The Chevrolet Chevelle was one of the best-selling mid-size cars in 1970. And the SS 396 was one of the most popular muscle cars with more than 53,000 copies sold (plus nearly 9,000 sporting the SS 454 option). The seller’s Chevelle project still has its build sheet confirming it was built as a real-deal SS 396. That engine is gone but a rebuilt period-correct 454 is under the hood now. It still needs work as does the rest of the Fathom Blue Malibu from a cosmetic perspective.
In most respects, the 1970 model year was the heyday for muscle cars. Demand would decline going forward due to rising insurance premiums on these types of machines and a tightening of pollution emissions for a better environment. So, if you were looking for a big-block powerhouse, the Chevelle SS 396 in 1970 was much the same car it had been throughout the second half of the 1960s. The 396 cubic inch V8 now actually displaced 402 CI but the car was still marketed as a 396.
This Chevy is clearly a project car and will need a ton of work. The 454 needs topping off and we don’t know if its Turbo-Hydramatic transmission needs any attention There are a lot of parts stored in the interior, and we don’t know that once you inventoried everything you’d find some stuff is missing, and needs replacing. Despite the car’s rough condition, its build sheet has survived and is just about the only way to confirm one of these cars as being genuine because the Super Sport was then an option, not a series.
Though the body will need massaging, we’re told that new quarter panels have been installed, a step in the right direction. The Chevrolet is offered by a dealer, so its history probably isn’t known. From Ocoee, Florida, this SS is available here on eBay where the opening bid of $5,794 has yet to be cast. And that number is below the reserve the seller has set. This vehicle will take a lot of time, work, and money to get to its point of rebirth. Are you the collector who will make that happen?
Barns Finds featured this car last February. Steve noted then it was on the dealer’s website for $35K. The dealer has since reduced the asking price to $29K.
Thank you, you saved me the trouble of checking.
t’s still too much, the market seems softer today than it was then.
Steve R
I remember seeing last year too
Yawn!!! The time has come and gone for these total restoration projects. Doesn’t matter if it’s an SS big block. They all are. Right?
I know that given some recent comments re: my feelings on some car values that I will probably get heat for this, but here you go. Not only is 29K absolutely nuts for this thing, even $5795 is too much for it. So, there you have it. Have fun.
You are not alone, Charles.
I would like to have the ear diff and rear sway bar if they are good. That’s if it is being parted out which it should be if possible.
I would like to have the rear diff and rear sway bar if they are good. That’s if it is being parted out which it should be if possible.
It’s a bottom of the food chain SS396 (bench seat, column shift automatic,no AC, no posi, no cowl , no gauges…. AND it’s been completely taken apart, so god only knows how many critical components are missing or damaged.
It’s 2024, You could be given this car for free, invest years of free labor and you would still be underwater vs cars finished value after restoration.
Runt of the litter that is going to be very difficult to place for any real $$……..
It would look nice painted up and parked out front, and used as a flower pot. A few daisys, maybe some petunias, it would be great! Otherwise…what?
This is a waste of a gorgeous engine.
I again disagree with the majority. The market may currenlty be softner, but you are also talking about the most iconic muscle car of that era. With only 50k produced in 1970, one could actually see those numbers cut by two-thirds (based on actual cars with a build sheet) still existing! Those cars will ALWAYS bring the dollars, in a soft market or high market. Basic Econ 101 regarding supply and demand will always dictate that price…scaracity equals high demand and dollars…period…you dont have to like or agree with it….that is the simple truth…today 29k…in two week, two years, 50k…
Wow, simply amazing analogy.
Perfectly Spoken Sir
Did I miss something? Is this a Duesenberg or a run-of-the-mill Chevelle?
The market is soft for a reason. Interest rates and high insurance. The economy is in the tank as consumables are at record highs as the cost of living. Families are suffering.
The boomers that can afford this AND restore it obviously are not stupid with their money. They will hold out and buy a car they can enjoy and not hit the financial roller coaster. Avoid problems after problems during a long drawn out restoration.
Someone will end up (over)paying for this.
I remember sitting in a body-damaged 1973 Cutlass 2 dr. that I had bought for $175, on the hill outside the scrapyard of a large city in the early 80’s, watching cars 10 times in better shape than this one riding up the conveyor into the shredder. It made me cringe then, and today it makes me sick to think of those “projects” being shredded by the hundreds every single day. Now, ppl want $29K, or $5,700??? Oh, if I had only filled up about 20 barns with them then…makes me sick. Ppl scrapping them out for $35 to $50.