In 1969, one of the hottest looking cars Chevrolet produced was the Chevelle. It was available with engine combinations from a small inline-six to a 396 cubic-inch V-8 and catered both to those that wanted a street machine and those that just wanted to look the part. This particular car seems to straddle the fence a bit, and is being sold here on eBay after having been parked for “a few years.” Bidding is already up to $18,300! The Chevelle resides for the moment in Central, South Carolina (yes, that’s the town’s name).
Although the car looks pretty solid in the pictures, you can see some ripples and dents. The seller notes that someone backed into the driver’s side front fender and that they have sprayed primer over some paint issues to slow the rust down. It would help if the picture quality and quantity were better, and I’d really like to see the underside of the car before buying it!
Chevy listed 50 reasons to own a Chevelle in their brochure for the 1969 car; it’s not hard to figure out that they included the SS 396 model as a highlight. It would not surprise me at all if this car were turned into an SS 396 clone after purchase, although it comes with a 350 V-8 that’s “built up with a cam.” It would be nice to see a picture of the engine–and the automatic transmission that is attached to it.
Here’s some of the primer the seller was talking about. What I noticed, though, is chrome that doesn’t look bad, complete trim, and a distinct lack of accident damage (apart from the already noted front fender).
Ok, here’s where we separate the originality folks from the rest of us. Would you keep the bench seat, or find some buckets? Sorry, folks, I’m going for buckets — it’s not as if there’s only one Chevelle like this in the world! What do you folks think?
No documentation except rear window sticker, but pretty sure this is Ricky Bobby’s first car.
Central sc is directly adjacent to Clemson and where most of the off campus student housing is located it’s also where Lindsay Graham was born and still lives I am about 10 miles from there
Not a bad car but seems high for a non original non ss that needs a lot of work
Bench seats are just fine with me . So are column shifters . So are Malibu’s for that matter .
That’s decent for the price. I prefer a stick but nice to see one without the Barret Jackson prices..
Looks from the photo after someone hit the left fender he pulled out the dent and went to far not a bad ride for the money
Is the l/f fender into the door? Or is it just the angle of the photo
Love this car. My dad had a Chevelle Malibu with a 307 and my uncle had SS 396. I always felt cheated growing up.
Years later my dad found me a Chevelle with 250 straight six. He felt that was enough for me.
Had a ’68 with heavy duty everything, suspension, clutch, battery/alternator, and, for 1968, it handled very well, especially when I put radial tires on it. It did not have disc brakes, and would not do a full stop from 65 mph, found that out at a toll booth the first week I owned it. Luckily no one was in front of me as I sailed through, brake pedal to the metal. So if you buy this make sure it has front discs which were an option in late ’68 and then standard when GM figured out these cars would not stop. Long before safety recalls.
Hiya Charlie,
Just bought a 1964 Ford Thunderbird and like you found out the hard way that drum brakes and steep hills are a bad mix. Just lucky nobody was in front of me at the time. Steering wheel shaking violently and slowing down was the best I could achieve. When I eventually stopped, the steering wheel stopped shaking, but I was shaking like nothing else. Limped home removed the front drums and replaced them with disks and upgraded rear wheel cylinders.
Great combination and now she stops like the cars around her.
IMHO The 69 was the best looking Chevelle. Rickey Bobby’s Daddies had a 307 on the fender badge.
About 6 months ago someone not far from where this car is had one exactly like it for sale and it sold for about 5K. I wonder if this is the same car?