One of our favorite YouTube characters is ScottieDTV. He travels all over the United States checking out cars and hearing the stories of them from the owners. He was recently at Auctions America where he spotted this Olympic Gold 1969 Chevelle SS 396.
The car caught our eye and Scottie’s as well because of the unique color combination and the massive 396 cubic inch big-block poking through the hood. Scottie catches up with the owner, Jeff who appears to be in his late 40’s or early 50’s. Jeff is lucky in that he has owned this car since he was a young buck of only 16 years old.
This Chevelle was originally picked up to be a stock car by Jeff’s father. After the racing was complete, Jeff grabbed the Chevelle and started driving it. Back in the early 1990s Jeff restored the entire car himself, including the paint. The car won a few awards at car shows, but hasn’t been touched since then. Jeff must keep this wild ride inside a bubble in his garage, as the car looks freshly restored.
One really neat feature is the big-block is sporting a 1966 tunnel ram from Edelbrock, one of the first they made. The motor itself is a 396 cubic inch block with 10:1 pistons, 427 closed chamber heads, Isky camshaft, Pete Jackson gear drive and dual 650 Holleys perched up top. A four speed transmission backs up this rat.
Jeff used to drag race the car regularly on a 1/8th mile strip, which had the car pulling in 7.90 et’s at 92 mph. The car still has the 5.38 gears in the rear from his drag racing days as well. While this car doesn’t see the track anymore, we still wouldn’t want to pull up next to it at a stoplight!