Chevelle SS 396 (L78)

STORY

The Chevelle debuted in 1964 and ran in three generations to 1977. Its big-block history starts with the 1965 Z16, a Malibu SS package whose 396 cubic inch V8 was rated at 375 hp, a gross figure like all American ratings of the time. The peak came in 1970, when the SS 454 with the LS6 engine was rated at 450 hp and 500 lb-ft, still a gross rating, before emissions rules and net ratings arrived. After 1977 the Chevelle name was dropped and the Malibu carried the midsize line on, as a downsized car, for 1978.