1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454 Tribute
The 1970 Chevelle Super Sport is one of the more often cloned of the era’s muscle cars and the seller freely admits this is one of them. It began life as a V8 Malibu Sport Coupe, whose original inventory was plentiful. It was treated to a transformation to an SS 454, but not perfect given the seller’s thoughts on the paint. But it looks good, at least in the photos, and is in Alexandria, Arkansas. The dealer has it for sale here on eBay for $42,500, although offers will be considered.
One of the reasons the ’70 Malibu Sport Coupe has been a popular car to clone is because Chevy built nearly 290,000 of them with some form of an 8-cylinder. Fewer than 9,000 of them left the factory with a 454 engine. Chances are there are at least that many today with that motor! We don’t know the history of this car or when the modifications took place, and no estimate of mileage is provided.
From a mechanical perspective, this car has the 454 big-block with headers, a “nice” camshaft, an aluminum intake manifold, a single 4-barrel carburetor, and several chromed doodads. It’s paired with a TH-400 automatic transmission and a 12-bolt rear end with posi-traction out back. The seller is unsure of the gears but thinks either 3.73 or 4.11. The Chevy is equipped with Blue Streak dual exhaust which we’re told sounds mighty fine. The car fires right up, even after sitting for a time. The cowl induction hood works as it should.
The red paint with white stripes looks good, at least in the photos, but a purist might opt for another respray. The white interior looks original but, of course, may not be, as there are a few worn spots but nothing to fret over (is that a 1971 or later steering wheel?). If you’d like to take an online test ride, click on the video here. The online resale value for these tribute cars is all over the place and the seller looks to have priced this one right in the middle. Would you spend $40,000 plus for a clone or add more bucks and get the real thing?
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Comments
Axle ratios aren’t that hard to figure out, but then again, it DOES have to be in the air…cool car.
And ditch the steering wheel…
Agreed! Looks like 80s GM vintage (C4 Corvette maybe?), it just doesn’t belong. Odd choice in an otherwise great restoration.
Not C4, but my ’81 Camaro had that wheel.
Nice car but clone and tribute mean fake…40k buys a Camaro SS or Mustang GT with 450+ horsepower, great handling, and a factory warranty. I love old muscle, but that’s a lot of coin for a weekend toy
I hate that word, Tribute, it is a FAKE.
GM, Ford, the other brand guys all use it…First Class Joke.
Tribute, Clone, and whatever else is used for FAKE!
Easy, Fran……relax, and take a deep breath….now slowly breathe out, repeat.
FAKE FAKE FAKE…..glad I got that off my chest!
Don’t like it when people ask me if my car is “real”
What is that block on drivers side wheel well? And that over flow aftermarket bottle, couldn’t even clean over spray off under hood
Al, that piece of equipment helps to distribute the brake fluid pressure more evenly between the front and the rear brakes, so that when the brakes are applied, both front and rear brakes actuate evenly and at the same time. Helps to make much safer driving sometimes.
The device on the left fenderwell is a line-lock, not a brake bias or proportioning valve. Not a bad appearing clone, SS wheels, correct steering wheel, correct exhaust tips and a “chrome” paint detail pen on the dash would go a long way, and yes, the overflow container on the firewall is so wrong…
19sixty5, I believe that’s a proportioning valve, and not a line-lock…..the line lock is reserved for serious straight away burnouts and used primarily for competition drag racing. This Chevy is not used in a way that it needs a line lock.
Maybe this will help….thanks….
https://www.holley.com/blog/post/what_is_line-lock_and_how_does_it_work_/
The disc brake cars have a built-in proportioning valve that is mounted on the frame rail basically below the master cylinder. The device on the fender in this car is an electrically operated line lock, yes for drag racing but most are installed by guys that never see the strip at all, they just want to do burnouts. You can see the wiring that powers the solenoid that makes it function. I installed several of these over the years on my cars. The seller also mentioned in the ebay ad that it has a line lock: “electric line lock installed for if you wanna burn em!!”
Ooooh, Ok…..got it….never to old to learn…..I appreciate it, 65.
At least it has round gauges. I hate SS wannabes that have the sweep speedo.