1966-1969 Chevrolet Chevelle SS396: 375 hp

Chevrolet was always in the fast-car business, so there were plenty of SS396 Chevelles. Most of them were nice, docile cars with torquey big blocks that could put your license in points trouble in just one night of exuberance. Then there was the L78.

The L78 engine had a heavy-duty block with four-bolt mains, big-port heads, an 11.0:1 compression ratio, a solid-lifter cam, a high-capacity alloy intake manifold, and an 800-cfm Holley. There was no single genius part, no hemi head or tunnel port that you could point to and say, “Yep, that’s what makes this the baddest motor in town.” All the pieces just worked together as if they were on commission.

High performance Chevys, if you kept the gas-station mechanics away from the engine room, were deceptively smooth and disciplined: all eagerness, no swagger. And they loved to rev.

The Hemi was around by 1966, but no other big block had it together that early. If you came up beside an SS396 in those days, you listened carefully. If you heard sixteen little hammers, the racket of solid lifters, you knew the guy was dangerous. An early L78, on the slippery tires of the day, would run about 14.5 and break 100 mph in the quarter.

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