American Car - November 2015

t comes to something when a

small-block '70 Chevelle can be

classed as a sensible car. It's all

relative, I suppose – if your other cars

include a Pro Touring big-block

Chevelle and a mighty SP/ET race car,

then yes, a 5.7-litre stocker does start

to look like quite a rational choice.

What it does prove is that sensible

does not necessarily equal dull, and a

nice Cruise Muscle machine like this

can tick all the boxes except the one

marked 'bankruptcy'.

This '70 Chevelle Malibu is owned by

Simon Gough, a demolition contractor

from Essex who knows a thing or two

about muscle cars and whose name will

be familiar to anyone who spends much

time at the strip. “Everyone loves

Camaros,” says Simon. “I've had a '69, and

my last race car was a '68, but it's the

shape of the Chevelle that really attracts

me. It's like Chevrolet took all the best bits

of the Nova and Camaro and made the

perfect muscle car. I used to have four

Chevelles; I'm down to two now.

22 ACM

I

For many, the '68'72

Chevelle was the

perfect muscle car

shape (above).

Simon agrees, and

it's hard to argue

with that. The car

didn't look this nice

when he picked it

up, and Simon was

unsure about the

deal until he spotted

that number plate

(top centre)! The car

has been dropped

all round, but bigger

rims give it that

stance (right)

“It's like

Chevrolet took

all the best bits of

the Nova and

Camaro and

made the perfect

muscle car”

1970 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu

➔

ACM_146_Feature 1_Layout 1 17/09/2015 17:06 Page 3