One of the most popular muscle cars of the 1960s and 1970s was the Chevelle Super Sport, especially the SS 396. But most folks don’t realize that it was only a series of its own for 1966-68, relegated to an option on the Malibu Sport Coupe and convertible for the rest of the time. This ’70 SS 396 is said to be numbers-matching and has had only two owners over its 52 years. Located in Staten Island, New York, this vehicle is drivable and mostly complete but needs a lot of work. It’s available here on eBay where the bidding stands at $25,100, the Buy It Now Price is $33,000, and the reserve is set somewhere in between.
Around 1970, the insurance companies were giving fits to buyers of muscle cars. Premiums were on the rise due to a higher incidence of claims (aka accidents) with factory-built street racers. Perhaps to fool the insurance people, Chevy changed the displacement of the 396 cubic inch V8 to 402 CI in 1970 but still marketed it as an SS 396 (brand recognition). The car builder bored the engine .030-over from 4.09 to 4.13 piston size to achieve the small change. Whether the bean counters saw through this is speculation, but Chevy would still build more than 53,500 SS 396 vehicles in 1970 (both as a Malibu and an El Camino).
As the story goes, this Chevelle has spent the last 11 years in a climate-controlled garage in Pennsylvania before moving to New York. It appears to be original, with neither of its two owners having done much in the way of work to the muscle car over time. It still wears red paint with white stripes, perhaps the most popular colors on the SS, but it’s going to need some work. While the seller reports it has no rot, things look mighty crusty in places and there is at least one hole.
We suspect that the motor and transmission work okay, but it doesn’t look like this car is ready for any long road trips. The engine compartment is rather dirty, and the air cleaner has been replaced with a chrome aftermarket unit. The odometer reading is just past the 82,000-mile mark and from – the looks of the car – we guess that’s accurate. If you’ve been looking for one of these hot rods to restore and don’t want to mess with someone’s clone, this Chevelle may be a decent candidate to work with. But you’ll have a lot tied up in this machine when you’re finally done.
Bondo
This car is marked up way above true value @ $8,500
Spent 11 years in Pennsylvania, Located in New York, and wears New Jersey plates. Where’s the disconnect?
Bondo Bucket!!! Shame… would need to source alot of new metal..
No rot!!! Funniest thing I read! Pictures must be lying.
Crazy thing is you can buy a somewhat decent Corvette for 1/2 the asking price here.
$17,500 contact me.
Actually, if you scroll down the ebay ad-
There’s a much nicer one currently at 21k
Looks like an older Laquer restoration to me. Also looks like it was in the weather for some time. Before we had resto parts and 2 part paints. We did what we could with what we had.
As I thought you could paint enamel over Laquer but you could not do laquer over enamel?
Leaguer dried from the outside in and enamel dried from the inside out?
The color combo is nice
Northeast car no rot, don’t believe it to many state changes!
The 396 should be a L34 350hp!
Having a 69 SS Convertible L34 still a strong motor with a few modifications!
Unless you get paperwork/Build Sheet
Buyer beware, I’ve pissed off a lot of 69-70 owners when I tell them they have a fake/clone!
As VIN doesn’t say anything about it being a real SS
37 coupe
67 convertible
6 or 8 engine and body color, nothing about being a Z25
Or in my case a ZL3 Convertible SS
Leaves under the hood = parked outside for awhile.
There’s got to be a build sheet somewhere on this Chevelle SS. With only 2 owners somebody has overlooked one somewhere. I still have mine from my LS6 and I sold it back in 1983. I took the one I have from under the rear seat. Pictures do show body rot. Price is too high for this one.