Bill Thomas 67 Chevelle

[MailOrderMotion]

Hi Everyone, I am asking this on behalf of a friend who has just bought an interesting '67 Chevelle. The price he paid was pretty decent for a real SS396 Chevelle, but...... There are some interesting items on this one. Now as background I have collected '67 to '70 SS Chevelles since the late 70's so I have seen most everything that a faker would try, but this one raises some curiousity. It was just purchased from owner #3 who never retitled the car from the owner #2 ( Western state title )and it shows that the 1st title was California. Next, the seller made no attempt whatsoever to weave a tale ( but Bill Thomas was mentioned in passing ) and he has owned the car for around 20 years. He brought it with when he moved here from Southern California. Alright, alright I'll get to the point. The car came with some very OLD '70s / '80s vintage photos showing all the interesting stuff on this car as it is today. It is currently a 427/425 4 speed car with all of the required 427 & SS badging with one interesting addition - 427 numerals ( 67 Impala fender ? ) installed into the hood louvers. I am looking forward to seeing it in person ( and scoping out numbers ), but by the photos the louvers look to be well done. The obvious question is - could this be a transplant car by Thomas or Dana ? or simply someone's early attempt at something neat ? Here is the partial VIN - 138177Z108xxx. The car was triple Gold in color, but is now Black with a Gold interior. I know there are thousands of "Fantasy" '67 SS427 Chevelles, but did a legit 67 Chevelle transplant actually exist? I have not even taken the time to refresh my memory as the VIN code for SS396, I think the 8 is it, but memory may fail me. Is this just a fantasy car or is there potential. Thanks in advance, Dave

[MailOrderMotion]

Today we found out that the car was sold new by Santa Paula Chevrolet in Santa Paula California on October 31st, 1966. Still no proof, but at least it's the L.A. area. Does anyone have any ideas?
Dave

[allcamaro]

I knew of a 67 Chevelle SS in Southern CA but the car im speaking of had cowl plenum and 427 w4speed.I think the car was Bronze at the time I had seen it not black.The car about a year ago and I dont know what part of the country it went to but can find out if ness.

[Astock]

I think you're talking about my car. It is a '66 427 Transplant Dana Chevelle with Cowl Plenum (original paint). A friend of mine spoke to Armstrong(?), who worked for Dana Chevrolet at the time. He said that they made about 6 427 Chevelles in 1966, all were black. I'm not sure about 1967. He did not ask about 1967. Over the years I have seen a lot of cars at shows that have 427 emblems on them that are only clones. Hope I have been of some help.
Jim (Tustin, California)

[SuperNovaSS]

I know the current manager of Santa Paula Chevrolet if it could be any help.


Jason

[MailOrderMotion]

Sorry for the delay, the system at work will not let me post anything. Yes, the number for the manager at Santa Paula Chevy would help very much. Was this dealer known to sell transplant cars at all? The car's owner has been watching this and has emailed several of you privately and wants me to thank everyone for your help.
Dave

[SuperNovaSS]

I don't know of Santa Paula Chevrolet selling any high performance cars except basic SS cars available from Chevrolet. Email me offline and I will get you the Manager/Owners name if you still want it. By the way, how were you able to find out it came from Santa Paula Chevrolet?


Jason

[MailOrderMotion]

The owner was able to trace the VIN through the State Patrol. The information was given as Santa Paula Chevrolet. On another note, the owner has now decided to mention that the car sported a small block for a while and that the current engine is far from original to the car. That combined with the total lack of documentation seems to lead us to the end of the road ( at least for me ). Hmmm...... The owner did not seem to think that these "trivial" bits of information were important when he asked me to post the original message. I found this out friday afternoon - did anyone see the mushroom cloud? I'll leave it at that. Thanks to everyone who reponded and helped. Dave