The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

economist suntribune wheels thursday sept 19 2002 25 malcolm gunn wheelbase communications musclecars and horsepower go together like shoes and shoe laces but what made these eyeblinkquick chari ots so unique was the fact that none began as purposebuilt performance cars unlike jaguar xkes ferraris or even corvettes nearly all musclecars began as simple atob family coupes that were orig inally designed as economical versions of their fullsized siblings this philosophy certainly holds true with the potent chevelle ss 396 this cars roots date back to the autumn of 1963 when the chevelle was launched as chevrolets first intermediate abody car the chevelle was built to fill a niche that was halfway between the compact chevy ii that was introduced in 1962 and the full- size breadandbutter chevrolet biscayne bel air and impala models the firstyear 1964 chevelle was avail able in two- and fourdoor sedan varia tions as well as a distinctive twodoor hard top and sweetlooking convertible a chevelle offshoot the partcar parttruck el camino was also reintroduced that year although a sensible ohv sixcylinder engine was standard you could order the car with either the 283 or 327 cubicinch v8 that powered the bigger chevys in malibu super sport hence the ss designa tion trim complete with bucket seats floor shifter and spinnerstyle wheel covers the chevelle was not only downright attractive but reasonably quick the same year the chevelle was intro duced pontiac chevys inhouse rival unleashed the gto a highperformance spinoff of the intermediate tempest with 389 cubic inches under its belt the gto left everything else in its wake suddenly everyone gm ford and chrysler began tooling up for what was to become the most ferocious horsepower battle ever seen with their respective intermediate coupes and hardtops in the role of storm troopers chevrolet scrambled to respond to the horsepower wars by creating its own ver sion of pontiacs goat as it came to be known staying within the gmmandated 400 cubicinch limit the division launched the malibu ss 396 option late into the 1 965 model year originally rated at 325 horse power by 1 967 the bigblock powerhouse fine lines chevelle ss 396 could be ordered in either 350 or 375- horsepower versions the latter featured solid valve lifters that facilitated highrpm operation but required continual attention to keep the engine in proper tune only a handful of ss 396s were pro duced in 1965 but in the following year an incredible 72000 of these highperform ance beasts were churned out not only was the cars power a major attraction for the street- or drag racingminded but at a cheapthrills base price of around 3000 almost anyone could afford to get behind the wheel the wildly successful chevelle and tempestle mans intermediates helped general motors post record sales through- out the mid60s by that time gms share of all foreign and domestic passenger cars sold in north america hovered around 60 per cent with half of that chunk of the pie belonging to chevrolet alone chevrolets successive generations of abodied chevelles continued to be the most popular intermediates around and the ss 396 was far and away the bestselling musclecar but by 1970 smog control devices were federallymandated on all cars chevy quietly increased the 396s engine displace ment to 402 cubic inches that year to main tain peak horsepower however the car continued to be badged as an ss 396 but just as the musclecar phenomena had surpassed its peak chevrolet unleashed the baddest ss of them all the ss 454 in 1 970 and 1 971 this 454cube mon ster motor delivered a top rating of 450 gross horsepower making it a formidable challenger on the street and on the strip the following year evertightening emissions regulations resulted in a severe horsepower curtailment for the muscle- bound chevelle you could still order the the ss with its 454 engine but the car oper ated with significantly reduced output the chevelle super sport had now joined the remaining emasculated muscle cars and pony cars as as mere shadows of their former glory m malcolm gunn is wheelbase communications chief road tester and his toric writer wheelbase is a worldwide supplier of automobile news reviews and features the new 2003 eclass it arrived early and so should you with an available 302hp v8 engine get used to seeing the new eclass arriving ahead of schedule combine that with the most advanced braking system in the world brakebywire sensotronic brake control system and a host of other new remarkable features its more than enough reason to get to your nearest mercedes dealer for a test drive today mercedesbenz youre ready mercedes benz mercedesbenz markham mercedesbenz newmarket 8350 kennedy rd markham wwwmarkhammercedesbenzca 230 mulock dr newmarket 9053q51088 9058536868 hflii rt jfjli 1