Car: Chevrolet “Heavy Chevy” Chevelle Coupe
Year: 1972
What makes it special: The muscle car market was in serious trouble by 1970. Not only was it saturated with many excellent cars, the insurance industry and government regulators were squeezing the life out of sales. Many young buyers found they were able to afford the monthly payments but the insurance premiums were out of sight. Since big block cars were having a notable fall in sales, the companies worked there first to stem the losses. In the middle of 1971, Chevrolet offered an insurance beater trim package called “Heavy Chevy”.
What made it famous: Coded as RPO YF3, Heavy Chevy was a sub model based on the Chevelle series. You got a blacked out grille and headlamp bezels, 14×6 rally wheels with bright center caps and no trim rings, a domed hood and hood pins and lanyards and full length Heavy Chevy body stripes and hood, trunk lid and fender badges, heavy duty suspension and a base 300 series interior including rubber floor matting and bench seating. You also got a dashboard with clock, tach, temp and ammeter gauges. For engines you had a choice between a standard 307 2-barrel all the way up to the 300 hp, LS-3 400 V8. The L-5 and LS-6 weren’t available in this sub model.
Why I would want one: I love the “Specialty and one-off” model variants of any manufacturer. The “Heavy Chevy” is so indicative of the early 70’s pop-culture scene.
Fun fact: It was an insurance beater coded as a base Chevelle and theoretically avoiding the SS title which triggered staggering double digit insurance premium increases. The VIN used the 13437 code instead of the Malibu code which was part of the SS package.
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