Do you miss your car from high school? Matt Koops doesn’t because he still owns it. He bought this Chevrolet in 1986 and continues to enjoy it in the same condition that it was back in the day. It even sports most of the Day 2 mods he installed as a wee lad. Few are so lucky!
This Ash Gold 1968 Chevelle SS 396 sports the base 325-horsepower L35 big-block and the optional TH400 automatic with console, but the original owner liberally specified other options including air conditioning, Positraction rear with 3.31 gears, stripes, AM/FM Stereo with 8-track, power steering and front disc brakes, and bumper guards. Under the hood you’ll find a 780 Holley, Holley Street Dominator intake, Crane Fireball camshaft, and Blackjack headers – painted white, no less!
Interestingly, Matt is a renowned restorer of Dodge Chargers and related Mopars. In fact, if you’ve ever seen the 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona that was beltline-deep in Florida hurricane water several years ago, his shop (Muscle Or Performance Auto Restoration) is handling the rebuild.
Join Muscle Car Campy as he tells us the tale of this 1980s-era Day 2 1968 Chevelle SS 396 and takes us for a drive. And, if you enjoy this, you can find more Muscle Car Campy videos from Tampa & vicinity here.
Awesome high school story and lucky enough I still have my 70 ss chevelle also I bought mine in 1979 for 500 bucks from the original owner he actually gave it to his son that put the big fat tires on the rear and the skinny ones up front he had it for 3 months and sold it to me because his brother had a 1977 trans am and didn’t want the payment anymore so he gave his brother the 500 bucks from me and gave it to his brother and took over the payments and I got the chevelle that’s how I got my car and when I got it the first thing I did I found the original SS wheels and changed it back to original
Still got my 69 428 scj 4 speed mach 1 from November 13 1972. Candy apple red and white interior. Paid 850 for it, was during the gas and oil embargo with opec.
My story similar. First car 1968 Chevelle SS 396 big block, 650 double pumper, 3 in. Hooker headers. M21 Muncie, 3.71 rear, Pro stock clutch that I burned out driving home. Leaving hole shots at every corner. Ansen wheels with L60 Mickey Thompson. Beast of car, chick magnet. Drove to Montreal Canada numerous times. Had the pleasure driving on Autoban between Montreal and Quebec. Top speed 129. Friend took to English Town did 12.9 open headers. Sadly had to sell, went to Air Force, no garage . Wish I had today. One day maybe again. On my bucket list.
$500 for a Chevelle SS, I musta lived on a different planet. I tried to buy a 70 LS-6 454 in 76 but I only had $1,700+ and the guy wanted $1900. Tragic
Bought mine coming back from Vietnam 67-68
I still have my 1968 Chevelle ss396. We bought it new in late 1967. 396 350 hp. I had to replace the engine because of cracked cylinders wall. I drove the car to high school in 1973 and 74. But still have in the garage. Match that. It’s had been painted 2 or 3 times with costumes paint jobs. But car was gold new. It is black now but needs repainted. Hope to do that soon. I’m now 68 years old. It will be my grandson’s car sum day. I did drag raced it and also showed it. It has a brand new rebuilt 396 in it. Just have not fired it up yet. Great car.
Hello. Enjoyed this story. I have the same chevelle with the same color Ash Gold only a convertible with 4 speed. My top is white. Bought it brand new in 1968 and have 96,000 miles.
My high school car is LOOOOONG gone…. it was my grandma’s 1979 buick regal. Loved the car. Had so much fun and made so many great memories in it. But the car I wish my mom coulda talked my dad into buying me was a 1968 chevelle SS396 with the monster L78 engine and a M22 4-spd. The only kicker of it was that it was a convertible. After investigation of the vehicle I found that it was a COPO car because they didn’t put the 375hp engine in the convertibles. They only put the 325 and the 350hp engines in them. The dealer who sold this car originally got it for himself to drive in parades and promote his dealership. I wanted that car so bad but, like a Christmas story “you’ll shoot your eye out kid”, my dad told me I’d kill myself in such a car. So I ended up with the powder blue, 6Cyl powered weak sauce regal that I putted around town in with all my friends piled in the back seat. Still had a good time. But, if I woulda got that chevelle, I’d STILL have it to this day.
L78s were installed in ragtops. Not a COPO.
Had a 68 chevelle god I loved that car. I had it for about 3 years but I was getting married with a kid coming so naturally my future wife wanted something bigger for the kid. Well the marriage lasted about a year she was gone and so was my 68. Damn should have kept the car.
I had a ’69 SS, same color, black vinyl etc…. Identical. Not thrilled w/color when I got in ’83.
That steering wheel is one I’ve never seen…..I had the black bar w/SS…
Beautiful! Wish I still had mine!
News flash. Not everyone could afford a car like this in high school. My family was poor and I worked , saved up to buy a
$75 1949 mercury. But most rich sites don’t care about poor people
I figured you would not post my comment. Poor whites don’t matter
There is no reason to take someone to task for what they own. And, last I checked, our site (which includes ClassicCars.com) features cars in all price ranges.
The site takes time for the comments to post. And the “My classic car” section features stories from all walks of life. I had a $700 beater in high school that I worked to pay for, that was vandalized by rich kids shortly after. But I studied, got a scholarship, worked a job throughout college, and eventually afforded a beautiful classic. The story didn’t go into that much detail, just the original “fixer-upper” I bought after college that I failed to fix up.
My first car 68 chevelle 307 .327 power pack heads eddlebrock manifold. Holly 650. Duel exhaust 4 speed. Sleeper . paid 1300.00 for it in 1971 wow .wish I had it now