“I couldn’t be happier with this engine and transmission combination,” Rick says. “It’s amazing to have a ’64 Chevelle with the drivetrain out of a late-model Camaro. It drives so smoothly, has tons of power, and stays in the rpm sweet spot regardless of what sort of driving I’m doing. I also take a lot of comfort knowing the car can be taken to a Chevy dealer’s service department and be recognized as a ’21 ZL1 Camaro for tuning and diagnostics.”

Rick’s history with the car began when he purchased it in Grass Valley, California, a few years back. A man similar in age to Rick built the car for his son who didn’t fully appreciate what the freshly built wagon had to offer. “When I took over the car it had a 350ci small-block and 700-R4 transmission with stock suspension–it was cool but not what I wanted in the long run,” Rick says. “Being solid with no rust made it a good candidate for what I had in mind.”

Prior to installing the aforementioned LS3, Rick wanted a solid foundation, so he went to Art Morrison for an AME Sport GT chassis dressed in Strange Ultra Series shocks and springs with a 1-inch sway bar up front and a ¾-inch sway bar out back. A set of Billet Specialties Turbo wheels (18×8 front, 19×9 rear) wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport tires (235/40R18 front, 255/40R19 rear) add modern style and performance while offering plenty of room for the big Wilwood disc brakes that bring this heavy Chevy to a halt with ease.

The seemingly miles of sheetmetal was smoothed and bodyworked to perfection prior to receiving a slathering of Glasurit Porsche Heron and Smyrna Green custom mix applied by Art Himsl from Concord, California. The original trim and chrome bits survived and were brought back to life by Sherm’s Custom Plating in Sacramento, California, for a better-than-factory appearance.

The interior consists of a somewhat factory presentation, although late-model BMW seats replaced the stock bench seat up front for exceptional comfort and style. The side bolsters keep Rick in place while exercising the AME chassis and letting the LT4 eat some asphalt. Auburn, California’s Roman’s Auto Upholstery used a tan leather on the seats and door panels and laid down a matching German square-weave carpet, creating an appealing office space, including the acers of real estate behind the rear seats. That ordinary-looking picnic basket behind the rear seat contains no food or refreshments, but instead cleverly houses the battery. Dakota Digital gauges reside in the stock dash for accurate operational intelligence and the Vintage Air HVAC system keeps the massive airspace in a climate-controlled comfort zone. The overall scene stays true to its ’64 born-on date.

A Pioneer touch screen head unit relies on a Rockford Fosgate amp to power a pair of 6-inch speakers in the kick panels—a sonically adequate hi-fi system that keeps Rick and Val rocking while racking up thousands of road miles per year.

It’s great to hear about folks taking their vintage cars on cross-county road trips, and Rick and Val aren’t shy when it comes to packing up their long-roof Chevelle and hitting the road. As Rick says, “I don’t much care to look at my cars in the garage. These things are made to be driven, so that’s what we do.