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At Eckler’s, we deal primarily with restoration and performance parts and accessories, so the subject of paint colors and codes doesn’t come up that often. But when it does, somehow Marina Blue always enters the conversation. It’s just one of those colors.

I remember being at a big car show a few years back. It was an all-GM show, with just about every brand of The General being present. I came across a couple of guys gushing over a pretty blue ’65 Impala. “Marina Blue - awesome color” I heard. Wrong-o. I also remember a buddy of mine, years ago, telling me that his buddy had a ’70 Cutlass in Marina Blue. Mmmm, sorry. I’ve even heard “knowledgeable” friends say they’ve seen ’68 and ’69 Chevelles in MB. Seems this color sure did get around a lot!

Picture this: Two gorgeous big-block Chevelles parked side by side, both packing identical firepower. One’s got the standard SS hood, the other’s equipped with a cowl induction setup. What’s the big difference you ask? Five, 10, maybe 15 more horses? Nope. Actually the cowl induction system adds zero horsepower to your Chevelle. What’s the point then? How about a super-cool flap that opens up under full throttle acceleration announcing to the world that this car’s not to be messed with! Well if you think that’s cool, you’ll love how easy it is to install one of these systems on your ’70 through ’72 Chevelle or El Camino.

Many muscle car enthusiasts and experts alike hail the Pontiac GTO as the first real muscle car. Even a group of boys that would hang out at the beach sang a hit song about that car. With only a few exceptions however, none have been held in as high regard as the Chevelle Super Sport. Spanning three generations from 1964 to 1977 and offered in many configurations from coupe, sedan, hardtop, convertible and even station wagon, the Chevelle has proven to be a true American classic muscle car. From the 1964 Chevelle Super Sport to the last Chevelle Super Sport offered in 1973, the SS moniker remains synonymous with performance.

Who says you can’t love inanimate objects? This ’72 Chevelle SS disclaims that theory.

This was supposed to be a car story. But once into it, it occurred to me it was actually more of a love story. Its original owner doted on it from day one, and so has our entire family.

1969 I was a senior in high school, dating my girlfriend and driving a brand new Camaro Z/28. It was a great, magical time riding with my girl and cruising “Custer's Last Stand”. Custer's was a teenage hangout. A place to eat and watch all the cool cars do burnouts! One of my friends had a ’67 GTO, another had a ’66 Nova– which he still owns!

My girlfriend and I got married in 1971, and soon afterwards I sold my ’69 Z. Boy did I ever regret doing that. (Selling my Z/28, that is!)

Over the years, my wife and I raised our family and kept dreaming of owning one of those cool old cars.

What is it about these cars that creates such an obsession for each of us? Is it their stylish beauty, high horsepower engines, or just the nostalgic memories from our youthful experiences? You can certainly go out and purchase late model muscle cars that out perform these vehicles without investing the sweat, time, labor, and expense.

Many of us try to keep these machines completely original while others perform major modifications with all new drivetrains, etc. In my case, I attempted to create something that was at least a little more efficient and practical without taking away too much from the original appearance. I still have the original style SS wheels, but they are wrapped in BF Goodrich radial TAs instead of bias ply type tires.

After Ron Coggin served in the USMC and did a tour in Viet Nam, his dad promised to match his savings. That’s how it all started.

After discharge in 1968, Ron stopped in Macon, Georgia to collect on the promise. He and his Dad visited several dealerships when Ron fell for a ’67 “Tahoe Turquoise” Chevelle 396 SS– bench seat and a 4-speed It was perfect! But four years later back in Jacksonville, Florida, economics, marriage and a new baby meant selling it to a co-worker. When last spotted, Ron noticed hunting dogs in the back seat! Ron just cringed and swore he’d own another one, someday…

1966 was a year of big changes in automotive styling, and Chevrolet’s iconic Chevelle brand was certainly no exception. FoMoCo had axed the boxy Fairlane look for good, finally putting that car on a sleek new platform. Even the Mopar camp had taken their somewhat bizarre Coronet and Belvedere line to new eye-catching levels by doing some serious streamlining. Yes, if you were around in ’66, you were eyewitness to a dramatically altered automotive landscape - and I mean that in a good way!

While someone might feel justifiably proud to own one ultra-rare, vintage muscle car, how would you feel if you owned a pair of them? Twice as proud? Actually, John Daniels has even stronger personal feelings about his two ’65 Z16s, but before touching on that aspect, we should cover a bit of history about this limited run of special Chevelles.

Only a couple hundred were ever built at Chevy’s Kansas City factory (plus one or two prototypes made at the Baltimore plant, depending on which historical source you check). Besides this run of hardtop coupes, there was even a convertible built for Chevy General Manager Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen. It was reportedly later destroyed. (We can imagine that Chevy collectors groan inwardly when thinking about at the tragic loss of this solo soft-top).