by Linda Ann Nickerson

Created on: February 10, 2009

Smitten in the Chevy Chevelle

Sporting a spiffy custom paint job, the flashy car was bright ocean blue with hot yellow racing stripes. My big brother's best friend had a souped-up Chevy Chevelle, along with my young heart.

My preteen pulse-rate soared every time I heard him rumble into our gravel driveway.

Peeking through the calico curtains of my upstairs bedroom, I watched the muscle car come to skidding stop under my window and my muscle-bound dreamboat leap over the driver's-side door (just like the Bo and Luke Duke from The Dukes of Hazzard) and into my life. Actually, the Duke boys rumbled around in a 1969 Dodge Charger, known as "The General Lee," but I wasn't particular about details, as a smitten preteen.

After dark, I would watch those dual headlights shining straight into our home and right through my soul. I felt absolutely invisible. After all, he was a senior with a flashy set of hot wheels, a Chevy Chevelle. The guy was shaving, for goodness sake.

He was a hotshot with a really hot car. As a starry-eyed high school freshman, I never knew what hit me.

To this day, my big brother doesn't know it (at least, I think he doesn't know it), but his buddy's two-door Chevy Chevelle coupe was the setting of my first kiss. Does anyone ever forget?

Ironically, two years later, I learned to drive in a Chevy Chevelle, cruising along with the stodgy driver's education instructor from our local high school.

The Chevy Chevelle: A Legend on Wheels

The mid-sized muscle car first arrived in 1964, and it lasted until 1977, when the Chevy Chevelle rolled away to be replaced by the Chevy Malibu. Of course, the Chevy Chevelle chassis was then adapted for the Chevy Monte Carlo.

Although automakers at Chevrolet intended for the Chevy Chevelle to compete head-to-head with the classic Ford Fairlane, the Chevelle left the Fairlane in the dust.

The car was available in hard-top or convertible versions, with two doors or four, and stick-shift or automatic transmission. The Chevy Chevelle was truly a young drag racer or mechanic wannabee's dream machine, particularly the V-8 version. It was also available as a station wagon for families seeking a people-moving powerhouse.

Eventually, automotive experts claimed that the dreaded Chevy El Camino had descended from the Chevy Chevelle. I would beg to differ. After all, is the Chevy El Camino even an automobile?

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