We’ve seen plenty of these oddball shorty conversions over the years, but they have been largely contained to old VW Buses and luxurious Cadillac models. I can’t recall seeing a muscle car (or at least something that looks like one) used for this purpose, but in the case of unfinished projects, the results are the same: troubling. This 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle has started down the long path towards becoming a shorty, but there’s lots left to do. Find it here on craigslist for $2,500 in Modesto.
The seller notes it has been sitting for some time, and that’s no real surprise. There’s all sorts of questions here, and the biggest ones in my book are around structural integrity. Was this conversion done well, with concerns for safety and structural integrity addressed? Doubtful. Whenever this work was done, there’s little doubt it was with an amateur’s eye for design. Of course, we can’t rule out the prospect of a talented kid from the local shop class putting this together and doing a half decent job; only way to find out is to inspect it in person.
The car in question has a 307 small block under the hood, paired to a Turbo 350 automatic transmission. The Chevelle could end up looking like this with enough time and ambition (and money), in which case I would better understand why it was created in the first place. If this was the vision the builder had when he started chopping up this Chevy, then I am completely on board with seeing this forgotten shorty project come back to life. However, even with the cool factor through the roof, I feel like $2,500 is a tall ask with so many unknowns.
I’m not looking at this as a mistake – I’m looking at a nice front clip, rust free quarter panels, etc. Example: ‘a California body for an Ohio project’. Basically, the car is worth the sum of its parts…
I have this 4 door that I got for next to nothing, but really want a 2 door. And then they saw the picture of that other thing and now there is almost two of them. Big fun is correct about the front clip, rear quarters maybe the center of the wheel back, trunk lid etc. Parts and then parts.
By the look of it the rest of it was in decent shape when it was cut up, too.
Every time I see something like this I think “Just drive the dang four-door, folks!”
I’m old enough to remember when people did this with tri-five Chevy wagons. Short wheel base, a hand full…………like a fuel altered on the street. Not my kinda stuff.
Like the other guys, I’ve seen a lot of these over the years, especially Tri-5’s in my area. I’ve always thought that the way to go would be to splice the front and rear doors in such a way to make a longer door , and therefore longer wheel base, to where the proportions would look “normal ” like an AMX,, say, and people would puzzle over if it was a factory offered model they didn’t know about. With a job that big, the extra door splicing would not be that big of a deal
I think it’s cute. If you buy, you’ll be answering the same question over and over. “why did you have to cut up a perfectly good Chevelle?”
Done to a Volkswagen Van is cute. This not so much.
I’ll ask ‘why’ once I stop laughing.
Currently, after seeing day after day of almost nothing BUT 4 door unattractive vehicles that all look alike, i almost wish the above 2 door conversion was done to THEM!
Ok, this one makes it hard to follow my own rule to not give negative comments …
I ask, why hasn’t this one found it’s way to the crusher?
Oh yes … it’s called freedom of expression or choice.
But it HAS to be a very small minority, and in my opinion bad choice.
I’ve always thought “what I do to MY car is for me ONLY”, but this one takes the cake!!!
Would make some good parts. Other than that, it demonstrates why you should never work drunk.
why?!?
I have the same question!
This HAS to be alcohol related.
Sad. So very sad. But who knows, maybe it had been rear-ended.
I’ve always wanted to do this, but to a 4 door 66-67 Nova wagon, and I wouldn’t shorten the wheel base, get a correct 2 door hardtop door, and make a NovaMad. This is how to make a 4 door really undesirable.
Even with the nicest paint job and wheels – this is a clown car, and no amount of elbow grease can polish out the clown in it. Great parts car though – might be worth the ask.
Front clip= Yes
Of course the rear quarters are 4 door specific, so unless that’s what you need panels for there’s no reason to place any value on the rear quarters.
Front clip and whatever may be useable from the dash etc doesn’t equal $2500
Unsafe at any speed. Crunch it.
Lot of money for a pile of parts
Troy Nailed this one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It hurts my feeble head to look at this…..