Each year at MCACN there seems to be one car that really stands out to me. This year, it was this unbelievable 65 300 sedan with original paperwork to prove it was factory COPO with solid lifter 425hp 396.
I have always been fascinated by those cars. It is nice to see one so perfectly restored.
Derek69SS said
Nov 23, 2021
Without that paperwork, nobody would have ever believed this car was real.
It has the solid-lifter 425hp 396 like what the Impala and Corvette had, not the 375hp of the Z16 Z16 all had 3.31 open rear ends, this has 4.88 posi. It has the boxed frame and bigger brakes of the Z16 also.
It's a truly unbelievable one-off car that was a factory-built COPO order. Its existence was not publicly known until recently.
-- Edited by Derek69SS on Tuesday 23rd of November 2021 11:46:24 AM
BLyke said
Nov 23, 2021
Quite the Unicorn!
67ss said
Nov 23, 2021
That is awesome. Very cool to see it in a 300 body style.
Chris R said
Nov 24, 2021
Thats absolutely insane to see that car exists. If someone told me this exists without having ever seeing this post. I would tell them, please share what ever it is your smoking with the rest of us. What an absolute timeless and priceless piece of automotive history.
Derek69SS said
Nov 24, 2021
What I didn't see was details on was where/when it was built. Which factory, and whether it was during or after the run of Z16 cars.
The 11" brakes would only fit on Z16 specific spindles, so they wouldn't have been on the shelf before the Z16s. It shared a few other Z16 specific items as well. All Z16s except the pilot cars were built at Leeds. 2 pilot cars built at Baltimore plant. I couldn't get close enough to see the trim tag.
SShink said
Nov 24, 2021
That is the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) of '65 Chevelle's in my opinion. I was really curious about the origin of the car and original owner, and after reading the billboards more it's a cool story.
My only regret is I missed MACN's again this year. Too much going on this month, so need to just put it on the calendar now for next year and make it happen! I'd much rather spend a Sat. there then going to Barrett Jackson for an entire weekend.
Lost in the 60s said
Nov 25, 2021
The car itself is verified. What the boards don't say is that it does not retain any of the original drivetrain. Alan Colvin owns the original engine and has for many years. Another person owns the rear axle. I haven't uncovered where the trans went. It is "said" to have been an M22, but the time period seems too early for that and there is no documentation of it being an M22. It may have an M22 now. I don't know if even the Z16's had 22's ???
For some, unknown reason, the original owner swapped in a complete Olds drivetrain early on and traded his to the Olds owner .... go figure.
Much of this comes right from Jeff, of jeffschevelle fame. He has known of the car for many years, but being it was rough and without any original drivetrain, it never got exposed. As more documentation came to light over the years to prove the provenance, the current owner decided to restore it but not pursue the purchase of any of the original parts.
Cool car with the docs, but it would take a big pile of money to return the original drivetrain to it. As Derek said, the engine is an L72, which is common for B body's and Corvettes, but it is documented as being installed at the factory in this car and thus is a 1 of 1 engine.
Larry Lucast said
Nov 26, 2021
Thanks Mitch for all that information. It kind of changes your perspective of the finished car. It is still spectacular, but not as impressive as the original car.
Lost in the 60s said
Nov 26, 2021
That's kind of the feeling on the Supercar Registry forum too. OMG, the people on that forum have SO much background knowledge of specialty cars like this, it is unreal.
Each year at MCACN there seems to be one car that really stands out to me. This year, it was this unbelievable 65 300 sedan with original paperwork to prove it was factory COPO with solid lifter 425hp 396.
Without that paperwork, nobody would have ever believed this car was real.
It has the solid-lifter 425hp 396 like what the Impala and Corvette had, not the 375hp of the Z16
Z16 all had 3.31 open rear ends, this has 4.88 posi.
It has the boxed frame and bigger brakes of the Z16 also.
It's a truly unbelievable one-off car that was a factory-built COPO order. Its existence was not publicly known until recently.
-- Edited by Derek69SS on Tuesday 23rd of November 2021 11:46:24 AM
That is awesome. Very cool to see it in a 300 body style.
Thats absolutely insane to see that car exists. If someone told me this exists without having ever seeing this post. I would tell them, please share what ever it is your smoking with the rest of us. What an absolute timeless and priceless piece of automotive history.
The 11" brakes would only fit on Z16 specific spindles, so they wouldn't have been on the shelf before the Z16s. It shared a few other Z16 specific items as well. All Z16s except the pilot cars were built at Leeds. 2 pilot cars built at Baltimore plant. I couldn't get close enough to see the trim tag.
That is the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) of '65 Chevelle's in my opinion. I was really curious about the origin of the car and original owner, and after reading the billboards more it's a cool story.
My only regret is I missed MACN's again this year.
Too much going on this month, so need to just put it on the calendar now for next year and make it happen! I'd much rather spend a Sat. there then going to Barrett Jackson for an entire weekend.
The car itself is verified. What the boards don't say is that it does not retain any of the original drivetrain. Alan Colvin owns the original engine and has for many years. Another person owns the rear axle. I haven't uncovered where the trans went. It is "said" to have been an M22, but the time period seems too early for that and there is no documentation of it being an M22. It may have an M22 now. I don't know if even the Z16's had 22's ???
For some, unknown reason, the original owner swapped in a complete Olds drivetrain early on and traded his to the Olds owner .... go figure.
Much of this comes right from Jeff, of jeffschevelle fame. He has known of the car for many years, but being it was rough and without any original drivetrain, it never got exposed. As more documentation came to light over the years to prove the provenance, the current owner decided to restore it but not pursue the purchase of any of the original parts.
Cool car with the docs, but it would take a big pile of money to return the original drivetrain to it. As Derek said, the engine is an L72, which is common for B body's and Corvettes, but it is documented as being installed at the factory in this car and thus is a 1 of 1 engine.