Car of the Week: 1967 Chevelle SS 396

[dodgechargerfan]

Larry Debevec was definitely looking at the big picture when he bought his first car.

“My dad would tell stories like, ‘I wish I still had my ’33 Plymouth,’ or ‘I wish I had that 1940 Ford coupe’. I always said that’s never gonna happen to me,” says the resident of Summerville, S.C. “I decided at a young age I’m going to buy something that I like and that’s going to be a sweet, hot car and that’s going to be in the family for a long time.”

Debevec’s stunning 1967 Chevelle SS 396 certainly fills the bill on all accounts. It was the first car the car-crazy youth bought when he was barely old enough to drive, and he’s never parted with it. He’s never even remotely considered letting the Chevelle go, even when it was sitting in a barn collecting dust for about a dozen years.

The marriage began innocently enough back in 1970 when Debevec went with his dad to order a new 1970 Impala for the family from the local Chevy dealer. “I had just turned 15 and was helping the owner of the Chevrolet dealership with the options that I wanted and he saw that I was interested in cars and on the spot he offered me a job sweeping up in the shop and cleaning up after the mechanics,” Debevec said. “In a couple of months I was doing brake jobs and putting mufflers on cars. The first engine I rebuilt was on a 1965 Corvair Monza Spyder.”

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[restoman]

Nice, but if you've seen one, you've seen them all.
Still running points ignition????

 

[v8440]

My mother ran points ignition on every car she ever owned, which was only 3 if I remember right. A '68 cutlass, a '71 skylark, and a '72 corolla. I bought her an HEI distributor in late '95 for her to have installed in the buick. As far as I know it sat on a shelf somewhere until she died. She said her mechanic didn't know how to install it. It's one wire, I think she just didn't trust it so she said that to appease me.

 

[restoman]

Maybe, but did your Mom restore her car completely and stick with points?

 

[v8440]

No. However, if she had restored it she would undoubtedly have stayed with points. Hell, she only quit putting bias ply tires on the cutlass around 1991 when it became very hard to find them.

 

[v8440]

She never trusted electronic ignition. I think part of that was because my first car, which had an HEI, stranded me one time because the module popped. The ground wire had been left disconnected by someone prior to me getting the car, but that fact didn't stop her from never trusting electronic ignition. I think she had already heard some horror stories previous to that about cars not running due to trouble with electronic ignitions, and my experience with it was the last nail in that coffin.