While I prefer the styling of the previous model year, this 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle immediately got my attention. It costs $250,000, currently the most expensive car sold by Vanguard Motors, yet isn’t some kind of famous SEMA build or super-rare configuration. Instead, we’re dealing with an extreme restomod that’s probably unlike anything else on the market.
The Chevelle was all sorts of things. This mid-sized A-platform car was offered by General Motors only between 1963 and 1977. Yet it went through several famous designs and came in different shapes, including a wagon and sedan. It’s also linked to many other famous Chevy nameplates, like the Monte Carlo, Malibu, and El Camino.
For 1970, the Chevelle got new sheetmetal that was supposed to give it coke bottle proportions. It was also a great year for big powerful and cool engines, namely the SS 396 with the option to have 375 horsepower and the massive new SS 454 that made 450 horsepower. And who can forget the famous ZL2 cowl induction hood, which had a rear-facing scoop with a vacuum-actuated flap?
The Chevelle was a drag strip hero at the time, and this restomod also borrowed some parts that were supposed to be Corvette-only. We’re talking about the Z06 LT4 engine. No, not the new Corvette Z06 (even though that would be extremely cool). No, we’re talking about the C7 ‘Vette with its supercharged 6.2-liter producing 640 horsepower.
Pop the hood and it’s like you’re in a sci-fi 80s movie. The custom covers glow bright red from the minute this V8 turns on. In addition, that square air filer looks nothing like any engine bay from 1970. And as you’d expect from a classic costing Lamborghini money, it’s got custom everything, from the billet hinges to the Wilwood master cylinder feeding brake juice. The craziest thing is that the hood seals on top of that square filter and the LT4 sucks air through the original cowl induction system. That is such overkill, and you have to respect it.
The exterior is mostly normal, save for the custom lights, big wheels, and custom metallic two-tone paint. However, this interior is a completely different story. Gone is the all-black vinyl, replaced by white and burgundy red. The transmission tunnel is too modern-looking, and while the custom gauges are nice, an infotainment screen doesn’t belong.
And did we mention it’s got an 8-speed automatic? After finding that out, we just had to look underneath, since the C7 powertrain would have been a transaxle. Sadly, a regular Ford rear end resides at the rear.
