The 1970 model year was the pinnacle for the muscle car market. After that, sales for virtually every entry in the market began to dwindle. Some 53,600 cars from the Chevy Chevelle family were built with the RPO Z25 SS 396 option (that number includes El Caminos and Monte Carlos). The seller, a dealer, believes this ’70 SS 396 is a real-deal car, which is often hard to prove, but we’re told the engine and transmission are numbers-matching. Located in a warehouse with other classics, this well-worn example is available in Celeste, Texas, and here on eBay for $27,500 OBO.
Without a build sheet or other factory documentation, a 1970 Chevelle SS is hard to validate. The car was a series from 1966 to 1968 and had its own VIN, but after that, it was an option, so the VIN or cowl tag doesn’t get the job done. Let’s say this ’70 Green Mist is a real deal SS 396. That would mean the engine (or what’s left of it) is really 402 cubic inches rather than 396. Chevy changed it up slightly that year, perhaps to fool insurance companies that knew what a 396 was and increased the premiums when they had one.
This car has no doubt been off the road for ages, and it’s probably not been in an ideal spot for preservation. It has all the earmarks of a true barn find. Besides it being a true SS 396, it came with a 4-speed manual transmission. The paint may be original, considering the selling dealer’s tag is still on the rear deck lid. And the poorly maintained Midnight Green interior has fabric over the bucket seats. The Chevy also has a console to house the shifter.
Some parts have been removed, perhaps by the previous owner who had decided to restore the machine at one point. But they may all be there. The body has rust, but replacement panels are available as a lot of 1970 Chevelles have become SS clones in their afterlife. If you buy the car, you’ll have a lot of work to do, and the required investment for a restoration won’t come cheap.
No profanity, politics, or personal attacks. Nice car! Low price for the condition it’s in!
LOL it will cost more to fix than just finding a done one!
I love 70 chevelle SS my last muscle car was a 70 SS I completely rebuilt the motor and repainted it Lemans blue . But I will never get used to someone asking over $27,000 dollars for a rusted out car with a motor that’s probably toast from being left out and exposed to the elements. and the interior looking like someone threw a bomb in there.
This is the same dealer featured countless times before that usually lists rare, but expensive Mopars. Now it’s an expensive SS Chevelle. It’s rough, but these are desirable and this seller doesn’t seem to mind waiting for a buyer to come along.
This car has pictures of the undercarriage while it was on a lift, remember that. In the future if their ads don’t show similar pictures, it’s for a reason.
Steve R
The seller has a lot full of desirable cars in similar condition, which makes me wonder how they find and buy them.
I came across a YouTube video of some Mopar enthusiasts in Northern California that were hunting cars for this dealership, it was unwatchable, they came across as discount version of an “old” TV show. I’m sure they have others throughout “dry” states doing the same thing.
Steve R
When your job is to sit around and dig for old cars for sale, you find all kinds of offers.
Those kinds of used car dealers are not dumb bumpkins. They’ll only buy it if they can get it cheap. Thee is so much product out there right now that is sitting on estate land, begging for buyers. So the family lists it somewhere that few people see.
Nobody responds, especially to heaps like this bucket, which has the right numbers going for it. That’s about it.
So the dealer makes an offer of a few grand and also will come and get it this week. That’s the only offer they got after 6 months of nothing. The family needs to settle the estate and it’s sold.
This scene also plays out with divorce settlements, and more often, when the property the car is sitting on is going on market soon. Or the sale clauses demand that it be gone at closing.
The USA is littered with these exact “must move it asap” scenarios. These dealers know it when they see it, and pounce.
Then they apply ridiculous prices as a starting point, list it on all the collector classified sites, but will sell it for half that listing if you make a real offer, and they are still making thousands. But the buyer thinks hey got a huge deal! Half price.
These dealers are not working on thin margins with this stuff, buying from enthusiasts who “know what they have” and hold out for close to all the money. These dealers don’t have to make that purchase. They walk away.
They are mostly tuned in to time-sensitive sales happening every day, all over the place. They prefer nice drivers, but will take a numbers match gamble like this, knowing that there are greater fools who pay for such novelty.
Sooner rather than later, the generation that wants one of these will be too old to take on a complete restoration. (I know I am, Lol) Personally, I can’t wait for that day, as I am tired of all the lazy Craigslist “barn find still on the trailer” ads and resellers asking asinine prices. They can get a knife and fork out of the drawer and eat the damn thing as far as I am concerned.
Agree…..hate to say these guys are in Texas…..their cars are bought all over the states…..
I let my 70 SS go after I graduated high school in 76. It was an original 396 on its 3rd motor at least. Forest green, white SS stripes, black interior, black vinyl top, Muncie 4 speed, 456 gears (I believe dealer installed), functional CI hood, and 70s on front, 50’s on back and of course my Cragars. The car was limited on top end but was hell in the 1/4.
I wish I still had either of my first cars.
It appears to be a real SS396 car. The VIN listed matches the VIN number stamped on the block. That’s hard (and also illegal) to fake.
The CTX engine code is a 350 HP 402. With the Rochester intake I was expecting 325 HP, but 350 HP also had a QuadraJet. The rust on the block looks bad, but it MAY be able to be salvaged depending on how far the moisture got down into the heads and cylinders.
I salvaged a DZ block 302 Chevy for my 69 Z/28 after a friend burned his car in a garage fire. The motor was out of the car and sitting under the work bench. I got to pick burned pieces of 2×4 off the top of the pistons.
It took months of soaking it in PB Blaster to get it apart. Fortunately it was a
35,000 mile standard bore motor, so it cleaned up at .030 over and the crank
cleaned up at .010 under on the rods and mains. The Pink Rods were OK.
I was just lucky, don’t spend an extra $50 assuming that one will do the same thing. Good luck if you decide to try it.
What a site, folks, goes from a Toyota Spec to a ’70 Chevelle. That’s diversity. I’m curious as to why this car had a 396,( $210.65) when I read, a 454 was only about $50 more.($263.50) The ’70 Chevelle has the unrivaled honor of the most badaxx car you could get,,,with a 454. The 396 here was the kind of in the past, and a Boss 429 or hemi anything would beat it. This car was no slouch, however, with 0-60 in 6 sec. and 1/4 mile 14.6@ 96mph. What was the Toyota Specs times??? I don’t know about you, but with cars like this, I am mighty proud I am from the USA!!
The 350 horse power 396 was part of the SS package, what you are referencing is the cost of a 396 on a non-SS Chevelle/Malibu or El Camino. Also, the 454 was not available as an option until part way through the production year.
Steve R
Thanks, man, you give the site a lot of great info, can we interest you in becoming a member? I know, is that a large fries, but I want to try and help the staff. Think about it, eh?
Good info, I believe the 454 was in what was considered the 70 1/2.
“1970 Chevelle had the unrivaled honor of the most badaxx car you could get with a 454”? Well, if you accept the Chevrolet marketing department’s promotional claims that would be true, but it actually wasn’t. The Buick GS 455 Stage 1 outperformed the 454 and there were others. Horsepower sells cars, Torque wins races.
Way over priced , Tipped upside down before you ever get started
This dealer will sell this pile of crap to some fool. Base engine. Worthless. Soon the market on this old crappy nuscle cars will go the way of the Edsel. We bought these cars in high school 53 years ago in mint shape , no reatamped engine blocks or other BS. No repo Chinese junk parts on them needed parts in 1973, just go to a Chevy dealer. I bought 4 new wheel house moldings for ,70 Chevelle SS in 1978 for about $70. Sold thrm 10 years later for $500.
If the motor is unsalvageable, then you will end up with a 70 SS that you cannot prove the provenance of, a clone. 100 thousand when done, is a lot of bucks for a clone.
very good point.
I was wondering if all the missing engine parts are in the trunk. Most can be found. I own a 1971 Chevelle for 35 years. It seems to be mostly there but this is a lot of work for the money. Cool that it is a manual!!
Dealer selling it says it all……peace!
‘70 and ‘71 Monte Carlos were NOT able to be ordered with RPO Z25. If you wanted an SS Monte Carlo either of those two years you had to check the RPO Z20 box.
90% of the muscle cars purchased new back in the day were bought for one reason: to be the Big Kahuna of the block. We bought ’em, beat ’em, and bounced ’em when done (or just got out of the hospital). Now, the gleaners of the country are scavenging the swamps and mudholes to drag ’em back out and be Mr. Greedy to some “Christine-restoring” hopeful with money and very little knowledge of how to go about restoring it. Good for the economy, though.
let me drop 28k on a non-running pile of doo. then proceed drop at least 80k to have it look nice. you are insane to do it. buy it turn key
Seems crazy, but those numbers matching fully restored 70 SS 396 cars sell in the $90k – $100k+ range these days. And the seller knows it.
That game has just about run out of steam.
I just looked, and the numbers are now mostly 20 to 30k lower than your numbers for the stuff on sale right now. And those are probably headed further south until a buyer shows up.
When you get outside of the pristine LS6 Chevelles, buyers who are willing to play the “investment asset” game with cars are now few and far between. Almost non-existent.
People have learned. They know better.
Because run-of-the-mill stuff (there are lots of big block SSs) are not investments. They’re part of the hobby. People just want to own them and drive them and sell them and hopefully get most of their money back. Paying $99,000 makes them useless for that purpose.
The auction houses made up this fantasy that all old cars are appreciating investments. It worked for a while, as people watched Tier I cars go out of sight, assuming that the rest of them must follow along.
Tier I is a completely different market, different buyers who have no concern about money, and they have a different purpose and deployment strategy. Most of them have large garages, mechanics on staff, and even museums charging admission to see them.
Bad dream
27K buys a really decent ’70 Corvette.
Just sayin’.