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About Us I guess it all started for me back in the 1960's. I was fresh off the farm in Indiana when the musclecar reveloution hit. My Dad, Vernon, was my biggest influence as he was a serious car nut. very 2 years he would trade in his Pontiac or Buick to "Dutch Neff" Pontiac-Buick in Washington, Indiana, and get a new model. He made me a promise in 1964 that I could have any car (he was smart enough to say American Made so I wouldn't come up with some Ferrari or something) I wanted if I graduated with honors from high school. I was 14 at the time and even then I knew when the time come for me to graduate what I was going to get, a big block Corvette!  In the meantime, I was driving a 1955 Chevy my Dad had bought as a second car.
 Fast forward to April of 1965. My Dad and I was visiting the Neff dealership when we both spotted "the" car at the same time. It was a gold 1965 GTO with all the options sitting proudly on Tiger Paws. We took one look and fell in love. "Dutch" knew how to come in for the kill and asked us if "we wanted to take it for a test drive?" He knew my Dad way to well and knew he would soon make a sale. We had been driving around town for a few minutes when dad looked over and asked me if I liked the GTO? Now, I may have been just off the farm, but I wasn't born yesterday. The GTO was the hottest car on the market in it's day, behind the Corvette. Dad then made the statement, "If we buy this GTO NOW, you won't be getting that big block Corvette when you graduate from high school!" Well let me think, a GTO now, or maybe a Corvette in 3 years??????? No brainer at the time. We got the GTO. Now don't get me wrong, I still dreamed of big block Corvettes, but I raced and had fun with that GTO until 1969 when I traded it in at, you guessed it, "Dutch Neff's." The reason, insurance! I was 19 and the insurance companies were charging surcharges on any engines with bigger than 350 cubic inches and four speeds. So, a big block Corvette was again out of the question.
 I ordered a 350 H.O. Pontiac Firebird with a 3-speed transmission to beat the insurance premiums. That 3-speed stayed in long enough to get my insurance before it was yanked! That car was also raced and enjoyed until I got married. The new wife insisted that we get a new car with the stipulation that it had air conditioning and an automatic. I tried again for that big block Corvette, but that was not going to happen.
 Instead I got another GTO from Neff's, this time a 1971 GTO 455 H.O. Judge with air and the automatic. The early years of marriage took me all the way to 1982 before I was ever able to buy a Corvette, not a big block, but still a nice car. I got a 1972 Bryar blue LTI Corvette. It was 14 years later than I thought I would own a Corvette, but better late than never.
I had been involved in racing for many years and I had moved to Pennsylvania to work for Joe Amato on his Top Fuel Dragster Racing Team. I was driving the LT1 as my everyday car. I happened to run across a guy in a local speed shop who was selling a 1970 Chevelle SS big block. When I went out to see it, imagine my suprise when I found out it wasn't just an original unrestored big block car, but an original 454 LS6 car!
Even though I had to sell me beloved LT1 to get the LS6, it was worth it. I took posession of my big block 454 LS6, Tuxedo Black with black interior, M22 4-speed SS Chevelle with only 32,000 miles on it for the sum of $7500.00. It had some aftermarket high-performance parts on it like a Super Coil, Flex Fan, ladder bars, headers and such, but all the stock parts went with the car. I replaced all the hi-po parts but the headers and took the car to the 1984 Super Chevy National in Reading, Pa and took a 3rd place in the Chevell Class. I kept that car until 1990 when someone made me a (what I thought at the time) ludicrous offer of $24500.00 and I sold it. That was the first big block I ever owned, but it wasn't the last. Since then I have owned, raced, or worked on big blocks in everything from 1965 SS 396 Chevelles, 427 COPO Camaros, 1967 427 Corvettes, 454 El Caminos, dragsters, dirt track cars, and boats. You name it and I have put a wrench to it.
 Currently, I own and DRIVE a 1971 LS5 Corvette convertible. It has been restored and driven since 1998. I actually bought this car back twice, (see Corvette Fever Magazine, November 2005 for the story) but that's another story. It has won the 1998 National Corvette Museum Duntov Award, the National Corvette Museum 2005 Celebrity Choice Award, was in the NCM for 7 months, and has won many other awards and trophies. It is a numbers correct, original car with the 454 LS5 motor, auto, two-top convertible, power brakes, air conditioning, power windows, black leather interior, posi, and other options.
What you will be seeing here at this website, is a labor of love for all makes and models of muscle cars no matter what it is. We will be buying and selling at all price levels and we will be selling mostly original back to stock type muscle cars and recreations of rare cars that most of us can not afford to buy the real thing!
So visit this website, place an ad for parts or cars for sale, ask us to broker a car for you, or just send us an email or feedback on what you like or what you would like to see on the website. I hope you enjoy it and muscle cars as much as we do!
Thanks Bobby Chestnut | | |
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