When building a car from the ground up, it's important to give serious thought to your own personal tastes and needs. Sometimes it takes hours, and sometimes years, to finally decide, but how much time it takes is not as important as successfully building the car of your dreams. Mark A. Robinette of The Plains, Ohio, made the decision to just rejuvenate this Chevelle from its crunched-up state to the level of a clean driver, without performing a body-off restoration. This was a smart idea considering a year later Mark decided to drag race the car. After a couple of years mashing the throttle, the warrior was ready for a new paint job and a career of showing off at local car shows. This lasted until 1997, when Mark realized it was time to build his Super Sport into what you see here. This was no simple restoration, as Mark had years of thought on exactly what he wanted, and it wasn't going to be a simple matter of restoring his ride. Mark wanted a street car that could hold its own and make a statement about his personal style. This is where a car really becomes part of the family.
As with many other well-thought out cruisers, Mark's first step was to tear the car apart to refinish the chassis and belly of his beast. After some chrome-plating and fresh paint, the front suspension was treated to Energy Suspension's polyurethane bushings. Hal shocks at each corner keep the polished 17-inch Americans planted firmly to the ground and rounds out the chassis modifications.
Next, the 454ci powerplant was balanced, blueprinted, and assembled with a gaggle of performance parts boosting the ponies up to a punishing 650 hp. Transmitting that power is a Muncie gearbox hooked by the driveshaft to a set of 4.11:1 cogs out back, all assembled by the owner. In fact, Mark put the entire car together with the exception of the Mazda-based custom tweed interior, which was woven by Jack Fulton of Albany, Ohio. The striking custom-mixed Dark Pearl Blue and Pearl White paint job was applied by Chris Pilos of Athens, Ohio. And the beautiful chrome plating was the handiwork of Leonard's Chrome Plating of Huntington, West Virginia.
Other modifications by Mark include the 9-inch cowl hood (which was made by cutting and splicing a 4-inch cowl, then spending upwards of 60 hours to complete and fit), the sound system, a B&M Shifter, Auto Meter gauges, chromed windshield posts, and a Bow-Tie rearview mirror. All in all, when everything is said and done, cars should not only reflect the owner's personal tastes, but also, like Mark's Chevelle, a well-contrived plan.
| Tech Specs |
| Owner | Mark A. Robinette, The Plains, Ohio |
| Vehicle | '72 Chevelle Super Sport |
| Engine | '72 454ci, bored .030-over, TRW 13.5.1 pistons, a |
| | Weiand intake manifold, a Holley 1,300-cfm Gold Series |
| | carburetor, 2 3/4" Hooker headers, a 2.5" Flowmaster |
| | exhaust |
| Transmission | '72 Muncie M22 |
| Suspension |
| Front | Stock w/Hal shocks, Energy Suspension bushings, |
| | chrome-plated control arms and sway bar |
| Rear | Stock w/Hal shocks, Raybestos brakes |
| Wheels | American Racing 17-inch Torquer IIs, front and rear, |
| | Dunlop rubber |
| Exterior | PPG Dark Pearl Blue by Chris Pilos, Athens, Ohio |
| Interior | Mazda 626 LX front seats, custom tweed upholstery by |
| | Jack Fulton, Albany, OH, Auto Meter gauges, an |
| | Audiovox stereo, a B&M shifter, a Bow-Tie rearview |
| | mirror |