Chevelle Restoration and Authenticity Guide 1970-1972. Dale McIntosh
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of age and looking for inexpensive transportation that had style and performance, GM’s lineup offered a myriad of choices for the buyer. Since Chevrolet was the bread-and-butter of General Motors and offered a lower entry cost for the young consumer, the Chevelle has something for everyone from entry level 300/300 Deluxe series with minimal trim and creature comforts to the Malibu and SS396 series with upgraded trim and interiors. There were also station wagons for the young family, convertibles for the drop-top enthusiast, and the sedan pickup (El Camino) half-truck, half-car that was resurrected into the Chevelle family; there was truly something for everyone.
GM’s Pontiac division broke the performance barrier with the GTO option on its 1964 Tempest. John DeLorean, Bill Collins, and Russ Gee were responsible for the GTO in 1964. Although GM’s management banned divisions from involvement in racing, Pontiac disregarded GM policy of limiting the midsize A-body platform to a maximum of 330 ci. Pete Estes was president of the Pontiac division from 1961 to 1965, and he approved the Pontiac 389-ci engine with the GTO option. With its 3×2 carburetor setup, the GTO pumped out an amazing 348 hp. Buick and Oldsmobile had nothing to compete with Pontiac, and Chevrolet’s best initial offering was their tried-and-true 283-ci engine with 220 hp. Chevrolet did respond in March with a 250-hp version of the 327-ci engine and again in June with a 300-hp version. It was still far short of the 348-hp 389-ci monster that the GTO option offered.
Pete Estes became the president of the Chevrolet division in 1965, and he started the ball rolling for the largest division of General Motors. He remained in this position until he was promoted to executive vice president of General Motors in 1972. During these years, the Chevrolet division saw the beginning (and end) of Chevrolet’s participation in the horsepower wars of the 1960s and 1970s.
Through the 1960s and into the 1970s, this cubic inch/horsepower war would rage within General Motors, as well as Ford Motor Company, Chrysler Corporation, and, to some extent, American Motors. The peak was reached with the 1970 Malibu with the SS454 option, which was its 454-ci 450-hp LS6 monster. The December 1969 introduction of the Chevelle became the highest advertised horsepower-rated engine in any production car on the market for the 1970 model year and would not be surpassed by any other muscle car of the era. A total of 4,475 Regular Production Option (RPO) LS6 engine options were sold in three Chevelle Malibu bodystyles: the sport coupe, the convertible, and the custom El Camino. Transmission choices were limited to the heavy-duty Muncie RPO M22 4-speed or the heavy-duty RPO M40 Turbo-Hydramatic 400 (TH400) 3-speed automatic.
The Tonawanda, New York, engine plant production figures do show that 3,525 LS6 engines were built for a manual transmission (obviously the M22) and 1,923 were built for the automatic (heavy-duty TH400) for a total of 5,448 LS6 engines. Of those, 4,475 went into production Malibus and 973 were service engines. One can take those figures and guess or calculate a statistical number of how many production LS6 Malibus were equipped with either transmission, but it is still a guess because the M40 transmission, as an RPO number, was available with the newly introduced LS3 402-ci 330-hp engine along with the L34, L78, LS5, and LS6.
The same can be said for specific engines versus bodystyles. The number of LS6 engines sold is not broken down by the particular bodystyle they were sold in. One can extrapolate a statistical distribution of sport coupes, convertibles, and El Caminos that received the LS6 engine, but like the engine/transmission combination, it is only a calculated, distributive number. Throw in things such as the RPO ZL2 cowl-induction hood (which could also be ordered with the two 396-ci engine options), and you can see how claims of “1-of-X” LS6 4-speed convertibles with the ZL2 hood option can get a bit silly.
The 1960s and 1970s were days of “race on Sunday and sell on Monday.” Chevrolet’s Chevelle was never really that competitive in oval track racing (such as NASCAR) like Ford and Chrysler, but straight-line performance in drag racing was another story. There were two 1970 Malibus on the drag racing circuit that were famous. One was the Ray Allen–piloted Briggs Chevrolet LS6 Fathom Blue convertible, which was tuned by performance specialists Ralph Truppi and Tommy Kling. It pretty much dominated the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) SS/EA class by never losing a class race except on those occasions when he might red-light himself out of competition. Although the NHRA required at least 50 cars be built for a particular class, it has been claimed the NHRA relaxed the rules a bit to allow the Ray Allen car to compete; so, whether there were actually at least 50 LS6 convertibles built will continue to be a question as GM’s production records were destroyed years ago. The other famous car was Bob Hamilton’s LS6 Cranberry Red Red Alert sport coupe in SS/DA class. It was so well known that AMT model car kit company introduced a 1:25 scale model of Red Alert (albeit a 1972 Malibu model) and became a primary sponsor on the car for a number of years.
Valuable Chevelle Malibus and SS396 Chevelles
These two race cars aside, the LS6 Chevelle is still arguably the most sought-after 1970 Chevelle, and the cars typically have six-figure selling prices. Correctly restored LS5 Malibus and even the L34 and L78 Malibus can bring a hefty price in the upper five-figure range at private sales as well as auctions, and 1971/1972 Malibus are growing in popularity.
Well-done restorations of 1970 Malibus with the other three engines: RPO L34 396/350 hp, RPO L78 396/375 hp, and RPO LS5 454/360 hp, can still command mid-to-high five-figure prices along with the 1971 and 1972 LS5-powered Malibus. Remember, aside from the unique pieces of the 1970 LS6 driveline, it costs just as much in bodywork, chassis work, paint, interior, etc. to properly restore a 1970 Chevelle with the other three engines; something to keep in mind whether you are looking at a roller to restore or buy one that has been recently restored. The same holds true for the 1971 and 1972 model years; aside from engine/transmission options, the bodywork, chassis work, etc. costs can run the same. Generally, other years of Chevelles are not as costly to restore due to the relatively lower cost of those hard-to-find items.
Some engine/model combinations, such as the 1970 L78 convertible, are relatively rare due to the short production time of the L78 engine being an option for 1970. The 1965 RPO Z16-optioned Malibu SS396 is certainly considered one of the rarest and arguably the most desirable Chevelle today. Of the 201 built, only about 70 are known to exist, so finding a real unknown RPO Z16 Malibu SS396 today is not very likely.
This rare 1970 convertible in Fathom Blue and white convertible top with RPO L78 engine was optioned with RPO ZL2 Special Ducted Hood Air System and complemented with white stripes. Given the short life span of the L78, engine availability in 1970, and being a convertible, these are highly sought after by Chevelle enthusiasts. (Photo Courtesy L78 Registry)
A two-door station wagon made a brief comeback in the Chevelle lineup, but it only lasted for two years: 1964 and 1965. The two-door station wagon was only available in the base Chevelle 300 series. One can only imagine the interest these would have sparked if they had been a Malibu SS series with the nostalgia chrome trim on the tailgate.
As with any collectible item, rarity doesn’t always mean desirability or potential value. There were quite a number of low-production-volume Chevelles built between the 1964 and 1972 model years. One example is the 1968 Malibu four-door station wagon with a 6-cylinder engine; only five were built and only a few people would consider them collectible and spend the money necessary to bring one back to showroom condition. On the other hand, the 1964 and 1965 Chevelle 300 two-door station wagon brings back the nostalgia days of the 1955–1957 Nomad station wagon. Owners will spend the money to restore them, particularly those with the optional high-horsepower V-8 engine of the day and 4-speed manual transmission.
COPO Chevelles
Many think the COPO acronym is magic and that anything outside the norm is a COPO Chevelle. The only true COPO Chevelles were 323 Malibu sport coupes built in 1969 with Chevrolet’s RPO L72 427 425-hp engine. Because General Motors had a 400-ci limit on engine size prior to the 1970 model year, these 323 1969 Malibus were built under the COPO process with several COPO codes for various performance items.
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