Custom 1966 Chevelle - Extra Ordinary A-Body

Some people say that adolescence is the most crucial part of a youngman's life. It's a time when their personality develops, and the kidinside turns into the man they will grow up to be.

For as long as Deputy Sheriff Kerry Carter remembers he's loved '66Chevelles. When he was just a kid, he recalls his neighbor's '66Chevelle rounding the corner giving off a sound that could be heardthree blocks away. When the car came rumbling near the driveway, all theneighborhood kids just stood in awe. They all thought the same thing,"some day I'm gonna' have a car just like that.' In all likelihood mostof those neighborhood kids grew up and forgot all about their dreams ofhaving a muscle car, but not Kerry.

Six years ago Kerry's wife purchased him a '66 Chevelle that was aone-owner car. It was cared for by an elderly woman who logged only50,000 miles on the car during the first 31 years of its life. Afterbringing home the Chevelle, it wend directly to WAU Motorsports, whereevery nut, bolt, washer and screw was stripped from the a-body inpreparation for a six-year restoration. When the project began Kerry hada mental picture of what the '66 would look like when finished. Hewanted to create a look, not just build a car.

After the body was removed from the frame, the rails were blasted andthe suspension was reworked by WAU Motorsports. The rear arms were boxedand the front end received a new set of QA1 adjustable shocks withGlobal West springs. Dropped spindles were also used to get the frontend a bit closer to the asphalt for cornering. The 10-bolt in the rearwas dropped and freshened with a set of Auburn gears and Dutchman axles.

While the chassis was being built, the body was being shaved and preppedfor paint by Empire Auto Body. The only question was what color tosquirt on the virgin bodywork. As we found out at the SUPER CHEVY photoshoot, Kerry chose the color from a flower species tag found in a localnursery. The flower is called Marigold, and the color is just as flashyas it sounds. We've got to hand it to him, once sprayed on his classicmuscle even the name doesn't do it justice.

Seeing as Kerry's father was in the upholstery business, it seemed onlylogical to have Wanda Wells of Wanda's Upholstery install the firstleather and snakeskin interior that we've ever seen. To top it all offthere's a custom digital dash and a hidden ignition switch in anoverhead console.

All right you say, it looks cool, but dues this mid-'60s machine go aswell as it shows. To find out, we took Kerry's '66 out to CaliforniaSpeedway, in Fontana, California, for a bit of "Road Rage" testing toexplore the limits of his custom concoction. We began by running the '66down the quarter mile and found time slips in the mid-14-second range,quite respectable for a small-block-powered heavy Chevy. But the realsurprise was when we threw the A-body through our rigorous 420-footslalom. Although the '66 produced a slight push, we established that the200-foot skid pad performance was well above average. We found minimalbody roll and a great front-to-rear weight balance. It actually producedslalom speeds higher than a Fourth-Generation Camaro! Imagine thepossibilities?