If the fat steel wheels and bulbous Firestone drag tires don’t get your attention, this Chevy’s “SS 396” badges and roll bar add the punctuation mark. No doubt the lumpy idle of the solid-lifter L78 would separate the wolves from the porch hounds at your local car meet too. This 1968 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 396 in Angola, Indiana comes to market for the second time, well… ever, since its original sale, and it’s accumulated a mere 8118 miles during its lifetime, most of them a quarter-mile at a time. If that’s not crazy enough, check out the shine on that original paint! While the listing here on eBay includes few pictures of the car, it does list a ton of history and documentation on this 1-of-4751 L78 mid-sized (Chevelles / El Caminos) Chevrolets built in ’68, and one of six known to exist today. The Buy It Now price of $45,000 stands tall on the car’s provenance, and a Make Offer button leaves room for possible negotiation.
Having “never” experienced bodywork or paint, this SS shows minimal surface rust in the trunk and an admirable shine on the 50+-year-old enamel. This ’68-only tail light treatment puts small lights within a full-width trim bar.
This is the only engine picture, so take a good look. Unless someone has been distilling moonshine under the hood I’m assuming that’s a Moroso “cool can,” designed to be filled with ice to keep your fuel charge cold and dense for maximum power. The engine is described as a “GOOD RUNNING” L78, which carried a 375 HP rating. A stock ’69 L78 laid down 425 HP on the HotRod dyno, matching the engine’s 1965 rating, which may have been too hot for some insurance companies.
The original four-speed manual and 4.56-geared 12-bolt rear end promise to help that angry L78 tear the tires lose from the pavement. A factory parchment interior makes a light and airy workspace for the driver. Smaller than the first-generation ’64-’67 Chevelle, the Second Generation continued as Chevy’s popular mid-sized car. Engine choices from mild or wild answered any buyer’s wishes.
Ironically, the best picture of the car is from 40+ years ago. Here we see the glorious red beast in its hey-day as a drag car. The 13.99 dial on the windshield is no joke, and the L78 Chevelle demands respect on 1320. This seller holds the original owner’s title, and some states will require a bill of sale signed by that person, so prepare accordingly. After a thorough going-through of fluid flushing and safety items, this Matador Red SS should be ready to shake the ground under your feet. Do you have what it takes to stand on the loud pedal through three gear changes?
The car has had paint work the door striker is painted red??
Seems cheap… I have number 7
Its a neat car yes.
A drag car okay?
108k on odometer highly likely.
Showing me a title or BOS with a potential BS lie not proof to me.
Good luck on sale….
Read it and weep…13.99, that’s not bad for a Chevelle running monster slicks. No wonder it has stiff gearing. Maybe they were sandbagging for bracket racing,,, or maybe it’s a more realistic ET on how these cars actually ran, I would’ve half expected to see 12.99 or even lower as the car has been prepped a bit.
Good to see one still wearing its “pre”valuable threads.
I was just thinking of that myself. My daily driver hatchback can nearly match that so if it was running 13.99s, that’s not impressive.
This has to be a class thing – like 13.99 – 13.0? Like you, I’d think a properly tuned L78 with slicks should break into the 12s.
There is no context associated with the number on the window. There are many factors that can easily add significant time to a cars ET. My local track is at sea level, a few hours away is a track with a 4,300 foot elevation, between the two I’ve experience 3/4 of a second change in ET, it would have been even greater if the track was experiencing it’s normally hotter temperatures. Even something as simple as a change in wind direction between rounds can cause an ET to pick up or slow down by a couple of the tenths.
Steve R
Agreed. This one ran a 13.5 and it looks like a restored car without the tricks this one had. Paperwork shows it’s an L78. Had to be running low 13s at worst.
Steve R, what’s your local track? I always enjoy your stories about racing and being a tech inspector. Have you thought about doing a blog about your experiences?
Best I remember that engine wasn’t black.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fp0IlenNJho
Hey Super, Definitely a hard running ’70 with big slicks and headers, mid thirteens all night long, with full interior, mufflers, etc…
unlike our ’68 here that went on a strict diet and was trailered to the track, not because of it being a valuable rare car but because it was set up to drag race, or at least that’s my impression. Maybe the eighth mile would have been better for this ’68?
Yeah, 13.99-12.99 bracket sounds more reasonable, but as Steve R points out, the number is just there, we dont know any more than that. Exactly when the gears were changed, how much tuning had been done or any engine modifications, ditching weight, or even driver skill is unknown, even miles per hour thru the traps.
But 13.99 won’t impress anyone here when it comes to a solid lifter 396 Chevelle racer, or at least I don’t expect it to.
I had almost exact car and color except I had 2 black stripes on hood and trunk in 1969. Actually ran high 12 at Freemont drag strip on Friday nights. Loved the car.
1 of 6 known today?I need to tell a buddy his L78 is much more rare than he thought 😆Would hope out of 4,571 built at least a third or more are accounted for
I had a 69 L78 Chevelle 4speed 4.10 gear with M/T headers uncaped 10.65 m&h slicks and a recurved dist. the car ran 12.50’s all day long so yeah he’s either sandbagging or heavy braking at the end so as to not break out either way that’s at least a full second off where it should be or he just can’t shift Worth a $- – t 😂😂