Low Mileage 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 396
The muscle car wars of the 1960s and 70s reached their peak in 1970 with the Chevrolet Chevelle LS6. The top-of-the-mark LS6 included the “450” horsepower 454 V8 and is incredibly valuable today. This car is an L34 cousin to the LS6 and packs a potent 396 under the hood backed by an automatic transmission. It can be found here on eBay with a current bid of $32,500. According to the ad, it says that the car has less than 45,000 miles on the odometer! Located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, there isn’t a lot of information regarding the history of the car. Hopefully, the seller can document the mileage. Take a look for yourself and see if you think this is a low-mileage SS.
As mentioned before, the engine is a 396 V8 backed by a Turbo 400 transmission. The seller says the carburetor has been replaced. To me, the engine compartment doesn’t look like it should for the mileage. It appears that quite a few parts have been replaced. What do you think?
The interior is pretty standard for a 70 Chevelle. A lot of them are black. The ad says there is new carpet installed along with seats, door panels, and headliner.
The seller says the car has been repainted once. There’s something about the exhaust that doesn’t seem quite right. The dual exhaust tips are correct, but the way they are sitting under the bumper doesn’t look correct. If I was interested in this car, I would certainly do the research to make sure it is original and correct as the owner implies. What do you think?
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Comments
The original exhaust tips were oval, and the pipes were not visible from the side.
That is correct the exhaust tips were oval and not that visible
3″ was not stock I remember 2.5″ and yes the tips where chrome oval. And it was done neat under the car with the mufflers no pipes shown from the side in the rear. The engine compartment should be cleaner if that’s the true mileage. 🐻🇺🇸
ad says “less than 45,000 miles on the odometer”, which is somewhat meaningless, as someone could have easily rolled back the mileage
The factory exhaust tips were more of a rectangular shape. Some folks drive their car and don’t bother cleaning the engine compartments. They also don’t spend the money on detailers.
Oh well, here’s another column shifted Super Sport, maybe that’s why these cars are still around, I think the Ford Fairlane 500 XL, and the GTA were in line with the Chevy Chevelle Super Sport, and I have never seen either example of a Fairlane XL or GTA with a column shifted automatic, I’m not suggesting they aren’t out there.
Back then you could order your Chevelle with whatever options you did or didn’t want. I purchased an LS6, M22 Chevelle in ‘76 that had no power steering, cloth bench seat blue interior, Fathom Blue w/white stripe exterior and without tinted glass. Always wondered how many were optioned this way.
Beautiful styling back then…. they just nailed it on some models from 1964 -1972 by the big three, IMO.
if this is true SS car The vin # would start with 138 not 136 Correct me if I am wrong .
You are being corrected :) The 138 VIN designation for SS Chevelles was discontinued after 1969.
Sorry too quick with the fingers. I meant discontinued after 1968.
The engine compartment doesn’t look too bad for a 52 year old car
The author said looks like “quite a few” things had been replaced. Looks like master cylinder, brake booster, maybe alternator. Not surprising for a 52 year old car. I agree, underhood looks good.
This doesn’t have the metal emblems on the back of the seats that it should
And it doesn’t have the two stickers inside the trunk lid, so does this mean the trunk lid has been changed?
Gotta have the Build Sheet and/or Protect-O-Plate to authenticate it’s all original and numbers matching (motor, tranny and rear end) for me. Any other parts replaced over the years that aren’t correct/date coded can always be obtained if that’s the route you want to take. And as always, an in person inspection, whether you do it yourself or hire a service, is mandatory. Prices are crazy and I want to know that I’m getting exactly what I’m paying for. Just my 2 cents.
Gone at $42,500. A 70 GTO is twice the car as these had cheap interiors. Just my opinion. That funky exhaust is not in line with spending almost $50,000 for a toy. Correct and exacting reproductions available from Gardner Exhaust.
SOLD for $42,100.
This engine probably should have originally come with resonators like most big block 1970 Chevelles. My 1970 LS5 came with dome shaped resonators which exited at 2 1/2″ with chrome tips. I had to replace the chrome tips once because water would accumulate on the original ones when I washed the car. The factory exhaust system had a very nice tone which was not too loud like some of the replacements sold today. The exhaust tone and the sweet sound of the M22 made it a lot of fun to drive.
George for $12.64 on an ordered car you could get the vinyl interior with vinyl seats which didn’t seem to be a cheap interior to most people I know.
The dual exhaust tips are anything BUT “correct”. Oy vey. $45K is ridiculous…and they repainted it, put a crappy exhaust on it, did a crappy job recovering the seats, put a new headliner, new carpet, new door panels, blah, blah, blah…real “original”. This car would’ve been great for a high-school kid just getting into the hobby, that’s about it.