Tom Mallon's 1966 Chevelle -- This car was made when I was a sophomore in high school, however I was stuck with my '53 Studebaker Champion. A FINE rig it was! I remember how cool I thought I was when I somehow found a giant STP sticker, red with white letters which I proudly plastered on the rear deck lid of the Studie. No money to buy anything else. But Eureka! I spotted a beautiful blonde in school who was every bit as nice as the '65 Mustang convertible her daddy gave her AND I got the girl, but more importantly I got to drive the Mustang every day to Yaw's in Hollywood (NE Portland) at noon, with two of her very nice girlfriends for cherry cokes and cheese toast. Wow!! Well the Mustang had an in-line 6 and of course I took exception to that. I told the blonde she needed a 289. She advised daddy wasn't going to do that, so I convinced her that she HAD to have at the very least 289 flags/emblems on each fender. So I even bought the parts and installed them with my hand-held electric drill in my driveway punching through the new gold paint and fenders of the Tang. I eyeballed it. Looked straight to me. Well guess what? Stepped back and they looked like seven miles of county road. Her Dad never called. Well the blonde dumped me for a rich kid at another school whose daddy bought him a nasty GranSport as I recall. Of course, I was dyin' and then the blonde married the rich kid. Now I'm really dyin'. The irony is the blonde went to work full time to support the rich kid who then went to med school and became a doctor. Then the new doctor divorced her as soon as he graduated. Still broke because of marriage later and kids etc., I finally bought a '67 Camaro and had my brother who owned an automotive machine shop build it here in Oregon. I was transferred to Minnesota. We decided on a 427 street car. Well the calls started coming in from my brother. "Why don't we increase the compression and ..." you can guess the rest. Ended up with a 4500 stall, 14:1 compression, blah, blah. The street car ended up a 10 second 1/4 mile car which ran three times -- Two first-place trophies then my brother missed a shift and scattered the Turbo 400 all over the track. I'm in Minnesota writing checks. I get back and had to immediately sell the muscle car I always wanted, to pay for half the down payment on the house I live in today. I'm still feeling the Studebaker. So finally in 2001, I bought the '66 Chevelle as a rolling chassis from that same brother. Of course he offers many grand ideas. I rented a U-Haul carhauler and immediately hauled it here from Bend telling him "Don't even talk to me." I want a Prostreet car. Something I can drive every day but nasty and legal for NHRA. Well that's what I built but the meld of the two uses is really difficult. So I leaned toward the daily driver which now it is, unless you push the gas pedal down too close to the floor. I just really got it on the road in front of my house about three weekends ago. That same brother was here from Bend with two buddies who were racing at PIR that weekend. Well they all got to experience the maiden launch. They were all strapped in well and did not utter a word. Just a smile. That was it. My wife came out of the house and informed my brother she had never even sat in the car! Of course he told me what she said and she went back in the house. So I went and got her out of the house and said to her, "OK, get in and hook up." Before we really upset the neighbors. After our run, she like the others, were speechless and I asked her "WELL?" She replied "Yeah I liked it but I don't like it when the car goes sideways." I replied "Well, I don't either." This provided a great intro to her about a set of wrinkle walls. Even the 4-link won't plant this thing. She said "Can't we just drive down the road normally?" I assured we would go to the store later. So all of the wait and frustration comes out I think, in how this car looks and how it is built. It took five years and the two biggest challenges were brakes and overheating. Go for big. Don't run stock if you're pumping up your motor. This is literally my first muscle car and will be the last (I think). The battle getting here ain't worth it again. Still miss that blonde kinda. I am so thankful therefore to the muscle car gods who waited to contact me for 40 years and you guys who support guys like me and allowing me this longwinded explanation. -- Tom Mallen