We’re on for another chapter of American cars of the ’60s-’70s in Europe. Today is the muscle car variety, with a 1970 Chevelle SS in Hungary uploaded by Roshake at the CC Cohort.
But is it a real SS or a tribute? Hard to tell from a few photos caught in motion. But never mind, what I can tell you is that ’68-’72 GM A-bodies have their share of fans across the globe, just as they do in the States. And with there being Chevy/Pontiac/Olds/Buick variants, there are choices, choices, choices. Part of the fun back then, and today as it turns out.
As for myself, the Chevelle is the closest to me, as it was still rather common in the Puerto Rico of my teenage years of the late ’80s. A coworker of Mom’s drove one and lived near our home. The rumble of its V8 arriving after work and driving by our home is one sound that has yet to fade from my mind.
Unlike the previous shot, this is the one that gives the game away that “we’re not in Kansas anymore”. Yes, it may be far from home, but don’t you worry. From the looks of things, this exotic being is clearly being well cared for, to the point that I wonder if it will ever want to return to its native land.
Related CC reading:
Vintage Car Life Review: 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS396 – Bruiser With A Glass Jaw
CC Capsule: 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454 – Some Kind Of Wonderful
Curbside Capsule: A Pair Of 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle Super Sports – An Apple A Day
“…I wonder if it will ever want to return to its native land.”
It is quite possible that this example’s “native land” isn’t what we think it is.
Quite a few of these cars that were/are on European roads were made at the GM assembly plant in Biel (French: Bienne)* in Switzerland. A look at the nameplate in the engine compartment would be interesting—and revealing.
* Opened in 1934, closed in 1974
Looks like there weren’t any Chevys assembled in Switzerland in 1970. By the way, I got this image from the following CC article (courtesy of Tatra87):
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/qotd/whats-wrong-with-this-picture-and-whats-very-right-with-the-other-ones-they-do-things-a-bit-differently-in-switzerland/
And here’s one spotted last year in Puerto Rico by a friend.
We were in Hungary in 1996, on our way to Slovakia, we saw a bunch of Hummers on the road..in military green. The Bosnian war was still going on and some of US contingent of troops were up in Hungary. They stopped at a roadside rest station, we tried to engage them in conversation but they seemed pretty quiet.
A few hours later we attempted to cross the border into Slovakia…guess we looked more than a bit suspicious driving a rather large Ford Scorpio wagon with Swiss plates…we crossed the border only to be flagged to return back to the border by a couple of motorcycle riding officials about 15 km inside Slovakia. My Dad was pissed since he thought we were being pulled over for speeding, and earlier that day I got a speeding ticket (never get them in the US but several times in Europe). They looked at our passports again and started to look in the back of the wagon, we were a bit nervous as we’d just bought liquor as gifts for relatives, but my Dad’s day bag was on top of it, they unzipped a pocket to find packet of instant oatmeal (he’s a diabetic so he routinely carries food to keep his blood sugar level up). They got bored with us I guess, they ended up flagging us through.
I asked one of my Slovak relatives what kind of car he’d like to drive, he mentioned Mitsubishi…though a fair number of vehicles are now built there (because the labor rates are lower than western Europe) but a ’70 Chevrolet Chevelle wouldn’t be among them.
Nice ;
I wonder how rich one needs to be to be able to feed that thirsty V-ate .
-Nate