Chevelle SS 454 LS6 Convertible

1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454 LS6 Convertible

Offered by Mecum | Indianapolis, Indiana | July 10-18, 2020

Photo – Mecum

This is the best Chevelle. These are not the best colors for it, but it’s still the best. The second-generation Chevelle was built from 1968 through 1972. The design got bulky and blocky for 1970, which ended up becoming one of the best designs of the era.

The Chevelle model range in 1970 was confusing to say the least, with a couple of different sub-model lines. The SS packages were only available on Malibu sub-models, specifically the two-door Sport Coupe and convertible body styles. So that technically makes this car a Chevelle Malibu Convertible optioned with the RPO Z15 SS 454 option. The base SS 454 came with a 360 horsepower, 7.0-liter V8. This car was further optioned with the 7.0-liter LS6 V8, which bumped power to 450 horses.

Production numbers are pretty confusing for Chevelles – as are verifying if they’re “real” or not (it’s a nightmare). There were 7,511 Malibu convertibles produced, and there were 4,475 LS6-optioned cars made. So SS 454 LS6 convertible production was somewhere in the middle of that Venn diagram. These also happen to be the biggest-money Chevelles. You can read more about this one here and see more from Mecum here.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $400,000.

Chevelle Z16

1965 Chevrolet Chevelle Z16

Offered by Mecum | Dallas, Texas | September 7, 2013

1965 Chevrolet Chevelle Z16

The Chevrolet Chevelle was introduced in 1964 to go head-to-head with Ford’s Fairlane. But the muscle car era inadvertently got in the way and the Chevelle became on of the most sought-after muscle cars of the era and the Fairlane disappeared into history.

While Pontiac and Oldsmobile had muscle car offerings in 1964, Chevrolet was sort of left behind. But they changed that in 1965 when they took the Chevelle and added $1,501 worth of goodies to it and called it the “Z16” (it was an optional performance package). What did that package include? How about the Corvette’s 396/425 V-8 (that’s 6.5 liters for those of you playing at home). But because the Corvette was the revered “top dog” – they had to under rate the Chevelle’s horsepower to 375.

They also gave it bigger brakes, an upgraded suspension, and better steering. It was basically an SS 396 on steroids. Chevy only built 201 of them and this is one of three factory black/black cars. The value of these cars has definitely been on the rise – you’re looking at about $150,000 for this car. Check out more info here and more from Mecum here.

Update: Sold $200,000.

Auctions America Ft. Lauderdale Highlights

Auctions America recently offered a boatload of cars at their Ft. Lauderdale, Florida auction (seriously, it felt like it took forever to sift through the results). The top sale was $341,000 for this 1933 Chrysler CL Phaeton. It is one of only 36 built.

The second biggest sale went to a muscle car: a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS LS6 Convertible. It’s one of the best looking muscle cars of the era and it’s equipped with the monster 454cid V8 underrated at 450 horsepower. It sold for $198,000.

And the third biggest sale was a more-or-less brand new (391 miles) 2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. Off the lot examples are supposed to cost about $190,000. This one sold for $178,200. Basically, they just bought a new car.

We featured a few really interesting cars from this sale including the 1959 Berkeley SE492 Twosome that ended up selling for $16,500. Another featured microcar was the 1957 David Convertible built in Spain. It sold for $25,300. And the final featured microcar was the  tongue-twisting 1952 Kleinschnittger F125 Convertible that brought $44,000. There were two other very rare microcars at this sale that I was supposed to feature on the site but for whatever reason didn’t. First was this 1959 PTV 250 Convertible that brought $20,900.

The other was this street-legal but spartan 1955 Kapi JIP Convertible for $8,500.

Other interesting lots included a 1952 Chevrolet Styleline done up in period-correct taxicab livery. It’s really sharp and sold for $36,300.

There were also some coachbuilt American cars from the 1970s and 1980s that included this 1979 Cadillac Le Cabriolet. It was 1 of 200 built by Hess & Eisenhardt for GM, as GM was still in their “no convertible” days. It looks good and could’ve been yours for $15,400.

The other was a 1985 Oldsmobile Toronado Caliente Convertible converted by the American Sunroof Corporation (ASC), who appear to have built more aftermarket convertibles than most automotive companies did in the 1980s. It sold for $10,175.

While we’re on the subject of Oldsmobiles, allow me to point out this 1984 Hurst/Olds. It isn’t exactly exotic, but I really like it and for $7,040, it’s quite affordable – which is the big draw to auctions like these where you can find yourself a real steal.

The other apparent steal that I would’ve liked to have snatched up was this 2000 Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph. They were only made from 1998 until 2002 and they cost over $220,000 when new. And now you could’ve bought one for $35,200! That’s 3-Series money! Maintenance nightmare waiting around the corner? Maybe. But it’s a small price to pay for rolling around town feeling like Jay-Z.

The 1999 Shelby Durango we featured sold for $13,750 – which is about as cheap as you’re going to find something with Carroll Shelby’s name on it. The 1912 Clement-Bayard Torpedo we featured was apparently withdrawn from the sale, as it is not listed as either sold or unsold in the auction results. For complete results, check out Auctions America’s website.