Collector Car/Cars We Remember; Readers recall their 1964 Chevelle and Chevelle El Camino

Awesome 1964 Chevelle memories

Q: Greg I really enjoyed your column on your friend’s 1964 Chevelle that I read in Auto Round-Up Magazine and in online newspapers. It brought back fond memories because I bought a brand-new ’64 El Camino from Tom Benson Chevrolet in San Antonio in November of 1963.

I had just spent 10 months in the San Antonio Air Force Hospital recovering from a near fatal Flightline accident and wanted to drive home to San Diego. So I bought the only El Camino they had, a 283 V8, two- barrel version with a 3-speed manual and headed for home.

I had a ton of hot rod friends who helped me make it into the street racer I wanted it to be. I bought one of those 375-hp Chevy crate motor short blocks you were talking about (for about $250 back then) and got a set of heavily ported 194 heads from Cope Brothers Automotive Machine in Tacoma, Wash.

I installed a hydraulic camshaft from Crower right down the road in Chula Vista and then a B&M Hydro (Hydro Stick 4-Speed Automatic). Remember, this was in January of 1964 when no headers were available yet and there were no racing rear gear sets for the 10 bolt Chevy rear either. So, the B&M, with its 3.68:1 low gear would help get it out of the hole well because I still couldn’t shift a normal 4-speed as my right arm was still in a cast, and my hands hadn’t healed.

Also, I remember that you couldn’t order a 300-horsepower 327 in a Chevelle until much later in ’64. You can begin to imagine the fun I had with that car for the next six months as I’d go to a drive-in, preferably one where I hadn’t been before, and let it be known that I had an automatic, single 4, no headers, no gears, and I wanted to race. Shoot, I’d race anything and won a lot of those races. It was fun to see the looks of disbelief on the faces of the locals when I beat their boy by three to four car lengths! The only reason I didn’t get beat up is that I usually raced for fun, not money.

Well, you probably get 1,000 of these geezer stories per week, but for the record I’m still very active in the sport. I have eight cars and seven of them are my toys!

My ’68 Cuda runs low 10s (in the quarter mile), and what I’d have given to have that 600 horsepower in the 1960s! Thanks again for the trip down memory lane. Tom Frisque, San Diego, Calif.

A: Tom, just like my reader last week, my apologies to you for not answering this letter sooner. Thank you for your service in the Air Force and I’m so happy you survived your near death Flightline air crash.

Further, to help my readers understand what you referred to that I wrote, I’m running portions of that column you enjoyed so much, updated of course. Here we go.

My friend’s 327, 375-horse ’64 Chevelle

Q: Greg I read your car articles in Auto Round-Up and the online newspapers and find them very interesting and nostalgic for an old guy like me (I’m 72 now).

In April of 1964 I ordered a new 1964 Chevelle SS at Pine Motors Chevrolet in Wapello, Iowa, and I paid $3,061 for it.

I ordered my Chevelle SS with a 365-horse engine, but after a month a GM representative called and said the 365 engine was no longer available. He said I could have a 300 horsepower 327 instead, which I finally accepted. 

I took delivery in June of that year and my Chevelle had no options except for the 327-engine and a Muncie 4- speed. Because of my drag strip forays, I did have the clutch replaced once and used cheater slicks for the drag strip. My car was known as “Ole Smoky” at the strip in Kahoka, Mo., and I sure miss that car. Around Burlington it was the only Chevelle SS that had the ‘327’ front fender emblems (the “V” with flags), and was a great car that I drove to Ft. Bragg, N.C. when I was in the Army.

I kept that ’64 Chevelle for more than five years with nary a problem. I read, years later, that GM made 206 of the 365-horse 327 Chevelles, but can’t be sure. My best regards and thanks for your columns. Tom Jacobson, Burlington, Iowa.

A: Tom, thank you very much for your Army service and interesting emails. That 1964 Chevelle you purchased sure brings back some great memories on my side, too.

First, I would opine the reason you weren’t successful on your 365-horse 327 order was due to a General Motors mandate on high-performance and its exit from organized racing and building fast cars. (At least that’s what they agreed to, but General Motors never stopped building its high-performance cars.)

The 365-horse 327 appears under 1964 Corvette engines, but does not appear on the “official” 1964 Chevelle engine list; but the 300-horse version does. However, this doesn’t mean Chevy didn’t build a few 365-327 Chevelles, as your investigative work implies. The 365 does appear in ’64 Chevelle manufacturer “unofficial” literature as a “JS” code engine but without production numbers.

As for personal memories, one of my best friends in high school was Dave Dannenhoffer, he is a car crazy guy just like me. His brother John, several years older than us, had a 1964 Chevelle SS and decided he was going to turn it into one of those 365-horse Chevelles that GM wanted to sell, but was stopped by corporate mandate.

Just as our reader Tom Frisque did, John ordered a 327 L84 Corvette crate motor from GM, less intake and induction and rated at 375-horsepower. This is the same engine Chevy used with its fuel-injected Corvettes, although John used a large Holley carb instead. I remember seeing the bright yellow L84 engine sitting in the crate as John removed the 300-horse 327 engine and then dropped in the 375-horse engine. He attached it to a Muncie 4-speed, put on a set of headers that were now available in ‘66 and then added heavy-duty 4:88 rear gears. The result was one very fast vehicle, at least on paper.

In late ’66, when all those 389-GTOs, 442 Olds, 390 Mustangs, and SS396 Chevelles roamed the boulevards, John was ready to display what he had built. Notable during that muscle car “big engine” period is the fact that the small block Chevelles were overlooked when it came to competing against the big-block rivals; that is until the night John took on one of the fastest 396-375 horsepower, 4-speed ’66 Chevelles in the area.

The stage was set for what many thought would be a major hammering of a small block ’64 Chevelle against the new ‘66 SS396/375 with 4:10 gears. Although I do not endorse any type of street racing these days, I remember that Saturday night at Union Road, the latter a street race favorite site that led to the shore points of south Jersey.

A big crowd showed up to see this race, complete with bonfires and money changing hands everywhere. This “big versus small block” match was the feature race of the night, which included perhaps 10 other important grudge / money runs. The format was simple, one run, no excuses, win or lose for all the cash. Most of the money was on the big-block Chevelle, and some even gave 2-1 odds. The side betting was enormous as many felt it was easy money betting on the big-block 396. Me, $5.00 on John and I received 2-1 odds.

With open headers bellowing and slicks mounted, the starter dropped the flag at about 11:30 that night. Next thing you know, John is out on the 396 with 4:10 gears by two car lengths immediately thanks to his driving ability and those tall 4:88 gears. He then extended the lead to over five cars at the finish and that was all she wrote.

This Union Road event proved to me right then that a well thought out combination is hard to beat, regardless of cubic inches.

Oh yes, I took my $10 winnings and bought my three friends and I some Burger Chef goodies.

Thanks to both of my “Tom” readers for rekindling these amazing memories.

(Greg Zyla is a syndicated auto writer who welcomes reader interaction on collector cars, auto nostalgia or motorsports at greg@gregzyla.com.)