Customer Reviews

Chevelle, 1964-1972 (Muscle Car Color History)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book has glaring factual inaccuracy when discussing some of the Chevelle models. The book gets quite a bit right, but the errors and poor choice of subject cars to feature for the earlier models is inexcusable.

Nice pictures of (some flawed) cars. The author obviously doesn't know Chevelles that well. He seems to be constantly quoting someone who thinks they do. The author obviously has a poor enough working knowledge of the subject that when he received inaccurate information he had no way of immediately questioning it and so accepted it as accurate. I hope he's not a journalist working for my local newspapers!

It should have been a clear warning when in the preface of the book the author admits to not being much of a Chevelle entusiast. This fact is clearly illustrated throughout the book with poorly researched information and obvious misstatements of facts. The photography is beautiful but many of the cars, especially the 64 and 65 Chevelles pictured have glaring restoration inaccuracies and are quite possibly faked originals. A particularly poor example is the white 65 Malibu SS and white 65 El Camino featured which both have obvious flaws and inaccuracies in their restorations. The authors and publishers have a responsibility to present world class cars in books such as this. Such irresponsible publishing only tends to further confuse the enthusiast world with false and misleading information.

Surely the publisher could have found a more qualified author and the author and publisher could have found some better examples to photograph. Don't get me wrong, many of the featured cars are wonderful examples of the Chevelle world it's just that some are not.

The book is well written (excluding the factual errors) and has great photography, but the research and journalistic and euthusiast integrity are severely lacking.

A beautifully illustrated and extensively researched history the Chevrolet Chevelle. Brilliant color photos show each year's interiors and exterior body designs. Bright Chevy-orange engines shine from early Super Sports, COPO's, Yenko's, and the legendary LS6 454 cubic inch monsters. Mueller integrates magazine performance reports from Hot Rod, Super Stock and Drag Illustrated, Musclecars, and other early auto magazines to show how the Chevelles stack up against other muscle cars.

Quality of materials and production: Excellent

Number of Pages: 128

Size: 9" x 10 1/2"

Total number of pictures: 129

-color pictures: 89

-monochrome: 40

Original General Motors Materials:

-advertisement reprints: 6

-technical diagrams: 8

-photo illustrations: 24

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1; Introduction; Bow-Tie Bloodlines

Chapter 2; 1964, Plugging the Gap

Chapter 3; 1965, From A to Z

Chapter 4; 1966-1967, Big Block of No Block

Chapter 5; 1968-1969, The Long and Short of It

Chapter 6; 1970, Fit To Be Tied Chapter 7; 1971-1972, End of the Road

Charts:

1. Physical Comparison the 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air Sport Coupe with the 1964 Chevelle Sport Coupe

2. Super Sport Engine Specifications, by option number, cubic inches, horsepower, torque, compression ratio

3. Super Sport Production Figures, by year and engine

Index: 101 references to subjects inside

Tom Wilson is the Team Chevelle website archivist and moderator of the news group alt.autos.chevelle

This book provides many interesting historic notes about the conception and development of the Chevelle line. If you're looking for the story behind the car and some exceptional pictures I highly recommend this book.

I didn't expect this book to be an unabridged encyclopedia of the Chevelle, but I expected a little more detail than it contains. It's a superficial overview of the model years without enough substance to satisfy someone (such as myself) looking for a little in-depth history and more detailed facts of the Chevelle.

I can't speak to the accuracy of the specifications in this book as some other reviewers, but I must say that it falls far short of my expectations. It seems there are too few facts in this book for me to really review thoroughly.