With Only 19,000 Miles, This Chevelle Still Has A Storied Past

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When it comes to Chevrolet collector cars, getting your hands on an untouched, original musclecar is getting harder and harder to accomplish. Sure, there are a few cars out there that meet that criteria, but most of them are already in the hands of collectors. Take for instance this Butternut Yellow 1969 Chevelle Super Sport.

Typically, the original T3 headlights are long gone. Also, having a little dirt on a badge of a restored car is a problem. When that dirt is pat of a car's 19,000-mile history, it needs to stay.

Bruce Case of Chattanooga, Tennessee, just happened to get his hands on one of these much-sought-after pieces of history, and we asked how he found it. “I had been looking for a 1969 Chevelle SS for several years. In the early ‘70s, when I was in college, I had the same type of Chevelle. Unfortunately, in 1971, I was helping a girlfriend do some work on her car. While I had her car, she was driving my Butternut Yellow ’69 SS Chevelle. One evening there was a knock on my front door. When I opened the door, there was the ‘girlfriend,’ and her ‘other’ boyfriend. They told me they had just totaled my Chevelle. As those years went by, and my desire was to eventually get another car like my old Chevelle, and that desire never went away. Oh, and about the girlfriend, we went our separate ways.

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Bruce spent many years thinking about another Chevelle, but the opportunity never presented itself. That is, until the year 2013. While surfing the Internet, Bruce came across this gem of a Chevelle while perusing eBay. At the time, the seller was asking a price that Bruce thought to be too much for the car, so he did not place a bid.

Although the bidding never reached a point that motivated the seller to part with the car, about a year after the auction ended, the Chevelle owner purchased another musclecar, and really needed to sell the Chevelle.

The seller then placed the Chevelle back on the auction site, and this time, the price reflected his desire to actually let go of the car. According to Bruce, “When my wife looked at it and said go for it, I bid on the car, spoke to the dealer about the car’s condition, and was able to purchase it.” Bruce’s research has confirmed that this Chevelle Super Sport is showing a true odometer reading of 19,000, but they weren’t all easy miles.

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Sometime during its life, the car was repainted, and the black vinyl top was removed. The original, low-mileage 396 cubic-inch engine is backed by a Turbo 400 transmission, and 3.73 gears fill the 12-bolt rearend. The factory front disc-brakes and rear drums bring it to a halt, and finally, the car was apparently raced at some point, as there is a driveshaft loop installed under the floor.

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The interior still wears the factory-installed black material on the seats, but there is a replacement radio installed. And, even though the car did come from the factory with air conditioning, it was removed at some point. In a stroke of good fortune, the parts were never thrown away, and Bruce was able to get them with the purchase. He did however replace the removed parts with new pieces to make sure that it worked reliably. Don’t worry, the original parts are safely stored away.

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One issue that did plaque the car when Bruce acquired it, was that the surface of the car looked like a golf ball. Bruce tells us, “The car was covered with at least a thousand small dents that appeared to be from hail damage. I took it to a friend who popped out about 98-percent of the dimples. He then wet sanded and buffed the paint.” We would have never realized the damage if Bruce hadn’t old us about it.

If you think that you can never find what you’re looking for in regards to a collectible car, Bruce is living proof that low-mileage finds do still exist. Sometimes you just have to wait your turn to own one.

About the author

Randy Bolig

Randy Bolig has been working on cars and has been involved in the hobby ever since he bought his first car when he was only 14 years old. His passion for performance got him noticed by many locals, and he began helping them modify their vehicles.
Read My Articles

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