Re: The most "significant" Chevrolet performance c
 

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significant car or shall i say cars would be any 55 Chevy with a V-8. had that V-8 not been introduced in 55, none of the others would have been where they are today


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EXCELLENT point, Jeff...if nothing else, the SBC should get it's own paragraph for changing the hot rodding landscape for years and years to come!

IMO, the true answer to the original question is probably more of a "personal" thing, ya know? Someone mentioned a bubbletop back in Chi-town that started it for them...someone else mentioned seeing a 'Vette and beginning the love affair...me, I've always told dad that ZL1 #3 would be near the top, but Barnhart's car trumps that hands down and is probably my #1 or #1a...but, being a Chevelle guy deep down, I've always thought the red LS6 on the brochure hooked a LOT of folks back in the day, plus I might happen to know where a *fairly* decent & historic example might be parked! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/naughty.gif

Re: The most "significant" Chevrolet performance c
 

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I've always told dad that ZL1 #3 would be near the top, but Barnhart's car trumps that hands down and is probably my #1 or #1a...

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An opinion shared by many! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/worship.gif And in my humble opinion, THE most valuable ZL-1 currently in existance. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/flag.gif

Re: The most "significant" Chevrolet performance c
 

A couple that really hooked folks, as Rob said, the LS-6 Chevelle ad, and one that really got my attention back in the day, the Motion ad guarantying 11 sec. ¼ times.

My personal list would be:
Grumpy’s ’67 Camaro,
Barnhart's ZL-1
Morrison's Gibb Nova
Grand Sport Corvette
Hedrick's '69 Yenko Camaro
Any other of Grumpy’s cars
Gibb ZL-1 #1
Gibb ’68 “race” Nova
The Camaro Don Yenko won the Daytona Citrus 250 in.
The Sunoco road race Camaro
Berger ZL-1 #3

Re: The most "significant" Chevrolet performance c
 

One of the cars that "got me" in the sense that Rob describes it was the first time I ever saw the 68 Dick Harrel Chevelle in Muscle Car Review when Joe Sweezy owned it. I must have read that article over and over. This was before I ever came to this board, so my thought was I would NEVER be able to ever own a supercar of any kind! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/grin.gif

Re: The most "significant" Chevrolet performance c
 

I agree that the most "significant" Chevrolet is likely more a personal thing than something to be agreed on by the masses. Grand Sport vettes mean nothing to me personally, nor do any Z11 Impalas or convertible Z/28s, not to say they weren't important cars for Chevrolet, and to others, but none of those were significant in ME becoming interested in what I'm into today. I'd say the car that sticks in my head as "the one that started it all" was when Brian Henderson brought his freshly restored fathom green 69 sYc Camaro to a little local show in my hometown on his way to the Camaro Nationals some time in the early 90's. I know I wasn't old enough to drive, and my brother Erik was 5 years younger than i was...so we were both pretty young...Regardless, we knew what a Yenko was from the many stories my dad had told us over the years... and ironically were probably about the only people at that show who did! I talked Brian's ear off for an hour or more about the car, and he answered all my questions and mentioned he thought it was cool that a couple of punk kids showed that much interest in learning about Yenko specifics. It was the coolest car I had ever seen, and at the time there wasn't anyone else restoring Camaros to that level of detail. (probably still isn't as far as that goes!) It was the first Yenko I ever recall seeing "in person", and to this day it sticks in my mind as one of my favorite supercars ever.

That day started a friendship with Brian that has spanned close to 20 years now (wow!) and that Camaro is what got my blood flowing and eventually lead me to where I am today. On a personal level, I'd definitely say that green car was the most "significant" one for me...
-JB

https://www.yenko.net/reunion/yenkobh.jpg

Re: The most "significant" Chevrolet performance c
 

MkII Mystery Motor Impalas. Can you imagine how many more cool and seriously fast Chevrolets would have been built had the GM racing ban not gone into effect in mid-'63?

-Jon

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...435/img126.jpg
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j3...Mystery427.jpg

Re: The most "significant" Chevrolet performance c
 

I'm with my brother Joe on BKH's old FG/Black 69 Yenko Camaro. I'll never forget the first time I saw it at the Ebensburg Weekend of Wheels show...and I'll definitely never forget the first time I got a ride in it...at SCR1 when Brian showed it no mercy. An L88 at 8 grand just has a ring to it you won't forget.

https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ins/3gears.gif

Re: The most "significant" Chevrolet performance c
 

Wow Joe...what a great post!

I can't name the most important...I like them all https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/grin.gif

BTW, I owe my interest in muscle cars to my brother Gary...I knew what a Yenko, a Nickey, a Bill Thomas and a Dana were from a pretty early age. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/grin.gif

Re: The most "significant" Chevrolet performance c
 

I'd have to say that everyone has had great choices. Frank's original question was "What do you feel is the most significant single CHEVROLET performance car in existence?"
No offense to Frank, but the word "significant" has too many broad meanings to all of us to really agree on just ONE. Some have interpreted it as the most significant one for "them" personally which got them into the hobby with such focus, others have picked the highest horsepower, or the very first OHV V8. My pick hinged on Chevrolet's most complete racing package ever offered under one RPO. (and by the way, I stand by that; the L-88s nor the Z-06 Corvettes, nor the ZL-1s were offered with an overall package of race-only features as was the Z-11).
Does that mean the Z-11 was the most "significant"? No. It just fit the criteria I used to answer the question, as each of the other cars mentioned fit the criteria of the people who mentioned their picks. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif

Verne https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/beers.gif

Re: The most "significant" Chevrolet performance c
 

I've got to agree with Joe - sometimes the most "significant" Chevrolet performance car to some can be an uninteresting car to me. Don't get me wrong, I love cars and can appreciate the hard work and devotion that can go into any car, be it a muscle car or the most bizarre creation.
When I was 15 there was a '59 Studebaker Lark post car for sale in a gas station in Hempstead. It didn't matter it was a 2 bus ride to get there - I was there twice a week, to look, until it was gone. He wanted $600 for it, if I could have gotten my Dad to loan me $550, it would have been mine.
The hood and front fenders were molded together and tilted forward. It was bright green metalflake with a 327 - 4 speed and straight axle front end. The inside was an entire black '64 Impala SS interior, buckets, console, door panels and dash. I was in love, hooked on that look, straight axle, custom interior and big motor!
Loving the look wasn't enough, it wasn't a Chevy - This lead me to a long line of '55 Chevy's and my most "significant" Chevrolet - not a factory produced car - but a Two Lane Blacktop style, big block, 4 speed '55 Chevy. We were building them years before the movie came out! Nothing has the look, the feel or brutal power of a car built to those standards. To underestimate the effect of these home built hot rods on GM's future decisions would be an injustice!