One Step Beyond

The Ultimate Sleeper Chevelle.

- Scotty Lachenauer

Albert Galdi of Somerset, New Jersey, has modified and restored a pretty extensive inventory of cars over the years, taking underpowered rides and turning them into high-horse street brawlers, each reformed with the addition of some extra punch under the hood. He became infatuated with the GM big-block rides of the muscle car’s heyday and is a devout follower of Chevy’s highest-performing models. Tops on his must-have list were the ones of the COPO and ZL1 variety, but finding one that he could afford became a great challenge. He did eventually score, restore, and still owns a real COPO Chevelle. However its value and scarcity make it difficult to drive and enjoy the way he wanted to do.

Since Al was a master of crafting his own radical rides, he decided that the best way for him to experience the thrill of driving one of these top-of-the-line Chevys without worrying about damaging an original, bigmoney car was to build his own. Not only would it save him a hundred thousand or two, but he could also build it exactly the way he wanted and would not have to worry about possibly damaging a nearly priceless original car.

Rollin’ a 300

Al always liked the bare-bones style of a base-model GM A-Body, so he planned his dream car around the 300 Deluxe version of the Chevelle.

Of course, the base engine in one of these low-line Chevelles would be way underpowered for a big-block-lovin’ guy like Al, so he needed to come up with a new source of motivation.

Al had often wondered why the 427-inch aluminum ZL1 was never offered in the A-Body, as it could have done wonders in the intermediate bodystyle. So his plan for the ultimate sleeper was to put a ZL1 motor under the hood of a bone-stock-appearing 300 and do it the way the factory would have, had it offered this premier powerplant in an A-Body. Game on!