[Belair62]

As with many members of the SYC site who have relentlessly pursued their dream cars for years, I tracked this 1970 Chevelle SS454 LS5 for many years and across 3 states before I was able to work a timely deal with the previous owner. Speaking of owners, I'm the lucky 4th owner of this frame-off restored Chevelle. Built at the Lakewood Plant in Atlanta Georgia during the 4th week of January 1970, the Chevelle was shipped to Rich Chevrolet & Cadillac in Ridgway, Pennsylvania. As the story unfolds, the original owner was Gary Greenwood who owned Greenwood Oil in Williamsburg, Pennsylvania and he kept the car until October of 1988. The second owner was a very talented machinist and hot rodder who completed the full frame-off by 1993. Looking to build another hot rod, he sold the car to the 3rd owner out of Chicago in October of 1994 who was heavily into muscle cars of all types and a professional wrench. The car was brought to even higher standards and was a recipient of a Chevy/Vettfest National Silver Spinner Award in February, 1996. When the owner moved from Chicago to San Diego, I called on the car out of Hemmings and found it less than 5 miles from my work in Southern California. As real estate in San Diego began to escalate in price, I was able to trade my 1970 SS454 Monte Carlo plus some cash to the owners at just the right time as they were looking to make a down payment on a house. I've owned the Chevelle since April, 1998.

In addition, I've got the original build sheet which was found glued inside the door panel and documents every option that is on the car today. I took it off the show circuit and I've put about 500 miles per year on the odometer which reads 78,591 as I write this. The car was dyno-tuned by Joe Jill at Superior Automotive in Southern California and puts out a respectable 287.6 peak HP at the rear wheels with 415.7 ft. lbs. max torque through it's original engine, transmission and rear end. Photographed by Robert Genat, the car is on the cover of his book titled "Chevrolet SS" with multiple photographs inside. It's a lot of fun and there's nothing like the sound of the M22 backed by a big block Chevy going through those gears.

Jim Ross
SS4REAL on the SYC site