1970 Chevrolet Chevelle Millennium Yellow and flat black

“We found the Car Craft magazine Cheap Chevelle and it’s for sale on mings,” a former editor-in-chief of that magazine explains.

The following are his recollections of the car:

If you remember Car Craft ine, you might also remember its beloved Cheap Chevelle, the 1970 Chevelle that it acquired for $3,000 in the mid-1990s. At the time it was an oil-slurping small-block-powered driver that had been stored in the fornia sun for eight years. The late John Kiewicz was sent to the rough side of town to retrieve the car and bring it to the HOT ROD shop in Nuys, fornia.   

In the years that followed, the Chevelle followed the theme of being a cheap street machine. Ironic now, but in the ‘90s a base 1970 Chevelle was considered a garden-variety way to get into the hobby. The first step was a 355-cu.in. small-block swap and a basic list of street-machine mods that included a small shot of nitrous. The Chevelle ran consistent 13s on the motor and 12s on the squeeze. An easy combo to repeat. The Cheap Chevelle was a favorite of the staff and the readers, both who had the opportunity to wrench on and drive the car and see it at local shows. It was taken to the autocross before Pro Touring was a thing and taught to compete with the imports that were dominant at those venues at the time. It was fast, and fun, and yellow. 

The details on where the car was and who might be wrenching on it gets a little fuzzy in the 2000s when Car Craft’s parent company was sold and resold in a five-year period. What we do know is Chevrolet Performance donated the then-new ZZ502 cu.in. big-block that is currently under the hood, and the Chevelle quickly went from 12s on nitrous to 11s on the motor (well, maybe some nitrous was involved there too). After that, the details get a little fuzzy again. Since magazine guys never lock anything and often leave the keys in the ignition, the car was lifted from the Car Craft shop at some point by someone who knew where it was. The perpetrator evidently didn’t realize he was conspicuously driving a famous stolen yellow Chevelle around the and was quickly arrested. The car was returned in mostly one piece after a brief vacation in police impound. 

The car sat with a bent hood (the hood pins were found in the shop after the theft), under a light coating of police fingerprint dust until HOT ROD magazine picked it up and sent it to Steve Strope at ion for a makeover. Strope and his crew completely disassembled the car and rebuilt it using largely the same components and added hundreds of subtle details and two-tone paint to get the car ready for its photo shoot and debut on the 2004 HOT ROD Power Tour where it was to be given away. At 6:30 pm on the last day of the Tour, participant Ken ’s name was drawn as the winner of the car. 

brought the car back to his home in , and stashed it away in his garage, taking it out for the 2005 HOT ROD Power Tour and the 2007 Power Tour where he and his wife started the Veteran’s Administration meet-up in the kick-off town on the Friday before the Tour began. In 2015 the car moved to Lake vasu and became part of the vasu car culture for another decade. always understood what the car was and its significance in the industry, deciding early on to leave it in original condition.

• A GM Performance ts 502-hp, ZZ502 crate engine that had been blueprinted is still under the hood.
• y’s Avenger carburetor and fuel system were installed, as were ker headers.
• So too, was a ntage Air Runner serpentine belt accessory drive.
• A U.S. Radiator with dual electric fans handle cooling.
• The firewall was smoothed and the wiring was hidden.
• A flat-black—silver—aluminum theme carries through the engine bay.
• A 700-R4 four-speed automatic transmission with overdrive backs the big-block.
• An burn limited-slip differential and 3.73:1 gears are in the 12-bolt rear axle.
• The Cowl Induction-style hood and grille were replaced due to damage from when the car was stolen.
• The body was repainted with GM 2003 Corvette nium ellow and the hood in flat-black.
• Its black vinyl top was retained.
• Powder Coating applied semi-flat-black to the body trim.
• Plating redid the chrome and provided polishing.
• There’s no rust and there are no scratches on the body, per the seller.
• The black vinyl interior is in good condition, and restoration items came from rOne.
• A ntage Air A/C system was installed.
• dLine Gauge Works provided the custom gauge panel.
• The steering wheel is from LeCarra, and the sound system from Eclipse.
• Eibach coil springs lowered the car’s stance.
• lbrock provided the additional suspension parts and shocks.
• SSBC four-wheel power disc brakes feature 12-inch and 11-inch rotors front and rear, respectively.
• nspeed 18-inch V wheels were custom made for this car and powder-coated.
• The BF G- T/A KD tires are still on them.

• ine articles on the car in Car Craft and HOT ROD are included in the sale.

• There’s a small paint bubble below rear window, the seller notes.

• This Chevelle is a renowned Car Craft project vehicle, and a famous HOT ROD Power Tour sweepstakes car.
• Its exterior depicts a popular body treatment of the early 2000s.
• Its powertrain mods make it an impressive straight-line performer.
• The chassis, brake, and wheel/tire upgrades make it a competent auto-crosser.
• The seller won this car, kept it, and cared for it for 20 years.

The seller states that this vehicle will be sold on a clean title in his name. This retired magazine project/giveaway 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle bu is a one-of-kind ride that will draw plenty of attention.