At first glance, this 1966 Chevelle appears to be stock, minus some modern looking wheels. With a nice blue glow inside and out, the stock appearance still looks great after 45 years. This Chevelle even has a rare option: front and rear bumper guards.
While on the Hot Rod Power Tour, The Block noticed this Chevelle day after day and had to snap some photos. Once you start looking at the SS, you’ll notice small details here and there that set this car apart from the rest. If Chevy were to make a modern day ’66 Chevelle, this is exactly how we think the car would pop out of the oven. Lets start with the most obvious change, the engine.
Instead of a steel 396 cubic-inch big-block under the hood, the car sports an LSA motor from Chevrolet Performance. This LS pumps out 580 hp and 556 lb-ft of torque. The original 396 engine produced 375 hp, so this new motor has an additional 205 hp under the hood. The transmission was swapped out with a modern 4L70E to match the LSA engine.
The performance mods continued to the suspension as well. Instead of stamped steel control arms, a complete set of RideTech suspension was fitted under the A-body. In order to get this steel behemoth to stop in a hurry, a complete set of Wilwood disc brakes were installed all the way around. From there a set of modern KWC 17″ and 18″ wheels fill the tubs.
Inside there was slight upgrades, but mostly remaining stock. One major improvement over stock was the installation of a set of Dakota Digital VHX gauges in the dash. These allow Tibor to keep tabs on his motor and how she’s running. The shifter was also modified to have the proper shifting detents with the modern overdrive transmission.
With the timeless looks of a classic ’66 and the modern upgrades, this Chevelle has the best of both worlds! We hope to see this pavement pounder again! For additional photos check out The Block.