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A revisit to the horsepower and muscle car wars of the 1960’s. Specifically, we’re going to look at obscure, rare and perhaps forgotten 1960s Chevrolet Muscle Cars that could be ordered from the factory with high horsepower engines in non-muscle car trim levels. To explain; Most people know what a 1960’s era classic Chevrolet American muscle car is when they see it. These are cars like the Camaro SS and the Chevelle SS 396. But, did you know that back then, sometimes one could order a plain jane stripped down trim level sleeper version with the largest engine and horsepower that was offered for that model. In many cases you could order a Corvette engine in the most basic ride imaginable.

If you were the stealthy type who liked having serious performance under the hood, but didn’t like to advertise it, these cars were the ultimate factory sleepers that looked like grandma’s grocery getter and Sunday ride to church but were secretly fast. Why would someone want that? A few reasons come to mind; they might be more economical to buy than the muscle car version of the same model, or they were usually lighter than the muscle car version which was better for racing, or they might lull your street racing nemesis into a false sense of superiority when a stoplight racing challenge was issued. Personally, I think they are the coolest performance cars from the 60’s because they are unique, rare and have a clean, uncluttered appearance that give little warning as to what lies beneath…. Kind of like a venomous kitten… .all cute and harmless looking, but utterly lethal.

These cars were rare on the ground because not many people ordered them this way, and these days command big dollars for all-original documented collector-grade examples in pristine or professionally restored condition. Because they’re not making any more of them, even beat-up, non- modified original cars like these don’t come cheap.

So, lets get on with it… These aren’t listed in order of importance. I may have left some out and you may not agree with these. Leave a comment and let me know what your favorite ones are even if they didn’t make it into this video. I might use your suggestions and make this into a series and look at stealthy sleeper cars from other manufacturers and brands.

00:00 Intro

00:27 1965 Chevelle 300 L79 4 speed

02:07 1964 CHEVROLET Biscayne 409 4 speed

04:04 1965 Chevrolet Biscayne L72 4 speed

05:58 1966 Chevy II 100 L79

07:52 Outro