70 LS6 Chevelle

[Rodent]

This popped up on Google and I found it interesting. A documented low mileage LS6. Looked like something destined for the drag strip that never made it there. No cowl induction, no tach/gauge package,, bench seat, TH400 on the column. The most interesting part for me is that it doesn't have the D88 hood/deck stripes. The 10 10 - bears that out with "-" in the stripe space on the build sheet. Moral of the story? If you mess up the stripes on your model, they were built without them. 

Lots of good pics for us styrene addicts here:

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/all-original-1970-chevelle-ss-flaunts-a-454-ls6-engine-just-14k-miles-157239.html#agal_20

 

Edited March 6, 2021 by Rodent
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[bisc63]

That was great reference, thanks for posting!

[Rodent]

What's odd about this build sheet is that it appears to call for white wheels, not the SS style. Very strange.

There is a guy on YouTube that travels around looking at (mostly) LS6 cars and checking them to make sure they are real. Just another late night rabbit hole, LOL.

[Motor City]

Many cars from the muscle car era came with bench seat, idiot lights and no stripes.  Probably most of us would have ordered buckets, gauges and stripes if we had the money or were old enough to buy one.  People often assume all of these desirable features were standard. Most of the GM intermediate muscle cars came with bucket seats in the early years ('64-'65 Chevelle SS, GTO, Cutlass with 442 option (but not F-85 with 442 option), Skylark GS.  After that, they started to cheapen what came standard.

Edited March 14, 2021 by Motor City

[Rodent]

I learned a little more about the 70 Chevelle SS recently. That white car doesn't have the D88 hood/deck stripes because they were optional. When ZL2 cowl induction was ordered (which the white car doesn't have), the D88 stripes were standard but could be deleted. Kind of makes my head spin a little.

[Motor City]

stripes, cowl induction, hood lock pins, buckets, tachometer and gauge package were all optional on the '70 SS 

[Rodent]

Not exactly. Ticking the box for cowl induction got hood pins and stripes as well.

[Motor City]

5 hours ago, Rodent said:

Not exactly. Ticking the box for cowl induction got hood pins and stripes as well.

The point is that none of those items were standard.  You had to order cowl induction to get the pins and stripes.  A lot of people assume that all of the muscle cars typically came with all of the cool stuff, but that's not the case. 

Edited March 23, 2021 by Motor City

[Rodent]

Absolutely. The D88 stripes were a stand-alone option that was also available on a regular Malibu HT or convertible in theory and would have had to have been ordered on non-cowl induction cars. I doubt that many dealers/customers had them deleted from cowl induction cars, but it is certainly possible. Seen a lot of bench seat 70 SS cars as well, back in the "pre-clone" days.

One of the funniest April Fool's Day jokes I remember was a few years ago when the rumor spread that Chevrolet found copies of all their build sheets from the 1960s-70s.

 

[Motor City]

The double stripes were rare on a Malibu back then, but with all of the clones today, most seem to have them.  But you rarely see a real Malibu since most have been cloned into SS models, just like the Novas and Camaros.  Getting back to the LS6 for a moment, I saw an unrestored triple black convertible with about 10,000 miles.  I think it might have been at a show at the GM Tech Center.  It had the domed SS hood, but black bench seat and no cowl induction.  I thought it was weird to order such a beast and not even get the cowl induction.  Talk about a sleeper!   It's too bad about the lost build sheets. 

Cadillac kept all of their production records on paper from 1902 through, I believe, 1972.  Except someone threw out the 1968 records.  Then they stored subsequent records on magnetic tape for a number of model years and lost those, too!  I will never know how many Eldorados were built as loaded as mine.  I can make an educated guess based on options ordered through May 1968 and extrapolate the numbers for June and July and come up with a fairly educated guess.   

[MeatMan]

This is all good stuff because I've wondered if my 70 SS was real because it didn't have a cowl hood nor stripes but did have the LS-6.

If you got the stripes with the CI that would explain why it had neither.

[ksnow]

Just stumbled across this guy on youtube. Seems like a 70 Chevelle S guru. 

He has quite a few videos of very nice cars.

 

[Motor City]

21 hours ago, MeatMan said:

This is all good stuff because I've wondered if my 70 SS was real because it didn't have a cowl hood nor stripes but did have the LS-6.

If you got the stripes with the CI that would explain why it had neither.

Dennis,

There is a lot of good information here regarding 2 LS6 Chevelles for sale recently:

1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454 LS6 Automatic - Automobiles and Parts - Buy/Sell - Antique Automobile Club of America - Discussion Forums (aaca.org)

1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454 LS6 4-Speed *SOLD* - Automobiles and Parts - Buy/Sell - Antique Automobile Club of America - Discussion Forums (aaca.org)