Many classic car and muscle car enthusiasts are from the older generation, which is to be expected. Nameplates like Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro bring many Baby Boomers back to their younger days and remind them of their youth, so it stands to reason that they are the ones driving the demand for many 1960s and 1970s muscle cars today.
Dragzine recently caught up with a younger muscle car enthusiast, though, speaking with 26-year old Mike Smith, who built the 1971 Chevrolet Chevelle pictured below. Smith is a mechanic at Gateway Automotive in Thurmont, Maryland, but any free time he has is dedicated to his mean purple Chevelle.
Smith’s Chevelle is a 1971 model year, but it has the four-eyed front fascia from a 1970 Chevelle due to a previous encounter with a traffic pole. Believe it or not, Smith has actually added power to the car since the minor fender bender, which happened after he got on the throttle a bit too early. The car still featured a naturally aspirated Small Block V8 when the accident happened, but now that LS motor has been topped off with a rather sizable 80mm BorgWarner turbocharger. With the turbo making just 12 psi of boost, the LQ4 V8 makes stout 800 horsepower. The engine has also been bored and stroked from 364 cubic inches (or 5.9-liters) to 402 cubic inches (6.6-liters) and features an aftermarket crankshaft and camshaft and 230cc heads. Power is sent to a good ol’ General Motors TH400 four-speed automatic transmission.
So, how fast is it at the strip? Smith isn’t willing to say just yet, though he believes it will break into the eight-second range. With the engine in need of more tuning and more track days planned for the year ahead, Smith is planning on having a more concrete answer in the near future.
“I would like to say eights, but I don’t have the time-slip to back it up,” he told Dragzine. “I’ve gone 10s before while shutting the car down on the track due to an issue. I’ll get it to the track and sort it out soon enough.”
Check out Dragzine’s full article on Smith’s 1971 Chevrolet Chevelle at this link.
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Source/lead photos source: Dragzine/Jamiecat on Flickr!
Comments
General Motors CEO Mary Barra is gutless as she could easily give Chevrolet the green-light to build a Chevrolet CT4 equipped with the 750 hp LT5 supercharged 6.2L V8.
I would go with the CT5 rather than the CT4, Along with the Camaro ZL1 and the Cadillac Escalade.
You guys are on the right track with big HP in a Camaro to keep pace with the Mustang and quit letting Ford measure their success with comparing to the Corvette. After the gen 4 Camaro demise, GM allowed Ford to measure the Pony to the Corvette and GM has failed to replace the Corvette with the Camaro and since 2002 Ford has not looked back.
Mary has the tech to easily make this happen and shouldn’t let Ford dominate the Camaro. Dodge recognized this and took lead with HP while Ford is now competing with Dodge…Camaro who…
Camaro is now number 3 in HP and sales.
Get with it Mary GM
I have owned a Cadillac for fifty years. Own two now, I have stayed loyal to Cadillac. If they import the ct6 I’m done. Will sell both cars, and buy Lincoln.