For a few years there, there was the briefest of hopes that GM would revive the Chevrolet Chevelle name for the recently-imported Holden Commodore. Alas, GM instead went with the rather blaise “SS” moniker, once again killing the hopes and dreams of Chevelle fans praying for a 21st century revival. Alas, retro is dead, and so is the Chevelle.
But that doesn’t mean the Chevelles of yesteryear have to stay stuck with 1960s technology. One of our favorite performance shops, Fastlane Inc., has been hard-at-work for 10 months on this 1969 Chevelle, shoehorning a supercharged 6.2 liter LSA V8 engine into the nearly 45-year old muscle car, and then rolling it onto the dyno to everyone’s delight.
Not that fitting a modern motor into the Chevelle’s massive engine back is a problem; GM is still relying on narrow pushrod V8 engines, and the ‘69 Chevelle came from the factory with motors as massive as 396 cubic-inches. Fastlane performed some minor work before installing the LSA engine though, adding a Comp camshaft, PSA springs, and some headwork in pursuit of 500 horsepower.
Backing the engine is a GM Performance Parts 4L85 transmission and a Street and Performance wiring harness. So what’s all this hard work translate to? A best dyno run of 522 horsepower and 496 ft-lbs of torque, at the wheels. That’s more power than the factory ‘69 Chevelle could ever dream of, and it sounds as wicked as it looks. A Chevelle well done.