Chevelles from 1969 to 1972 are easier to clone as Super Sports than the 1966 to 1968 editions because the SS was just an option in the later years. For the earlier years, the SS 396 was a series of its own and had its own body number. This ’66 Chevelle began life as an ordinary Malibu Sport Coupe but a transformation to an SS was started at some point, then it lost its engine and transmission. The seller had intended to finish the project, but priorities have changed. From Pennington, New Jersey, someone new gets to finish the job, perhaps dropping in an LS V8 under the hood. Available here on eBay, the current bid is $8,200 but the reserve is unmet.

By its third year in production, the Chevy Chevelle had become the company’s second most popular car (the Impala, etc. was still first). More than 447,000 of the vehicles were built in 1966, including the El Camino, the Chevelle-based pickup. Of those, 130,500 Malibu Sport Coupes were assembled (like this one) with a V8 powerplant. The SS 396 put out big numbers too, at nearly 69,000 copies rolling out the door. This edition once had a 327 cubic inch V8 and (we assume) an automatic transmission (Powerglide?), but they flew the coop long ago, perhaps even 30 years.

As the story goes, this vehicle was taken off the road in the early 1990s (the last inspection expired in 1992). Other than what goes under the hood, the rest of the vehicle is mostly complete (we’re not sure what else is missing). Some work was done on the body and much of it was primed, but the once red primer almost looks pink now. The seller says the paint before was aqua, but it looks black unless that was changed. The interior is aqua, too, except for the bucket seats which are black and need work. The back seat is MIA.

With a lot of the body panels replaced before the priming, a bit of sheet metal work is still needed (for example, a small dent in the driver’s side quarter).  The trunk also needs some patches. The car sports SS emblems and console and has those Torque Thruster wheels that were all the rage in the 1980s. Since it will never be numbers matching, the seller suggests maybe dropping in an LS motor and making the car your own rather than attempting another SS 396 look-a-like. What’s your take?