The year 1966 marks the first all-encompassing restyle of the Chevelle, the Coke-bottle shape that was all the rage back in the day. The most exciting lump offered that year was the 396 big-block V8 with 375 horsepower on deck, but not even that lump can match the ferocity of a twin-turbocharged LS.
Griffin Steinfeld from Southern California owns the magnificent-looking machine in the following clip, and the story of this strip slayer starts with an old-generation small block that dropped a valve a couple of months ago. The owner and his buddies needed exactly five days to shoehorn the LS engine under the hood, which is genuinely impressive for a homebrew project.
Kept in check by a Holley Dominator EFI system that also takes care of the 4L80-E automatic transmission, the Chevelle still features the bone-stock chassis, according to Griffin. The Viking Performance shock absorbers and Currie rear axle definitely improve the straight-line performance on the blacktop, and structural rigidity is better as well, thanks to a roll cage.
Gifted with Mickey Thompson drag radials out back and skinnies from the same tire company up front, the Chevelle also flexes a Lo-Ram EFI intake manifold from Holley as well as a touchscreen display in the center of the dashboard. Owned by Griffin’s family for the better part of 16 years, the go-faster build is topped off by a no-nonsense shifter and two Sparco seats.
Arguably lighter than the original specification, the one-of-a-kind Chevelle is ridiculously fun on the drag strip. The best run thus far ended in 8.46 seconds at 171 miles per hour (make that 275 kilometers per hour), numbers that would make the almighty Dodge Challenger Demon blush in disbelief.
Even the Tesla Model S Plaid would have a hard time keeping up with the garage-built Chevelle despite a quarter-mile time of 9.23 seconds at 155 miles per hour (250 kilometers per hour) on street rubber. Be that as it may, a set of sticky drag radials and a stripped-down interior could spell trouble.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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