(Image courtesy of Muscle Car Campy)
Sure, that’s a headline you’ve probably seen on many other websites, but here at The ClassicCars.com Journal, we try to offer a take that’s different from the usual tired cliché words and phrases such as “iconic” and “legend.” Nonetheless, Muscle Car Campy raises a valid question regarding Chevrolet’s LS6 Chevelle, the car that carried the highest horsepower rating in the era.
Though the 1970 Chevelle SS 454 with the LS6 engine is not rare, there are several variations that are rarer than others. The quintessential version is red with Cowl Induction with black stripes, but that was not the standard configuration. If you ordered any Chevelle with the SS package (Z25 for the 396 or Z15 for the 454), you’d receive a domed hood, among other equipment. If you wanted the stripes, that was code D88, but if you wanted the ZL2 Special Ducted Hood Air System (a.k.a. Cowl Induction), the stripes were included. Many will agree that the latter was the most popular configuration, though there’s no way to support that with factory documentation.
If you’re like me, you like stripes on a performance car, but there’s something to be said about a Chevelle Super Sport without the stripes—your eyes focus on it differently. To my eyes, the lack of stripes makes the Chevelle look ripped, like it’s wearing a shirt bursting at the seams.
Join Muscle Car Campy as he guides us through David Povio’s 4.10-geared LS6 Chevelle. Aside from featuring the standard domed hood without stripes, it is also a bench-seat, four-speed car, making it more distinctive than all the red and black Chevelles out there.
