Sold for $330,000

• Engine

  454/450 HP
 

• Trans

  Automatic

HIGHLIGHTS

• Well known in the hobby as the “Fuller car”
• Unrestored Triple Black LS6 Chevelle Convertible with 10,222 original miles
• This car has served as reference example for LS6 Convertible judging and restoration guidelines since the 1980s
• Four owners since new
• Documented with original Protect-O-Plate, punch card, laminated window sticker, dealer invoice, owner's manual and a copy of the build sheet
• Original Tuxedo Black paint, Black top and Black interior
• LS6 454/450 HP V-8 engine
• M40 Turbo Hydra-Matic 400 automatic transmission
• 4.10 rear end. door edge guards
• Cowl Induction hood, stripe delete
• Power front disc brakes, windows and top
• Padded SS dash and gauges
• Strato bucket seats with console
• Original front and rear floor mats
• Fiber optics and auxiliary lighting
• Tilt steering column, remote driver's mirror
• Tinted windshield, rear defogger
• Lamp monitoring system on front fenders
• Power steering and AM radio/8-track player, installed by original owner shortly after purchase
• Sold new at McEleney Motors in Clinton, Iowa
• Purchased new by Bob Fuller of Clinton, Iowa, who bought two brand-new LS6 Chevelles in 1970 (this Black LS6 Convertible and a Red LS6 Hardtop)
• Fuller customized the rear bumper insert with 450 HP callouts when new
• Fuller pampered the car for more than 30 years
• Featured in Muscle Car Review in 1987
• Best Unrestored Chevelle at the 1988 Super Chevy Show in Indianapolis
• Best in Class at the 1989 Muscle Car Nationals in Cedar Falls, Iowa
• Chevy VetteFest Spinner Concours in 1990
• Purchased from Bob Fuller by Gary Esse of Madison, WI in 2001
• Sold to Dave Christenholz in 2003 and remained part of his collection until 2008
• Part of a private collection since 2008

Possessed of monumental power and muscular styling to match, the 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS454 LS6 is firmly established as one of the most iconic and desirable machines of the classic muscle car era. Well known in the collector car hobby as the “Fuller car,” this unrestored Triple Black 1970 SS454 LS6 convertible ranks as the premier example, having served as a reference for LS6 convertible judging and restoration guidelines since the 1980s.

The LS6 Chevelle was Chevrolet’s knockout punch to the competition after years of playing bridesmaid to contenders packing dozens more cubic inches. Ironically, it was the looming spectre of government-mandated and power-robbing emission controls that led GM’s management to cancel its limitations on displacement with the goal of maintaining higher power output. To that end, Chevrolet engineers increased the 427 Mark IV’s stroke from 3.76 inches to a full 4 inches to push displacement to 454 while maintaining dependability.

Aside from the longer stroke, the high-performance Mark IV remained essentially unchanged, but the LS6’s factory rating of 450 HP at 5,600 RPM was the highest output of any production engine to that time, and it generated an incredible 500 lb-ft of torque at just 3,600 RPM, prompting “Hot Rod” magazine’s editors to declare in their May 1970 road test, “The past is gone. The future may never see a car like this. It is one of the brutes, and all it needs is a way of staying in contact with terra firma.”

The Fuller LS6 Chevelle convertible is unquestionably the preeminent example of this epochal muscle machine. Still finished in the original Tuxedo Black paint, black top and black interior, the car is immediately identifiable by the absence of contrasting sport striping that is usually a signature feature. Every other element is present, however, and its history is well documented. A four-owner treasure with just 10,222 original miles, it was purchased new by Bob Fuller of Clinton, Iowa, from Clinton Chevrolet dealership McEleney Motors as one half of a two-car deal that included a brand-new Cranberry Red LS6 Chevelle hardtop (now restored and in a private collection). Fuller pampered the convertible for more than 30 years, his only deviation from maintaining originality being an AM radio/8-track tape player, power steering and the “450 H/P” callout on the rear bumper insert, all added soon after he took delivery.

As one would expect with such a carefully preserved car, in this case driven for its first year and then put away, the engine bay is so clean and original that the cast iron exhaust manifolds and other raw cast surfaces show almost zero change from factory fresh. The rest of this gem is in the same marvelous condition, the main reason it is widely held in such high regard as the reference for the truest possible restorations.

Another important reason is its extensive option list. Building on such standard SS features as F41 suspension, power brakes with front discs, and a padded SS dash with specific gauges, Fuller chose the M40 400 Turbo-Hydramatic automatic transmission, a 4.10 rear end, power steering, cowl induction, Strato bucket seats with console, power windows and top, remote driver’s mirror and tilt steering wheel. Other interior options include a tinted windshield, U46 lamp monitoring system, fiber optics and auxiliary lighting, door edge guards and a rear defogger.

Fuller’s dedication to preserving this extraordinary LS6 convertible were rewarded with a 1987 feature article in “Muscle Car Review” magazine; it subsequently won Best Unrestored Chevelle at the 1988 Super Chevy Show in Indianapolis, Best in Class at the 1989 Muscle Car Nationals in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and Chevy VetteFest Spinner Concours honors in 1990. Fuller sold the car to Gary Esse of Madison, Wisconsin, in 2001. Noted collector Dave Christenholz then purchased it in 2003, and it was sold to a private collector in 2008.

Of course, a truly great example of any collectible automobile is well documented; in the case of the Fuller Chevelle, that includes the original Protect-O-Plate, punch card, laminated window sticker, dealer invoice, owner's manual and a copy of the build sheet, all part of the car that has earned its status as the standard by which all LS6s are restored and judged.