Erik's 70 Chevelle SS

[Belair62]

Cool car and it's Camaroejoes' bro !

This weeks Member Ride belongs to one of our youngest members, my little brother, Erik Barr, otherwise known as Supercar Kid. Erik owns this beautiful 1970 Chevelle SS 454 clone. Perhaps the most interesting thing about this car is the story behind it. Erik and I have grown up around classic Chevy musclecars our entire lives, with my dad always fixing up or driving various Chevelles, Novas, Camaros, etc. as we were growing up. We spent much of our childhood times dreaming of the cool cars we planned to someday own. Being nearly 5 years older than Erik, I had this opportunity come to me a bit earlier than he did, when I bought a 72 Nova at age 16. Even as a 12 year old kid, Erik often mentioned how someday he dreamed of owning a red 70 Chevelle, his favorite musclecar. Well, when his 14th birthday came, my father handed him a small gift, but also an envelope. Inside the usual birthday card was a pair of very worn old GM keys. He led Erik outside where he was greeted with a well worn, badly painted, 70 Chevelle 2 door. It was actually one of the rarest Chevelles made in 1970, not an L-78 or LS-6 convertible, or anything of such high performance pedigree, but rather a lowly Canadian built 1970 Chevelle 300 sport coupe. A thrice repainted, severely neglected, 307 two barrel 3 speed auto on the column. Black bench interior and an option list you could tally on one hand. Dad told him, here's your first car, you have 2 full years to get it ready for your 16th birthday, and I will help you built it. During the next year and a half Erik, my father, and myself spent every weekend and free moment we could spare working on the car. It needed extensive rust repair including quarters, doors, fenders, deck lid, hood, floor pans, and even a roof skin! By scavenging swap meets and bone yards, and through my family and friends generosity, by the time Erik turned 16 the car was complete. He drove the car for several years with the bone stock 307, and a few years ago saved up enough money to build and install a 454, finally making the fender emblems match what was under the pinned hood! The car is now painted Cranberry Red, with black stripes and bucket seats. We used many original and NOS parts, and did every aspect of the restoration in-house, including body, paint, and interior, in my dad's 2 car garage. While my brother's car is not numbers matching, or even a true SS for that matter, this Chevelle has become a part of him, and a true learning experience that few young folks have the opportunity to encounter. While he plans to one day own a supercar of his own, he also intends to keep this Chevelle with him forever... something a lot of us probably wish we had done with our own "first cars".