How in the hell am I supposed to do a better job telling you why this 1966 Chevelle 300 is so good than the pictures do? How?! From tip to tail, it’s musclecar perfection: refrigerator white, basic trim, monster mill. Everything you need, nothing you don’t. No wild-ass colors, no monster wings, no cartoon characters or scoops or any of that. Just one intermediate that punches like Mike Tyson in his prime. It looks like the kind of car you’d expect Dad to drive to work in if you were a child during the 1960s…post two-door, steel wheels, minimal trim. It was a good deal, a solid, no-nonsense car that would get the job done. Nevermind those crossed flags on the fenders…they were just an extra that he treated himself to. A safety option, he’d say. 
Yeah, bull-shit. When original, this car was the basic car, a Chevelle 300 with a straight six. No frills, just a good, solid and dependable car. This one…well, most of that character has remained, but the other part has been filled with one of Chevrolet’s most impressive pieces of weaponry to come out of the Tonawanda plant: the ZL-1 aluminum 427 cubic inch Rat. The factory claimed a figure somewhere around 430 horsepower and pretty much everybody started snickering. A good set of headers later and you were looking at a 600 horsepower thumper that cost as much as a new Corvette did. There’s a reason why the ZL-1 legend is just that…69 Camaros and two Corvettes were built in 1969 and that is that. 
So those crossed-flags on the fenders? Yep…there’s one underhood. That Hurst shifter? Connects to a Super T-10 four-gear that is full NASCAR spec straight from Borg-Warner. That rear axle? It’s a Currie 9-inch unit with 3.73 gears and a Trac-Lok, and that is just the tip of the iceberg regarding the modifications done to this machine. And it looks like the Spring Time Special sale car that was on the lot at just about any dealership across the country at the time.
Beat everybody’s ass on the weekend and drive Grandma to town for her grocery shopping on Monday morning, looking like nothing special. Beautiful.
Bring A Trailer auction: 1966 Chevrolet Chevelle 300
If I sell my house, I can buy it! My favorite car of all time. Must be an e-ticket ride for sure!
I like it. I’d paint the engine orange, and put standard orange valve covers on it. With 396 stickers. Cragar SS’s up front with something along the size of an H60-15 out back with black steelies.
I’ll take it. Who doesn’t want a 700 hp grocery getter….