Car: 1969 Chevelle SS
My wife Cathy and I are the third owners of our 1969 Chevelle SS. My brother Nick was the second owner. This car has been in our family over the last twenty three years. Nick bought this car in the Crow’s Nest Pass, at a car lot in Frank, Alberta in 1976. He drove it for five years and then parked it for twelve years in a friend’s yard. Back in 1994 he decided it was time to sell so we jumped at the chance. I love this car and always dreamed of owning it one day.
Nick lived in Alberta and we live in Saskatchewan so he had to bring it back on a trailer pulled by his truck. Cathy and I kept envisioning what it used to look like when Nick first owned it but of course after sitting outside uncovered for twelve years it wasn’t what it used to be! Surprise! Surprise!.... NOT!
We kept the car in our garage until April 1998 when we decided it was time to fix it up, of course the big deciding factor was the change to insurance laws in Saskatchewan. We were able to get new full quarters from Regina Motor Products but the majority of our parts came from Original Parts Group, in Hunting Beach, California. It wasn’t long before I was on first name basis with my sales rep - Ray. Everyone there knew who I was and I became known as “Otto from Canada”.
 |
Options / Description
A02 Windshield Glass Tinted
A51 Bucket Seats
B22 Door trim pad emblems (SS)
B37 Floor mats front and back
B93 Door edge guards
C08 Vinyl top
D55 Front floor console unit
F41 Sports suspension
J50 Power brakes
J52 Disc brakes
L34 396 V8 350 HP engine
M40 Turbo 400 three speed automatic transmission
NC8 Chambered pipe exhaust system
PY4 F70-14-4 PR White stripe tires
U63 AM push-button radio
U73 Rear mounted antenna
Z25 Super sport 396 package
Z49 Mandatory Canadian Base Equipment Modifications
I called around to different body shops and decided upon Regina Autobody. Mike was awesome and really patient with me as I am a very picky and fussy about everything that was done to the car. We had a hard time deciding on what colour to paint the car (it was originally Daytona Yellow). I wanted a black vinyl roof (original top colour was fawn) and they suggested a yellow paint colour for the body. There are a lot of different shades for this colour and we decided on a base coat yellow. What a bright yellow it turned out to be and a real eye-catcher! You almost need sun glasses on to look at it.
The interior we wanted black (original was dark green). Since neither of us knew how to put the interior in we decided to have a professional do it. We were fortunate to find Bruce of Custom Canvass for the job and what a fabulous job he did. By April of 1999 the car was ready for the 33’rd annual Majestic Car Show. We had a lot of people stop by and comment on how great the car looked. Some even took pictures and video taped the car as well. Our Chevelle SS won second place for Best Muscle Car of the 60’s!!
The car still needs some engine work but it will have to wait for next year. Then we will go to more out of town car shows. The last car show we attended was on August 29, 1999 at Regina Motors Products where we happened to meet to Dave Weir of Canadian Classic Chevelles & Beaumonts. He had given us a membership package and Cathy filled out the application and mailed it in the next week. Sometime down the road we hope to make it out to Victoria, BC and meet some of other club members. Maybe go to a few car shows too of course.