1965 Chevy Chevelle - Featured Vehicles

Mark made it easy for us to get detail shots of the underside—this guy’s got a four-post lift in his home garage! The ACT-built 200-4R flaunts a custom aluminum pan for extra cooling capacity. Coated Hedman Hedders scavenge spent gases into the mandrel-bent Flowmaster exhaust.
Mark made it easy for us to get detail shots of the underside—this guy’s got a f

A Denny’s Driveshaft couples the tranny to the Currie 9-inch rear. Boxed Hotchkis trailing arms, a robust 1-inch antisway bar, and Air-Lift air bags keep the rear tires firmly planted under any conditions.
A Denny’s Driveshaft couples the tranny to the Currie 9-inch rear. Boxed Hotchkis tra
The hood opens and a hush falls over the crowd…a big-block Chevy just looks so right in a Chevelle. The stock ZZ502 is crowned with a dual-snorkel air cleaner that once served duty on a ’70 Z28. Dual 11-inch Spahl electric fans pull air through a massive aluminum radiator to draw heat from the Evans NPG waterless coolant. Mark installed an electric vacuum pump on the driver-side fenderwell to ensure the four-wheel discs stay power-assisted.
The hood opens and a hush falls over the crowd…a big-block Chevy just looks so right

The fuel-pressure regulator and adjustable rev limiter are mounted on the A/C block-off plate so there aren’t any “permanent” holes drilled into the car. Should he ever choose to return the SS to stock trim, it will be done with wrenches, not welders. Hypothetically, of course.
The fuel-pressure regulator and adjustable rev limiter are mounted on the A/C block-off pl
Check out the trick trunk-mounted kit that houses a second carb, HEI distributor, and an extra set of plugs. This guy hauls around as many spare parts as the off-road guys do! The legs securely clamp to the trunk floor with magnets.
Check out the trick trunk-mounted kit that houses a second carb, HEI distributor, and an e

Look closely at the frame-mounted Holley Blue fuel pump—there’s a spare relay already installed in case one fails down the road. That’s cautious!
Look closely at the frame-mounted Holley Blue fuel pump—there’s a spare relay a
A brown interior? Mark inherited the color from a previous owner, but the interior is part resto and part modern, and the total package is both classy and comfortable. Mark retained the original floor shifter, which was modified for use with the 200-4R. The rare optional dash-top clock and in-dash tach are cool additions as is the tissue holder. A Custom Autosound cassette deck provides the cruising tunes while the Vintage Air keeps passengers adequately chilled. Credit for the custom upholstery goes to Thorton’s in Santa Ana, California.
A brown interior? Mark inherited the color from a previous owner, but the interior is part

Any Chevelle aficionado worth his Bow Tie knows that 1965 was a special year for the Malibu. A year after the successful debut of the A-car platform, the 65 Chevelles sported crisp, fresh styling on top of the already well-designed chassis. And oh, the engines. The 300-horse 327 just couldnt compete with the GTOs in 1964, so for 1965 it was relegated to Second Place in the small-block lineup. The hot ticket became RPO L79, which got you a solid-lifter 350hp 327enough motor to keep pace with the strongest small-block competition. However, the onslaught of musclecars from every manufacturer pushed Chevy later in the year to create 201 Malibus sporting RPO Z-16, whose fenderwells cradled the Corvette-born 375-horse 396. The Chevelle SS big-block legend had begun.

But why let things end there? Even the toughest factory musclecars were compromised for cost savings, driveability, and economy. Mark Lundquist likes 65 Chevelles, but decided to restore his car beyond the constraints of any factory offering. He began with a decent 283-powered Malibu SS with plans to clean it up as a nice driver. So how do plans for a nice driver result in a flawlessly painted, 502-powered, Hotchkis-suspended street machine? Mark says it best: The cleanup got out of hand. We can relate.

Mark finished the 65 in a year, which makes our own restoration efforts seem downright lazy. After seeing the car in person, wed say he threw a bit of money at it, too, judging by the perfect bodywork, rattle-free custom interior, and ice-cold Vintage Air system. Were pretty sure that the ZZ502, the ACT-built 200-4R overdrive transmission, and the Currie 9-inch rearend were hardly cheap, either. None of that mattered, however, after we climbed in for a ride. Mark eased the shifter into gear and dipped into the accelerator. The BFGs fought for traction and hooked. The 1-2 shift came with a chirp and the 502 climbed smoothly to 5,500. Then there was a firm 2-3 shift, and whoawe were already going pretty fast. Mark blipped the four-wheel discs, slowed the Velle to the 55-mph limit, and the overdrive calmed the 502 inches of big-block to a mellow rumble. It was nearly 100-degrees F in Joshua Tree on the day we photographed Marks car, so he closed the windows, flipped on the A/C, and rolled down the two-lane desert highway with nary a creak or rattle. Folks, you just cant do this with a stock 65. Marks Chevelle plain does things better. Maybe we should call it RPO Z-17.