The Best Chevrolet Chevelle

With but a single 2012 Oscar nomination for sound editing, the Ryan Gosling existential action movie "Drive" has some film critics up in arms over the lack of consideration. However, car enthusiasts who have seen the film know that Gosling's character Driver is driving no anonymous post-muscle era car, but a 1973 Chevrolet Chevelle. In honor of "Drive" and the Chevrolet Chevelle, here are the best five models in the line's history, courtesy of Bold Ride.

Selecting the Chevelle over all others

With the 1973 Chevrolet Chevelle, the American national fuel crisis was not missed at all. However, it did miss the muscle car era that the United States went through. It is a lot like Gosling's character in the movie though. His character gets the job done without having to add in any additional tricks. The Chevrolet Chevelle also gets the job done by being a muscle car without having any extra or flashy things added to it.

Yenko, Nickey and Baldwin-Motion tried very desperately to keep the Chevelle alive in 1973, but the public was no longer interested in it. The Chevelle started to be produced in 1964 with its best year in 1970 with the SS 454. That car was what experts call the most powerful factory muscle car of the time.

#5 - Try out the 1964 Malibu SS 327 L76

Right out of the gate, Chevrolet made noise with this Super Sport model, which was powered by a 365 hp, 327 cubic inch L76 motor created by Corvette. Only a little number of these Malibu automobiles made it to the street, but those who got their hands on one no doubt loved the lightweight chassis and the high-powered, small-block power plant.

#4 - The 1966 Chevelle SS 396 L78 is here

This was the year big-block Chevrolet Chevelles went mainstream, notes Bold Ride. The engine was a Mark IV big-block that provided little in the way of fuel economy but an excellent deal of horsepower. The L78 396 cubic inch big-block was rated at 375 hp, and was significantly easier to find than the previous year's Z16 engine.

# 3 - And then there is the 1965 Malibu SS 396 Z16

Most of these automobiles were driven by journalists and celebrities as the automobiles had 375 horsepower. It was a vehicle that everyone wanted although there was only one convertible produced and 200 hardtops produced.

# 2 - Next is the 1970 Chevelle SS 454 LS6

This marks the point where the Chevrolet Chevelle opened things up for real adventure. Having no displacement cap opened the horsepower gates wide. The 454 cubic inch motor in the 1970 Chevelle SS 454 LS6 was universally considered to be underrated at 450 horsepower.

#1 - And then there was the 1969 Chevelle COPO 9562

Leading up to the 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle beast detailed at number two, there was the COPO Chevelle, a Central Office Production Order. The COPO process was a way for dealers to get around the 400 cubic inch limit at the time, and the this rare automobile boasted 427 cubic inches that produced 425 hp. Few people have an inkling of the history of COPO vehicles, as they don't show up in the standard catalog. They have their own.

Take a look at this burnout