Selling a family heirloom doesn’t come easy, but when it’s been in the inner circle for more than 50 years, it must be even more difficult. Such is the case with this Chevelle SS 396, which has traveled just 65,000 miles since it was built in 1970. It’s not a garage queen, with a few bumps and bruises but still has its original drivetrain. Located in Tipton, Iowa, this special muscle car is available here on craigslist for $50,000 OBO. Thanks to Gunter Kramer for sending this tip our way!
The muscle car market started taking hits as the decade of the ‘70s began. The insurance industry was raising rates, making it more expensive for younger buyers to own these cars. And the federal government was tightening emission controls, detuning engines to run on unleaded fuel. As a result, the Chevelle Super Sport was perhaps at its peak in 1970, available in both 396 and 454 versions. The 396 was a now 402 cubic inch engine but marketed as a 396 because of the heritage associated with that name. And the 454 would be the largest stock engine ever offered by Chevrolet.
This seller’s father drove the silver SS 396 with a black vinyl top and stripes off the lot in 1970. It has maintained its originality with the only change being a swap of the transmission shifter. While the seller doesn’t mention the car’s running condition, we suspect it doesn’t, given the lack of outdoor photos and the use of chocks around the rear wheels in one photo. The father passed away about five years ago and the family has finally decided to let the machine go.
There are glimpses of rust in places and what is likely the original paint has its share of scrapes and scratches. No reference is made to the condition of the undercarriage and photos of the interior are limited, so we don’t know how anything stands there except that the center console is scratched. The car has been garage-kept for years and spent much of its time under a cover. The seller’s asking price is not unusual for one of these cars, but you’d likely suspect it to be a little nicer. While the record books aren’t exacting about how many of these cars were built, more than 53,000 Malibu’s and El Camino’s combined were assembled with RPO Z25, the SS 396.
CTX 402-4 350-L34 Manual-4
decent car
Great starting point for full resto, but not at their number.
Wonderful project car however, the money it would cost to make perfect would leave a person financially upside down.
From the photos provided, it’s nice enough not to restore. I think it’s too expensive, but a seller has to start somewhere. Besides, the pricing dynamics are different depending on what the next owner decides to do. If it’s going to be a restoration project the price needs to drop significantly, however, if it doesn’t, there is a certain premium attached to that. The problem with restoring this car, other than a large additional outlay of money and the time involved to complete the work, is that it will relegate this car to a life of sitting in the garage between outings to local car shows. All this might need is some minor tweaking around the edges and it’s good to go. It could be driven without fear of every rock chip or parked without worrying about every random stranger who parks next to them.
Steve R
It’s a 30,000 car, and I wouldn’t restore it, I’d repair the rust and re spray it, replace worn parts as I drive it, 50 large, might be testing the waters
Located near Iowa City, IA
Apparently it was priced correctly, it’s gone
There’s an ass for every seat, my wants might not be yours, vice versa, flash a Pristine 73 Grand Am in front of me, with no miles, sunroof 455, rite colors, you might say it’s worthless, I’d pay
you can sell anything, just got to find the person to pay what you want for it
This is a very nice car and being complete original and unaltered is a great find. Not to mention a wonder family as it was a treat in itself to listen to the stories behind the car as I spoke with the daughter and owners wife when I tried to buy this car in the fall of 2019. The price then was higher and I was unable to afford it. I thought it was gone or I would have reached out to them. Devastated I did not bring this car home.