A couple of months ago, you probably read our story discussing the history of everyone’s favorite muscle car; the Chevelle. In it, we lightly touched on the subject of a very special and very rare Chevelle; the ’65 SS 396 Z-16. It was a car that seemed to come out of literally nowhere, – initially marketed towards “elite customers,” – and went on to be one of the highest sought-after collectible muscle cars of the 1960s.

The Z-16 was born almost out of necessity to do battle with the other emerging muscle cars of the time. Back then, muscle cars were simply referred to as high-performance cars or “Hi-Po” for short. The term “muscle car” didn’t even come along until the early ‘70s.

The original muscle cars were built between 1964 and until about 1972, though some will argue that they were really born a few years earlier with cars like the 409 Impala, SD-421 Catalina, 427 Thunderbolt, and the 426 Max Wedge Mopars. But that’s neither here nor there. What we’re focusing on today is the ’65 Chevelle SS Z-16, and all of its three hundred and ninety-six big-block cubic inches of pure, bad ass, old school, American muscle.

The Z-16 was conceived toward the end of 1964, as Pontiac’s GTO was already roaming the streets and showing the country the result of what a large, high-horsepower engine in an intermediate-sized car could do. Chevrolet, wanting to kill two birds with one stone, put their new “Mark IV” V8 to the test by fitting it in their division’s intermediate, the Chevelle, to do battle with, and in a lot of cases, against its sister. Unfortunately, only 201 lucky buyers would be able to sign their John Hancock on the dotted line as the 396 was only available as a complete option package.

But the ironic thing about Chevy’s idea for the Z-16, was instead of being a stripped down, factory-built drag car, they decided to create a gentleman’s muscle car for drivers. This meant every performance and creature comfort option available would be called upon to the complete the recipe. In order to do this properly, they had to begin from the ground up.

Beginning with solid pieces already in production, all 201 Z-16 Chevelles were built using the box-style frame found under the convertible Malibu. Then they yanked the heavy-duty rear axle and power brake system from the full-sized Impala parts bin, along with a Muncie 4-speed gearbox that was considered Corvette hardware at the time, along with upgraded suspension components.

Propelling the 3500lb. sport coupe down the drag strip required a 375hp 396, the first and only of its kind at the time. This engine, dubbed the RPO L37, was put together using the best components available to GM. A forged steel crank and pistons, 4-bolt mains, a hydraulic camshaft topped with an aluminum intake and a Holley carburetor were the main ingredients used to create this monster, and it was topped with chrome valve covers and air cleaner to add a touch of class and visual appeal to the car and to the engine itself.

Styling changes were kept to a minimum, with the standard Chevelle 300’s taillights used with a blacked-out rear valance panel used to connect the rear taillights. The blacked-out rear panel look went on to become a Chevrolet styling staple throughout the ‘60s and into the early ‘70s on all other Super Sport models. Another way to tell a Z-16 from the other run-of-the-mill Chevelles was the use of the Hurst-style wheels that were very popular at the time.

Drivers of the very first SS 396 Chevelle had the ability of keeping an eye on the revs by way of the mandatory tachometer with another eye on their speed thanks to the 160mph speedo, and if they were blessed with a third eye, the ability of making sure the highway patrol wasn’t sneaking up on them in their driver’s side remote mirror.

While they were more than likely exceeding whatever legal speed limit was posted, they at least got to ride in safety and comfort with the standard-equipped deluxe seats and seat belts.

The quarter-mile times were impressive for the day, as the bias-ply tires limited traction to performance in the mid-14s, with a trap speed of 103-105 being the result of some of the road testers. Though some of you boys that are still wet behind the ears may be smirking about how “slow” that is and how that’s comparable to an average Japanese family sedan of today, keep in mind that was super car performance back then.

Although the Z-16 wasn’t in the sales brochures, nor was heavily promoted initially, that soon changed. Chevrolet made sure that the motor-head youths of the ‘60s knew that the package existed by way of heavy promotion.

This included a promotional spot with the cast of TV’s “Bonanza,” (Chevrolet was a sponsor of the show) as well as a song titled “SS 396” by Paul Revere and the Raiders. The song was a hit, and so was the car.  Speaking of the cast of “Bonanza,” the actor, Dan Blocker who played “Hoss” on the show, actually ended up receiving one from Chevrolet to help promote the car, but it was also reported that he was to share it with some of the other cast members. That car still exists today, and is now in the hands of a private collector.

Music and television weren’t the only ways of advertisement either, long before the days of the Internet, many published car magazines raved about the car as well; including Popular Hot Rodding, Motor Trend, and the now-defunct Car Life and Mechanix Illustrated.

Although Chevrolet wanted the car to be hugely popular and very successful, they didn’t even produce enough for every Chevrolet dealer in the country to get one. As previously stated, only 201 were ever made, and only the larger, more successful dealerships received them such as Yenko and Nickey Chevrolet.

These two dealerships alone would later become known for pushing out some of the hottest Chevy iron of the day onto the street. So in a way, the Z-16 helped usher in the Yenko SC’s, and the Nickey-tuned cars as well, not to mention set the standard for the future Chevrolet-built Super Sport Chevelles to be produced in the coming years.

The first SS 396 Chevelle would go on to become a super-rare collector car, and will always be coveted by everyone who knows what a big block Chevelle is. It was a one year-only option, and although the 396 would return in the following years in the Chevelle, the Z-16 package would not.

The value of these cars is through the roof, and they are now so rare, that we couldn’t even find a current YouTube video of a real one to share with you. In fact, it is said that only 65 Z-16’s are still known to exist, which is a shame, really.