𝘐𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵-𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦 ’66 𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘷𝘺 𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦 𝘚𝘚396 – 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦. 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 – 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳. 𝘚𝘰, 𝘭𝘦𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.
The car used to belong to David Heath who often put it through its paces off Dobyns Road outside the little mountain town of Claudville, Virginia. That was back in early seventies though, when muscle cars were still dominating American roads – especially those in the country.
David bought Chevelle SS396 from his uncle’s dealership Stanley Chevrolet, in Stuart, Virginia and it was better-looking than anything new in the shop at the time, according to him. Even mechanic who tampered with it said it was the second fastest car he’d ever worked on – fastest being 1967 Corvette with a 435-horses.
That’s after David replaced the busted stock 396, mind you. Chevelle’s 396 simply couldn’t cope with big blocks at the time and one day, David over-revved it after bouncing off the ground.
David bought Chevelle SS396 from his uncle’s dealership Stanley Chevrolet, in Stuart, Virginia and it was better-looking than anything new in the shop at the time, according to him. Even mechanic who tampered with it said it was the second fastest car he’d ever worked on – fastest being 1967 Corvette with a 435-horses.
That’s after David replaced the busted stock 396, mind you. Chevelle’s 396 simply couldn’t cope with big blocks at the time and one day, David over-revved it after bouncing off the ground.
He was racing 1970 Mustang with a 428 Cobra Jet under its hood. David’s next move was to replace the busted engine with the 427 and the rest is history.
Races were being held on Highway 103, also known as the Claudville Highway, after 11 PM. There was very little traffic at that time of the day (or night if you will), and highway featured a straight quarter-mile section which is such a rarity in small mountain communities. Lads never stopped after quarter-mile, though.
They went straight over the old two-lane iron bridge and over the Dan river, and raced for another five miles or so on curvy roads. This type of racing required some skilled driving, but as all things come to an end, so did Chevelle SS396’s time on the roads come to an end back in 1980.
They went straight over the old two-lane iron bridge and over the Dan river, and raced for another five miles or so on curvy roads. This type of racing required some skilled driving, but as all things come to an end, so did Chevelle SS396’s time on the roads come to an end back in 1980.
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