Chevelle joined the Chevrolet line-up in 1964 as a new mid-size entry. While the Super Sport was available from the beginning, the SS 396 became a series of its own for 1966-68. If reverted to option status in 1969 but was no less potent. This 1970 SS 396 is a rough project car any way you look at it, and the seller has had to do some digging just to determine its VIN. It was a 4-speed car from the factory but was converted to an automatic later. Located in North Augusta, South Carolina, this Chevelle is available without a title here on eBay where the no reserve auction has tipped the scales at $4,100.

We’re told this Chevelle was built in Canada. If that’s the case, it’s one of 25,938 Malibu Sport Coupes with a V8 engine that were produced there. 3,306 of them came with the Z25 SS 396 powerplant that output 350 hp. Since that’s the horsepower rating of the seller car’s and he believes the motor to be original, that means this car had relatively low production numbers, considering that total Chevelle production was north of 660,000 units in 1970.

As mentioned above, the seller’s car was converted to a Turbo-Hydramatic transmission, yet the 4-speed shifter is still there. I don’t know why you’d go to the trouble of doing all this and not remove the old shifter. The overall car has seen 96,000 miles of pavement over the years, and it has been dormant for quite some time. The car is quite rusty with holes in a lot of the sheet metal. And the glimpses that we can see underneath don’t necessarily look promising. There is so much rust that the VIN plate is gone from the dashboard.

The interior is equally bad, and it looks as though Mother Nature has deposited a lot of debris inside the car, along with whatever local woodland creatures may have added. If you were to restore this SS 396 to original-like condition, you’d have an expensive and time-consuming project in front of you. But you’d also have a car potentially worth in the high five-figures when you got done. But at what price to get there. Would you be better off starting with an SS in better condition?