Chris Medlin’s 69SS

Where to begin... Well let's start with why I wanted a Chevelle. Back in April 2007, my father and I purchased a 1967 Impala SS 396 to recapture the memories my dad had of when he was younger and working on his old '67 Impala with my Granddad. I drove our new Super Sport Impala once and fell in love with muscle cars, after we owned it for about a month it was stolen. We did get the car back 3 months later stripped and in pieces.

Soon it was time for me to look into buying my first car, and of course I wanted to buy another '67 Impala, but my father was a bit opposed to the idea, and then I hatched a plan. My dad's dream car had always been a '68 or '69 Chevelle SS, so I would buy one and trade for the Impala. After a bit of searching I went out and bought a Fathom Green 1969 Chevelle. After about a year of chasing down glitches, it was finally finished, in a handsomely eye catching shade of Impulse BLUE. But when it was done my dad didn't want to trade so I was stuck with it.
The Chevelle grew on me through the 2 years of time we spent together. I drove it everywhere putting about 30,000 miles on the clock. After about a year, I was addicted to it.

A blue chevrolet chevelle.
A blue car parked on the side of the road.

Unfortunately on a cold December morning in 2009 the car hit some ice and slid straight into a telephone pole smashing in the driver's door, so far that it was touching the steering wheel. The impact destroyed the car, I was lucky enough to walk away from the accident with practically no damage to myself.
I couldn't let her go down like that, after all it saved my life.

So I bought another 1969 Chevelle in January 2010, this one an SS 396 with a 325 HP motor under the hood all numbers matched from the crank to the carb, this one was painted Mandalay Red, it had all the options I wanted, AC, Tilt Steering, Bench Seat, 355 Posi, and one that I didn't want so much... a four speed. So over the course of 6 months the car had the engine rebuilt, the rearend rebuilt, and a new Stage 2 700R4 transmission put in. Then I swapped over the stuff from my old girl that I managed to save, the interior, electric fans, all the chrome, and a few other bits and pieces.

The interior of a red car.
A man standing next to a red car.

While my Chevelle was out of commission, I was inspired me to do some work to myself, I figured "New car, new me". I started getting my life back together after some difficult times, started to take some time for myself whenever I could, and I lost 90 pounds and took a foot off my waistline. This car really is by far one of the best things that's ever come along in my life. I am lucky to be alive today I owe alot of that to god, but I like to think the Chevelle had a little something to do with it, and for that I thank her.

What a great story - thanks Chris for sharing it with us. You can see this great Chevelle, along with many others, cruising the roads of the Greater S.F. Bay Area.
Catch him if you can!

The engine compartment of a classic car.

Great Cruises, Great Food, Great Friends - That is what Nor-Cal ChevelleCaminos is all about.
Join us at our next monthly club meeting. Visitors are always welcome, just ask Chris!