1971 Chevelle SS - This is my 1971 Chevelle SS. It was sold several years ago, and I plan to get another soon to restore. The Chevrolet Chevelle SS represented Chevrolet's entry into the hot midsize muscle car battle. The Chevelle SS was the high performance version of Chevrolet's Chevelle, and had its own line of engines and performance equipment. At first caught napping with just a 327 V8, the Chevelle SS would soon sport powerful 396 V8s and eventually the most powerful rated engine in muscle car history, the LS6 454 in 1970. The Chevelle, along with the Pontiac GTO, remains one of the most popular cars from this era and with good reason. Its strong performance at a reasonable price made it popular on the street and at the track. 1971 saw the collapse of muscle car performance. In response to GM's edict that all engines ran on unleaded fuel and to meet ever restrictive emission standards, Chevrolet detuned all its engines and introduced two new entry level engines. The standard engine was now a 350 V8 two barrel that put out a meager 245bhp through a single exhaust! Also available was a 350 V8 four barrel that put out 270bhp. The 402 engine that was previously still known as a 396 was renamed the 'Turbo Jet 400' and offered only 300bhp, down from 3500bhp. The 375bhp version was no longer available. The LS6 454 was also killed, but the LS5 454 returned with 365bhp, an increase of 5bhp from 1970. All Chevelles got the new single headlight design from the Monte Carlo and could be optioned with hood stripes and the cowl induction hood. Interestingly, only the LS5 carried external engine ID; they carried 'SS 454' badges. All others only said 'SS.' That was a pretty revealing sign of the times.