Kelly inherited this 1972 Chevelle from a long time family friend back in August of 2003.
The original owner’s wife passed the Chevelle along to Kelly after her husband had passed away that year. He was an Army veteran who served in Vietnam as a Captain, while Kelly had been a marine for 20 years, so the two had a lot in common and a strong friendship.
Kelly has been around this Chevelle for a very long time, since he was a young boy. His father had been the original owner’s mechanic for the car, so he had seen it quite frequently. He had originally purchased the Chevelle after returning from Vietnam, so Kelly knew all about how original this Chevelle was.
It is a numbers matching LS5 454 big block car with less than 65,000 miles on the odometer. The drivetrain has also not been rebuilt thus far. Because of its condition and originality, Kelly simply performed a cosmetic restoration after receiving the car in 2003. It was even the cover car for the July 2009 issue of Hemmings Muscle Machines.
“The history of this car is what draws me to it. I have been around this car since I was very young.”
Kelly L
Due to how well this Chevelle has fared over time with the original owner, Kelly has chosen to keep it as stock and original as possible. He not only has the correct documentation such as the Protect-o-Plate / warranty information and some of the build sheet, but he personally knew the original owner growing up. Not many can say the same.
When he was still in the Marines and home on leave, the original owner would call him up and ask if Kelly wanted to drive “his car”. This would become quite common over time whenever Kelly came home on leave, and always said that the Chevelle would be Kelly’s one day.
He plans to keep it as stock and original as possible while he enjoys driving it around.
