring special striping and other appearance items. The "Heavy Chevy" was available with any
V8 engineoffered in the Chevelle roster ranging from the 307 two-barrel to the 402 four-barrel.
However, the 454 big-block was only offered with the "SS" package and not
available with the "Heavy Chevy" option.
Many customers, however, chose the Chevelle as an economical family car
that, while not as expensive to operate as larger models (including the
Chevrolet Impala),
had enough room to seat a family of five in reasonable comfort. Popular
convenience items ranged from power steering, power brakes, automatic
transmission, air conditioning and stereo radio; plus appearance items
including vinyl top, full wheel covers and whitewall tires.
