Employee Rides: 1969 Chevelle SS396 - Tyson Jurgens

I was in love with my ‘72 RS Camaro, but ever since I sold my high school car nothing has felt the same and had the meaning that my ‘95 Z28 Camaro had. I started looking for Chevelles because I had always loved them, but they always seemed out of reach, unlike a Camaro. I mean, who didn’t want to cruise around in a ‘70 LS6 454 Chevelle like they did in "Dazed and Confused?"

I kept hearing about a ‘69 SS 396 Chevelle that had been sitting in a distant family member’s garage. I really wanted to go see it and finally had the opportunity. The story was that Johnny was the 2nd owner, the first was a little old lady who had passed away and her son had sold the car to Johnny. Johnny was in the middle of getting the car repainted when some unforeseen circumstance made him go pick the car up. There it sat underneath a car cover for almost 30 years until I found it underneath a car cover waiting for me.

When we started to look at it, I was blown away by what I was laying my eyes on. We started looking at all of the paperwork and not only was it a real SS car, but it was a bench seat column shift factory AC, power steering, power brake car. But all this was a bonus when I saw the metal flake paint and crushed black velvet interior. I bought the car, took it home, and have slowly been piecing it all back together.

I will admit there was a time when I was getting bored with it and I almost sold it, but the night before I was supposed to sell it I knew something didn’t feel right. I didn’t sleep at all that night and within an hour of someone coming to buy it I backed out. When I first bought the car, I took a picture of my wife sitting in it with my son on her lap holding the steering wheel, and it hit me that this was it.

I finally found a car that had meaning to me again. My son grabbing the steering wheel and moving it hit me differently and I’m thankful I took that picture. Otherwise, I would have sold it that day. My plan is to just to cruise and enjoy it and when the time comes hand it down to my son (because that would make for one of the coolest future pictures ever…and give me an excuse to build something else).