I want to start this off by applogizing because it has been a while since a I posted a new installment of Muscle Car of the Week and you may have had to stare at my last post a little too long on the blog page for your weekly dose of big block American muscle. To make up for my absence, I have decided to feature one of the biggest muscle cars ever made by Chevrolet, the 1970 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS.

When some think of the Monte Carlo they think of a whacked out 1980’s car with a small block V8 that had a rather square front end with a ‘nothing too exciting’ sort of look. What most people don’t know is that the Monte Carlo was first born in 1970 and not only was it huge, but it packed some major horsepower to move all that metal.

In response to little brother Pontiac’s success with a bigger Grand Prix, the boys over at Chevrolet decided to produce something that would rival the success of their internal competitor. Under the direction of Chevy general manager Elliot Estes the Monte Carlo was designed taking some modern styling elements from Cadillac and homologating them with pieces of the already existing Chevelle to make a unique looking car that sold well to the public (145,000 units) as a four seat luxury model. Instead of redesigning lengthening the cabin portion of the Chevelle frame Chevy engineers instead lenthened the front in order to lay on one of the biggest hoods ever put on a muscle car and move the wheelbase to a ‘large and in charge’ 116 inches.

Now, with all that hood space you would be correct in your assumption that Chevrolet had a host of V8 options to go along with the Monte Carlo. Availible engines ranged from a 350 cube V8 with a 2-barrel carburetor that made 250 horsepower all the way up through the new 400/402 Turbo Fire V8’s that packed around 330 horsepower and 410 pound feet of torque. Now, for those that wanted some serious ‘gitty up’ you checked off the migthy LS5 454 V8 rated at 360 horsepower and 500 pound feet of torque to really get that boat moving. Any muscle car followers will note that the LS5 454 was a different engine than the LS6 powerplant, for the LS6 that was found in SS Chevelles and El Caminos was rated at a staggering 450 horses (for more info on the LS6 package check out a previous post). Although the LS5 was the biggest engine availible for the Monte Carlo, there were 6 that got out of the factory and on to the streets with the 450 horsepower LS6. Transmission options ranged from a 2-speed powerglide (on 350’s) to the venerable 3-speed auto Turbo-Hydromatic 400.

Other SS package elements included heavy duty suspension, SS stripes and badging, beefier battery and rally wheels  to round out the muscular look. Performance wasn’t great with the LS5 and such a heavy car with zero to sixty times coming in at about 7.6 seconds and low 16’s to high 15’s in the quarter. Hope you all enjoyed a look at the Monte Carlo SS and stay tuned for next week’s new muscle car.

Big_Blocker out.