The classic styling of the ’55 Chevy will never go out of style. Just when you think you’ve seen it all when it comes to ’55s, some ingenious shop or inspired home builder puts together a shoebox Chevy that sets a new standard for building one. The canvas that Harley Earl and his design crew gave us provides almost limitless possibilities for customizing and painting. It was no wonder that sister magazine Street Rodder chose a ’55 to be its 2011 Road Tour car.

In 1956, the award-winning Broadway musical comedy Damn Yankees debuted about a long-suffering baseball fan who sold his soul to the devil so his team could find success against the New York Yankees. The DOT racers at Maple Grove Raceway and Richmond might wonder if the same dealings might be at play with this mid-8-second '56 Bel Air, as the car continually gets quicker and faster every year. A subsequent investigation found, however, that dark forces have less to do with how well this car performs as much as hard work and a few well-chosen parts and pieces.

The Mojave Desert has seen a lot of things. It's where America's first jet aircraft flew in 1942. Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier there in 1947, while the SR-71 Blackbird surpassed 2,000 mph years later. With its flat, natural runways and near perfect year-round weather, it would make sense that this was the place where many memorable breakthrough's would occur—and where some of the earliest seeds of hot rodding would take root.

Chevrolet made headlines last october when it introduced the Gen V small-block V-8 to the media, the first application of which will be in the all-new ’14 Corvette. The Gen V, which for reasons that could only make sense to those employed by GM, it is called LT1. It has neither reverse-flow cooling nor Optispark. What it does have is pretty much every trick the engineers could think of, from Active Fuel Management and variable valve timing to direct injection. Displacement remains at 6.2 liters, there’s only one cam and there are two valves per cylinder. Horsepower (as of this writing) is estimated at 450, same for the torque, though it could come in somewhat higher by the time production begins. Fuel economy is said to be the best ever for a Corvette, which right now is EPA rated at 26 mpg on the highway.

"In 1961, Dick Harrell and I bought new Chevys, a 350hp, 3x2, 348 for A/Stock and a 409 (1-of-142) for Super/Stock. From Carlsbad, New Mexico, we ran at dragstrips in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arizona, and Texas. The only thing on our collective mind was how to keep winning, plus go quicker and faster. We had no permanent crew. We split all costs 50/50.

If Super Chevy magazine were a human being, chances are it would be balding, growing a paunch, and looking for love in all the wrong places. Instead, it is as fit as a 20-year-old Marine and looking to kick just as much butt.

If you are one of the faithful who believe it's not really a Corvette unless the top goes down, the next generation Stingray convertible is on its way in the fourth quarter of 2013. Introduced today at the Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland, the 2014 Corvette Stingray convertible is the most advanced ragtop in the model's history. The old timers in the congregation will remember a time in the early 1950s when just putting the top down was an arduous undertaking. Keeping the elements out with the top up was no joy either, as water and air leaks were common all the way through the end of convertible production in 1975. Well, the C7 promises to be best sealing, easiest to use and most technologically advanced Corvette convertible ever. It's coolest features have been seen before, but usually on much more expensive foreign luxury cars. For the first time on a Corvette, the top can be raised or lowered using the key fob, and the top can be opened or closed on the go, at speeds up to 30 mph.

Bracket racer, highway cruiser, or show car. Mike Meyers’ LS1-powered Corvair is all this and more. It’s reliable, fast and gets outstanding fuel economy. As a bonus, in a sea of first-gen Camaros and ’70 Chevelles, it stands out as something completely different.

While on the outside Tobie Johnson's '66 Nova might just look like a simple stocker with some wheels bolted on, if you looked inside this fabulous Deuce, you'd find the heart of a thoroughbred. D&Z Customs owner Randy Johnson found this Aztec Bronze Chevy II for his wife as an early birthday present. After only a few drives on the stock suspension, Tobie knew changes needed to be made if the Nova was going to live up to her expectations.

If time really goes faster as we age, then maybe one can understand how Tim Harper's Tri-Five is as fast as it is. For this '55 210 is not only quick, but it also blew by almost every other Super Chevy Show DOT class car in 2012—and still shows no signs of slowing down.

The last time Chevy had a five-passenger car for sale with over 400 horsepower it was called the Chevelle SS454 and it packed the 450-gross horsepower punch of the LS6 big-block. Starting in the fourth-quarter of 2013, you'll be able to purchase its spiritual successor, the 2014 Chevrolet SS, a V-8-powered, rear drive sedan with 415 net horsepower and 415 lb-ft of torque. It's Chevy's first V-8/RWD sedan since the '96 Caprice and Impala SS, finally filling a void in the lineup that was a real sore spot for Bow Tie enthusiasts.

Mark Pecikonis has built plenty of hot rods over the last few decades, but none has approached the scope of the one you see here. There are subtle touches everywhere, right down to raising the floor and console slightly to accommodate the transmission, and a custom cloth convertible top with a one-piece glass rear window. You might miss a few at first, but the more you look, the more you’ll find.

Usually when a car becomes dedicated to the quarter-mile life, it’s a marriage with no end other than straight-line warrior. The specialty modifications required to run fast are usually one way, with cages, back halfs, subframe connectors, and other parts being welded onto a chassis usually mean once a Bow Tie becomes a drag racer, it stays a drag racer. But here at Super Chevy, “usually” tends to stay in the back corner, while “unusually” steals the show.

By 1969, the tumultuous ’60s were in full rage mode. Riots were tearing major cities apart and there was political and social unrest. Crime was up and auto theft was not exempt for the trouble.

At the Russell Industrial Center in Detroit, Chevrolet took the wraps off the highly-anticipated, all-new 2014 Chevy Corvette, and at the same time announced the Stingray moniker is back for the first time since 1976. Less weight, more power, and lots more grip mean the C7 should be the best performing base Corvette in history.

There's a certain stigma that goes with owning a four-door anything. It's not cool, it's not sporty, and it's the car your mom would normally drive. Wagons get their own, worse multi-door disrespect, leaving most more-doors to live out their lives as redheaded stepchildren to their two-door brothers.

For the first year of the Super Chevy Suspension & Handling Challenge, presented by Nitto Tire, we used a C5 Corvette on NT05 tires as our "bogey" or baseline vehicle. We did this for a number of reasons. First, we wanted to see how our contestants compared to a modern sports car through our battery of tests. The fifth-gen Camaro hadn't been invented yet and we couldn't get our hands on a C6.

Some of our more veteran readers might recognize the name of John Barkley. John was a well-known and very successful Junior Stock racer back in the day, and has been working for Super Chevy's parent company for almost 25 years. Back in 1992, he came by a well-worn but running and complete '72 Camaro to build as a father and son project with his boy, Greg.

While some say 1970 was the peak of the muscle car era, this author strongly disagrees. Yes, the LS5 and LS6 454s came out in '70, but overall the '69 lineup packed more of a punch. How? Well, '69 was the last year for the SS option on the Impala, and the last year you could get a high performance big-block in the full size. On the Camaro side, the 425 HP L-72 and 450 HP ZL-1 were available, making '69 the most powerful year for the Camaro until the 5th generation came out recently. For Novas, you could get the L-78 big-block, and in some cases dealer installed L-72s. For Chevelles, you could get L-78, L-89, and L-72. In the Corvette, you could get high performance 427s with either single carbs or 3x2s, and the 350 HP small-block 350. And it was the last year for the Corvair, which offered better performance and handling than its successor the Vega ever did.

When a certain model is popular in the Chevy hobby, it can be tough to build something that's different from everyone else's. Can you say '69 Camaro and '70 Chevelle? You've got tens of thousands of nice ones all across America, but after a while you see so many it gets difficult to tell them apart. The hidden prize in this quagmire is finding a way to build one of the popular styles that stands out from the rest. Enter our feature car. "We wanted a car that was totally different from normal '62 Impala builds," says Billy Morgan, our subject 's owner.

They probably should have called it Z28. Or Track Rat. Somehow, 1LE doesn't have the same head-slapping ring to it as Boss 302 or Boss 302 Laguna Seca. Hey, as one Chevy engineer put it, at least they didn't call it IROC. That's pretty much where our complaints about the new model end. Yes, Chevy has brought back the fairly obscure 1LE designation from the late-'80s and early-'90s for its new ultra-high-performance open track machine. While the former was borne out of the need/desire to build a competitive road racer, the latest iteration is designed for the people who like to spend their weekends braking late, clipping apexes and wearing out sticky, expensive tires rather than hitting golf balls. For $3,500 over the price of a 2SS, you get a track-ready street machine that's capable of over 1g on the skidpad and according to Camaro Chief Engineer Al Oppenheiser, "will outrun a Boss 302 Laguna Seca on any track.

For years, Barry Zelisko owned a Pro Street '63 Nova with a blown small-block. The car was fun, enjoyable at shows, and gave him miles of pleasure. But as the Pro Touring-era dawned and Pro Street-style cars took a back seat to the new trend, he found himself admiring the look and stance of the G-machines beginning to outnumber his Nova at shows.

Jed Perkins, a gas fitter from Millstadt, Illinois, worked hard all his life so he could have all the things a gearhead could ever want. He a nice home out in the country, a great spouse who supports his automotive obsession, a massive man cave stuffed full of awesome vehicles, and the biggest friggin' swing set we have ever seen.

In 1969, I was editor of Super Stock & Drag Illustrated magazine. SS&DI was the bible of East Coast drag racing, specializing in Stock, Super Stock, match race cars (which grew into Pro Stock cars), and the first generation of fliptop Funny Cars. Between 1967 and 1971, our telephones rang constantly with calls from Detroit about this new car, that new lightweight package, this new multi-carburetion setup, new cylinder heads, or the hot new tip for stock-body drag racing. Because we were well connected at Chevrolet, and in drag racing, we were offered the very first drive and drag test of the ‘69 ZL1.

The world of high-speed, open road racing is like gambling; the stakes are high, as is the adrenaline rush. In one you lose money. In the other you can lose your car, or your life. John Stout hasn't gone that far participating in the sport, but he's come close enough in other's to want to build one for himself. More about Stout's triple digit adventures later. For now, let's hear about the origins of this LS7-powered '69 Camaro.