Q: Greg, I see a lot of different muscle cars from the 1960s and am wondering which specific models were built as non-muscle cars but you could order with a real muscle car drivetrain and ride around in what we called “sleepers” back then. I’m wondering if you could give me your top five sleepers from Chevy, Ford and MOPAR? Keith M., Bloomsburg, Pa.
A: Keith, how about we do it this way. We’ll start with the group of top five Chevrolets that could be ordered by any buyer who came in the showroom and knew the proper option numbers. These options allowed the family grocery getter sedan to turn into a super muscle car. (Look for separate features on Ford and MOPAR in the future).
1): 1962 Chevrolet Belair 409: With a 425 horsepower edition available, many a Beach Boys fan purchased these ultra-quick “she’s real fine my 409” that indeed were the fastest with “my four-speed, dual quad, positraction 409.” These cars were raced very successfully as drag cars, although when it came to the 500-mile Daytona and Darlington events they were outclassed by Ford, which led Chevy to develop the 427 Big Block Mystery Motor that debuted at Daytona in 1963.
2: 1963 Chevrolet Z11 427: Not to be confused with the Mystery Motor 427 built for the oval tracks, the 1963 Z11 427 was a 409 style big block punched out to 427 inches featuring a special intake manifold, dual quads. Aluminum front end putting out a listed 430 horses. As long as you told the Chevy dealer Z11, you could have owned one.
3: 1965 Chevelle 300 L79: Back in 1965, those who wanted “plain Janers” to cruise the boulevard and then make a few dollars beating a GTO, Buick GS or Olds 442 could easily get the job done with what looked like a perfect grandparents car, specifically the 1965 Chevelle 300 two-door sedan. Under the hood, you ordered the L79 327 V8 option, rated at 350 horsepower. Coupled to a 4-speed and some steep posi gears like a 4:56, your senior citizen looking Chevelle 300 could now run the quarter-mile in the low 13 second range with headers, a better ignition and a bit of performance tuning.
4: 1966 Chevrolet Biscayne L72: When the “Mystery Motor 427” arrived for sale to everyday consumers in 1965 as a 396, it quickly grew into a 427 by 1966. Most of the 427’s in ‘66 were gobbled up in the Corvette line and in the full size Chevys as a 390 horse L36. This L36 engine was way different than the L72, the latter a solid lifter engine with bigger cam, rectangular port cylinder heads, four bolt mains, Holley 780 carb, four-core radiator and even special deep groove pulleys to make sure the water pump was not slipping under full throttle. It was listed at 425 horses, and only 1852 full size Chevrolets came with this rare engine. Most all came with Muncie M21 four speeds, which allowed the buyer to choose a more appropriate rear end gear set as the M20 equipped 4-speeds were limited to the 3:31 gear ratio. As for the M22 Rock Crusher 4-speed, only two full size L72s were ever delivered while the 1966 Corvette sold over 5,000 with the $312 option L72. It’s the full size Chevy L72 that’s really rare.
5: 1966 Chevy II 327 L79: This Chevy might be the biggest sleeper of them all, even though it was available with the same 327 L79 that powered the 1965 Chevelle 300 that made this list. The Chevy II in the years 1966 and 1967 were even lighter than the 1965 Chevelle base 300 lightweight and shorter in wheelbase, too. One of my best buddies growing up had a nice crystal blue 1966 L79 SS, which was only available with the 4-speed transmission. To me, Chevy gave up on this style too soon as the new 1967 Camaro coupled with the booming growth of the Chevelle SS396 hit the Chevy II sales in a negative way. To this day, those who own a 1966 or 1967 Chevy II with the L79 are sitting on a true muscle car. Even Jungle Jim Liberman thought so, as his early funny cars were Chevy II bodies. For comparison the 1966 Chevy II wheelbase is 110-inches with a 3,108 lb. curb weight while the 1965 Chevelle wheelbase is 115-inches and a 3,312 curb weight with the 327 engine.
There you have it Keith, the big Chevy sleepers from the 1960s. Thanks for your letter.