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1971 ss 4speed


joseph kehrer

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hello fgmcc members,      i went to a car show today and saw a 1971 root beer colored ss .  i looked at the badges  and in the interior i saw a 4 speed transmission.  the owner was not around.  i came back later to find her by the car.  i asked if she knew about the ss.  she said her father ordered it new in 1971 ps, pb, ac, rear defog,  tach & guages for bbc,  correct badging , buckets and 4 speed  counsil, rear  boxed in arms and sway bar all original. she said her father rebuilt the engine  non stock oil pan ,open air cleaner . it had the load leveler compressor . i asked if she had the build sheet she thought it was in her fathers paperwork.  she said it was original  with some extra  nos parts. i tried to read the engine vin # behind the alternator i could not make out the vin #s. does anyone know how this could have came to existance ?   thanks joseph. 

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Easy, it's not. Sounds like a classic copper 402 4 speed with SS badges. Pics would have been better to tell. Or it can be an SS with a dealer installed 4 speed. It is not a factory 4 speed SS454.  Unless a build sheet can prove otherwise. Then it would be the holy Grail of SS454s! Would love to know. 

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I can't believe buckets and 4 spd console? could have a upgraded 5spd? No pictures, didn't happen ,LOL come across the holy grail of Monte's and no pictures. If you said it was a '72 I would have believed it.post-259-0-61935100-1474727657_thumb.jpg

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It's like big foot,loc Ness and all the other stories that are told through the years ,so yes she may be telling what she truly believes because someone she trusts told her so. Yes proof would be great to see to turn all our heads around. Then we can all go out and find Big Foot and an LS6 Monte and the guy in the red suit that hit my Monte last Christmas Eve With his sled.... Or so my kids were told...

KIMG0333.JPG

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Would love to see the documentation on that one of 2 72 Monte Carlo ss454s. Lolololol

Everybody, I have the original deed to the verazzano bridge and land rites! Big money maker!!! Cheappppppppppppp!!!! 

Won't last!!!!!!

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  • 2 months later...

Fran Preve, an employee of the Tonawanda, NY engine plant for decades, was also an avid racer.  In the mid 80's Chevrolet gave him access to the production records.  He attended the 1986 National Chevelle Owners Assocaiation's Annual Convention in Peoria, IL.  He had a seminar and covered many topics and then answered questions.  I was there as our Northern Illinois Chevelle Club was the host club.  I asked Fran about the mysterious 1971 SS LS-6 and 1971 SS 4-spd manual transmission Monte Carlo.  He said per the Chevrolet production records no 1971 Monte SS454 was made with a 4-speed manual at the factory.

Based on his access to records I do believe GM can provide production information if they wanted.  Just like Pontiac.  He has never publicly explained the rare factory production cars as he does not want them to be replicated or "tribute" ones made.  I was with him in Columbus, OH NCOA national convention in the early 90's when a shop owner came up to us while we were looking at Chevelles and said he had worked on a 1965 300 Deluxe Chevelle with a 396 and hydraulic lifters that looked original.  Fran asked what color the car was and when the mechanic told him he said "go find that car".  At the same time a Northern Illinois Chevelle Club member, Gary Swearingen, of Bloomington, IL said he had purchased a 1965 Z-16 but when it was delivered it had a 327 engine, but everything else was correct; dash clock, Tach, special rear trunk chrome, etc.  He rejected it and an older woman eventually purchased it.  When Fran knew the model and color of the 1965 Chevelle with the "big block" with hydraulic lifters he knew about these cars.  A GM exec wanted the plain jane Chevelle with the IX code Z-16 engine (425hp 396 engine placed in the Corvette but they took out the mechanical lifter and used hydraulic).

A few years later my family spent some time with Mark Meekins, President of the NCOA, and his family in Greensboro, NC.  He showed me pictures of the mysterious Chevelle that had the IX coded engine.  It was outside Nashville.  The brother of the GM exec who ordered it died and his brother got it.  That explains why Gary's Z-16 was delivered with a 327.  We subsequently found several other cars he knew were produced.

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you knew I would post this Jared hahaha El Monte does live haha.......

I also love the stories of my monte carlo came factory with a 327 and or an inline 6..... I have heard them all too including I saw one with a factory cowl induction hood to and a factory hood tach too..... LOL

Darren

72MonteCarloElCamino_zps10097d40.jpg

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