Red Hot American Muscle – Turning Up the Heat With the 2027 Grand Prize Giveaway 1966 Chevelle
Break out your shades and stock up on cold beverages, because Goodguys is bringing the heat to the street with their 2027 Grand Prize Giveaway 1966 Chevelle!
Thanks to the team at GAP Industries and contributions from some top names in the performance aftermarket, Goodguys is hitting the road with this red-hot Chevelle as their giveaway car for 2027. This machine has all the elements a gearhead could want from a modernized muscle car: an agile and capable chassis, big-time power, a six-speed transmission, and a comfortable cabin. Add in a vibrant red finish with thoughtful cosmetic modifications, and you’ve got a well-rounded muscle machine that’s more than ready for the road ahead.
The Chevelle is a welcome addition to the Goodguys Grand Prize Giveaway vehicle program, which hasn’t had a ’60s-vintage muscle car in the lineup for several seasons. It was built by Tim Palazzolo and his team at GAP Industries, who have a strong track record in building performance-proven street machines and who have taken home two Griot’s Garage Muscle Machine of the Year awards as evidence. The Chevelle project fit nicely into the shop’s area of expertise, and after finding a rough-around-the-edges candidate to start with, the GAP crew rolled up its sleeves and jumped right in.
PERFORMANCE PLATFORM
You can argue that we’re living in a golden age for building performance machines based on classic muscle cars, as there’s a great variety of suspension upgrades and complete chassis available for popular platforms. GM A-bodies like the Chevelle have more options than most. We opted for an all-new ExtReme IRS chassis from Speedtech Performance for this project.
Speedtech’s ExtReme IRS chassis was designed for no-compromise handling and modern pro-touring performance. The frame boasts rigid box-welded construction and tabbed-through-frame gusseting, with a front suspension based on Speedtech’s forged aluminum Extreme spindles paired with tubular control arms, coil-over shocks, a tunable tubular chromoly sway bar, and rack-and-pinion steering from Sweet Mfg. The front suspension is matched with an independent rear suspension comprised of tubular control arms, forged aluminum spindles, a three-piece tunable sway bar, plus an exotic-looking cantilever coil-over shock setup. The centerpiece is a Dutchman aluminum 9-inch differential housing and center section connected to forged, CNC-machined chromoly stub axles.
To get the chassis rolling, the GAP team bolted up a set of Wilwood disc brakes with 14-inch drilled-and-slotted rotors and six-piston (front) and four-piston (rear) calipers, which mount behind 19×10- and 20×12-inch Forgeline AL310 wheels. A set of Michelin Pilot Sport tires from Diamondback Classic provides grip, with 285/35/19s up front and 345/30/20s in the rear.
The new chassis supports a 720-horsepower, 427c.i. LT engine from Late Model Engines – a power plant that’s engineered to be reliable and streetable, while also delivering outstanding power and performance. It’s based on a GM block filled with top-notch internals from Summit Racing, including a forged Callies Compstar crankshaft, Callies H-beam connecting rods, Mahle forged pistons, a Cam Motion camshaft, and ARP hardware. A Holley oil pan and a machined aluminum timing chain cover from LME help finish off the block.
The engine is topped with LME’s LTX race heads and a C8 billet aluminum intake manifold, which is machined in-house at Late Model Engines. It’s a tall, large-plenum intake with straight runners that looks menacing and will deliver premium performance with input from the Holley Dominator EFI management and ignition controls. Custom-machined valve covers from Swiftek Engineering, complete with Goodguys lettering, add visual appeal, along with a Vintage Air Front Runner accessory drive. Power is channeled through a Tremec T56 Magnum six-speed transmission that’s connected using a QuickTime bellhousing and a McLeod billet steel flywheel and RST twin-disc clutch supplied by Summit Racing.
FRESH SKIN
As noted earlier, the Chevelle body GAP started with was, to put it mildly, quite rough. It already had one quarter panel cut off and the trunk floor cut out, plus indicators of more required rust repairs. As Tim put it, though, at least he knew what the shop was getting in to. The car came with a stack of reproduction sheet metal from Auto Metal Direct, and AMD came through with much more to complete the project.
After media blasting, virtually every body panel was replaced with fresh AMD steel, from the floor and rockers to the roof skin and rear quarters, plus the door skins and front clip. We chronicled much of this in the Parts 3 and 4 of the build, and later showed how the GAP team augmented the fresh steel with a custom firewall, transmission tunnel, and modified cowl induction hood. Other modifications included narrowed and tucked bumpers and custom one-piece trim around the windshield and rear glass. Carbon fiber inner fenders from Ironworks added some under-hood appeal.
When the sheet metal was straight and smooth, the Chevelle body went to the GAP body shop for a fresh finish using PPG materials, which were sourced through Tasco Auto Color. The chosen color is a late-model Honda hue called Rallye Red, a vibrant non-metallic red that will be easy to touch up as the Chevelle accumulates road miles. PPG’s DCU 2021 clear protects the base color while adding gloss and protection.
We like that the Tim and his team opted to complement the bright finish with some good old-fashioned chrome plating. The bumpers, trim, and other pieces requiring plating were sent to Ogden Chrome for a shimmering finish, which really helps to set off this Chevelle. Additional finishing touches include side mirrors and door handles from IntekOtto.
INSIDE JOB
An equal amount of attention went into the Chevelle’s interior to make it as comfortable and engaging as possible for the future lucky winner. These efforts began with HushMat heat and sound insulation products to ensure the cabin remains cool and quiet. The floor, firewall, and other surfaces were lined with HushMat Ultra, followed with Silencer Megabond Foam under the carpet.
TMI Products stepped up to help with many interior elements, including a pair of Sport low-back bucket seats stitched in black leather and suede with red stitching accents, plus matching Sport R door and rear side panels. The company also supplied matching material to recover the rear seat, which was modified and fitted with reshaped foam by the GAP team. The Mercedes-style carpet came from Veteran Textile Solutions.
The original Chevelle dash was modified to accommodate A/C vents and controls for the Vintage Air system. It was also fitted with custom gauges from Dakota Digital, plus a tilt column from Ididit and a billet steering wheel from Ironworks. A Painless Wiring harness and electrical components were used to connect all the wiring, while great tunes will be delivered courtesy of a Pioneer stereo unit, a pair of Kicker Audio amps, and a bunch of Kicker speakers.
RED ALERT
Like any good hot rod project, the 2027 Grand Prize Giveaway Chevelle required a few weeks of thrashing during final assembly leading up to its unveiling at the 28th Summit Racing Nationals presented by Grundy Insurance. But the team at GAP prevailed and got the car to Columbus on time, running and driving.
Since then, the Chevelle has gone back to GAP for final tuning and tweaking, and it’s set to start logging road miles this fall. By the time we give it away next summer, this red-hot muscle machine will be road proven, dialed in, and ready to go wherever the winner wants to take it. Who knows, maybe that lucky winner will be you!
If you missed any of the build stories and galleries – you can find them all right here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7 and Part 8!
WIN THIS CAR!
One lucky enthusiast will fire up and take home this red-hot Chevelle at the Goodguys 2027 Summit Racing Nationals in Columbus, Ohio. Until then, you can see it at Goodguys events through the end of 2026 and first half of 2027.
Registered Goodguys participants have a chance to qualify as finalists to win the coupe through the Goodguys Lucky Ticket program. Just fill out the Lucky Ticket from your registration packet and drop it in the yellow barrel prior to the awards ceremony at any Goodguys event. We’ll qualify one finalist at each event leading up to Columbus. Online entry is also available on the Goodguys site! One current Goodguys member will also be randomly selected as a finalist prior to the 2027 Goodguys Summit Racing Nationals.
Photos: John Jackson
