So-Cal Speed Shop 1966 Chevrolet Chevelle LS7 - Devine Intervention
Here's a trend we're seeing more and more among pro car builders: building a car using the nicest starting point available. Remember Rod Saboury's original Pro Street '63 Corvette from the early '80s? Rod was barbecued relentlessly for buying a 100-point Bloomington Gold show car and then cutting it up, even though the end result was one of the finer show cars of the decade. His reasoning was that it's easier to start with a perfect car so you don't have to deal with repairs before getting into the fun stuff.
Back then, that was an uncommon way to build a car. Today, it seems to be the norm. There are more pro builders now than ever, due mostly to the radically increased demand for hot rods, especially modified musclecars. Starting prices for turnkey cars are usually in the six-figure range, and that level of financial commitment combined with the glut of builders has made many of the new buyers impatient. When that kind of cake is on the table and the clock is ticking, a pro builder (who's paid more for his hours of labor than the cost of parts) doesn't want to hassle with a rusty, bashed pile of junk. All that time saved not fixing or replacing floorboards, sheetmetal, and bent chassis is worth the much higher entry price of a low-mile, nonbeater car.
The latest example of this is the '66 Chevelle you see here, built by So-Cal Speed Shop for John Devine. Much more than just a suit, John is a car guy and wanted a hot rod, and as Vice Chairman and CFO of General Motors (now retired), he knew it had better be a GM product to save face. One his of buddies within GM is Mark Reuss, former head of GM Performance Division, who introduced him to Pete Chapouris of So-Cal Speed Shop. Naturally, the talk turned to hot rods, and John and Pete hatched a scheme during dinner one night to build a car. Actually, the first plan was to do a mid-'50s pickup. "I always wanted a hot rod pickup truck. I still do, but Pete talked me into a musclecar, so that's what we did."
The most ubiquitous musclecar is, of course, an early Camaro, but John realized they were too cliche. Besides, he had spent 32 years as a Ford exec before coming to The General and says, "I'd rather have an old Mustang than an old Camaro." So the pair decided to build a Chevelle. John says, "I like the way the '69 and '70 Chevelles look, but I settled on a '66 because it was less common." The hunt was on.
The trophy buck was located in Portland, Oregon, and it had a heck of a rack. The '66 Chevelle was purchased from the nephew of the original owner and had a mere 15,000 miles on the odometer. It's OK to start crying now. It came with every oil-change receipt acquired since the car left the dealership and all the gas receipts, too! The old girl must have kept the thing garaged, as it was completely rust-free and even the original weatherstripping was still in good shape. Blubbering, at this point, is acceptable. The car made the trip to So-Cal in the summer of 2004, and the build got under way. Thankfully, they didn't really cut up the virginal A-body. Pete says, "Most of the OEM parts used in the build are original, with the exception of the windshield and back glass."
As you can tell in the photos, the body was left stock. The only modifications were shaving the fender and rocker moldings, and a little work was done to the original hood to extend the center strip and adapt Corvette emblems to fit both the hood and trunk lid. Why Corvette emblems? Because soon after the car started coming together, GM came out with the Z06 Corvette and its phenomenal LS7 engine. It instantly became the natural choice for John's hot rod, so an LS7 crate motor went into the car backed by a Camaro six-speed.
"I wanted a car I could drive for the next 25 years," John says. "I wanted the performance of a modern car. I wanted that balance, but keeping the car as original as we could."
Stock '66 Chevelles aren't known for having modern-car handling and ride, so the stock suspension hardware was replaced with better parts. The front crossmember was cut for ground clearance and to clear the LS7's oil pan, and a Borgeson rack-and-pinion conversion brightened up the steering response. The suspension uses 2-inch-drop B-body spindles and the full Global West catalog. Stock pedals actuate big Baer brakes, and more Global West parts locate a Currie 9-inch. Bilstein shocks on all four corners make it work even better. The full Z06 electronic-management system was adapted to the Chevelle, including the cruise control.
Probably the most obvious deviation from stock is also one of the car's nicest parts: the interior. The basic Chevelle layout was left alone, but the stock front and custom rear seats were covered in a saddle-colored leather that is creamy smooth and smells like you're in the sweet spot of a baseball glove. Gabe's Custom Auto Interiors in Bloomington, California, stitched the luscious cowhide and also laid down German square-weave carpet. Snake-Oyl seatbelts hold John in place while he stares at a stock dash (with a Haneline engine-turned insert) and spins a stock steering wheel. Creature comforts come from a Vintage Air system and an iPod-ready stereo.
The end result is a car that was built with deep pockets containing a water-cooled checkbook, for sure. But it's also one of the nicest, cleanest, best-driving Chevelles we've ever seen. Does it bug you that the beginning point was a nearly perfect example of a stock '60s musclecar? Should they have started with something that wasn't so pristine? Before passing judgment, think about how you would have built it yourself, given an equivalent budget. Does the end justify the means?
Quick Inspection: '66 Chevrolet Chevelle
John Devine . Newport Beach, CA
Powertrain
Engine: It's a bone-stock LS7 crate motor, but what more do you need than 500 daily-driveable horsepower in a car that's meant to be driven daily? Jeff Johnson at Accurate Mobile Welding fabricated the 31-inch-long, 171/48-inch stainless steel headers to make them fit the stock Chevelle chassis. The mufflers are from MagnaFlow.
Power: Driven a new Z06 Corvette yet? If not, just know that it's the smoothest but nastiest 500 hp you'll ever experience.
Transmission: It's a T56 six-speed from a Camaro with a Z06 clutch and an Inland Empire Driveline driveshaft.
Rearend: The Currie 9-inch holds 3.89 gears and a TrueTrac diff.
Chassis
Frame: The frame is stock, low-mileage Chevelle with the front crossmember cut a little bit to clear the oil pan and give a little more ground clearance.
Suspension: Almost everything Global West offers for a '66 Chevelle was bolted to this one, including taller 2-inch-drop, B-body spindles and tubular control arms. A Borgeson variable-rate rack-and-pinion conversion replaces the stock recirculating ball box. The rear suspension uses more Global West parts with 1-inch-drop springs.
Brakes: The Baer brakes measure 14 inches in front and 13 inches in back, and the booster and master cylinder are from an '02 Corvette.
Wheels: The Budnik Muroc IIIs are a one-off design and finished in two-tone brushed nickel, sized 18x8 all around.
Tires: Dunlop SP2000s measure 255/45-18 in front and 285/50-18 in the rear.
Style
Body: Thankfully, they left the body mostly stock, with just a few subtle mods to give it a nod to the Corvette drivetrain.
Paint: Scott "Dirty" Howard and Pelle Forsberg did a lot of the fabrication, pre-assembly fit-up, and the final assembly, while Jesus Salas, Paco Castell, and Abe Rodriguez made the panels straight and painted it PPG black. Sean Dooley did the color-sanding and rubbing.
Interior: Gabe's Custom Auto Interiors made the inside of the car sweet with saddle-colored leather threads and a custom rear seat.

Photo Gallery: So-Cal Speed Shop 1966 Chevrolet Chevelle LS7 - Hot Rod Magazine



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