1969 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 396 Tribute

This bruiser is wrapped in a retina-searing orange that screams for attention from three counties over. The black vinyl top is tighter than a snare drum, and the black side stripes cut through the profile like a switchblade. Chrome bumpers and trim are shining bright enough to blind a state trooper, and those SS 396 badges let everyone know you are not playing games. It sits right on classic 5-spoke wheels wrapped in Cooper Cobra Radial G/T rubber, ready to lay down some serious black marks.

Slide into the cockpit and you are greeted by a sea of black vinyl that looks like it just rolled out of a 1969 showroom. The bucket seats are pristine, flanking a center console that houses a proper manual floor shifter topped with a cue-ball knob. The dash is clean, featuring an SS steering wheel, an aftermarket radio to drown out your thoughts, and a trio of aftermarket gauges tucked underneath to keep you honest. The headliner and door panels look sharp, making this cabin a damn fine place to plot your next bad decision.

Pop the hood and stare into the abyss of a 396 cubic-inch big-block V8. The engine bay is clean enough to eat your breakfast off of, featuring an orange block, chrome valve covers, and a matching chrome air cleaner. It is packing power steering and a power brake booster to keep this missile pointed in the right direction. Mated to a manual transmission, this drivetrain is begging to be driven hard and put away wet.

This is not a pure purist's museum piece; it is built to be driven. You have got an aftermarket modern radio slotted into the dash for your outlaw country tunes. Down below, a trio of aftermarket auxiliary gauges keeps tabs on the vitals because trusting 50-year-old idiot lights is a fool's errand. Otherwise, she keeps her vintage dignity intact.

Running Condition: Runs and drives

This was purchased at Barrett-Jackson in 2016. Not sure how it slipped through all these years, but just about a year ago, Jason was decoding the style tag on the cowl and he kept coming up with a Malibu Sport Coupe. Blue. How can that be? Well after we had to fix some linkage, electrical, and drive-shaft issues, it made sense. Jason ran a deep-dive in Gemini and what do ya know? Malibu-to-Chevelle conversions often run into linkage, electrical, and drive shaft issues if the 396 isn't dropped in with the proper motor mounts. The 396 is way heavier than the 327 small block and sits lower and is offset from center. When switching out the 327 for the 396, if the proper mounts aren't used that engine will sit "weird" cause ... you guessed it, linkage and drive-line issues. And the electrical? That's a whole 'nother story.