Chenowth Indianapolis

1961 Chenowth-Chevrolet Indianapolis

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Amelia Island, Florida | May 22, 2021

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Once upon a time, there was a company called San Diego Steel Products, and they made exhaust headers. It was owned by a guy named Chuck Chenowth, and he wanted to go racing at Indianapolis. He built an Indy roadster and stuffed a 4.2-liter Chevrolet V8 up front in an era when an Offenhauser-powered Anything dominated each race. Bold move.

It’s got Hillborn fuel injection and a Lehman front-drive unit to operate the fuel and water pumps as well as an Offenhauser gearbox and Halibrand wheels. The body was actually designed by Don Kuzma, another legendary name of the period. The Chenowth name is still around, although primarily associated with off-road racing today.

Unfortunately, this car never made a 500. It failed to arrive for the 1960 race and failed to qualify in 1961. It was more successful on the USAC short-track circuit, where it was driven by the likes of Tom Sneva, Mike Magill, and Greg Weld. It was restored near Cincinnati in the 1980s and is now offered with an estimate of $175,000-$225,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $156,800.

Yenko Stinger

1966 Chevrolet Corvair Yenko Stinger Stage II

Offered by Mecum | Glendale, Arizona | March 18-20, 2021

Photo – Mecum

Cars with flat-six engines mounted out back are supposed to be very sporty, almost race cars. Or so I hear. So why was the Corvair labeled a danger, and why did Chevy never make sit sportier than the base model ever was?

Enter Don Yenko, who would become even more famous for modifying Camaros in the late 1960s. He started by hotting-up Corvairs into “Stinger” form. He wanted to make the Corvair SCCA eligible, but it didn’t really fall into a pre-existing category. So he modified an example to fit. But the SCCA required 100 production examples before that version would be race-eligible. So 100 1966 Yenko Stingers would end up being built. This is #50.

The changes from the base car varied from example to example. This car has a “Stage II” flat-six rated at 190 horsepower. It also has four carburetors, a limited-slip differential, a front spoiler, and a four-speed manual transmission. It’s a cool car and among the coolest of Corvairs. Read more about this one here and see more from Mecum here.

Update: Sold $82,500.

’96 Impala SS

1996 Chevrolet Impala SS

Offered by Mecum | Kansas City, Missouri | November 20-21, 2020

Photo – Mecum

This is one of my favorite cars. It will be a car I own in the near future. A little history: the Impala model is a classic dating back to 1958 when it was a sub-model of the Bel Air. It became its own line in 1959, and the glory years lasted through 1970. Things trended downhill beginning in ’71, and the 1977-1985 models killed the Impala nameplate for a decade (though I secretly like this generation).

Then, in 1994, GM revived the Impala SS as a standalone model (even though their VINs decode as a Caprice). It was essentially a Caprice cop car with a bunch of heavy-duty items (suspension, brakes, cooling system), in addition to a Corvette-based 5.7-liter LT1 V8. Power was rated at 260 horsepower.

It was produced only between 1994 and 1996, and 60,768 were built in total. Black was the best color, but Dark Cherry Metallic and Dark Grey Green were also available beginning in 1995. 1996 models are differentiated from earlier cars by having an analog speedometer and a floor shifter for the automatic transmission. They. Are. Awesome. And this one has 12,000 miles. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $19,800.

Camaro Europo Hurst

1976 Chevrolet Camaro Europo Hurst by Frua

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Online | September 16-25, 2020

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The second-generation Chevrolet Camaro was in production for an eternity: 11 years between 1970 and 1981. Even by 1976, it was kind of long-in-the-tooth. And it was weak. The most powerful ’76 Camaro had the same 165 horsepower, 5.7-liter V8 that this car has. It was a long way from the ZL-1 (from only seven years earlier!).

One way to spice things up would be to let an Italian coachbuilder get their hands on one. In this case, it was Pietro Frua, who debuted his take on the Camaro at the 1976 Turin Motor Show with this car. It was later shown at 1977’s New York show, where the company displaying it said they were going to offer conversions of standard Camaros to look like Frua’s. They were going to call them the “Europo Hurst.”

It is unclear if any were actually made. I think this is actually an okay-looking car, and it’s definitely something different compared to what else was on sale in 1976. It is expected to bring between $80,000-$120,000 when it sells at no reserve. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $31,900.

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.

McLaren M8F

1972 McLaren M8F

For Sale by Girardo & Co.

Photo – Girardo & Co.

The McLaren M8A was a Can-Am car developed by Bruce McLaren himself for the 1968 Can-Am season. The suffix kept changing all the way down to the M8F as the car’s progression developed. Can-Am, if you recall, was the most badass racing series of all time. The rules were simple: two seats, closed bodywork over the wheels, and a roll hoop. Run whatcha brung.

The M8F was developed for the 1971 season and used a lengthened chassis, an aluminum monocoque, and lower bodywork when compared to earlier cars. The car was designed around a Chevy V8, and this car featured a 7.5-liter unit accompanied by two turbochargers when new. That equated to 930 horsepower. Since being retired, that monster engine was replaced by a naturally aspirated V8.

The car competed in the Interserie Championship in 1972 and 1973. Interserie was kind of like a European Can-Am series that would go even more bonkers as time marched on. The M8F was the final iteration of Bruce McLaren‘s Can-Am creation, and this one can now be yours. See more about it here.

C4 Grand Sport Corvettes

The C4 Grand Sport

Offered by Mecum | Jefferson, North Carolina | June 6, 2020


1996 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Coupe

Photo – Mecum

My two favorite C4 Corvettes are as follows: 1. the ZR-1. 2. the Grand Sport. This sale has what has to be the best examples of the latter. The Grand Sport was built to celebrate the end of C4 production and was only offered in 1996. The name was taken from the Grand Sport race cars of the 1960s.

Power is from a 330 horsepower, 5.7-liter V8. They were only offered in Admiral Blue with white stripes and red hash marks. This is one of 810 coupes built, and it shows just 177 miles. It’s selling at no reserve. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $74,250.


1996 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Convertible

Photo – Mecum

Doubletake? The only difference between this car and the other Grand Sport is that it is a convertible. Admiral Blue paint with white stripes and red hash marks – meet a white soft top. This car also uses a 5.7-liter V8 making 330 horsepower.

The convertible Grand Sport was much rarer than the coupe, with just 190 built. It’s only covered 162 miles since new, which makes it essentially, well, new. You can read more about it here and see more from this sale here.

Update: Sold $68,750.

C4 Grand Sport

1996 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Coupe

Offered by Mecum | Jefferson, North Carolina | June 6, 2020

Photo – Mecum

My two favorite C4 Corvettes are as follows: 1. the ZR-1. 2. the Grand Sport. This sale has what has to be the best examples of the latter. The Grand Sport was built to celebrate the end of C4 production and was only offered in 1996. The name was taken from the Grand Sport race cars of the 1960s.

Power is from a 330 horsepower, 5.7-liter V8. They were only offered in Admiral Blue with white stripes and red hash marks. This is one of 810 coupes built, and it shows just 177 miles. It’s selling at no reserve. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $74,250.

C4 Grand Sport Convertible

1996 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Convertible

Offered by Mecum | Jefferson, North Carolina | June 6, 2020

Photo – Mecum

Doubletake? The only difference between this car and the other Grand Sport is that it is a convertible. Admiral Blue paint with white stripes and red hash marks – meet a white soft top. This car also uses a 5.7-liter V8 making 330 horsepower.

The convertible Grand Sport was much rarer than the coupe, with just 190 built. It’s only covered 162 miles since new, which makes it essentially, well, new. You can read more about it here and see more from this sale here.

Update: Sold $68,750.

’67 L88 Convertible

1967 Chevrolet Corvette L88 Convertible

Offered by Mecum | Indianapolis, Indiana | June 23-28, 2020

Photo – Mecum

The legendary L88 Corvette was available from 1967 through 1969. That spanned two different generations of the Corvette, which means that 1967 was the only year you could have Chevy’s monstrous V8 in a C2 Corvette. Only 20 were sold that year, and I have no idea about the breakdown between coupes and convertibles.

The high-compression, 7.0-liter V8 was rated at 430 horsepower, even though the actual output was probably over 550. Unfortunately, the car was very expensive and required 103-octane fuel, which wasn’t all that easy to come by at your local service station in 1967. Of the 20 built for the model year, quite a few went direct to racing teams. After all, the car was essentially a race car that happened to be street legal. This one was raced, including at the:

  • 1970 24 Hours of Daytona – 11th, 2nd in class (with Cliff Gottlob and Dave Dooley)

The car competed for eight years, apparently winning 150 races. It was purchased by Dana Mecum in 2013, and he’s now letting it go, assuming it hits what is sure to be a stratospheric reserve (c’mon Mecum, have a little faith in your own event and go no reserve!). Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $3,200,000.