1965 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu SS Z16. Photos courtesy Joel McKee.
For some, the “one that got away” is a lost love interest, while for others, it’s a fish, or a 10-point buck. For those of us passionate about automobiles, it may well be the one deal we (foolishly) walked away from or, in the case of Hemmings Muscle Machines reader Joel McKee, the deal we simply couldn’t close.
In the late 1980s, while traveling backroads outside the city of Dallas, Georgia, Joel spotted a car sitting abandoned on a rural property. At first glance, it appeared to be an ordinary 1965 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu, but a closer look reveled it to be something far less common: a one-of-201-built Malibu SS Z16 coupe, the one-year-only model that introduced the big-block V-8 into the Chevelle product range.
Chevrolet didn’t do much to market or promote the Z16, as it was an expensive car to build and the production quantity was always meant to be small. Power came from an L37 396-cu.in. V-8, rated at 375-horsepower, which required heavy-duty underpinnings. The Z16’s frame, for example, was the stiffer boxed variant from the Chevelle convertible, reinforced with additional rear suspension bracing and two more body mounts. Power-assisted brakes came from Chevy’s full-size models, and wheels were six-inches wide instead of the usual five. The only available transmission was four-speed Muncie, fitted with an 11-inch clutch, which sent power to the rear wheels via a 12-bolt differential. Oddly enough, a Positraction rear was not available.
Since they were expensive cars to build, Chevrolet loaded them with options as well, adding features like a tachometer and a 160 mph speedometer; a four-speaker AM-FM Multiplex stereo; and a dash-mounted clock. Understated in terms of badging and trim, Z16s could be identified by “396 Turbo-jet” badges on the front fenders; a unique taillamp panel treatment; and a blacked-out grille. Malibu SS badging was moved forward on Z16s as well, positioned on the front fender, aft of the wheel arch. Under hood, the Z16 had one more distinguishing feature: The air cleaner wore a die-cast crossed flag badge instead of the usual vinyl sticker.
As Joel tells us, the owner of the car was deceased and his mother wouldn’t consider parting with it at any price. Follow-up visits were made, but each time the answer was the same: The Malibu SS simply wasn’t for sale.
These pictures date to the spring of 1988, and in the decades since the area has grown significantly in population. In Joel’s words, “the backroads and the Z16 disappeared,” but that doesn’t mean he ever stopped thinking about the car. He’s asked for our help in figuring out the Malibu SS’s fate: Does anyone in the Hemmings Nation remember coming across a similarly derelict Malibu SS Z16? Is the car still out there, and has it been restored?
More gadget review in www.mamaktalk.com
