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A worldwide known brand that made a huge range of popular vehicles, Chevrolet started their glorious way about 110 years ago, in 1911. The company was ambitious right from the beginning – they had successfully competed with Ford and their legendary Model T vehicle. Chevy did a good job and in 1929 surpassed their competitor with the International that has become the U.S. best-selling car. Nowadays, many decades later vehicles with a bowtie emblem are available in most automotive markets all around the globe. Their popularity is solid and performance and dependability are praised by many enthusiasts and ordinary drivers.
Main Chevy muscle car models
Over a century of car manufacturing, Chevy has launched numerous models that turned out to become icons of their times. These include such well-known models as the Silverado, Corvette, Impala, Nova, Camaro, Chevelle, SS, and others. Some of them boast outstanding reliability, but certain also provide you with excellent performance and a memorable driving experience. Below, you’ll find the description of the brightest members of the second group.
Camaro
One of the icons of the early muscle car era and probably the main competitor to the famous Ford Mustang, the Chevy Camaro entered production in 1966. Offering a very vast range of powertrain options, the model was accepted well even though it had a sibling built on the same platform – the Pontiac Firebird. Unlike its main competitor by Ford, the Camaro has been positioned as a muscle car during its entire production run, including today. The range of body styles has also remained the same – coupe and convertible only, both with 2 doors. The Camaro was in production for more than 45 years and is rapidly going to a 50-year mark. Over 5 million units have been manufactured during this time and the army of model’s followers is huge and growing.
Corvette
An excellent performer and brand’s halo car, the Chevy Corvette debuted in 1953 after sparking the solid interest of the public. In a couple of years, the interest began to fall, but the introduction of an optional V8 engine and a range of other updates returned and then increased it fast. Sometime later, the Vette was unofficially named America’s Sports Car. The model underwent as much as 8 generations and is still in production today, for more than 60 years already. The car has been often shown in numerous TV shows and movies that greatly confirms and contributes to its popularity.
Chevelle
One of Chevy’s most successful nameplates, the Chevelle was introduced back in 1964. Constructed on the oldest platform by GM that was also used by numerous other vehicles, the A-body, the model offered a solid range of body style and powertrain options right from the start. This trend along with potent engines (mostly I6 and V8 units) had been kept during the entire lifespan of the Chevy Chevelle that lasted for 14 years. After that, the model was downsized and renamed the Malibu and nowadays it is still in production. The Chevelle also participated in NASCAR racing from 1973 to 1977 (won impressive 34 races) and had a solid range of submodels and special versions.
Nova
For the first time, Chevrolet introduced the Nova nameplate in the 1960s as the high-end model of the Chevy II lineup. The latter was quite a boring car intended to be just a simple mean of transportation. But starting with 1969, all versions of the model received Nova nameplate and the car itself underwent a complete redesign. It became larger, almost matching the size of the Chevelle and now was looking like a typical muscle car. A number of engines were available, up to 6.6 L V8, hence the vehicle delivered outstanding performance that in turn resulted in solid sales numbers. The Chevy Nova was manufactured till 1979 when it was replaced by the Citation. The nameplate was also used for several years in the late 1980s, but that car was a rebadged version of the Toyota Corolla.
Monte Carlo
Unveiled in 1969, the Monte Carlo was the first entrance for Chevy into a popular at that time personal luxury coupe segment. For the first two generations, the car used only potent V8 power units and starting with the third one, V6 options were offered too. The second generation was made extensively smaller compared to the original one, but it still used robust engines and performed greatly. The Monte Carlo’s run consists of 18 years and resulted in a solid number of followers both at the time of production and nowadays. In 1995, the car was revived as the largest coupe by Chevy and was marketed up to 2007, but this version has not much in common with the original one.
SS
The Chevy SS is a short-running muscle car marketed for only 4 years in the mid-2010s. The model was a rebadged version of the Holden Comodore produced and marketed in Australia for much longer time in different versions. The Australian sibling employed potent V6 and V8 engines with range-topping one churning out 408 hp, while the American variant received only the largest V8 power unit with even higher output of 415 hp. However, despite such a solid power output, the vehicle looks like a regular sedan or station wagon, that’s why it is considered a sleeper. Quite a solid list of features was offered by the SS along with excellent performance, but only less than 13,000 units were sold in the U.S.
SSR
The Chevy SSR is a very unusual and distinctive convertible pickup manufactured for a short period of time in the 2000s. The truck had only 2 doors and seating for two and was very light, at the same time it employed a very robust power plant – 5.3 L V8 good for 300 hp for two first years of production and 6.0 L V8 rated at 390 hp (the same as the Corvette) for two last years. The truck was very fast – the original version reached 60 mph in 7.7 seconds and a V8-powered one did the same in 5.29 seconds. For the last year, the power unit was modified and the SSR became capable of generating up to 400 hp. Despite a long list of standard features, great performance and both manual and automatic transmission options, the model was in production for 4 years only, from 2003 to 2006.