- Is Chevy Bringing Back The Chevelle?
- Private Companies Building Their Own 2024 Chevy Chevelle SS
- Chevrolet Chevelle: A Brief History
- 1964-1967: Genesis of Chevelle
- 1968-1972: Iconic Styling for the Second-Generation Chevelle
- 1973-1977: The Final Chevelle
From a trendsetting midsize muscle car to a retro-inspired tuner icon, the Chevelle refuses to die.
Read in this article:
- Is Chevy Bringing Back The Chevelle?
- Private Companies Building Their Own 2024 Chevy Chevelle SS
- Chevrolet Chevelle: A Brief History
- 1964-1967: Genesis of Chevelle
- 1968-1972: Iconic Styling for the Second-Generation Chevelle
- 1973-1977: The Final Chevelle
The Chevrolet Camaro is dead after 2024, but while that's become the one and only muscle car in Chevy's arsenal, the Bowtie brand once had another icon: the Chevy Chevelle. The Chevelle was a midsized muscle car sold through three generations from 1964 to 1977 in a variety of body styles, including two-door coupes, convertibles, and sedans, and four-door sedans and wagons. There was even a two-door utility pickup variant called the El Camino.
After 1977, it was succeeded by the Malibu, which never quite captured the hearts and minds of fans in the same way the Chevelle did. But with the Malibu rumored to meet its end soon, there are those who believe a new Chevy Chevelle would be the perfect way to revive an icon and restore Chevrolet's status as a purveyor of fine performance sedans.
Is Chevy Bringing Back The Chevelle?
Driven by the wistful wishings of muscle car enthusiasts, rumors and digital renders of a 2024 Chevy Chevelle abound. Sadly, the rumors are mostly false, and the renders are nothing but creative reimaginings of what a modern interpretation of a Chevrolet Chevelle could be. The 2024 Chevy Chevelle was estimated to have a price of $250,000, according to some reports, but the reality is that it simply isn't happening.
There will be no new Chevrolet Chevelle for the time being, but we wouldn't rule it out entirely for a revival at some point in the future. However, if General Motors did revive the Chevrolet Chevelle, it wouldn't be a muscle car in the way we knew it before. Instead, it'd most likely be an EV.
Chevrolet has revealed a concept electric sedan called the FNR-XE, which has distinct muscle-car styling plus a four-door body style. Based on the Ultium platform, it can accommodate a variety of powertrains up to a 1,000-horsepower tri-motor setup with all-wheel drive. In theory, Chevrolet could pursue something like this as a Chevrolet Chevelle SS for the modern era. It wouldn't be the first brand to use a classic muscle car name for a modern EV. Such a Chevy Chevelle SS wouldn't arrive in 2024, but we may see it in 2025.
Whether fans would be happy with an electric Chevelle SS would be another debate entirely.
However, another company is planning a Chevelle revival for 2024 of sorts.
Private Companies Building Their Own 2024 Chevy Chevelle SS
While Chevy has no plans to officially revive the Chevelle, other companies do. One such company is TransAm Worldwide, which takes a modern Chevrolet Camaro and gives it a carbon fiber body inspired by the 1970 Chevy Chevelle SS, calling its creation the 70/SS.
Available with either a 450-hp LT1 V8, a 900-hp 396 ci V8, or a 1,500-hp twin-turbo LS6/X V8 engine (limited to 25 units), it's one of the coolest retro muscle cars you can buy with modern power and technology. But it comes at a price. The price for this 2024 Chevy Chevelle wannabe is $165,000 in base form.
Similar creations have come from Vision Retro Designs, using a fifth-generation Camaro ZL1 as a platform with a retro body designed from carbon fiber.
If you have deep enough pockets, there are several options to own the closest thing you can get to a real 2024 Chevelle.
Chevrolet Chevelle: A Brief History
To understand the obsession with a 2024 Chevrolet Chevelle, one needs to understand why car lovers are so obsessed with a car that hasn’t been around for the last 44 years. To do that, we’ve got to go back to the beginning: the 1964 Chevy Chevelle.
1964-1967: Genesis of Chevelle
To battle against the Ford Fairlane from 1962, Chevrolet developed the new A platform (a body-on-frame architecture) and used it to underpin a new model family, the Chevelle. This model acted as a bridging car between the small Chevy II and full-sized Impala, utilizing a compact 115-inch wheelbase and four-link rear suspension from its full-size models to provide a best-of-both-worlds approach. It worked, and after being introduced in August 1963, the Chevelle sold 338,286 units for the year.
Available in a plethora of body styles and with two inline six-cylinder engines and a V8, it was a hit. But it wasn’t until the Chevy Chevelle SS arrived in early 1964 that Chevrolet had a proper muscle car entrant in this segment.
Originally badged as the Chevelle Malibu SS (Super Sport), the Chevelle SS got bespoke interior and exterior touches, but importantly got more potent engines, first as a 220-hp 283-cubic-inch four-barrel V8 and later a 327 V8 available in 250-, 300-, or 350-hp versions. A special series of 396 V8-equipped cars with a 6.5-liter big-block V8 had up to 375 hp, option and year model dependent.
New styling arrived in 1966, followed by a facelift in 1967, and yet it was shortlived, as the first generation ended production after just a few years on the market.
1968-1972: Iconic Styling for the Second-Generation Chevelle
What one might consider traditional muscle car styling became the norm for the 1968 Chevy Chevelle, which launched a second-generation with a sloping roofline, rounded beltline, and tapered front fenders. It had a shorter wheelbase by a few inches, too, and government-mandated side marker lighting became an identifying visual element. Two-door pillar models finally lost the sedan designation, officially called a coupe for the first time.
Engine options included a 140-hp inline-six (the Turbo-Thrift six), a 200-hp Turbo-Fire 307 V8, and a 325-hp 327 ci V8, although only about 7% of orders were for the six-cylinder engine.
But the design changes arriving for 1969 resulted in the design icon that has inspired renders of the 2023 Chevrolet Chevelle, with front-end changes including a single chrome bar the width of the grille. Importantly, the 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle saw 323 models delivered with a 7.0-liter 427 L72 V8 rated at 425 hp and 460 lb-ft of torque through the Central Office Production Order (COPO) system. Incredibly, 99 of these were sold through the Yenko Chevrolet dealership and became the foundation of the iconic Yenko Super Cars lineup.
A more prominent nose and coke bottle styling arrived for the 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle, but again, multiple body styles were availed. However, only the Malibu Sport Coupe, Malibu Convertible, and El Camino Pickup had an option between two SS engines, the RPO Z25 with a 402 ci/6.6-liter engine and the RPO Z15 with a 454 ci/7.4-liter V8. Base models in other body styles still had access to a six-cylinder (with 155 hp), but the larger V8s (also available in a 5.0-liter, 200-hp version) were the most popular.
A further refinement of the styling occurred for the 1971 Chevrolet Chevelle with larger Power-Beam single-unit headlights and a new front bumper and grille design, the latter finished in black on the SS with prominent double-S badging in the middle of the horizontal crossbar.
Most engines for this year got a decrease in power because GM mandated all its brands to design engines to run on lower-octane regular, low-lead, or unleaded gasoline, but there was a 5-hp bump for the LS5 454 engine with a total of 365 hp.
1973-1977: The Final Chevelle
The 1973 Chevy Chevelle saw the arrival of the third generation and a drastic simplification in available body styles, as concern over potential Federal rollover standards saw Cherolet drop the convertible and four-door hardtop derivatives and replace the two-door hardtop with a pillared coupe called the Colonnade Hardtop with frameless glass and a semi-fastback design. The cars also grew in length thanks to federally mandated 5-mph front bumpers. The practical station wagon was available in two configurations for this generation, seating up to nine people.
The third-gen Chevelle had a new chassis design that was stiffer and had more advanced suspension, and front disc brakes became standard on all derivatives.
As before, multiple engines were offered, this time, five of them. 110-hp options included the 250 ci inline-six and 307 two-barrel V8, with a 350 V8 rated at 145 hp.
For the Chevelle SS, a four-barrel 350 V8 made 175 hp, and a 454 four-barrel managed 245 hp. All had a three-speed manual as standard, but options included a three-speed Turbo Hydra-Matic auto or a four-speed manual, the latter two being the only choices on the SS.
There were annual facelifts, the biggest of which occurred on the 1974 Chevy Chevelle when the feds mandated larger rear bumpers. The Chevelle SS was also replaced by the Chevelle Laguna Type S-3, which was coupe-only and had both the sportiness of the SS and the luxury of the old Laguna derivative.
This model was revised again for 1975 due to Chevrolet's involvement in NASCAR and received a low, slanted, urethane-covered nose and louvered windows. Initially sold with the 454 V8 for 1975, this engine was dropped midway through the year and replaced with the 400 engine.
1977 became the last year of the Chevelle, and from 1978, the car became the Malibu.
Hopefully, that's not the last we've seen of the icon.
1974 Chevrolet Chevelle Laguna Type S-3 454
Keyword: Chevy Chevelle: All You Need To Know About Chevrolet's Iconic Muscle Car