A Tale of Two Chevelles
When we started thinking about this profile of the two Chevelles that will be displayed in the Speedway Motors booth at the Goodguys 32nd Speedway Motors Heartland Nationals in Des Moines, Iowa, we thought the focus would be on how different they are. After all, TJ Zessin’s silver ’70 is a factory hot rod; a real SS396 4-speed with disc brakes and a 12-bolt. On the other hand, our Project Chevelle rolled off the line with few concessions to performance. Instead, a 307, three-on-the-tree, drum brakes, and manual steering were selected on the option sheet. But when we started digging, we were astonished to find that these two cars really have a lot in common. How did we get there? Let’s start by taking a close look at each car.
TJ Zessin's 1970 Chevelle SS396
You’ve met TJ. He has quite the collection of cars, and we’ve featured his G-Comp Nova before. He also makes parts for some outrageous customs and show cars through his business, Atomic Machine and Design. His history with this Chevelle goes way back to 2000, when he found it listed for sale in the Thrifty Nickel. It was a basketcase, but TJ looked past its sad state and found a lot of things he was looking for. It was a ’70, which we all know was the high-water mark for the muscle car era. It was a factory big block SS. It was a 4-speed. And, after a little digging, TJ also realized that the factory color was Cortez Silver, which was the color he wanted to paint it anyway. It was clearly meant to be.
A deal was made and TJ got to work. Some rust repair had already begun, and TJ and his dad finished it up. They got it painted, got the big block running, and got everything put back together in time for the Chevelle to serve as getaway car for TJ and his new bride after their wedding. The couple also hit the Hot Rod Power Tour in 2004 and, after a last-minute transmission swap, the Chevelle made it all the way from Dallas to Green Bay.
After a full Power Tour with a big block, 3.73 gears, and no overdrive, TJ swapped in a Tremec TKO 600 5-speed. Then a few years later, upgraded the suspension to a RideTech Streetgrip kit. Otherwise, these days the Chevelle leads a pretty quiet life as TJ works on other cars in his collection. But, he says that if he had to start selling cars, this Chevelle would be the last one to go because of the long life they’ve had together.
Speedway Motors Project Chevelle
If this car looks familiar to you, it’s because we did a very detailed build series on it about 5 years ago. You can read the whole story of our Project Chevelle here on the Toolbox, but we’ll give you the short version here. A fellow named Darrell bought this car new in 1972 in Norfolk, Nebraska. It served as his daily driver and family car for many years before he realized that it was actually a pretty nice and collectible old car, so it was semi-retired and pampered for a couple decades. For all this time it retained its original 307, 3-speed Saginaw, drum brakes, and manual steering box.
Fast forward to 2017. Darrell calls Speedway Motors and mentions that he might be ready to part ways with his beloved Chevelle. After some back and forth where we promised him we would not only lovingly care for his baby, but also make some of the changes that he always wanted to make, a deal was struck and Project Chevelle was born.
We started out slow with some small upgrades, but eventually got serious with a full front and rear suspension, 383 small block, and a Tremec 5-speed. In this form we drove it to Louisville, Kentucky for the 2018 Street Rod Nationals. It was a sweet combination that got us there with no issues, and it was a darned sight faster than it ever was with the 307 under the hood.
Shortly after the road trip to Kentucky, the 383 was yanked and dropped into our ’32 roadster project. This made way for a built LQ9 6.0 LS with FiTech injection and about 500 horsepower. In this form, Project Chevelle made some dragstrip passes at LS Fest in Bowling Green, then was parked for a while as we worked on other projects.
Fast forward again to 2023. We were going to hit the Hot Rod Power Tour and needed a ride. The Chevelle was already a proven road warrior, but the LS only had a few passes on it. After a little fine tuning, Project Chevelle made it all the way from Atlanta to Bristol, Tennessee without issue.
While we haven’t owned the car nearly as long as Darrell did, we’re starting to grow pretty fond of our old Chevelle. Thanks to Darrell, it’s super nice and feels the way a ’72 Chevelle should feel inside. But thanks to some well-chosen parts from the Speedway Motors catalog, it now handles like a Corvette, pulls hard through the gears, and is an absolute blast to drive. Who knows what the future holds…
Chevelle Siblings
So, they’re not identical. Project Chevelle still has a decidedly sophisticated, gentleman-about-town look with its vinyl top and subdued color. TJ’s SS looks like the bruiser that it was born to be. But under the skin there are a lot of similarities. Both have big power under the hood, one an old school muscle car powerhouse, the other a late model, injected marvel. Both have Tremec 5-speeds to make highway driving a little less stressful. Both have upgraded suspensions to stick them to the road the way no Chevelle could have done in the early 70’s. Both wear Power Tour stickers as badges of honor for making the long haul. And both have an emotional hold over their owners, thanks to years of dedicated service and too many memories to count.
