It’s not uncommon for kids to become a product of their environment and gravitate toward whatever it is that gets their attention. When passing through those influential teenage years, the guy down the street with the hopped-up muscle car who spends a good amount of time wrenching and cruising the neighborhood in a car with a highly pronounced exhaust and a burley V-8 underhood can easily suck a kid into the scene.
As far as ’1966-1967 Novas go, we’ve recently seen these cars move up the ranks in the muscle car food chain, and this ’66 here, owned by Joel Russell of Longwood, Florida, tops in style and quality. It comes as no surprise, though, as this one was constructed by the talented fellas at Chassis Crafters in Daytona Beach, Florida. Ed Nash and Steve Ward have been wrenchin’ and buildin’ badass vintage muscle cars for quite a while and know what’s what.
If you’ve already read this month’s editorial, then there’s no need for repeating the sentimental introduction here—if you haven’t then stop what you’re doing and go read it now!
Joey Dean has always been a big fan of ’66 Chevelles. In 2009 he came across a rust-free Chevelle wagon from California and he instantly fell in love. It was something different and he knew right away that he had to have it.
Being an enabler is typically considered a bad thing when it comes to unhealthy addictions, but if it’s your pops and grandpops doing the pushing, it’s likely to be something positive. In the case of John Griffith III, he pretty much had little choice in the matter when it came to the horsepower addiction. “I inherited the affection for power from my father and grandfather,” John admits. “It started with motorcycles in my early teenage years, then naturally grew in the direction of muscle cars soon after.”
Automotive tastes come in various forms and are often influenced by those around us. For many of us, once that interest is ignited, a lifelong journey begins. In Lou Jasper’s case, his late Uncle Joey ignited his passion for all things automotive. He recalls, “When I was about 5 years old, he pulled into our driveway in a ’71 ’Cuda. It had a 440 with a six-pack and I thought it was the greatest car.
Those were the words photographer John Jackson humorously blurted out while at GoodFellows Classic Cars in Phoenix to shoot this gorgeous yet brawny ’66 Chevelle. It wasn’t because there was an underage girl behind the wheel, but due to the front license plate that reads JAIL B8. The story of the plate goes back to when Tina’s husband, AJ Schwichtenberg, owner of GoodFellows, had a ’62 bubbletop with that California plate. As AJ tells it, “I wanted to get that same plate for the Chevelle I was building for my wife, Tina, but the Arizona DMV wasn’t having it.” AJ kept the original and put it on the front of the Chevelle, which got Jackson’s attention as Tina was moving the car in position for the photo shoot.
Pro Street got its start with the idea of implementing features from a Pro Stock drag car into a vehicle that could be driven on the street. After about 20 years of evolution and innovation, the Pro Street movement lost a lot of its popularity, largely because of the lack of actual performance associated with these fat-tired freaks of nature. However, a dedicated following has kept Pro Street alive and, if anything, it’s gone back to its radical roots with excessive horsepower and tire-torching capabilities. This incredibly brutal ’71 Camaro Z28 is a fine example of modern Pro Street goodness, as it boasts giant rear tires and four-digit horsepower to match the aggressive drag car appearance.
Richard Heseltine discovers GM’s flirtation with electric during the Sixties with what was already a ground-breaking car in engineering terms; however, even back then the limited battery technology hobbled the project…
When you think of motoring in 1950’s America, it’s likely that lashings of chrome, tail fins and bodywork for miles will come to mind. It’s fair to assume lightweight materials won’t feature anywhere on the list of all of the things that make up mid-20th century Americana.
Glamorous Fifties American convertibles are not unknown in Glasgow, but few of them brighten the place up like Bruce Kinnear’s gorgeous ’54 Chevrolet Bel Air…
